Getting my XLV wave dialed in...slowly

Ok, I'm a dumbass for forgetting to charge my digital camera so no evidence of my surf wake. I was disappointed in the wake with the 1100 v-drive sacs and stock 650 center sac. I got the 1180 center sac and that helped a little to lengthen the pocket but sacrificed some size. This past week my two 400lb sacs arrived (common for only 2-3 of us in my boat). So, I filled the surfside 1100 sac, full 1180 center sac (probably only fills to about 900-1000), and two 400 sacs on surfside seat and back corner rear seat. Goofy side has a pocket easily 10-12ft and in a slight turn the wake will curl. Regular side has a nice pocket about 15ft. So basically right now my surf setup is 3,000lbs of ballast. Gonna play with another 400lb sac my buddy has for his LSV.

Note - I even had a Game Warden pull up and do a safety check with me, two girls, and 3,000lbs of ballast...you should have seen the lean on the boat and he didn't say a thing.

I am extremely jealous of the weight you guys can throw in the XLV. We have the stock GIII plus a 750# on the surf side and are still at risk for dunking the front end every time out. With that said, we were able to surf 5-10 minute sets ropeless yesterday so I won't complain.... Let's see some pics of this monster surf wake!

I don't think you need so much weight.
I've got an XLV and when I fill up the center and the left rear ballast, I'm already able to surf the wake - wakeplate completely up, running at 17 mph.
Moomba's wake is not as high as ones of other brands however it is longer which is from my point of view a lot more fun.
Adding weight and people on the side will change the shape of the wake - it will become higher, shorter and steeper; always use the wakeplate to adjust it to have it as you like.

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Originally Posted by kampana

I don't think you need so much weight.
I've got an XLV and when I fill up the center and the left rear ballast, I'm already able to surf the wake - wakeplate completely up, running at 17 mph.
Moomba's wake is not as high as ones of other brands however it is longer which is from my point of view a lot more fun.
Adding weight and people on the side will change the shape of the wake - it will become higher, shorter and steeper; always use the wakeplate to adjust it to have it as you like.

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17mph? I don't think surfing at 17mph is possible on our boats. I know I don't need that much weight but I'm not wanting just an average wake. I'm wanting a wake that is fairly large and that has a long pocket that you can slaysh the length of. I'm just having fun experimenting. I know most XLV owners are just using 750 rear locker and 650 center with people on one side...I'm not satisfied with that. Plus, I'm using a Shred Stixx Thresher board which is a fun board to slaysh on if you have the wake that will help the board develop speed.

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Originally Posted by bbyquist

I am extremely jealous of the weight you guys can throw in the XLV. We have the stock GIII plus a 750# on the surf side and are still at risk for dunking the front end every time out. With that said, we were able to surf 5-10 minute sets ropeless yesterday so I won't complain.... Let's see some pics of this monster surf wake!

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I wouldn't call the wake a monster but it's getting to have a nice shape with a decent pocket. I wish there were other XLV owners who would post pics of their wake so I have something to compare to. The extra freeboard is nice on the XLV. There were rollers everywhere pretty much most of the day and I didn't come close to taking water. I was more in danger of hitting my own rollers when picking up a fallen rider but if you use common sense and let your wake pass you before you return it's never an issue.

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Originally Posted by you da man

17mph? I don't think surfing at 17mph is possible on our boats. I know I don't need that much weight but I'm not wanting just an average wake. I'm wanting a wake that is fairly large and that has a long pocket that you can slaysh the length of. I'm just having fun experimenting. I know most XLV owners are just using 750 rear locker and 650 center with people on one side...I'm not satisfied with that. Plus, I'm using a Shred Stixx Thresher board which is a fun board to slaysh on if you have the wake that will help the board develop speed.

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You're right it's not 17mph but 17km/h (metric system :)).
However with only 2 people on the back + center & left ballast I have a long and quite consistent wake.

Adding more weight just make it bigger/steeper/harder to ride.

Anyway, I'll be happy to test different settings, so keep me posted when you find the perfect combination!:-P

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Originally Posted by kampana

You're right it's not 17mph but 17km/h (metric system :)).
However with only 2 people on the back + center & left ballast I have a long and quite consistent wake.

Adding more weight just make it bigger/steeper/harder to ride.

Anyway, I'll be happy to test different settings, so keep me posted when you find the perfect combination!:-P

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I'm going to try to take some pics of the wake this Sunday or maybe as early as Thursday. Hoping to dial in med/large wake with alot of push so small boards are easy to ride. I get tired of just cruising the med and big boards. I've only surfed my boat about 5 days in total but I know I like using the entire length and height of the wake with my Shred Stixx board. I like getting some speed, come down the face and carve the bottom and back to the top with a little slaysh at the top.

I have an LSV, but I'll share my experiences. Probably you know all of this, but here goes.

It doesn't sound like you have any weight up front. Getting more weight toward the front will give you shorter height, but a longer pocket. I put a 400 between the seats and keep the center full (my center/ski locker ballast drains because of the lean; not sure if that's a problem on the XLV). With 2-3 people, we run a 750 in the back left and as much of a 400 as will fit - probably about 1100 total back there. With 3 people or more, we always have someone sitting on the transom, but this may not be legal for you. You can also put ballast under the front seat - I don't have very much room, can only hold about 250 or so, but it's further left than between the seats.

Last weekend we were out, just my wife and I and our two dogs. Just getting the 90 pound dog to move from under the steering wheel to left rear seat made a huge difference in the wake. Moving people around can make a massive difference, but sometimes people don't want to be moved every time a rider or conditions change. :)

Steering definitely makes a big difference, especially in cleaning up the wake. Generally you want to be steering very slightly toward the wake, but I've found that depending on wind, ballast, people, etc, sometimes I get a much cleaner wake by going straight or even a little against the wake. I'm constantly watching the wake in the mirror and adjusting the steering (and a bit on the wake plate) to keep it nice and clean. A rough edge or curl will pull you out of the pocket, but a clean edge makes it easy to recover from way back there. kampana's wake looks nice and clean way back there.

Finally speed. Again faster speed will generally give you a longer pocket, but shorter height. We usually run about 9.5, but I'm starting to experiment with 10 or 10.3 (kampana is running just over 10.5 for reference). With all your ballast, you will definitely want to be running a bit faster. However, I would worry more about cleaning up the wake to make recoveries easier. You can probably back off on weight, just distribute it a little differently. I honestly don't think you are going to get what you are looking for with any more weight than you already run.

I have a different boat but here are some generalizations: riding a fast surf style board like a Shred Stixx, you'll want to go faster than usual. We skim at 10.7, and the surf-style pros on the boat ride 12.5mph. I was riding my Walker James at 11.5 and it just wasn't fast enough to get good air. A longer smaller faster wave is better for Air.

Driving: turning towards the wake will make the front bigger. If your rider is trying to recover at the back of the wake, slightly turning to the opposite side will load up the push at the far end of the wake.

youdaman: you have plenty of ballast, I'd put one of those 400s up front and kick it up to upper 10's.

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Originally Posted by sailing217

Driving: turning towards the wake will make the front bigger. If your rider is trying to recover at the back of the wake, slightly turning to the opposite side will load up the push at the far end of the wake.

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Good tip. I'll play around with that!