Ballast Upgrade Question

[jstenger]

I currently just have the single center ballast in my Outback V. I am planning on adding the rear bags which would be in the 750 to 1100 range each. I want to store my skis in the original ski locker where the center bag now sits. Can I just use the rear bags for ballast, or will the boat be too nose high to drive? Is the front ballast that much of a difference? Do I need to add an IBS bag to take the place of the center bag? Thanks in advance.

[Stazi]

You'll need some sort of front bag or otherwise if you try to surf with out it you'll neve get the nose down at all and the pocket will be tiny.

[kaneboats]

By "tiny", he means short. You can manufacture a steep wave that is surfable without front ballast but to really enjoy the experience you are going to need some weight up front to lengthen the surf pocket. If the ski storage is more important than other storage (and I understand this as skis are very hard to store but I could barely but my double boot slalom ski and anything else in the ski locker of my 2000 Outback so I started putting it behind the driver's seat) then the IBS is a good plan.

[jester]

You can buy a ski rack for the tower so you do not lose the weight in the bow. It is a mix between front weight and rear weight for both wakeboarding and surfing. If you do not want to buy a ski rack you can use two bungee cords and just attach the ski to the tower.