So, I had some time since I was the only one that wanted to play on the water on Saturday and we were at the lake all day.

First off, I have a 92 Supra Sunsport direct drive. I've modified it with a surf system similar to Nautique that has a blade that goes out 3" and down 1" on the non-surf side when deployed. This (like all the other surf systems) delays the convergence of the two wakes and cleans/elongates the surfside wake.

For reference:


I also have a custom swim platform that's smaller and doesn't cut into the wave like the OEM platform did.

I have a Flyhigh tube sack that fills to about 350 pounds that lives under my rear seats. It is hard plumbed with a reversible impeller pump. I also have a pair of 750 pound (20x20x50") fat sacks. Finally, I have a "baby bag" that's probably 150 pounds that I can put wherever if we're light on crew.

Here's a pic of the fully loaded setup:


The configurations I tried were:

1) under seat bag only, surf system deployed
2) Under seat bag and surfside 750, surf system deployed
3) Under seat bag and surfside 750 and surfside baby bag in rear corner, surf system deployed
4) Under seat bag, both 750's and baby bag in rear corner, surf system deployed (i.e. my NORMAL setup).

Basically what I found is that #1 is good for teaching newbies that are only going to lineride. Basically focus on getting up without really any expectation they'll freeride.
http://youtu.be/_t9wGyhwLPo?list=UU_...HcLtb9Q573E8SA

#2 was okay, I could freeride it with focus to stay in the small pocket. could do some slashing around, but very easy to fall out.
Clean LOOKING wave.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Q3...HcLtb9Q573E8SA
Me riding it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo2N...HcLtb9Q573E8SA
(wife forgot to shut off the camera, it was a pretty short ride)

#3 was basically similar to #2 but with a tiny bit more power. #3 was obviously the most listed. water about 4" below rub rail at rest. It was the least favorable for the driver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5w7...HcLtb9Q573E8SA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSmb...HcLtb9Q573E8SA

#4 is what we normally run. BAM, power was back and the pocket was big. easy recoveries, easy for playing. The top portion of the wave isn't as clean as with the other scenarios, but it's by all means the best of them all and brought a smile to my face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhC4...HcLtb9Q573E8SA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Q7...HcLtb9Q573E8SA

I will say that in the #4 configuration, it's not quite as "clean" as it was with #2, but the push, pocket, and drivability made it by far the best setup. The wife actually liked driving with setup #4 the best. so that's a win/win.

Here's a quick vid of what it looks like from the rider perspective. it was getting super rough, so I fell out of the wave REALLY quick and called it a day soon after that...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QqP...HcLtb9Q573E8SA

But I have some other vids showing the rider perspective if anyone's interested.