New to the SC family - 2017 Mondo Introduction

[audisnapr]

Still working out our wave but even more, still learning how to surf the wave. Was able to break away from sitting in the cove and was able to take the guys out for a mid-day surf session. Super choppy out so you'll notice I spend a lot of time looking ahead to see when the next rolling is coming through. Last time out I was able pump back into the pocket a few times but no so much this time.

I'm surfing with AutoWake on. 10.5mph, 60 surf tab, 0 trim tab, with the 910's in the rear lockers (100%/80%), 400lb bag in front of the rear bench, full front bag, probably 600lbs of dudes and almost no gas.

[Isaguel]

Still working out our wave but even more, still learning how to surf the wave. Was able to break away from sitting in the cove and was able to take the guys out for a mid-day surf session. Super choppy out so you'll notice I spend a lot of time looking ahead to see when the next rolling is coming through. Last time out I was able pump back into the pocket a few times but no so much this time.

I'm surfing with AutoWake on. 10.5mph, 60 surf tab, 0 trim tab, with the 910's in the rear lockers (100%/80%), 400lb bag in front of the rear bench, full front bag, probably 600lbs of dudes and almost no gas.

That's a nice looking wave considering the conditions audisnapr.

[audisnapr]

That's a nice looking wave considering the conditions audisnapr.

Good to know. I really do not have a clear understanding of what is and is not a good wave. A wave can look good but not have push, correct? And visa versa? I feel like I'm somewhere in the middle. My 10 y/o daughter could surf all day (assuming she doesn't fall) but if I make one tiny error in placement, I fall behind and am done.

[Isaguel]

Well, I meant considering how choppy and wavy the water is, and the total weight displacement, you got a decent surfable wave, it maintained relatively good shape and curl, the lip was rough but that's because of the choppiness. I thought I saw you surf relatively far back, if you had smooth water I would assume the wave would be better, cleaner. But then again, it is difficult to tell on video, things seem farther than they really are. I read on your OP that you upgraded to 910's +400 lb, total 2200 in back. Most people are requiring a lot more weight in their boats. So, pretty good considering the conditions and total displacement.
BTW, you are using a surf style board? What is it? If you are, try skim style, it'll lengthen the effective usable wave a couple feet easily.

[audisnapr]

We have two boards are our disposal at the moment. Me and my crew and all of my buddies are new to surfing (been wakeboarding for several years) so we opted for some entry level boards. One is a 5'-2" Connelly Ride Wakesurfer board and the other, I bought for my daughter, is the CTRL Bonito Wakesurfer 4'-1". I've surfed the 49" Bonito and it's fun but I'm not good enough to really take advantage of it's short length. Do we need something in between the two with regards to length?

Correct, we have the 910's, the 400 plus the bow bag, which honestly, I'm not even sure how much it weighs. With the boys in the back, I did see a message on my display that the bow bag was maxed out. When I was driving, we had about 560lbs in crew. So all in, we had 3500#'s of ballast (assuming the front is 650#) plus some fuel and gear which wasn't much.

I assume it's more about learning to surf the wave I have and not so much the wave's fault with 3500lbs of ballast.

If I were to use the OE 650lbs rear locker bag just in front of the rear bench, plus the 400lbs bag mid ship, that would put us north of 4000lbs of ballast but I would still need to pick up some additional port fittings for the 650# bag before that can happen. Maybe I swap the fittings form the 400lbs bag and put them on the 650lbs bag. That would be a net gain of 250lbs. What's great about the 400lbs bag is that it fits in between the rear benches perfectly. It presses against the benches and stays in place. The 650lbs bags are longer so I would need to rotate them 90 degrees and therefore the weight will be pushed forward a bit.

[Isaguel]

We have two boards are our disposal at the moment. Me and my crew and all of my buddies are new to surfing (been wakeboarding for several years) so we opted for some entry level boards. One is a 5'-2" Connelly Ride Wakesurfer board and the other, I bought for my daughter, is the CTRL Bonito Wakesurfer 4'-1". I've surfed the 49" Bonito and it's fun but I'm not good enough to really take advantage of it's short length. Do we need something in between the two with regards to length?

Correct, we have the 910's, the 400 plus the bow bag, which honestly, I'm not even sure how much it weighs. With the boys in the back, I did see a message on my display that the bow bag was maxed out. When I was driving, we had about 560lbs in crew. So all in, we had 3500#'s of ballast (assuming the front is 650#) plus some fuel and gear which wasn't much.

I assume it's more about learning to surf the wave I have and not so much the wave's fault with 3500lbs of ballast.

If I were to use the OE 650lbs rear locker bag just in front of the rear bench, plus the 400lbs bag mid ship, that would put us north of 4000lbs of ballast but I would still need to pick up some additional port fittings for the 650# bag before that can happen. Maybe I swap the fittings form the 400lbs bag and put them on the 650lbs bag. That would be a net gain of 250lbs. What's great about the 400lbs bag is that it fits in between the rear benches perfectly. It presses against the benches and stays in place. The 650lbs bags are longer so I would need to rotate them 90 degrees and therefore the weight will be pushed forward a bit.

From your comments, I gather you are new to the sport. Connely is OK, surf style board, more buoyant. You should see if u can test drive a skim style, something like a P5 trident, one with a 3 fin setup for more stability, you can remove a fin later once you are more comfortable.
Skim style are much faster and effectively will lengthen your usable wave substantially, much more fun, but more "loose" compared to your Connelly. You get used to it quickly. As far as size, the Connelly is foam core and more buoyant, wider size range.
P5's have a sizing chart, the trident I ride is 190lb and up for the 54".

As far as ballast. I am not familiar with the Mondo. There are good threads here from Mondo owners on ballast. My preference, a clean, uncluttered look. I would rather use 6-700 lbs lead bags under the ballast bags. 300 rear lockers, 200 midship and 100 bow, evenly side to side. It means you have more to tow, more drag when you're cruising around the lake, messes up your ski wake. So, you'll get different opinions on this.

[audisnapr]

From your comments, I gather you are new to the sport. Connely is OK, surf style board, more buoyant. You should see if u can test drive a skim style, something like a P5 trident, one with a 3 fin setup for more stability, you can remove a fin later once you are more comfortable.
Skim style are much faster and effectively will lengthen your usable wave substantially, much more fun, but more "loose" compared to your Connelly. You get used to it quickly. As far as size, the Connelly is foam core and more buoyant, wider size range.
P5's have a sizing chart, the trident I ride is 190lb and up for the 54".

As far as ballast. I am not familiar with the Mondo. There are good threads here from Mondo owners on ballast. My preference, a clean, uncluttered look. I would rather use 6-700 lbs lead bags under the ballast bags. 300 rear lockers, 200 midship and 100 bow, evenly side to side. It means you have more to tow, more drag when you're cruising around the lake, messes up your ski wake. So, you'll get different opinions on this.

As always, thanks again for the information. I'll def look into the boards. Having a board that effectively lengthens the wave would be huge. The whole idea of adding lead weigh scares me because we have a single axle Boatmate trailer and we trailer our boat to the lake each and every time. I think we have to stick with water weight.

[sandm]

I've surfed a '14 mondo back in wisconsin. it's a fun wave. he had iirc 1100's in the rear corners(might have been 900's but I thought he went big) and added the IBS up front. no other changes to ballast. usually 4 in the boat and a surfer. listed, the boat produced a wave that was pretty easy to drop the rope for my fat arse at 220lbs.
20ft boats are not going to have the longest wave due to the short hull but his wave was good considering. much better than my old 20ssv with less weight tho.

not sure if your '17 has any kind of surf systems on it that will add to the setup.

[audisnapr]

I've surfed a '14 mondo back in wisconsin. it's a fun wave. he had iirc 1100's in the rear corners(might have been 900's but I thought he went big) and added the IBS up front. no other changes to ballast. usually 4 in the boat and a surfer. listed, the boat produced a wave that was pretty easy to drop the rope for my fat arse at 220lbs.
20ft boats are not going to have the longest wave due to the short hull but his wave was good considering. much better than my old 20ssv with less weight tho.

not sure if your '17 has any kind of surf systems on it that will add to the setup.

Our Mondo is the surf addition but I'm not entirely sure what that gets us? I know we have a front bag but from what I can tell, we don't have a mid-ship bag under the floor unless it's connected to the front bag. We only have three ballast switches, two rears, and one front. The boat also has the OJ 15x13 prop which I gather is the "surf prop"? I've updated the software to the 2019 file from Matt Brown. What other things fall under surf setup?

[sandm]

newer moombas had tabs for a "surf system". that is what I was referring to. some were manual to set and some have actuators. the mondo I have surfed didn't have any tabs on the back. it was listed.
he replaced the rear sacs with upgrades and added an IBS in the front that iirc is piggybacked off the front bag. still only have 3 switches.
at the time this was the recommended road map to get a good surf wave out of the mondo. others might be able to steer toward midship bags under seats and the such based on your boat being a touch newer.