There was a discussion on a Fresh Air Exhaust group buy; unfortunately that discussion got deleted accidently. Within that discussion, someone wrote that their son was freaked out because his surfboard went under the swim platform. Here is my response:

I am not dissing minimalist surfing (and I hope I didn’t come across that way). I agree, there is a point of diminishing return with ballast (or stereo amplifiers) and that the biggest challenge we have as a wake surf community is the size of our waves pissing off everyone else (and law enforcement). I do not agree about ballast being a crutch though. At some point, you need to build an adequate wave for your weight, board and skill level. I can get on an 8’ surfboard and surf behind an un-ballasted boat (BORING). I can also add 200 more pounds of ballast to what I already use and not improve the wave, actually might make it worse, yet be more of a nuisance. It takes trial and error to figure out the best ballast amount and location for your boat, gear and people.

If a board can go under a swim platform, for safety purposes, the platform needs to be lowered, or the ballast increased or shifted more to the side. When wakesurfing, please assume that you will run into the boat; therefore it is imperative that your surfboard land on top of the swim platform.

Larry Mann
FAE