No need to sound like a buzz kill. I just like to have an idea on a few set ups to cut down on the experimentation time. I have been surfing for near 15 years in boats not meant for surfing and got used to slamming them. Even surfed behind direct drives back in college when on a club ski team before surfing was really a 'thing'.

We routinely added 2500-3500 lbs on top of ballast in 21 and 23 foot boats just to get a decent list before surf systems were available, and this was with old Monsoon 320 engines. Didn't really have any problems getting up to surf speed if you understood the prop and weight distribution.

Once we purchased a 'suck gate' we were able to remove 1000 lbs of ballast and still got a larger better wave. Of course that weight distribution changed from listed to evenly weighted with a large bias to the rear of the boat, but the wave was larger and the engine worked less.

With this boat we will explore all of the factory settings and full ballast. But I will also be adding the suck gate to the side of it to compare. Just like there is no substitution for displacement, I think 'yaw' gets overlooked in favor of roll. Those suck gates do a great job of adding yaw without the upward lift of an asymmetrical surf tab. Also those suck gates are adjustable to different boat draft levels which most factory systems seem to lack.

You have to think of your boat like a plow or shovel. The deeper I can sink the rear the larger area of water you can move as long as you have the power to move the boat. I actually think downward surf tabs work against you in a surf situation once you get adequate yaw. I am exciting to try all these out, just looking for a few starting points.