I need your help, my wave sucks....

[Branden967]

Hey Guys,
I need your help here, whats the secret sauce on producing a surf-able wave? I feel like I've run the gambit of weight, people, ballast etc and I just cant figure it out. I can produce what looks like a huge wave but then it doesn't have any push. We've never gone rope-less and its a personal goal for this summer. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Here is what Im running where I think I got the best results for a goofy side wave;
08 OBV
Rear Starboard and Port stock Ballast full.
Center ballast full.
Suck Gate about 2 feet from the back on opposite surf side.
Wake plate 25% from bow up.
Additional chubby people in bow, estimate plus 350 lbs.
Additional chubby people in rear of boat 300 lbs on rear bench seat.

The rear corner rub rails are pretty much in the water. Im not sure what to do next.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Am I way off?

Thanks!

IMG_0062.jpgIMG_0041.jpg

[SONIC]

How fast are you running? Looks fast.

[Stazi]

Wakeplate all the way up!


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[Branden967]

That speed was about 11.2 MPH, I tuned the speedo with a GPS so it should be pretty dead on.

[Hayden]

08 OBV is an Outback, yes? I can't remember 100% but I think that could be the same hull as my 2005 LSV. How much weight are you running in each quadrant of the boat? I agree with Stazi, you need to run wakeplate all the way up.

[2in2out]

Double up on suck gates. I did this with my 2017 Sanger, plus added 450# lead. I found 10.6-10.8 were keys at Tahoe elevation. Go down to Folsom, and could get away with one gate and 11.2 max. I had no surf plate and we used trim tabs to clean the wave and provide additional list.

With two suck gates, place one at 18-32" from stern just below waterline. Next one should be lower on the hull as close to the stern as possible. I live in Reno and would be happy to let you borrow my lead and work the set-up for a pull.

[sandm]

my .02 fwiw....

it lists you are using starboard/port "stock" ballast. you will need more weight if you're still running the factory bags. hayden lists 3000lbs of ballast and that's what you need for that boat. our old 20ssv was similar hull and we ran similar weight to hayden.

personally, I'd start with a listed wave and get it down then move to a suck gate and both sides filled once you know what the wave is your are looking for. remove some of the variables of both sides and suckgate until you have it dialed.

[bsharer]

Stock rear ballast is what 400#?

Id say put a 750# bag rear starboard locker. Center ballast full. Wake plate all the way up. Try it with the port locker bag partially filled or full if using suck gate. Suck gate as far back as you can get it, just below the water line when running, and face of gate perpendicular to the water line when running.

The 400# bag you take out you can put on the floor starboard side, fill it up with a throw over pump. Or under the starboard seat, and piggy back of the rear bag. It wont fill up all the way but youd prob get 200+ in it.

And use your GPS app when surfing! Ive found the speedometer isn't accurate enough even though you adjusted it. One of the best tips on an older boat when setting up the surf wave, IMO.

[Hayden]

I've attached a diagram of how we run our ballast. Sometimes it's just surfer/driver, where we would add an extra bag but normally it's surfer/driver/spotter. The 2x750#, 1x400# and 1x400# IBS are all subfloor/cushion ballast. The 4x250# are all sacks just laid on the seats in the cabin. It's not in my sig but we run a suck gate as well, vertical spine mounted directly above the "L" of LSV lettering. We are regular (not goofy) riders so adjust as required.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Iv0...ew?usp=sharing

[Hayden]

Also, you may or may not know this but at that elevation and +2800#, you will need an upgraded prop. Do you know what you have now? I'm at 3200 ft elevation and we would not be able to surf at that weight without our prop upgrade.

A final point of advice I would give; if this is your first time adding that much weight, because our hull has so little freeboard, you need your drivers to know/learn how to do the power-skid-turn when they pickup their riders. I still have intermediate drivers that struggle with it. I found a video on it when I first started looking into heavy weight but can't find it now. When the surfer falls out of the wave and you need to do pickup, it breaks down into 3 steps:

1.) Cut throttle to 1/3 (2seconds to do this). Lets the boat settle somewhat.
2.) Start a hard turn to starboard (1-2seconds to do this) If goofy riders you would go port.
3.) Cut throttle completely and wait 8-10seconds for stern of boat to "skid" around 180 degrees.

We've found that not doing this, especially on busy lake, but even when we're solo, will eventually get you water over the bow because you're so heavy loaded and have next to no freeboard. By doing it, you keep the boat almost perfectly inline with the wake you've been creating behind you upto that point and won't get any random waves coming across the bow from doing a circular pickup.