Wakesurfing

Any mags on here wakesurf? If so, what's your set up?

I've been boarding for years and got a 01 Tige 21V last year. Put a 1,500 lbs ballast system in her this winter and looking to get into surfing. Any set up tips would be greatly appreciated. I understand the bascis, load the hell out of one side, 10 mph, gentle turn into the wave, etc. Yes I have used the search function. Didn't come up with anything.

Also am looking to buy a board so any suggestions, people selling, let me know.

Thanks in advance.

I wakesurf a lot. I have a Supra 22 SSV. It's easiest to ride facing the wave, so if you are left foot forward, weight the Port side, if you are right foot forward, Starboard.
Unfortunately, every boat makes a better wave on one side than the other. My boat really ONLY has a clean wave on the Starboard side, which is good for me, cause I'm right foot forward. You'll have to try each side to figure it out.

10 mph is really a guideline rather than a rule. You may have to vary a couple mph in either direction. Also, you really don't need to turn gently into the wave. Straight is fine, but if you do turn a little, make it into the wave.

Larger surfboards are easier to learn on than smaller ones.

Have one person sit literally on the back corner of the boat. We always have someone sitting on the sundeck at the extreme corner, with their feet on the swim platform. This person will tend the rope too. No matter how much ballast you have on that side, we've found that the person on the corner is crucial.

If the wake is too steep, add some weight up front or have some people move up there.

http://i30.tinypic.com/i3drow.jpg

Yooper,

Thanks for the info. I got a 3 bag system, two 450 lb bags in the rear and one 600 lbs in the front. What kind of ballast do you use? Fat sac? Lead? Fat friends? How much weight you using for that wave there? You ride skim style or surf style board? Looks to be skim in the picture. Also, do you attached the rope to the tower? How much length do you use?

and most important, what kind of beer is that? :biggrin:

Once again, thanks for the help. Lake is nearing the no wetsuit temp. A few more weeks and she'll be ready to go. Can't wait to get out there.

Wakesurfing is kinda....meh. Real surfing is better.
Wakeboarding/ waterskiing is the real deal.

With that, buy an Inland Surfer....from what I've heard, they're the best. Plus they're local here in WA.

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Originally Posted by NashBoarder

Yooper,

Thanks for the info. I got a 3 bag system, two 450 lb bags in the rear and one 600 lbs in the front. What kind of ballast do you use? Fat sac? Lead? Fat friends? How much weight you using for that wave there? You ride skim style or surf style board? Looks to be skim in the picture. Also, do you attached the rope to the tower? How much length do you use?

and most important, what kind of beer is that? :biggrin:

Once again, thanks for the help. Lake is nearing the no wetsuit temp. A few more weeks and she'll be ready to go. Can't wait to get out there.

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That is basically one 600 pound sac in the rear v-drive compartment, and probably 4(?) passengers.

I guess I don't know the difference between skim style or surf style....

Yes, the rope is attached to the tower. You'll have to experiment a little with length. You want to end up a little farther back than the sweet spot. That way you can pull yourself forward into the pocket.

I think in this particular case, I had a busch light, but it easily could have been a PBR or a Old Milwaukee Light.

For the record, I believe the best boat beer ever invented is Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. If you can find some, try it on a hot summer day.

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Originally Posted by Duder

Wakesurfing is kinda....meh. Real surfing is better.
Wakeboarding/ waterskiing is the real deal.

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Unfortunately, the good surfing waves don't hit Lake Superior until late November or later. I'm not even close to that hard core, but I know people who are.

I wakeboard and waterski a lot more than wakesurfing, but it's a nice change of pace, especially when the lake is blown out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duder

Wakesurfing is kinda....meh. Real surfing is better.
Wakeboarding/ waterskiing is the real deal.

With that, buy an Inland Surfer....from what I've heard, they're the best. Plus they're local here in WA.

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Not too many good surfing waves in Nashville, TN. I have to settle for what I can get. I do wakeboard all the time and have the popping knees/ankles, neck to prove it. Just wanted a change of pace and something to do when my body hurts too much to wakeboard. It's amazing how hard wakeboarding is on your body. Also wakeboarding > waterskiing unless a jump is involved.

Once again, thanks Yooper. I'll have to look into that Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy.

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Originally Posted by yooper

Unfortunately, every boat makes a better wave on one side than the other.

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Let me guess, the driver's side? ;)

On a friend's Malibu, you can "set" the steering wheel and walk over to the starboard side. From there you can steer the boat just by leaning in one direction or the other. We get just as good of a wake on both sides that way.

Of course, it helps that the lake we do this on is almost never crowded. So it's relatively safe to leave the wheel. I wouldn't do it on a crowded lake of course.

Anyway, it's all about the weight and where you have it. Not only does port/starboard matter, but so does fore/aft. Speed makes a difference too. Depending on how much weight we have on board we're usually around 9-11 mph. The faster end of that range flattens out the wake, but that can be a good thing if the sweet spot is too small due to how you have the boat loaded. It's all about finding a balance.

Oh and one other piece of advice, try to keep the wind at your back. We'll still go out on moderately choppy days because the sweet spot stays relatively smooth and having the wind at you back helps quite a bit.

Took the boat out for the first time this year last weekend. Didn't get in the water, but tested out the new ballast system with 7 people in the boat. We loaded up one side and the wave was huge. Should provide for a good surfing wave. The back part of the sweet spot even had a pretty good size tube in it. I'll post some pictures later this year showing the set up.

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Originally Posted by NashBoarder

Took the boat out for the first time this year last weekend. Didn't get in the water, but tested out the new ballast system with 7 people in the boat. We loaded up one side and the wave was huge. Should provide for a good surfing wave. The back part of the sweet spot even had a pretty good size tube in it. I'll post some pictures later this year showing the set up.

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Sounds like your on the right track. I have a Centurion Air Warrior 21.5 ft. Last year I had two 750 lb sac's in the V-drive compartments and the belly tank. Fill all the way up the side your surfing and the other side half full. If you want to make the wake longer add weight to the bow. You can even go up to 14 mph. All boats are different. Mastercraft like 300-400 lbs. in the front-side storage locker. This summer I'm going BIGGER, this winter I installed a Enzo sac. It fills the back locker and then goes under the side bench up to the locker. The Enzo sac full weights in at 1500 lbs. We will see how much water I can get in it and still fell some what safe. I have two Hyperlight Surf Boards and a Inland Surfer Board. The Inland Surfer board is my favorite. There made of glass and very fast down the line. I will get pic's up this summer, the water here is still very cold.

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Originally Posted by Duder

Wakesurfing is kinda....meh. Real surfing is better.
Wakeboarding/ waterskiing is the real deal.

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Wakesurfing is great, and lots of good tips. You have to play around with your particular set-up, and it will vary for each rider, everytime. We use our x-7, with the ballast in the back, an additional 300Lbs or lead bars, and then load up a side. With such a small boat it takes a lot to get the wake going, and you really notice where people sit and who is in the boat. Speeds can vary a few rpms, and the sweet spot can be 1/2 or 1/4 rpm different per rider.

and most importantly, get on the nose
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/...29c60890_b.jpg

fun
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/...4fc78c14_b.jpg

more fun
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Really fun
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/...ce91f586_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/...d4d73caf_b.jpg

Most fun
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/...81d87bd9_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1023/...68456c15_b.jpg

now we just need a hybrid powered boat.....

you forgot your hydrosliding and skurfer pictures

I'm just getting into wake surfing.... so much fun.

So nice that it doesn't hurt... I already have enough sports that create the hurt...

The best thing about wake surfing is that you can drink beer while doing it - which is pretty unique in all of sports. Just went out yesterday - my boat same as fullballs - with about 1,000 all in one corner the wake can get almost waist high..and it's not a huge boat. Just make sure to remind everyone to jump back to the center of the boat before turning too sharp or you'll get flooded.

My parents used to have a Mastercraft Maristar 210. We could weight both sides equally and we could surf both sides of the wake. It was narrow enough that you could jump from one side of the wake to the other mid ride. Their new boat is a Mastercraft X-Star. It will only put up a clean wake on the port side. Every boat will be able to make a cleaner wake on one side due to the direction the prop turns. With the old boat the difference between the two sides was small. With the new boat you can barely make a surfable wake on the starboard side.

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Originally Posted by fluffballs

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/...0b619b4f_b.jpg

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Lake Shasta, stopped there when driving through for first time last summer, once beggining of July and once end of August. CRAZY the difference in the water and height. Beautiful place for sure.