AR240 Wake Surf Speed

[LoWeLL216]

Had the boat out today doing some surfing with a wakebooster and swim deck fat sac. We had 4 people in the rear of the boat and 2 in the captains chairs. Max throttle was only getting 10 mph at 7k+ rpm. Just seemed like the boat was bogging down. Anyone else experience this?

When I removed the surf equipment everything was running fine. I know you're not supposed to go over 15 mph with the wedge anyway (and we never surf that fast), but seemed strange. Normal or is something off?

Thanks!

 

[J-RAD]

Likely normal. Adding a little weight, like a body or two in the bow will help the boat level out just a degree or two more and help it move thru the water a little easier. The WakeBooster does cause some additional drag that I'm sure is contributing. Most surf around 10.5-11mph.

I ran the Gantlin Wake Wedge on my AR240 and was pushing 2,250lbs of ballast. 850lb swimdeck, 500lb surf side under rear seat, 900lb ski locker. The majority of the weight was still focused in the rear on the surf side, but having the weight in the ski locker really helps balance things out (even add more). Weight in the front also helps to lengthen the wave so moving a person to the bowwon't be a negative. If you get serious with ballast, swapping impellers to the 6WC makes a big difference in decreasing cavitation. They made a big difference for us, especially running at 4500-7000' elevation.

I'd 110% recommend adding the Hydrophase Ridesteady system to that boat. There's lots of info on it here on the forum.

 

[LoWeLL216]

Thanks - we actually have a ski locker fat sac, but have never used it. I'll give it a shot. I ink your right about helping plane out a little more. We seemed very bow high.