Ease of surfing setup?

[Ribs77]

Here's a vid of the above. Very hard for my wife to keep the speed steady, as others have noted. You can see slack start to build in the rope, but it doesn't last long.

So, RideSteady for next season, plus more ballast, human and otherwise. I'm discouraged but hopeful that I can eventually get it dialed. It's been hard to get enough people to come out and surf, which I couldn't have imagined would be a problem

 

[sunman]

I enjoy reading forums but I never join them. However I registered to respond to you. I assume by now you have figured out your setup. I have a '23 yamaha 195S that we surf with. I have the wake booster along with 4 ballast bags, all by wakemaker. I have a 490 lbs in the bow, a 125 lbs starboard side, a 365 lbs portside (under the rear seats), and a 900 lbs bag port side on the swim deck. I don't have speed control but this setup works.

 

[kgower]

I enjoy reading forums but I never join them. However I registered to respond to you. I assume by now you have figured out your setup. I have a '23 yamaha 195S that we surf with. I have the wake booster along with 4 ballast bags, all by wakemaker. I have a 490 lbs in the bow, a 125 lbs starboard side, a 365 lbs portside (under the rear seats), and a 900 lbs bag port side on the swim deck. I don't have speed control but this setup works.

1880 lbs is a lot of ballast for that boat. is the back transom under water? We went ropeless on our 21 195s with the booster 400 on the transom, 365 in the ski locker and 3 adults

 

[Ribs77]

I enjoy reading forums but I never join them. However I registered to respond to you. I assume by now you have figured out your setup. I have a '23 yamaha 195S that we surf with. I have the wake booster along with 4 ballast bags, all by wakemaker. I have a 490 lbs in the bow, a 125 lbs starboard side, a 365 lbs portside (under the rear seats), and a 900 lbs bag port side on the swim deck. I don't have speed control but this setup works.

I haven't got it quite figured out yet :/

I have a 400 pound bag for the transom, a 375 pound bag for the ski locker (although I guess I could put it somewhere else as well) and the Wake Booster.

I'm hoping to give it another try this weekend with both bags full and 6 people in the boat.

"We went ropeless on our 21 195s with the booster 400 on the transom, 365 in the ski locker and 3 adults"

I had that exact setup earlier in the summer but it wasn't enough for me to go ropeless. Didn't have the Wake Booster at that time, though.

 

[sunman]

The 125lbs is full, the other 2 bags in the boat form to the shape of the compartment so they’re not completely full. The bag on the swim deck is at least 90% full or more. 2 adults, 2 grown daughters (of course one of us will be in the water) are also on the boat. The swim deck is level with the water, it will lap up on there but not under water. It is a load. With the wake booster on also, about 11 mph is all I can get out of the boat. We surf between 9-10mph.

 

[Ribs77]

I haven't got it quite figured out yet :/

I have a 400 pound bag for the transom, a 375 pound bag for the ski locker (although I guess I could put it somewhere else as well) and the Wake Booster.

I'm hoping to give it another try this weekend with both bags full and 6 people in the boat.

"We went ropeless on our 21 195s with the booster 400 on the transom, 365 in the ski locker and 3 adults"

I had that exact setup earlier in the summer but it wasn't enough for me to go ropeless. Didn't have the Wake Booster at that time, though.

Did not get ropeless. Only ended up with three kids and one adult in the boat (~500 lbs) plus the ~750 pounds of ballast between the two bags and the wake shaper. Honestly, wasn't even really close. I think I need 30% more wave at least.

Pretty frustrating, to be honest. I think the only other thing to try would be more ballast and RideSteady. But conditions were perfect yesterday so speed control was not really an issue - just not enough ballast.

There's a lot I like about the boat but if I can't surf it ropeless consistently at 175 lbs, I might need to move to a dedicated wake boat.

 

[sunman]

Hum…
I have about 400 lbs in the front of the boat. Supposedly the weight displacement makes a big difference. We were not close either until I added the big 900 lbs bag on the swim deck. One other thing we had to learn was not putting too much weight on your rear leg, it slows the board down.

 

[Ribs77]

Hum…
I have about 400 lbs in the front of the boat. Supposedly the weight displacement makes a big difference. We were not close either until I added the big 900 lbs bag on the swim deck. One other thing we had to learn was not putting too much weight on your rear leg, it slows the board down.

Yeah, I understand the technique and have done it on other waves. On other boats I am practically launching into the transom because I'm used to trying to get as much speed as possible behind my boat. It's just not enough push and an extremely tiny pocket that's easy to fall out of on my boat so far.

I think I need the 650 bag for the transom, then I can put the 400 bag in the seating area and another 400 bag in the locker. Then maybe I'll get somewhere

 

[sunman]

Agreed…..

 

[Ribs77]

Update!

Been out a few times this year with the 650 transom bag and Ridesteady. I also have two other bags available for configuration - a 375 and a 440.

On one outing with my family, I had the transom bag set up plus the 375 (sitting on the floor near the rear port seats. I was mostly trying 10.5 mph on these runs and I think it was a bit too fast.

Yesterday I went out with two other adults and two kids. This time, I put the 375 in the compartment below the rear port seats, in addition to the transom bag. Plus the Yamaha wakebooster. This was making the boat REALLY unbalanced, so I put both kids up in the starboard bow to even things out. And at 9.5-9.8 mph, the wake was pretty big. HOWEVER, the conditions absolutely sucked (super super choppy) so I was getting some cavitation and the driver was having a hard time driving in any direction except a tight port circle.

Nevertheless, I was able to briefly go ropeless, and I generally had decent push. But I was having to constantly accommodate big fluctuations based on the conditions. I think on a calmer day it would have been fairly solid.

I think next time it's calm and I go out, I'll try the bag in the rear port locker again, but is that actually too much weight on one side? I'd probably try to have other passengers balance slightly in the starboard bow or fill the other 440 bag (maybe partially) and put it starboard or in the ski locker.

Pic of the wave (looks pretty solid here, but again, the chop kept messing it up)

 

[anmut]

That looks really decent. I know on my 21' boat, it'll throw a very surfable wave, but the push is very much in the highlighted portion. You can't be afraid to get close to the boat and/or into the wave.

 

[Ribs77]

Yeah, I was living in that spot. Watching the video, the chop kept launching me up and then my front foot would submarine on the rebound as a sort of overcorrection. Flatter conditions will definitely make this easier

 

[anmut]

Yeah, I was living in that spot. Watching the video, the chop kept launching me up and then my front foot would submarine on the rebound as a sort of overcorrection. Flatter conditions will definitely make this easier

LOL yep, been there. We tried a big lake in WI a couple of years ago and the boat traffic was intense. I surfed for maybe 10min before throwing in the towel.

Now, when it's windy or soupy from traffic, I break out the foil and get away from it all...

 

[Maccam26]

Ive learned to go really early in the AM with my 19 ft AR190

 

[Rinker2Yamaha24]

Yep.. 2021 AR190 here.. my latest setup has been 2 375s on the back top deck and a 375 on top of the bench seat. Wakebooster and ridesteady and move the "soda" cooler to the bow of the boat. 9.8 has been our sweet spot.

I really feel like this Slingshot Coaster 5.0 board has helped a lot. I go ropeless all the time

 

[anmut]

Yep.. 2021 AR190 here.. my latest setup has been 2 375s on the back top deck and a 375 on top of the bench seat. Wakebooster and ridesteady and move the "soda" cooler to the bow of the boat. 9.8 has been our sweet spot.

I really feel like this Slingshot Coaster 5.0 board has helped a lot. I go ropeless all the time

I know all the actual v-drive owners laugh at the Slingshot board because it's a hybrid and it comes with the Yamaha package, but it's a fantastic board to learn on and have fun with. I even bought a surf-style board but still bust out the Slingshot now and then.

If you ever want a challenge, try it without the fins!