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NEED HELP GETTING A WAVE BIG ENOUGH ON 242X ESeries

ADSA95

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Ok Im hoping for some good advice on this. I am so frustrated with not being able to get a wave big enough to surf on. Here is my current set up on my 242 X Eseries:
I have the new wake booster installed then have middle bag full, starboard bag full, and 200lb extra bag on rear seat by swim platform. The wave is big enough for my wife to surf, she 5'2" 115lbs but I can not I'm 6' 185lbs. Any suggestions??????
 

J-RAD

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This is the best thread I can direct you to.


In essence, you need to have the right ballast in the right place and get your boat to list surf side. My combination of Gantlin Products Wake Wedge and Gantlin Custom Transom Ballast bag have allowed me to surf every single board I have in my inventory ropeless and play behind my '16 AR240.

 

J-RAD

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@ADSA95, I'm 5'10" and the same 185lbs, so we're on par with one another and these same results should be achievable behind your boat.

What board are you riding?

I'm also going to tag @jcyamaharider and @jcyamahariders wife here. They're the Gantlin Products owners that you can talk to with regard to their products. They likewise own a 242x.
 

BigAbe75

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Your rub rail needs to be under water (for all the enhancers- Booster, Wake Wedge and TVWake). With the Booster, I had ski locker full, port/stbd bag empty and the custom transom bag full.

I’m not ropeless, yet. But that’s mostly due to skill level. I’m 6’5” and 350lbs. Last time I used that setup, I had my first glimpse of slack on the rope. Others went ropeless that day with ease.

I think the thing you’re missing is not enough weight on the transom.

Also, the starboard wake is always better than the port due to the pitch of the impellers and the way they function/rotate.

Not sure where you are located, but if you could find a way to attend the Shelbyville IL gathering in 2 weeks, I know we could get you a ride on a similar boat to surf, or find someone to loan you a transom bag and see what happens on your boat with it.

I suspect there will be a lot of guys trying out different configurations this year, and the few experts will be hopping boats to check things out and/or assist.
 

Julian

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BigAbe75

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Little tough to see at a distance, but this was the setup I described above.

 

scokill

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2,000 lbs is ideal for me....different boat but same principle. 800 on swim deck, 800 on surf side seat, 400 on floor on back. More would be better. I don't find that the weight in the ski locker helps much. I'm 6'1 200 lbs. My daughters can surf all day with 800 on the swim deck and people surfside.
 

Mjolsen74

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Second trip to play with settings (speed/ballast). Had me and two 200lb guys on boat. Surf side bag full and different levels of ski locker with camera guy on surfside back seat. Couldn’t surf without rope (I’m 5’11” 200lbs)
Guess i need one of those transom bags too..
we thought sweet spot speed was 12-13mph.
Oh, lake was only 6-8ft deep. I think that contributes to the issue..? I have the hyper lite 5’3 shim.. seems pretty good..

Few shots below. Without rope was a cool pic but just that hahaha...


Mike
 

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J-RAD

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Second trip to play with settings (speed/ballast). Had me and two 200lb guys on boat. Surf side bag full and different levels of ski locker with camera guy on surfside back seat. Couldn’t surf without rope (I’m 5’11” 200lbs)
Guess i need one of those transom bags too..
we thought sweet spot speed was 12-13mph.
Oh, lake was only 6-8ft deep. I think that contributes to the issue..? I have the hyper lite 5’3 shim.. seems pretty good..

Few shots below. Without rope was a cool pic but just that hahaha...


Mike
Hey Mike (@Mjolsen74),

Here's a video I shot a couple of weeks ago behind my AR240. I was trying to demonstrate the Slingshot Coaster's abilities with a minimal setup on my boat. However, I give some insight into the boat setup, speed etc in the video that may help you out. Basically, it is possible, but not great surfing...


I'm in 10-12ft of water here, it's possible shallower water could have an effect. Besides that we're a similar size. I'm 5'10" and 190lbs, not far off. As far as speed is concerned, your wake might look great at 12-13mph, but you'll never keep up with it at that speed.

That transom ballast bag (and ski locker ballast if you have it), I'm my opinion should be the first investment people make when attempting to start wakesurfing. There is just no substitute for displacement in making a surfable wake.
 

Julian

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grywlfbg

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I don't have a boat yet (in the market for a 242X) but I've done a ton of reading on this site. You should go through the show us your wakesurfing mods thread that @J-RAD posted up above. I think you need more weight out back.

From that thread, my plan is: ski locker full, gantlin bag on surf side swim deck (for reference, the 24' model is 800lbs), and wakebooster. I will then play with speed and possibly the factory rear bag to tune.
 

jcyamaharider

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Your water depth is hurting you also......... 10ft minimum usually. You need water to displace water.
 

Shady28

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Our family is fully new to surfing as of 2 months ago and everyone (beyond the toddler) has now gone ropeless for at least 2 - 5 minutes. Skill level is low and getting better each weekend and we're having a blast. I'm 6' 3" @ 180.

My setup for regular is:
- Wakebooster
- 200 lbs steel on port side swim platform (in a dry bag)
- 100 lbs steel in port side wet storage (behind seat)
- 100 lbs steel in port side seating (behind batteries)
- 110% port side ballast
- 45% center ballast
- 100 lbs steel in starboard seat
- 0% starboard ballast

- 10+ feet of water
- 11 mph

*When I come into the lift I even out all the steel weight so I don't list on the lift. 150 (port) - 100 (ctr) - 150 (starb)
 

anmut

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Ok Im hoping for some good advice on this. I am so frustrated with not being able to get a wave big enough to surf on. Here is my current set up on my 242 X Eseries:
I have the new wake booster installed then have middle bag full, starboard bag full, and 200lb extra bag on rear seat by swim platform. The wave is big enough for my wife to surf, she 5'2" 115lbs but I can not I'm 6' 185lbs. Any suggestions??????
My buddy has the same boat, same issue. I can get him up behind my 212S with just the bag on the rear transom and 500lbs of lead. He's like 6'4 and probably goes 220. But when I surf behind his stock 242x (6', 200lbs) the pocket is so f'ing small, you have to be right at the rear deck and then there's no where to move.

We've tried all sorts of different ballast configurations, I think best being 100% overfilled on surf side and 50% in the center.

The last time I pulled him in his boat I noticed one thing that the stock Yamaha "surf boat" sucks at, and that's speed control. On my boat, I have RideSteady, and I can dial in the speed in .1mph. I've found it necessary, depending on load and rider, to optimize speed/wave before we surf and while surfing. On his boat, this was impossible to do while going forward - the Connext system demanded you to put the boat in N, go to a screen, click the speed, hit save, the go surf again. Not only that, but the speedo doesn't give fractional MPH, so it was impossible to see how close the system came to set speed. At least on my boat, a 1/2 mph can make or break the wave, so seeing this BS on the Yamaha system be basically untunable unless you stop and unreadable while going was really f'ing dumb. Boo on Yamaha for that setup.

Going back on setup - make sure you're meeting the following requirements:
  1. Deep water - 12' is absolute minimum to roll a wave - 20' or more is better.
  2. Sink the boat - stock ballast systems are honestly junk. Even full you're only putting 1600lbs in your boat and I don't think the software on the Connext actually fills them full to reach that potential as I've seen his ballast bags and they're not bulging. With the above settings you're talking maybe 800lbs of ballast. I would suggest adding supplemental lead ballast and buying the transom bag. You'll know when you're ready to surf when the rear deck is under water.
  3. Speed control - play with the angle of the boat to impact your wave. Steeper bow angle = taller wave = bigger push for bigger riders, but smaller length of pocket. Shallower bow angle will lengthen the pocket but it might not be surfable for heavier people.
  4. Technique - if you haven't dropped the rope yet and you're new, it might not be the boat or the wave, it could be you. I see a lot of new people spend too much time in the dropped-back-on-rear-foot position that's basically apply brakes. It's a balance to catch that wave. If you have any friends with a legit surf boat, see if you can catch a wave (and giant pocket) behind their boat so you can "feel" what it's like to have the rope slack up.
 

jcyamaharider

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blizkill8

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Thank you, your website shows it works for 2010 to 2021 years, however when I was searching other sites, they show the C1039 as only for 2017 and newer, sounds silly, I just want to make sure something didn't change in 2017 where it won't fit appropriately on my 2016?

Example website: https://www.wakemakers.com/products/fly-high-fatsac-yamaha-24?gclid=CjwKCAjwrranBhAEEiwAzbhNteK6DB3CmSEI7T0IwTfaLeW6DOq1p8Ej6DAT8Vsxu1LfI1A5hsjwNxoCsfgQAvD_BwE (scroll down a bit on the left it says 2017 and newer for the C1039...)

*also - do you sell just the bag and not the pump?, I was planning on filling this bag via a t and valve on my existing ballast pump system (jabsco water puppy)
 

BigAbe75

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My buddy has the same boat, same issue. I can get him up behind my 212S with just the bag on the rear transom and 500lbs of lead. He's like 6'4 and probably goes 220. But when I surf behind his stock 242x (6', 200lbs) the pocket is so f'ing small, you have to be right at the rear deck and then there's no where to move.

We've tried all sorts of different ballast configurations, I think best being 100% overfilled on surf side and 50% in the center.

The last time I pulled him in his boat I noticed one thing that the stock Yamaha "surf boat" sucks at, and that's speed control. On my boat, I have RideSteady, and I can dial in the speed in .1mph. I've found it necessary, depending on load and rider, to optimize speed/wave before we surf and while surfing. On his boat, this was impossible to do while going forward - the Connext system demanded you to put the boat in N, go to a screen, click the speed, hit save, the go surf again. Not only that, but the speedo doesn't give fractional MPH, so it was impossible to see how close the system came to set speed. At least on my boat, a 1/2 mph can make or break the wave, so seeing this BS on the Yamaha system be basically untunable unless you stop and unreadable while going was really f'ing dumb. Boo on Yamaha for that setup.

Going back on setup - make sure you're meeting the following requirements:
  1. Deep water - 12' is absolute minimum to roll a wave - 20' or more is better.
  2. Sink the boat - stock ballast systems are honestly junk. Even full you're only putting 1600lbs in your boat and I don't think the software on the Connext actually fills them full to reach that potential as I've seen his ballast bags and they're not bulging. With the above settings you're talking maybe 800lbs of ballast. I would suggest adding supplemental lead ballast and buying the transom bag. You'll know when you're ready to surf when the rear deck is under water.
  3. Speed control - play with the angle of the boat to impact your wave. Steeper bow angle = taller wave = bigger push for bigger riders, but smaller length of pocket. Shallower bow angle will lengthen the pocket but it might not be surfable for heavier people.
  4. Technique - if you haven't dropped the rope yet and you're new, it might not be the boat or the wave, it could be you. I see a lot of new people spend too much time in the dropped-back-on-rear-foot position that's basically apply brakes. It's a balance to catch that wave. If you have any friends with a legit surf boat, see if you can catch a wave (and giant pocket) behind their boat so you can "feel" what it's like to have the rope slack up.
I probably won’t be able to find it, but I’m sure I responded to your speed control complaint with some tips on another thread the other day.
 

jcyamaharider

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Thank you, your website shows it works for 2010 to 2021 years, however when I was searching other sites, they show the C1039 as only for 2017 and newer, sounds silly, I just want to make sure something didn't change in 2017 where it won't fit appropriately on my 2016?

Example website: https://www.wakemakers.com/products/fly-high-fatsac-yamaha-24?gclid=CjwKCAjwrranBhAEEiwAzbhNteK6DB3CmSEI7T0IwTfaLeW6DOq1p8Ej6DAT8Vsxu1LfI1A5hsjwNxoCsfgQAvD_BwE (scroll down a bit on the left it says 2017 and newer for the C1039...)

*also - do you sell just the bag and not the pump?, I was planning on filling this bag via a t and valve on my existing ballast pump system (jabsco water puppy)
We do sell just the bag and 2015 to 2021 24ft are the exact same hull. Also I was the one that designed every single Yamaha bag on the market so.....pretty sure I won't steer you wrong. lol
 

Shady28

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Have an ’18 242x, am 6’ 3” 180, and have a wake that I can go ropeless all day long and do multiple 360’s on a run.

100% surf side, 40% ski locker, 25% non-surf side, 600 lbs steel in drybag surf side swim platform, 100 lbs wetstorage surf side, 100 lbs surf side battery storage, 50 lbs under each front seat.

Plus Yamaha wakebooster.

Boards: Slingshot, Phase5 Ahi, Liquid Force TC Skim, Doomswell Neo, Doomswell Mongrel and some kids boards.
 
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