What do you need to get started with wakesurf?

[Dieselmore]

One 750lb bag sounds amazing! I've been looking at all these ballast setups and I'm trying to figure out a good starting point. Thanks for the help!

 

[jcyamaharider]

Yep one 750 bag on the seat and an inland surfer tako board. Could have used a little more weight but that is all that boat wanted to pull.

 

[KXCam22]

I was able to download and play the video (VLC player) at work. I clicked on the icon of the document (not the file name) and it downloaded. Delete the .pdf and it worked. Its only a 20s clip but is does show foot positioning from the gopro mounted on the board nose. I finished my wakesurf roof racks yesterday and will post some pics tonight. I built it out of scraps so total cost was about $5 with another $29 for some cool pads. Cam.

 

[dansshin]

Cam, I couldn't open the video.

After you download it, you have to rename the file to remove the .pdf extension. Once done it plays fine on the Windows Media player.

 

[swatski]

@KXCam22 That video clip is freaking awesome!

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[KXCam22]

Glad you liked it! Possibly this weekend I will do one from the boat view. It would give a more complete perspective on board/boat/feet positioning and show the angle of pull. Now I just need to figure out the deep water start. Looks easy but I have not found any tutorials/video on it. Our new boards are surf style and quite buoyant. Might be hard to start on. Cam.

 

[dansshin]

@KXCam22 Your video helped big time as my wife and I were able get up this time out. I didnt try going ropeless or anything but we were getting up pretty regularly and able to follow the boat.

Below video is my wife getting up using about 15' rope (we took couple sections out because we were trying to get to the wake behind the boat and she was starting to pull her self closer to the boat before losing her balance.

https://flic.kr/p/JwJmH6

Thank you again. It was another fun day!

 

[KXCam22]

That video is great. Glad you guy got out and had some fun. We spent the day surfing as well. Cam.

 

[dansshin]

From the video can you tell if our wake is big enough? I think I had some water in the stock ballasts but we only had 4 people total so just my kids (who combine for 200lbs when either my wife and I were in the water. I did have them sit in the corner but not sure if it made any difference on the wake.

 

[KXCam22]

Your speed looked a bit high but hard to tell from video. We go 15 kmh which is about 11 mph. Its all practice and technique (and weight). In our 230 my son could surf ropeless with no ballast and a couple of 200lb kids sitting on the platform. Me I can't get my 210lb carcass to surf ropeless yet with 2400lbs ballast and the whole football team on board. I need practise but spend too much time having to drive the boat. Even with a rope it is still big fun. Turning in a circle cleans up the wake a fair bit. Cam.

 

[buckbuck]

I agree with Cam. Looks like your going a bit fast and could also slow down the initial pull. We usually are surfing in the 8-9 mph range. Try doing what Cam said and go in a circle to clean things up. It appears you have enough wave but could benefit from bigger friends and completely filling your tanks. We pop the cup holder out and reach down to see how full the tanks are. Generally we have to cycle the switch a couple times to get them full.

 

[KXCam22]

If your whole family surfs on the same side you can always get an additional ballast bag to put on the seat. The idea is to tip the boat to the side you surf on. It makes the wake better and longer. I replaced one of my side bags with an 800 lb (on our surf side). Bags are cheap and, although slight, the tipping of the boat definitely make a difference. Cam.

 

[dansshin]

Your speed looked a bit high but hard to tell from video. We go 15 kmh which is about 11 mph. Its all practice and technique (and weight). In our 230 my son could surf ropeless with no ballast and a couple of 200lb kids sitting on the platform. Me I can't get my 210lb carcass to surf ropeless yet with 2400lbs ballast and the whole football team on board. I need practise but spend too much time having to drive the boat. Even with a rope it is still big fun. Turning in a circle cleans up the wake a fair bit. Cam.

I believe I was going ~11 - 12 mph. If I go any slower it looked like wake in the back doesn't form.

We'll try doing the circle to see if that helps any.

 

[dansshin]

Are you able to replace the factory bags with bigger bags? Is the factory 212x bags 700 lbs each when full? How much bigger can you go and still leave the bags in the seats? I really don't want to have bags out in the open if I don't have to.

 

[KXCam22]

I am not sure of the 212 bag sizes but 400lbs each is a common size. You can also just tie an extra one to one side of the swim platform. That is how we started before building on board ballast. Dont get too carried away, a little extra in the right spot while turning in circles makes a huge difference. Cam.