Surfing behind 255XD

[Klover]

So this weekend we were able to test out the surf wave behind our new 255XD for the first time. The water was cold (about 60) and we didn't have much time to try it out, but this is my daughter's first run behind the boat. We had all 3 of the stock ballast's 100% full and just had 5 of us on the boat. The water was a bit choppy and I'm sure we could have got it better if we could have played with the ballasts and speed more. 3 of us tried it out quickly but none of us were able to go ropeless with the 100% full ballasts (my daughter usually can go ropeless on our 08' AR210 without any ballasts or wake booster) -- but, like I said, we weren't able to get the wave like we wanted and didn't have enough time to play with it and no one wanted to stay/get in the water longer than 1 or two runs due to the cold water. Hoping to get to try it again on Memorial weekend. But at least wanted to post the first trial run.

 

[J-RAD]

It's looking very close to surfable there. I'm sure the next time you'll have it. 60° water is no joke! She's toughing it out there.

 

[buckbuck]

60 degrees?! I would have full drysuit and booties.
Thanks for the video, @Klover
We need more.

 

[Klover]

It's looking very close to surfable there. I'm sure the next time you'll have it. 60° water is no joke! She's toughing it out there.

Ya -- they coerced me to get in and try. It was cold, but good motivation to not fall. I went for about 10 mins and once up, wasn't bad, but getting all the way in the water was pretty chilly. Glad the boat is easy to get back into I really wanted to find the sweet spot, but just wasn't able to with the ballast and speed settings we tried.

 

[rad1026]

What was the speed on the video? Looks really close. You will figure it out, but I think I would have expected a little more wave with ballast full. Do you have any type of wake booster or shaper?

 

[Skierdad]

Um, we won't see 60 degree water until late July. My boys will start surfing and skiing next week. Probably 50-55 degrees. I think our main lake we go to in July/August will hit about 64 tops. You all got it made if you got 60 degrees already. I would take that right now!! Very jealous here.

 

[J-RAD]

What was the speed on the video? Looks really close. You will figure it out, but I think I would have expected a little more wave with ballast full. Do you have any type of wake booster or shaper?

The 255XD has the built-in push button WakeBooster.

 

[J-RAD]

Um, we won't see 60 degree water until late July. My boys will start surfing and skiing next week. Probably 50-55 degrees. I think our main lake we go to in July/August will hit about 64 tops. You all got it made if you got 60 degrees already. I would take that right now!! Very jealous here.

That is the saddest story I've ever heard...

 

[Klover]

What was the speed on the video? Looks really close. You will figure it out, but I think I would have expected a little more wave with ballast full. Do you have any type of wake booster or shaper?

I varied between 10.5 to about 12 mph. It's nice with the Connext toggle buttons as you can increase or decrease about 0.1 mph with the push of the buttons.

 

[jlcj7]

Um, we won't see 60 degree water until late July. My boys will start surfing and skiing next week. Probably 50-55 degrees. I think our main lake we go to in July/August will hit about 64 tops. You all got it made if you got 60 degrees already. I would take that right now!! Very jealous here.

Wow. I feel like a lightweight now. Water here is 75 currently and it’s too cold for me to get in. Must have an “8” in the first number for me to get in now.

 

[Skierdad]

Water on the lake we live on is currently hovering around 52-54 degrees. There is a smaller lake we are going to check out this weekend and I imagine that will be around 60. You don't spend a lot of time in the water. Your driver needs to know what he/she is doing because once they drop into the water, you should already be getting the line tight.

 

[anmut]

You're going to have to list towards surf side and ... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but add more weight. That wave looks like piss... but we knew that when Yamaha released their stock imagery of these boats "surfing." Not enough hull displacement to create an actual wave. If you're not trailering maybe add 500-1000 lbs of lead?

 

[T.c.P]

We were able to make it a bit better at 13 mph with full ballast, still an great wave but surf-able. Small sweet spot.

 

[NewBoater]

We were able to make it a bit better at 13 mph with full ballast, still an great wave but surf-able. Small sweet spot.

Could adults surf ropeless stock ballast and stock wake boosters? Or more weight needed for adults?

 

[T.c.P]

Could adults surf ropeless stock ballast and stock wake boosters? Or more weight needed for adults?

Not sure yet. The one adult who tried had issues going ropeless, however she is use to a highly modified Malibu. My guess is more ballast will be needed or we just need to play with the settings more. Also, we only had two adults in the boat and one is about the size of a large child. It will never be the perfect surf boat, but boy is it a sweet boat that can do it all.

 

[Klover]

Could adults surf ropeless stock ballast and stock wake boosters? Or more weight needed for adults?

I think it could happen with the right amount of people, stock ballast set up and speed/water conditions and right surf board. My daughter can/could easily surf rope less on our 08'210 AR210 and we had nothing extra on it (no ballasts, wake booster, speed control, etc) -- we just used a large landlock surf board. We could get most anyone under 150 lbs ropeless surfing on our old boat if they knew what they were doing and the water conditions were good, but it was a pretty small sweet spot.
I was hoping when we got the 255XD with the built in ballast and wake booster it would be a lot easier -- but no luck ropeless on our first attempt - but the water was too cold to try multiple attempts and we only tried with all ballasts full. We're hoping to get it dialed in this month, but likely will add the transom ballast since the general consensus is it greatly improves the wave.

 

[NewBoater]

Keep us updated if anyone gets adults ropeless we need some videos.

 

[DonnyC]

We tried surfing rope-less for the first time last weekend. All three ballast tanks 100% full and 10 people on-board, and couldn't get it dialed-in. Super disappointed!

Not really wanting to add external ballasts or lead bags (that's why I bought the XD).

Wondering if going less than 100% ballast on the non-surf side will help? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[J-RAD]

We tried surfing rope-less for the first time last weekend. All three ballast tanks 100% full and 10 people on-board, and couldn't get it dialed-in. Super disappointed!

Not really wanting to add external ballasts or lead bags (that's why I bought the XD).

Wondering if going less than 100% ballast on the non-surf side will help? Thanks for any suggestions.

You will need to get the boat to list (lean) surf side to accentuate the wave surf side. Try 0 ballast on the non surf and all 10 passengers in the back surf side corner.

 

[NewBoater]

2 adults on back swim platform works well but introduces carbon monoxide risk. If you can get 2 back there and 2 more adults in that cockpit rear surf corner sitting down and rest of passengers in cockpit standing up toward left side of boat you should have a really good surf wave. Might even work without the 2 people on the swim platform. But having the extra weight back there on the swim platform is clutch for a big wave.

Also maybe try 100% ballast surf side and 100% ski locker and 0% ballast non surf side. That might also help dig the surf side corner of the boat in the water.

Here’s a photo from Gantlin page to show how you really need that angle of the boat and the back of the boat dug in the water to get that big wave.

Good luck and keep us posted!