Surfing Question

[Blazin14]

I'm interested in surfing and want to move my kids in that direction, but I have a basic concern. My wife is not the best boat captain / driver. (she thinks she is - but she needs more practice). My main question is once you catch the wave with rope or w/o rope, if the boat stops or slows down fast the surfer will crash in the back of the boat because the surfer is so close to the transom. It looks like sometimes the surfer is behind the boat or just barley on the side, hence my concern.

Am I over looking this risk?

 

[CFD3Captain]

I have never surfed (YET) but when I had my old boat my wife and I rode the wakeboard a good bit. It was a PAIN for me driving and a nightmare when I was being towed. With that said. We both want to surf with the new boat and I bought Perfect Pass to install for this season. I know it's a large expense but it will be well justified. Just listening to a few other's say its a marriage saver made it an easy sell for me to the wife.

Sorry I can't specifically answer your question, but I do think you are overlooking it a tad.

 

[thcole]

I agree that perfect pass makes it much easier. But you will not"crash" into the boat if she just stops. If you drop the boat into reverse you may hit it hard. But there is not a ton of push with the wave, you won't ride to much without the boat "pulling you"

 

[ToddW850]

@thcole is correct. The boat will still have forward momentum, along with the surfer. Unless she puts in reverse, then the surfer will lose momentum (along with no wake now), sink, and they will not collide. It's different than the speeds traveled during wakeboarding.

I used to "skurf" growing up and it was fun. That was before wakeboarding. You'll love it. Post some pics.

 

[KXCam22]

Typically the surfer will just lose the wave and sink. It is hard to keep the boat moving at a constant slow speed without the perfect pass. I hate to say it, but the perfect pass is a "must" if your wife drives the boat. It is a marriage saver. And then you get to surf. Cam.

 

[Blazin14]

Great feedback as always ... I will look into perfect pass as first option

 

[OrangeTJ]

Maybe I have just gotten lucky, but I haven't found it hard to maintain a consistent surf speed at all. Much easier than wakeboarding speeds IMO, where the boat is constantly on the edge of either falling off plane or tring to gain 5 mph. On our boat for surf speeds, I just set one engine to 7K rpm and the other to 5.5K rpm, turn the wheel so we get a big surf-side turn going and just let it run. if fine speed adjustments are needed, I use only one throttle (typically the higher rpm one) to do so as using both results in too much speed change. We've only done it a couple of times but it wasn't difficult. Looking forward to more this year.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Adding the Wake wedge to your boat will also put the surfer farther away from the transom and make the boat able to go in a straight line.

Notice in this picture the wash and how close the rider is to the back transom:




Add the Wake Wedge with no other changes to the boat and it added a good 4-5 foot for the rider off the transom.

 

[waterboy]

We surf with people ballast only. It works for the kids ropeless (14, 19 and 21 yrs old) just fine. I am not able to ropeless for any distance. Looking into ballast bags but thats another story...

I am able to accel slowly to speed (around 6K spm or something) and throttles hold just fine. I have not had to touch the throttles across the whole lake while the kids surf ropeless.

Maybe you need a throttle tension adjust to make it hold better. Skiiing, tubing, etc is another story when it comes to throttle adjusting. I am constantly working throttles to hold speed where I want it then.

Perfectpass is awesome though no doubt. Just not in my budget with 2 in college.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Above are the pics @trent