Wakebooster Update/Help

[Skierdad]

Hey all. 2019 AR195. I got the wakebooster package and here is my review thus far.

Takes about 8 minutes or so to fill the ballast tanks. No big deal. I am getting better at putting the plate on but still have this total paranoia that I am going to drop something in 40' of water and watch $1000 sink so I have two lines tied to the thing as a just in case measure.

The wake definitely curls nice but with just my family of 4 in there, I am not seeing enough to allow my 11 yr old to go ropeless. I am running 10 or 11 mph. Anyone running a different speed? Are you adding more than th 500 lbs ballast? Am I doing something wrong????

Overall I am still glad I spent the money and added the feature to the boat. I realize I am not driving a Malibu or a Tige surf machine but I did have hopes it would provide a little better ability to surf than what we have right now.

Anyone else feeling this way?

 

[biffdotorg]

search the surf setup threads here. Most are running double that amount of weight.

The better question is, where are you placing them? As the marketing photos show them evenly distributed, which is wrong. You want them to the surf side and as far back as possible to get the boat to list to that side/corner.

Good luck

 

[Skierdad]

I have them at each corner on the back of the boat. That is where the tie downs are located/placed.

So basically I may need to add more ballast. Or convince my wife I need the 212X (which is where I would like to go).

 

[biffdotorg]

I should have been a bit more clear. The single engine boats can utilize centered ballast more than the dual engine boats. We found that to be true with our single engine SeaDoo in the past.

But listing the boat will be very important. So experiment with ballast. Take what you have and move it to one side. If you already have them filled, then move people to one side.

This was the case in our boat yesterday. A group of the girls wanted to surf, but didn't want to wait for the bags to fill (as usual). So we moved all the heavy folks to the surfside corner. And they wondered why they had to rope surf. Well, patience is the virtue they have none of.

So yes, see what you can do with what you have. You may need a locker bag for volume, and then use the two you have on the surfside. Then move them to the other side for opposite foot riders.

Good luck,

 

[Scottintexas]

and ropeless I believe is as much about technique as it is the wave,

maybe post a video of your 11 yr old,

are they doing any other boards, knee or wake board??

 

[Skierdad]

The 13 yr old skis and wakeboards. The `11 yr old wakeboards when bored but will surf with the rope until he is dead tired. Basically I have a skier and a surfer....which makes life not exactly lovely at times because we go from full ballast to empty and then 2 hours later, full again. lol

 

[anmut]

Don't forget to get into some deep water! Saturday, with 1400lbs of water ballast, the wakebooster, and 700lbs of people weight I was able to go rope less, but only after hitting 11+ feet deep of water. Anything shallower than that gave me a nice surfable wake but a pretty small pocket. As soon as the depth hit, it was all push.

 

[Skierdad]

Can’t get video on here but here is a pic.

 

[anmut]

From this weekend

 

[Scottintexas]

that is a clean wave and I love that attachment point on the fatsac,

is that a Gantlin design bag or a generic fat sac ?
is there a reason you don't have it filled all the way up ??

A picture of course is only a snapshot but he's way to far outside and probably to far back,

he looks like a big 11 yr old but I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be able to go ropeless, just get him to shorten the rope, maybe hold the handle with his back hand and use his front to hold the distance, that way if he looses the wave he can let the front hand loosen and he won't fall,
get him all the way into the wave and have him try to stay there

 

[Scottintexas]

or maybe have someone in the boat take up some slack on the rope and then he can hold the handle with his front hand only, this will change his hip and shoulder placement and it will be more like a skate board than a wakeboard position,


.

 

[Skierdad]

Here is a better picture of two different times.

 

[Skierdad]

Just seems like the sweet spot is so small he can’t stay in it. This is the new wakebooster package from Yamaha which included two fat sacs and the wedge.

 

[Scottintexas]

he's certainly in the right spot,

I think you wave looks sufficient,

Has he tried to drop the rope yet ? I found once I threw the rope it was a whole different balance game and it suddenly "clicked" for me,

If I was going to nit pick any of it I'd tell him to keep the board pointed at the boat, 12 clock and really use the front foot as accelerator and back foot as the brake,

.



.

 

[RXBoost]

The wave looks nice and clean. Hes gonna have to probably be a little closer to the boat and a little closer to the center. He will also probably need to work on his stance - is he leaning back? If so that causes him to 'brake'. A slight lean forward should bring him up. It's all about balance for me.

 

[anmut]

Has he tried to drop the rope yet ? I found once I threw the rope it was a whole different balance game and it suddenly "clicked" for me,

I agree! If he can keep slack in the rope, then time to toss the training wheel and go for it. Also, have him watch some videos on pumping the board if he gets out of sweet spot.

 

[white2kstang]

My 13yr old rides behind our 195. She is about 100lbs. This was her first time riding behind it with the wakebooster. She is definitely still learning the pocket and board control.

I have run a few different combos before this. I ended up with both bags surf side. Full they are 210 lbs each. It looks like you need to fill them more. When they are full they don't move as much and it's less stress on the strap points.

The 1st pic is with 700lbs of people weight in the rear part of the boat, a 210lbs yamaha bag on each side, 200lbs steel surf side. It was rough that day with lots of boat wakes and traffic. It was hard to hold the wave and I'm not sure what contributed and what wrecked the wave. Results were nit consistent.

For the 2nd pic, both 210 bags are on surf side plus my fat 230lb self driving and 200lbs of steel on the floor in front of the rear seat. 100lbs of steel in the ski locker. Wife sitting in rear seat opposite surf side and my 55lb daughter sitting in the bow.

 

[marcham]

We use 850 lbs of ballast. 650 in the center on the rear deck and the Yamaha 200lb bag on the rider side. Also, adjust the wakebooster to contact on the side and not the rear. Speed is 10.2 to 10.4 mph on the RideSteady (speedo is off by 1 mph, which makes a huge difference).

Pocket is about 8 feet long for my daughter. I'm 210 lbs and can go ropelless with a 63 in board.

 

[Skierdad]

Ok. It looks like we need some more weight and then I need to work with him on letting go of the rope. So weight and technique!! Thanks all for the help. We will have two families in the boat this weekend so that will be my extra weight on top of the ballast. I have a back up battery that will go on that side as well.

Thank you all so much! Have a great 4th

 

[anmut]

What's everyone's thoughts about more center weight vs. surf-side weight on a 21' boat? I've got 750 in the ski locker right now and 750 on the surf side. Problem is, I'm the only goofy foot when we go out, everyone else is regular. So we get to swap the bags a lot. I'm wondering if that 750 transom was centered and just the wakebooster was moved if it would allow for easier rider changing?