OFFICIAL 2015 LSV 23 Surf Setup Thread...

[surfdude]

Thanks thtrog! Dealer says, like surfgate, no upgrading the power wedge. Oh well, every year everything gets a little better.

[Capdoogie]

I feel the same way. Wave forms before surfer is back in position to let go of rope. Faster gates and better wedge. Plus zero off cruise is fantastic. Mine never wanders +\- .1 mph. Even in heavy chop. With the LSA motor I think I could fill the whole boat with water and it wouldn't notice the difference. I'm very impressed with the 15 over my 14 lsv.

[pkh]

So stoked with our new boat and wave! I didn't expect such a huge improvement over our old LSV, but the new hull really is a big improvement and opens up new possibilities of ballast. Also the LS3 + 1235 combo has been great in delivering ~3500 RPMs up to 11mph.

Stock full

Wakemaker 800 custom sacs

Flyhigh 1000 triangle bag (25%-75% full depending on how many rear passengers)

150 lbs lead port side in front of rear sac

50-100lbs lead in passenger compartment

Wedge at 3-4 clicks from bottom

Optional: 800lbs flat sac in center, if we set this up then bow sac gets 75% full

Photos taken from driver seat, no angle trickery. The wave is very long with tons of push and a nice steepness.

[shawndoggy]

Also the LS3 + 1235 combo has been great in delivering ~3500 RPMs up to 11mph.

paradoxically, running 750s, 150 in lead in the bow, a third battery, and a really heavy sub box, I'm turning lower RPMs and going faster with a 2315 (3400/12). RPMs a bit lower if I fill the bow sack.

Think it's the added drag of pw2 over my old fashioned wedge causing increased RPMs?

[pkh]

paradoxically, running 750s, 150 in lead in the bow, a third battery, and a really heavy sub box, I'm turning lower RPMs and going faster with a 2315 (3400/12). RPMs a bit lower if I fill the bow sack.

Think it's the added drag of pw2 over my old fashioned wedge causing increased RPMs?

Not sure... I started with a 2419 and haven't noticed a huge difference except top speed. I range in the mid 3k on RPMs +/- a 100. I got it as low as 3,000 when I completely fill the bow sac but then it kills wave height.

I run with boat so I can just see over bow sitting down with bolster up.

[shawndoggy]

Not sure... I started with a 2419 and haven't noticed a huge difference except top speed. I range in the mid 3k on RPMs +/- a 100. I got it as low as 3,000 when I completely fill the bow sac but then it kills wave height.

I run with boat so I can just see over bow sitting down with bolster up.

I thought that the seat base spacer would make the seat ridiculously high, but for surfing it is just right.

[IXFE]

paradoxically, running 750s, 150 in lead in the bow, a third battery, and a really heavy sub box, I'm turning lower RPMs and going faster with a 2315 (3400/12). RPMs a bit lower if I fill the bow sack.

Think it's the added drag of pw2 over my old fashioned wedge causing increased RPMs?

It's gotta be the 14.5 vs 15 inch thing... I just switched from a 1235 to a 2315 and my surf rpm's went DOWN from 4,000 to 3,500.

I'm a believer now... won't be going back to 14.5" prop. I've been running 2315 for the last two seasons... should have just trusted it to begin with this year.

[IXFE]

Pics of '15 LSV with a fairly typical setup:

* MLS full 1,350 lbs

* Wakemakers bags 1,650 lbs

* Bow triangle 1,000 lbs

* Family 600 lbs

* Gear, stereo, cooler, etc 400 lbs (guess)

So that's aprox 5k! Amazing how much fiberglass is still above water.

[IXFE]

Here's a few pics of the full sacs...

[shawndoggy]

^^^ where's the wave pic?

[teamerickson]

I see water spots already!

[IXFE]

^^^ where's the wave pic?

No pics, just video...

But I know better ;-)

[IXFE]

I see water spots already!

A week at Shasta will do that... pulled it out this morning and got them all off!

[Capdoogie]

We don't ever run any xtra ballast up front. We don't need it. Something way different on my 15 than my 14'. PW2 and LSA I guess. We also never have to move our passengers around like on last years lsv.

[Capdoogie]

Oh and be careful with your boards on top of your Bimini. My friend had his boards on top and they got really hot and blew up like a balloon. We don't put our custom boards on top we store them underneath.

[2manyhobbies]

We don't ever run any xtra ballast up front. We don't need it. Something way different on my 15 than my 14'. PW2 and LSA I guess. We also never have to move our passengers around like on last years lsv.

We experimented with this exact setup in mind this weekend. We've been running a 1000lb's in the nose, and I've been thinking it's overkill. So instead of extra ballast up front, we just distributed the people..... This weekends results however identified a few things:

1 - Without the extra weight up front, the bow rise is too much to see without standing and frustrating to drive

2 - Without the extra weight, the engine works a lot more, we burn a lot more gas, and it's tough to get the boat to even plane out at 10.6-10.8. Perfect Pass was not doing so well getting locked in.

3 - Without the extra weight, the wave is about 20% taller but the pocket is much closer to the boat and about half the length

I personally will be adding the bow ballast back into our setup going forward, it makes for a much more enjoyable 8 hours of driving, less stress on the engine and less gas by about 1-1.5 gph.

[shawndoggy]

We experimented with this exact setup in mind this weekend. We've been running a 1000lb's in the nose, and I've been thinking it's overkill. So instead of extra ballast up front, we just distributed the people..... This weekends results however identified a few things:

1 - Without the extra weight up front, the bow rise is too much to see without standing and frustrating to drive

2 - Without the extra weight, the engine works a lot more, we burn a lot more gas, and it's tough to get the boat to even plane out at 10.6-10.8. Perfect Pass was not doing so well getting locked in.

3 - Without the extra weight, the wave is about 20% taller but the pocket is much closer to the boat and about half the length

I personally will be adding the bow ballast back into our setup going forward, it makes for a much more enjoyable 8 hours of driving, less stress on the engine and less gas by about 1-1.5 gph.

^^^ I wish we could sticky this post for when people ask "should I get an LSV with the 350?" If you added any elevation to the mix, the results would be completely unacceptable. (IMHO, etc etc)

[IXFE]

We experimented with this exact setup in mind this weekend. We've been running a 1000lb's in the nose, and I've been thinking it's overkill. So instead of extra ballast up front, we just distributed the people..... This weekends results however identified a few things:

1 - Without the extra weight up front, the bow rise is too much to see without standing and frustrating to drive

2 - Without the extra weight, the engine works a lot more, we burn a lot more gas, and it's tough to get the boat to even plane out at 10.6-10.8. Perfect Pass was not doing so well getting locked in.

3 - Without the extra weight, the wave is about 20% taller but the pocket is much closer to the boat and about half the length

I personally will be adding the bow ballast back into our setup going forward, it makes for a much more enjoyable 8 hours of driving, less stress on the engine and less gas by about 1-1.5 gph.

After a week at Shasta trying different setups, I agree with everything you just posted. I like running the bow weight.

I tried three different setups...

1. MLS full, 850's full, 1000 bow triangle full, wedge all the way down, family (5) in the cockpit.
2. Same as above, only remove bow triangle and replace with 3 kids in bow.
3. Same as above, only remove the wedge entirely.

Sorry I don't have pics of all this, but I liked #1 the best. #2 was okay for those days where I'm too lazy to pull the bag out. #3 was surfable, but otherwise not that good... without the wedge the wave was very flat.

[ThinkinBu]

Here's a few pics of the full sacs...

Hello, which rear bags are those? I supposedly have the new wakemakers for 2015 and mine don't look like those.

Also, running the same bow sack and like the result.

Thanks

[IXFE]

Hello, which rear bags are those? I supposedly have the new wakemakers for 2015 and mine don't look like those.

Also, running the same bow sack and like the result.

Thanks

Those are the new Wakemakers bags. Not sure why yours look different. Maybe it's because mine are not PnP; I have them plumbed to dedicated reversible pumps.

[ThinkinBu]

Those are the new Wakemakers bags. Not sure why yours look different. Maybe it's because mine are not PnP; I have them plumbed to dedicated reversible pumps.

Suspect the dealer ordered the wrong bags. Your boat is a twin to my red.

Edited June 23, 2015 by ThinkinBu

[Capdoogie]

When it comes to seeing over the nose we had a custom seat cushion that fits and looks like it's part of the chair. Xtra 8 inches of lift perfect for surfing. When it comes to xtra bow weight. That's a factor of the weight you run in the rear, but mostly the motors power or lack of to get you on plane (just physics). It's seems proportional, when we had the 350 we ran about 800 lbs xtra up front. The 450 ls3 we ran maybe 400 to 600 up front. The LSA, No need for xtra front ballast or no need to move your passengers around.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Capdoogie

[IXFE]

When it comes to seeing over the nose we had a custom seat cushion that fits and looks like it's part of the chair. Xtra 8 inches of lift perfect for surfing. When it comes to xtra bow weight. That's a factor of the weight you run in the rear, but mostly the motors power or lack of to get you on plane (just physics). It's seems proportional, when we had the 350 we ran about 800 lbs xtra up front. The 450 ls3 we ran maybe 400 to 600 up front. The LSA, No need for xtra front ballast or no need to move your passengers around.

Just because you can run bow high (due to seat booster and bigger motor) does not mean that you should, imho.

[Capdoogie]

True, but it's better without for us. No xtra time to load more ballast wave is huge tons of push. But that's our combo, every boat, motor surfboard, surfer, requires different wakes. IMO

[randv]

Seeing as I don't have a bow bag, I am pleased to hear that you can get a good wake without one.