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Surf Gates


TripleE

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Hey All!

We recently purchased a 2013 Wakesetter VTX with no tower (which we love), has center and rear stock ballasts and no surf gates.  Touch screen has front ballast as an option so fingers crossed we are wired. Also have manual wedge.  Picked up a wakemakers side boot that seems to smooth the wave out.

We picked up surfing this summer and can’t get the push we need. Had a buddy come out that has wake surfed and he confirmed it wasn’t us - wake isn’t enough.  Question that I have for all of you...

What do we need to add to the boat to get the wave we need to surf without our rope :)  Can we get there with this boat?

 

Thanks in advance!!!!

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To get a decent wave with a VTX, you need more ballast. Since you do not have surf gates, you will also need to list the boat to the side you will be surfing.    Fill the hard tanks. Wedge down. Put a 750 lbs bag in the locker next to the engine .  A 300-400 lbs sack on the rear seat, on th side your are surfing.  And most importantly, a 300 lbs sack in the bow(or a large friend with plenty of beer)  speed should be between 10.6 to 11 MPH

 

if you have a suck gate or something similar, then put a 750lbs sack in each locker and omit the sack on the seat.

 

Welcome to the ‘Crew

 

 

Edited by Clutch-n-Throttle
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that more than gets you there.  On my VTX I run hard tanks full, 550 in each locker, 2 people in the bow, home built suck-gate.  Can easily surf ropeless.

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Hope you got a steal on that boat as resale isn't going to be pretty with no tower/SG/front ballast...three no go's for many buyers.

Regardless, since it is a '13, Malibu may be willing to sell a retro SG for your boat.  Pretty rare to find a '13+ without, so I doubt many folks have pursued this avenue ('12 and earlier have, and have been told no due to the year of their boat nonsense).    

You need front ballast, locker bags, surf device like SG retrofit, GSA or a suck gate option.  Some lead would be a good idea as well.

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Thanks All !!!

Still very happy with the boat even though we need the mods done. Definitely learning curve and who we can rely on for information.  Really appreciate your honesty with us!

 

okay hubby has another question. What about adding the power wedge after the fact?  We just have the wedge you drop down.....

 

thanks!

Edited by TripleE
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1 hour ago, TripleE said:

Thanks All !!!

Still very happy with the boat even though we need the mods done. Definitely learning curve and who we can rely on for information.  Really appreciate your honesty with us!

 

okay hubby has another question. What about adding the power wedge after the fact?  We just have the wedge you drop down.....

 

thanks!

The floating wedge you have works fine.  Yes the power wedge will give you some more control and wedge settings.  Definitely a step up from manual wedge.  However, for the cost of retrofitting a power wedge I dont think it would be worth it.  Much easier to get a suction gate and properly weight the boat.

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I am with @Fman on this.  Floating wedge works fine (and is very very very unlikely to ever break in the future :innocent:).  I'd take that power wedge money and do a set of aftermarket surfgates.  there are many threads on that issue on wakegarage.com.  Definitely takes some diy inginuity, but hey, it's almost the off season anyway.

my 2016 axis with surfgate and floating wedge surfs great.

The other thing I'd strongly consider is plumbing in reversible pumps to drain and fill 750s in the rear lockers, so that the system is automated from the dash.  Throwing a pump over the side to fill and drain gets old really fast.

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