Custom "hidden" ballast

[Sippi]

So I was thinking about this the other day while rewiring the bildge pump...my dad used to have a 84 Ski Nautique 2001, before that he has a barefoot nautique, he has done everything imaginable to these kind of boats (himself), from repairs to replacing the floors. He showed me pics of his 2001 when he had it stripped down to just the hull! But I was talking to him the other day about ballast. I'll be getting a new boat in the next few weeks, still don't know which one yet. But he is going to keep the RLX because that's the kind of boat he likes. He likes some ballast (mainly a trick skier) and my little brother adds more when he wakeboards. But to keep the interior clean and free of bags. A buddy of mine owns a fiberglass shop so we could make whatever we needed. When my brother rides he puts a 580# skylon fatboy on both sides of the engine, a fat sac seat bottom in the back in place of the rear seat, and another 580 in the bow. That's the max weight that he rides usually puts less because there are usually people in the boat too so we swap out some of the weight according to the number of people. I was thinking about plumbing all the bags and making them like a normal wakeboat (which isn't the problem, the problem is trying to hide the bags. I thought about making a box under the floor on both sides of the engine for the bags to go in, building a new seat for the bow (making it playpen style cover the whole bow area, and raising the rear seat about 9 inches by building a box for the rear seatbottom bag and putting the rear seat on it. I know other boats have the back seat that you can raise but I was wondering if any one has ever done it in a response (or something similar). And has anyone done anything like the other things that I mentioned? Or do you have any other ideas? Thanks guys!

[SacRiverRat]

So I was thinking about this the other day while rewiring the bildge pump...my dad used to have a 84 Ski Nautique 2001, before that he has a barefoot nautique, he has done everything imaginable to these kind of boats (himself), from repairs to replacing the floors. He showed me pics of his 2001 when he had it stripped down to just the hull! But I was talking to him the other day about ballast. I'll be getting a new boat in the next few weeks, still don't know which one yet. But he is going to keep the RLX because that's the kind of boat he likes. He likes some ballast (mainly a trick skier) and my little brother adds more when he wakeboards. But to keep the interior clean and free of bags. A buddy of mine owns a fiberglass shop so we could make whatever we needed. When my brother rides he puts a 580# skylon fatboy on both sides of the engine, a fat sac seat bottom in the back in place of the rear seat, and another 580 in the bow. That's the max weight that he rides usually puts less because there are usually people in the boat too so we swap out some of the weight according to the number of people. I was thinking about plumbing all the bags and making them like a normal wakeboat (which isn't the problem, the problem is trying to hide the bags. I thought about making a box under the floor on both sides of the engine for the bags to go in, building a new seat for the bow (making it playpen style cover the whole bow area, and raising the rear seat about 9 inches by building a box for the rear seatbottom bag and putting the rear seat on it. I know other boats have the back seat that you can raise but I was wondering if any one has ever done it in a response (or something similar). And has anyone done anything like the other things that I mentioned? Or do you have any other ideas? Thanks guys!

Why are you trying to make a response into a wake-boat? You're destroying your resale value...

[txwakejunkie]

So I was thinking about this the other day while rewiring the bildge pump...my dad used to have a 84 Ski Nautique 2001, before that he has a barefoot nautique, he has done everything imaginable to these kind of boats (himself), from repairs to replacing the floors. He showed me pics of his 2001 when he had it stripped down to just the hull! But I was talking to him the other day about ballast. I'll be getting a new boat in the next few weeks, still don't know which one yet. But he is going to keep the RLX because that's the kind of boat he likes. He likes some ballast (mainly a trick skier) and my little brother adds more when he wakeboards. But to keep the interior clean and free of bags. A buddy of mine owns a fiberglass shop so we could make whatever we needed. When my brother rides he puts a 580# skylon fatboy on both sides of the engine, a fat sac seat bottom in the back in place of the rear seat, and another 580 in the bow. That's the max weight that he rides usually puts less because there are usually people in the boat too so we swap out some of the weight according to the number of people. I was thinking about plumbing all the bags and making them like a normal wakeboat (which isn't the problem, the problem is trying to hide the bags. I thought about making a box under the floor on both sides of the engine for the bags to go in, building a new seat for the bow (making it playpen style cover the whole bow area, and raising the rear seat about 9 inches by building a box for the rear seatbottom bag and putting the rear seat on it. I know other boats have the back seat that you can raise but I was wondering if any one has ever done it in a response (or something similar). And has anyone done anything like the other things that I mentioned? Or do you have any other ideas? Thanks guys!

Why are you trying to make a response into a wake-boat? You're destroying your resale value...

and it seems dangerous to add that much weight under the floor to a boat that was not designed to hold it!

[Sippi]

Well for a while it was my boat which we (me,brother,dad,and friends) would all use. Since my brother and I only wakeboard and occasionally trick ski we used it as a wake boat. So we added that much ballast to get a decent wake. My dad likes some ballast in it when he trick skis. I was wanting to do this bc I gave my dad this boat and I'm getting a new one, he likes some ballast but hates the room it takes up, and he doesn't want a vdrive bc these types of boats are what he likes. And considering my brother will still be using it I wanted to integrate all the ballast. So let's say for a second that I was asking "if this was the equipment you had to use, what ideas would you come up with for hiding ballast, it has to be water ballast though because they slalom and barefoot too." and not "do y'all think this would be safe or too much weight?"

I realize it's not a wakeboat, which is another reason I gave it to him and I'm getting a wakeboat. Like I said I have an indespensable amount of fiberglass and great builders so I can reinforce the hull and whatever else I need to do I was just looking for ideas. Especially with the back seat.

[Sippi]

Oh and resale value? Honestly around here a response with a tower and integrated ballast would sell for a lot more and quicker than stock RLX. But either way my dad isn't selling this boat. Even if he changes his mind and oneday wants a vdrive he'll keep this.

[68Slalom]

If your close enough to storage or a beach area I would use pop products

http://www.pop-products.com/

You can load up the weight where you want and take it out when not needed, you can move them around pretty easy. I know it's much more than ballast bags but much less bulk.

[skicrave]

Unfortunately it's not possible to install ballast tanks under the floor on your Response. Most of the volume under the floor (which isn't much because it's got such a low freeboard) is occupied by the FibECS stringer system. What's leftover is filled with structural flotation foam, which can be removed.

I would recommend continuing to use ballast bags as your source of weight. They're relatively cheap, can be drained and folded up (which is nice on a more "compact" boat), and can be plumbed in to fill and drain with the flip of a switch if you desire.

[Sippi]

Thanks skicdave that's the kind of answer I was looking for. So I'll cancel the under the floor idea. I think I'm still going to try and build a "playpen" seat for the bow and have the fat sac on it...and I would really like to build a box under the rear seat for a sac anne have the seat on top of it. with it having such a low freeboard, the seat sits on the floor with not alot of area to move up without it being a full sundeck and I'd have to custom fab a rear seat so it would fit and look like it came from the factory. So I'll take some measurements tomorrow and see what I have to work with.

[skicrave]

I had a '98 Response for a while, and while it's even lower than your boat, it's in the same ballpark, so I know what you're working with. Honestly, I wouldn't bother with building something to go under the rear seat. In order to get enough volume under there to actually make it worth it, you rear seat will end up almost even with the gunnel, which will make the rear seat almost entirely unusable.

If you only use the boat for riding, I would replace the rear seat cushion with something like Fly High's Rear Seat Sac. It will serve as a perfectly fine rear seat, is quite comfortable to sit on, and will give you a lot of weight back there.

Do you guys surf or just wakeboard?

[Sippi]

My brother and I wakeboard, but I always ride behind my buddies 08 210 since he leaves it in my boat house. We surf every once in a while but behind the 210, I wouldn't want to surf behind the RLX. But my dad keeps it at my house too. I live on the water and have a 3 slip boat house with lifts and whatnot so it's easier to keep them there. Have you surfed behind the response?

[skicrave]

We owned a '98 Response for quite some time, you can check it out here. There is a link to the initial ballast system we installed in the boat, which was very rudamentary compared to the finished system we ended up using. Ultimately we ran Pro X Series Fat Sacs on either side of the engine compartment with a V-Drive Surf Sac in the bow. You can definitely surf behind it, but it's incredibly easy to take water over the bow when you're going that slow.

The reason I asked about surfing is because if you plan on spending a lot of time doing that, you'll have different ballast requirements than someone that is solely going to wakeboard. If all (or more than 80% of the time) you're doing is wakeboarding I would go with the Rear Seat Sac in back, a Fat Sac on each side of the engine, and something with around 300lbs. of weight up front. Plumb it all in to fill and drain from the dash and you'll be set.

[Sippi]

Yea that's what's in it now, rear seat sac, a fat boy on each side and about 580 up front 300 wouldn't be enough up front bc we run the wedge down all the time. I've played with the ballast set up for a long time and this is the best wake we are able to make out of this boat. I can't wait to get a new boat this year! I'll post a pic with the wake on it.

[skicrave]

If you're using the Wedge you can get rid of the Rear Seat Sac (or move it up front), it's doing the same thing.

Can't wait to see pictures of your new boat!