VTX Surf Wake

[MK&P]

We finally got past the break in period with our new VTX and I am having a tough time dialing in the wake for surfing. I tried varying the speed, ballast and wedge position but I could not get a clean wake, it was really mushy. I am hoping someone with a VTX can help me out with a few recommendations. Our boat has the power wedge and the four ballast tanks. I am not interested in adding any more weight to the boat other than what it comes with stock. I am hoping for some suggestions on speed, wedge position and ballast setup for a right surf wake. Can someone help a newbie out?

[djheywood]

Take this advice with a grain of salt because I have a 23 LSV 08, so I am not sure how things will be different.

We fill the rear ballast riding side only, center and front ballast. Put your power wedge all the way down, then two quick taps of the 'wedge up' button. Put everyone in the rear corner surfside of the boat except one person, throw them up in the bow.

Keep the speed between 10.6 and 12. 10.6 will give you a taller wake with a smaller sweet spot, 12 will give less height but a longer sweet spot. I usually surf around 11.2 - 11.4 I think.

Even with all this I still had trouble staying in the wake ropeless until I added some fat sacks. I have a 750 in each corner locker (just fill the surf side) and another 400 tube I throw on the floor. Just went yesterday for the first time with the sacs and it made a world of difference. I now can stand there all day long in the sweet spot if I wanted to without the rope. :-)

The sac fits great in the corner locker, out of the way and easy to fill. Takes about 5 minutes.

Hope this helps.

Brian

[99response]

You are going to have to add weight to that setup or get alot of friends who dont mind sitting on the same side of the boat.

[txwakejunkie]

You are going to have to add weight to that setup or get alot of friends who dont mind sitting on the same side of the boat.

you could surf with the rope all day with your setup but without some sacks you will have a hard time having any fun ropeless. How many in your normal crew? Most people (my self also) say im not going to sack my boat down like that, till you get a taste!1

then its like, how fast can i get some sacs, im ready to

Edited May 11, 2009 by txwakejunkie

[Malibusteve]

as 99response said, you are not going to get a good wake without adding more weight. I surf the VTX weekly (albeit port side surfing) and can tell you that it is rideable with no extra weight but not that much fun. The weight can be ballast bags or friends, but lots of friends in the 20 ft. boat can get kind of tight. I usually have one 400lb. sack in the port locker, port tank full and center tank 1/2 or full. Having two heavier surfers sitting in that port corner helps ALOT. Wedge about 1/2 way b/w fully down and max wake. Speed is variable on my boat depending on how many people and other factors. I think 10mph is a good place to start but my experience is that speed varies with all boats and since your talking about tenths of a mile/hr., There is no way to accurately give an exact number. To the OP, my plan at first was to make it work without adding additional ballast, but even if you are a great wakesurfer, it's just not as much fun because you're having to work too hard stay in the pocket.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go out with several sacks to play with in my boat. I had no distractions and had plenty of time to fill/empty bags to move them around and surf at different set ups. I can tell you that the VTX will throw a great surf wake when dialed in properly. Keep tinkering with it. You'll figure it out.

[CRASH]

Just keep adding weight and keep the bow down. If the rubrails underwater your close

[snowrider]

For sure need weight. We have a VRide and with 3ppl in the boat we add 500lb to floor on side that we are surfing and 250-300lbs on the seats on side we are surfing. That with center ballast full, surfside rear locker full and wedge down creates a really fun wake at about 10.8-11.2 mph.

[MK&P]

Thanks for the input, this really helps. The wake height was not my primary concern but maybe I should have been a little clearer on what I was looking for. I tried different ballast and wedge combos but never could get a really clean wake. I am more concerned about the shape and the wake not actually breaking at the lip that the height. From the sounds of things I need to weight the center, front and rear side I will be riding, around 10 to 12 mph is a good speed and deploy the wedge almost all the way down and slowly adjust it to figure out shape. I thought I tried this, but will give it another shot and post something if it doesn't work out.

[txwakejunkie]

I believe it is about a 60/40 split on the weight. if you can get your rub-rail from the back of your boat to your windsheild about the same distance from the water your wave should shape up nicely. It may be hard to achieve this without extra sacks or VAB.

Speed is a big thing when surfing, dont always go by the numbers, go by the look of the wave. Check your speedo with gps to be sure that it is correct 1 mph can be big.

Take in mind this works for me, in our 23sv, I would think the ratio would be the same.

Edited May 11, 2009 by txwakejunkie

[CRASH]

To truly get a clean wake that you can ride 15ft back or better you will need 2000lbs additional ballast or more. And you will also not use the wedge it is hard to get rid of the wash especially with the power wedge.

[Malibusteve]

To truly get a clean wake that you can ride 15ft back or better you will need 2000lbs additional ballast or more. And you will also not use the wedge it is hard to get rid of the wash especially with the power wedge.

MK&P. If you decide to go this route, let me know. 2K lbs. additional ballast n that boat would be reckless and a recipe for disaster IMO if loaded on the side which is where most of it would be. I've had a little over 1/2 that in mine and yes you could surf the wake that far back but it seemed so hard on the boat that it made you wonder if it wasn't too much. Also, if you go this route, I would think that the Monsoon and a different prop would be in order. I would think that 2K lbs. would put that rubrail under the water unless that weight was centered and I don't think that's the suggestion but maybe it is. Either way if you decide to do this, PLEASE take pictures....I want to see what that much weight looks like in the VTX (someone else's VTX)

Edited May 11, 2009 by Malibusteve

[MK&P]

I want to do other things besides just surf, so that is why I was trying to figure out how to get a cleaner wake without adding weight or modifying the prop.

[Chia]

I want to do other things besides just surf, so that is why I was trying to figure out how to get a cleaner wake without adding weight or modifying the prop.

if you want to surf, you need the ability to add additional weight. I am not sure why you are reluctant to add a ballast bag to the locker, fill it to surf, empty it when done.

having said that, the only other thing you can try is turn the boat in a tight circle while surfing, that might clean it up a bit.

[Bawshogg]

My set up, works out bitchin. Port side mls full, bow full, center tank full. Wedge all the way down. 750 sack in rear port locker filled to max, 400 tube under port seats filled. Two 400 lb v-drive sacks, 1 in the observers seat and 1 in the bow. Stupid sick wave, steep as hell, tons of push and good long pocket at 10-11. You are gonna have to sack it to make it sick, and have fun drivin too!

[Calexan]

Yea, I also wish there was a way to not add bags and get a nice surf wake. It appears that there is no way around it. Dang. I just like the ease of pushing buttons and not dealing with pumps. Im still watching the piggyback systems to see which one comes out the easiest and not difficult to install.

[CRASH]

To truly get a clean wake that you can ride 15ft back or better you will need 2000lbs additional ballast or more. And you will also not use the wedge it is hard to get rid of the wash especially with the power wedge.

MK&P. If you decide to go this route, let me know. 2K lbs. additional ballast n that boat would be reckless and a recipe for disaster IMO if loaded on the side which is where most of it would be. I've had a little over 1/2 that in mine and yes you could surf the wake that far back but it seemed so hard on the boat that it made you wonder if it wasn't too much. Also, if you go this route, I would think that the Monsoon and a different prop would be in order. I would think that 2K lbs. would put that rubrail under the water unless that weight was centered and I don't think that's the suggestion but maybe it is. Either way if you decide to do this, PLEASE take pictures....I want to see what that much weight looks like in the VTX (someone else's VTX)

I have 3800lbs additional in mine it is not wreckless but the wake is awesome. we too also ride wakeboards and skates we use arond 3000lbs there. The vtx will do it all great boat. Also on another the 537 prop will not work for you.

Edited May 12, 2009 by CRASH

[cyoda44]

I have 3800lbs additional in mine it is not wreckless but the wake is awesome. we too also ride wakeboards and skates we use arond 3000lbs there. The vtx will do it all great boat. Also on another the 537 prop will not work for you.

What prop would you recommend? an OJ 475?

[CRASH]

Acme 1235 or Oj475 will both work well

[skurfer]

Yea, I also wish there was a way to not add bags and get a nice surf wake. It appears that there is no way around it. Dang. I just like the ease of pushing buttons and not dealing with pumps. Im still watching the piggyback systems to see which one comes out the easiest and not difficult to install.

I have 400 lbs of pop products we move around the boat. All ballast empty, pop products in the bow for skiing, spread around the boat for wakeboarding and in the port or starboard locker for surfing. No filling/emptying bags, just moving 40 lb bags around......

[Tyler Peterson]

I have a VLX so its a bit longer and wider then the VTX but I can tell you that fat sacs are need. We run 550 in the back locker, 800 on the port bench and 400 in port bow. I have all but the right internal ballast tanks full. The wedge should be down about 75 percent. with that set up you can surf ropeless all day.

[skicrave]

Obviously the theme you're seeing is that you need to add additional ballast. Most people equate ballast with an increase in wake size (which is true), but for surfing applications, the additional weight is used primarily to tilt the boat towards the side you will be surfing on. It doesn't take a whole lot of weight to do that, although if you're going to fill some, you might as well fill the locker up.

[Jdog55]

My VTX makes a sick wave to surf... especially for the goofey rider. No additional ballast needed. I don't have a power wedge just the floating one (which I actually think helps) Its always in the perfect spot. So fill all tanks except for the side you are not riding on. Put all passengers on the wave side as far back as possible, tip that baby over!(we can surf with just 2 peeps on the boat, but the more the bigger the wave.) My perfect pass is at 9.6 mph. That's the sweet spot. Have the diver go in a straight line. We tried turning both ways and for whatever reason it totally crushes the wave. Good times. have fun

[MK&P]

JDog, I am not too pumped on the idea of adding additional weight, so I am stoked on your post. I tried the factory surf setting and the wake was really sloppy even at 9.6. I was able to surf, but it obviously it was not ideal. Thanks for the post, this let's me know that it is possible get the VTX to throw out a decent wake you can surf without fully loading down the boat.

[CRASH]

This was early last year with all factory ballast except stbd side and 800lb sac in the locker and a 440lb under the seats riding at about 11mph. I have since added about 2300lbs more all i can say is yeah buddy

[skicrave]

AWESOME pic Crash!