Weighting a Echelon closed bow properly/safely

[JDubya]

So are thinking about adding some weight to increase or wake to possibly do some small scale surfing.

I called my local dealer and priced a floating wedge and the cost of the standard wedge. It is significantly cheaper to do a wedge pro instead of the floating. I can get a floating wedge for aeound 1100 and the moutnig bracket for a standard is $250. If I can get a good deal on a used wedge I am saving 400 +.

So it looks like a manual wedge. Any opinions on if a flat or V shaped wedge will make much difference in the boat? My guess is not that much in a DD.

We also plan to add some bow ballast as well to balance it out. I am thinking 350 to start with and adjust from there. Anyone have any input. Trying to follow the 60/40 rule to maximize the wake, but want to keep it safe and legal. Our crew is usally no more than 4 adults averaging 150 lbs.

If my calcualtions are right with 4 adults and 350 up front we should be in the ballpark of the max weight and balanced for a good wake shape.

[Ndawg12]

So are thinking about adding some weight to increase or wake to possibly do some small scale surfing.

I called my local dealer and priced a floating wedge and the cost of the standard wedge. It is significantly cheaper to do a wedge pro instead of the floating. I can get a floating wedge for aeound 1100 and the moutnig bracket for a standard is $250. If I can get a good deal on a used wedge I am saving 400 +.

So it looks like a manual wedge. Any opinions on if a flat or V shaped wedge will make much difference in the boat? My guess is not that much in a DD.

We also plan to add some bow ballast as well to balance it out. I am thinking 350 to start with and adjust from there. Anyone have any input. Trying to follow the 60/40 rule to maximize the wake, but want to keep it safe and legal. Our crew is usally no more than 4 adults averaging 150 lbs.

If my calcualtions are right with 4 adults and 350 up front we should be in the ballpark of the max weight and balanced for a good wake shape.

I'm not sure you can do the V shaped wedge, you may want to check on that, I've heard they'll hit the rudder on some models.

[JDubya]

I'm not sure you can do the V shaped wedge, you may want to check on that, I've heard they'll hit the rudder on some models.

Good call...Now that you mention that I remeber hearing that a time or two...Can anyone confirm that?

[Sippi]

On my 03 RLX this is how we weight it, I've worked on finding the best weight options for this boat for 2 years and we've kept it like this for the past 2 years. Warning though, we never have any problems with taking anything over the bow unless someone other than my brother or me drives bc they don't pay attention. If you pay attention it's fine. Your boat is a tad bit shorter but you'll be able to adjust the weight a little.

- Flat wedge down (I think this is the only wedge u can get on that model).

- 680# rear seat bottom sac in place of rear seat(if there are 3 or less people in the boat +rider)

• if there is more people in the boat I put either a 440# or a 240# in the back between the seat and engine

- 580# skylon fatboy sac on both sides of engine

- and if we have the seat bottom sac in the back (meaning less people in the boat) I'll put a 680# sac in the bow, if we are using the smaller sacs in the back with more people I'll put about 580# in the bow

Also, we used to ride at about 75 ft goin 22 or so and just weren't getting the wake with our boat. For a long time we would just use our boat as a chase boat and ride behind my buddies 2001 xstar. But since it's a small direct drive to get the best wake out of it we have been riding at 70 ft and going about 18.8 and it's money. I'll post a pic of the wake here in a bit. For this type of boat though I've never seen a wake as big as ours.