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Wakesurfing in a Malibu


Roostergolf

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I am looking for a Malibu to buy. I am looking for a used boat, but I was wondering do you still have to fill phat sacs with the internal ballast too. I was under the impression that if you had internal ballast say on a 23 LSV, you would not need anything else to make a good wake to surf on. Any opinions would be great. I have been looking for a few months now, but I haven't ran accross anything just yet. If you have something in mind, please let me know.

Thanks,

Roostergolf

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Def need more weight. How much is up to you. I would say a minimum of 2 x 750 and a couple hundred pounds upfront. We run 3 x 750 a 550 and a 400 up front for a sweet surf wake.

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just bought some extra ballast today. the stock ballast wasnt enough. added 2- 400ibs. the 1150 L shaped and the 1100 jumbo surf sac. hope this is enough to make a great wake. tyler at bakes marine ( www.bakesonline.com ) was real helpful and extended there 20% off sale for me. fly high fat sacs was recomended be everybody here on the crew. also bought 2 of the tsunami 1200 pumps to help it fill alittle faster.

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I have yet to add any more weight to my 2008 Wakesetter VLX. I fill up all the ballast and drop my floating wedge. I have surfed behind my boat and had no issues. I have to say though that some of us on the boat are big guys, all but one of us are over 200 lbs and we usually have at least 7 of us in the boat. If you include the ballast, wedge, and people we are probably running at least 3500 pounds in the boat. I will say that I am considering getting a bow sac, which will help make the surf wave longer and one of the ballast bricks so we can move weight around easier and really customize each persons preferences.

Also, if you don't have a lot of people in the boat to put on the rider's side then you will not want to fill the opposite side of the rider ballast all the way. My experience in a 23 or 247 are limited so I can only comment on the VLX, but from my experiences a 750 in the locker and a bow sack in any wakesetter will make more than enough wake for most anyone, wakeboarding or wakesurfing.

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I will agree with everyone here. I doubt you will find a boat anywhere with a surfwake stock that you will be happy with. Weight and lean are the things you need to make a good surf wake. I have a light crew in a 06 VLX and we only need stock ballast (no front) a 750 in the surf side locker and the power wedge all the way down. In the LSV we've done the same thing and it's just more firm. You "can" surf stock in a LSV if you have to, but it's not fun for very long. You really need the lean.

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I am looking for a Malibu to buy. I am looking for a used boat, but I was wondering do you still have to fill phat sacs with the internal ballast too. I was under the impression that if you had internal ballast say on a 23 LSV, you would not need anything else to make a good wake to surf on. Any opinions would be great. I have been looking for a few months now, but I haven't ran accross anything just yet. If you have something in mind, please let me know.

Thanks,

Roostergolf

you must add additional weight to your boat. this is the case with all boats when it comes to wakesurfing. do a search on 247 surf sac on the malibu crew website and you will see a great article about weighting your boat. by the way, i owned a 23 lsv. it was a great boat, until i got in a 247. the 23 immediately became too small. my suggestion would be to buy a preowned 247 instead. make sure you get an 06 or newer because the boat will have a power wedge instead of a manual wedge. also have a custom sac made for surfing purposes and have the sac plumbed into your existing system by your local dealer. zack clark at www.bakesmarine.com can and will help you design a custom sac for your boat.

most boat owners are concerned with adding ballast bags to their boats. i can attest the boat can handle the weight. most boat owners however never achieve the maximum capability of their boats wave due to weighting concerns.

Edited by Rhino
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Just be careful when taking people's advice on what boat you "need" to have. Test drive the boat's for yourself and don't let anyone else tell you what is too big or too small for you. I have a VLX and a 23 would be too big for me. These boats hold a lot of people comfortably and spending extra money on something you may not need could be a problem. I would even suggest test driving a VLX and bring some of the family along so you can get a better idea about space.

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Just be careful when taking people's advice on what boat you "need" to have. Test drive the boat's for yourself and don't let anyone else tell you what is too big or too small for you. I have a VLX and a 23 would be too big for me. These boats hold a lot of people comfortably and spending extra money on something you may not need could be a problem. I would even suggest test driving a VLX and bring some of the family along so you can get a better idea about space.

I'd hate to be on a VLX with 7 or 8 200+ lb guys. I don't like to have more than 8 on my LSV, I guess I like space. I'd probably feel the same if it were 7 or 8 200+ lb chicks too :lol: .

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I am looking for a Malibu to buy. I am looking for a used boat, but I was wondering do you still have to fill phat sacs with the internal ballast too. I was under the impression that if you had internal ballast say on a 23 LSV, you would not need anything else to make a good wake to surf on. Any opinions would be great. I have been looking for a few months now, but I haven't ran accross anything just yet. If you have something in mind, please let me know.

Thanks,

Roostergolf

Any boat needs additional weight to have a "good" surf wake. I've noticed that most people that say they don't need extra weight have never run extra weight.

I run 3500+ lbs in my LSV, only ran 2000 in my VLX.

Edited by 06vlx
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Thanks fellas I sure appreciated the info. Why in some 23 LSV's in the back seat positioned in the middle is a couple speakers, and in others there is only a cushion?

Thanks

Roostergolf

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Just be careful when taking people's advice on what boat you "need" to have. Test drive the boat's for yourself and don't let anyone else tell you what is too big or too small for you. I have a VLX and a 23 would be too big for me. These boats hold a lot of people comfortably and spending extra money on something you may not need could be a problem. I would even suggest test driving a VLX and bring some of the family along so you can get a better idea about space.

ditto on the test drive. My friend has a supra and it is hard to steer when loaded down with ballast, also my other friends older nautique requires a LOT of muscle to steer when loaded down.

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Thanks fellas I sure appreciated the info. Why in some 23 LSV's in the back seat positioned in the middle is a couple speakers, and in others there is only a cushion?

Thanks

Roostergolf

That was an option in the stereo systems Malibu offers.

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I'd hate to be on a VLX with 7 or 8 200+ lb guys. I don't like to have more than 8 on my LSV, I guess I like space. I'd probably feel the same if it were 7 or 8 200+ lb chicks too :lol: .

Some of my friends are too chicken to wakeboard so not everyone is always on the boat for wakeboarding. However, once it is time to wakesurf everyone is willing to try it. Trust me, when it isn't your turn, you are wishing those 200+ lbs guys were 115 lbs girls, but when you are surfing it is nice to have the extra mass to get the bigger wake. I will say that the boat can accomidate 7 or 8 people fairly easily without crowding.

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I'd hate to be on a VLX with 7 or 8 200+ lb guys. I don't like to have more than 8 on my LSV, I guess I like space. I'd probably feel the same if it were 7 or 8 200+ lb chicks too :lol: .

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Just be careful when taking people's advice on what boat you "need" to have. Test drive the boat's for yourself and don't let anyone else tell you what is too big or too small for you. I have a VLX and a 23 would be too big for me. These boats hold a lot of people comfortably and spending extra money on something you may not need could be a problem. I would even suggest test driving a VLX and bring some of the family along so you can get a better idea about space.

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a wise man once said, the day you buy your boat it becomes to small. if you are going to wake surf you want the biggest boat possible. my 247 throws a wake i am sure that is larger than the vlx. by the way my 247 was in the shop and through some relationships i was able to procure the use of a vlx for two weeks. that was one small boat with 5 people on it.

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Sounds like somone has owner goggles.

In all seriousness though, the VLX has a good amount of room and I never find myself wanting for more space. The 247 will throw up a bigger surf wave, but for me I would rather add more weight than spend the extra money on a boat that is too big for my needs. It is all personal preference and if you are the type that is going to want a bigger boat, then get a bigger boat, but I think it would be foolish to get a 247 without checking to see if the VLX and 23LSV will fit your needs just as well for a smaller price tag. Trust me when I say that even though the potential wake size on a 247 is better than a VLX you will be able to get the wake big enough on a VLX where you won't find yourself needing a bigger boat.

It is up to you, but my advice would be to look at all your options before spending your money.

Edited by wakeboy
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our typical crew in the VLX is 5-6. it is not uncommon for us to have 8, but then we usually have 1-2 people riding in the bow.

What i found was 8 people in a VLX and stock balast, is a pretty good surf wake (at least for us). it isnt crowded, but it isnt exactly free movement either.

with 5-6, you have one rider, one driver, and then the other 3-4 people usually sit in the main lounge, so you do need weight in the bow and probably a little more in teh back.

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I am looking for a Malibu to buy. I am looking for a used boat, but I was wondering do you still have to fill phat sacs with the internal ballast too. I was under the impression that if you had internal ballast say on a 23 LSV, you would not need anything else to make a good wake to surf on. Any opinions would be great. I have been looking for a few months now, but I haven't ran accross anything just yet. If you have something in mind, please let me know.

Thanks,

Roostergolf

Rooster,

As you can see from the opinions displayed here, people have a wide range of comfort levels in terms of how many people they're comfortable with on their boat. There's no one right answer to that, regardless of what some here are saying. Don't let anyone tell you what you should be comfortable with for your crew size - get what you want. The general rule of thumb is that up to 6-7 people on a VLX is fine, up to 10 on an LSV is fine & above that is 247 territory. Obviously there are people here that deviate from that, in both directions. But you'll find that most people would agree with that.

As far as the extra weight for a 23', most people will run an extra bag in the trunk & then fill up the cabin with people. If you don't have VAB, then another bag in the cabin would probably be needed. One other thing, the 2008 VLX would not be an accurate comparison for what is needed for weight in a 23', that would be an apples/oranges comparison.

I've never felt that our boats were too small for what we bought them for, FWIW. But then again, I know exactly what we need & how we use a boat.

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....

Also, if you don't have a lot of people in the boat to put on the rider's side then you will not want to fill the opposite side of the rider ballast all the way. My experience in a 23 or 247 are limited so I can only comment on the VLX, but from my experiences a 750 in the locker and a bow sack in any wakesetter will make more than enough wake for most anyone, wakeboarding or wakesurfing.

Regardless of how many people you have, you shouldn't fill the opposite side when you're surfing. At all.

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One other thing....

I'm not trying to pick on wakeboy, but he was the one person here that said that he doesn't add any additional weight over stock. He says that he doesn't, but in reality he does. It's just in the form of VAB, not water or lead ballast. Most people don't have a crew that size that they consistently go out with, so they have to augment with extra weight. Take 5 of those 200lb guys out of the boat & that equals roughly 2 ballast sacks. I ran roughly the same kind of weight in my VLX, but most of it was in bags since our VAB crew was so small. So regardless of how you get there, you need extra weight.

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One other thing....

I'm not trying to pick on wakeboy, but he was the one person here that said that he doesn't add any additional weight over stock. He says that he doesn't, but in reality he does. It's just in the form of VAB, not water or lead ballast. Most people don't have a crew that size that they consistently go out with, so they have to augment with extra weight. Take 5 of those 200lb guys out of the boat & that equals roughly 2 ballast sacks. I ran roughly the same kind of weight in my VLX, but most of it was in bags since our VAB crew was so small. So regardless of how you get there, you need extra weight.

I think you are missing my point. You can actually wakesurf behind a VLX wiithout anything over stock. I don't usually have anything additional when I have a large crew, I am in no way saying that extra people are different from extra weight. I am just saying that with or without extra weight you can still wakesurf behind the boat.

Also I have never had a problem wakesurfing when I fill the opposite side ballast about half way. I believe that is how the stock Malibu surf setting does it too. I am not here to tell anyone that I know the only way of doing it and if you do it any other way than you are wrong. All I am saying is that if you want to go out and wakesurf you can do it without spending all the money that some people suggest. Figure out if you like it before you spend all the money for extra ballast. If you already have the ballast or are buying it for wakeboarding too then I would 100% suggest wakesurfing with as much ballast on the surf side as possible (within reason of course). I learned to wakeboard behind a DD without a tower and I figured out I liked it long before buying a wakeboard boat.

Everyone knows the guys that see something they want to do and they go out and buy all the newest and nice equipment. They do it once, hate it, and never do it again. People like wakegirl, may know more than me and she gives great advice. I am not on here to disagree with her or anyone else. I am just here to say that you can avoid spending extra cash on stuff like ballast until you know you want it. Some people on here have a lot of money, seems like they always have the greatest stuff, and some people save up to have these toys. I hold nothing against anyone but if you are one of those people that needs that cash for gas and insurance, then just know that you can wakesurf without ballast, or use cheaper ballast at first (people).

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