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Wakesurfing- Port or Starboard side?


travlnmannn

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This is going to be my first year wakesurfing and I've read so much about ballast. Never really thought much about it but what side do most people surf from? Port or Starboard side? I wouldn't imagine the hull would matter so much on either side. But maybe some people have tried both sides and find one side to be better than the other? I would think starboard side would be preferred for added weight of driver. But then if surfing on port side it's easier for driver to monitor from mirror?

Interested in hearing some different views.

Edited by travlnmannn
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You will get alot of differing opinions. I think there was a poll somewhere that more went for the dark side (starboard). I prefer port. One thing you will notice first off is you will need to take it slllooowwwww, the boat does not handle good weighted down if you add a bunch of sacs.

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typically it is done on the side you prefer, that is to say you determine if you are goofy you would surf on the starboard side.

Think of it like this: You would surf on the side that allows you to face the wake.

I think the goofy footers get the better deal. Along with the drivers weight, they get the benefit of prop rotation as well. However, it is easier to load up the port side with weight as compared to the starboard side.

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This is going to be my first year wakesurfing and I've read so much about ballast. Never really thought much about it but what side do most people surf from? Port or Starboard side? I wouldn't imagine the hull would matter so much on either side. But maybe some people have tried both sides and find one side to be better than the other? I would think starboard side would be preferred for added weight of driver. But then if surfing on port side it's easier for driver to monitor from mirror?

Interested in hearing some different views.

I think you want to figure out which foot forward you are first and go with that. Most boats can be manipulated pretty easily for surfing on either side. All the weight on one side doesn't mean the best wake.

Edited by KDA
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Understanding the goofy side completely. I find myself to be more at control on my toeside so maybe right foot forward and starboard side would work for me. And being the owner of the boat I guess my crew has to adjust :surfing:

Ruffdog: You have bow ballast? I have a VRide also and I've heard that bow ballast makes the wake longer when surfing.

Edited by travlnmannn
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martinarcher

I think you want to figure out which foot forward you are first and go with that. Most boats can be manipulated pretty easily for surfing on either side. All the weight on one side doesn't mean the best wake.

Very rarely will you hear anyone claim weight on the non-surf side improving the surf wake on a Malibu. Weight in the front of the boat will lengthen the pocket, but you want to keep all your weight on the surf side. Simply put, usually the more the boat is listing to the surf side the better.

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typically it is done on the side you prefer, that is to say you determine if you are goofy you would surf on the starboard side.

Think of it like this: You would surf on the side that allows you to face the wake.

I think the goofy footers get the better deal. Along with the drivers weight, they get the benefit of prop rotation as well. However, it is easier to load up the port side with weight as compared to the starboard side.

I would disagree. I think the prop help more for the port side. When we were first learning and not using extra ballast, we found the wave to be a little better when set up for the port side even though the driver was on the starboard. Now that we use a 750 in the rear locker, it doesn't really matter.

The weight of the driver is offset by batteries an Amps in the storage under the dash on the Port side.

Basically it's up to you, but as others will attest to, you decide and make everyone else use your side unless you don't mind waiting for ballast to switch sides.

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The regular side is s'posed to be better due to prop rotation but in reality it all depends on how you ballast and adjust speed. Each side has a little different wave but both can be great surfing wakes.

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Understanding the goofy side completely. I find myself to be more at control on my toeside so maybe right foot forward and starboard side would work for me. And being the owner of the boat I guess my crew has to adjust :surfing:

Ruffdog: You have bow ballast? I have a VRide also and I've heard that bow ballast makes the wake longer when surfing.

Yup 400# in the bow. My claim about prop rotation is just observation on my boat. The wake seems cleaner on the goofy side for some reason but I cant speak from experience as I don't do the dark side. :biggrin:

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Basically it's up to you, but as others will attest to, you decide and make everyone else use your side unless you don't mind waiting for ballast to switch sides.

I'll definitely take the time to move things around and see which side works for me. I would imagine that prop rotation has something to do with it. Ever add weight to opposing side to clean up the wake wash?

Yup 400# in the bow. My claim about prop rotation is just observation on my boat. The wake seems cleaner on the goofy side for some reason but I cant speak from experience as I don't do the dark side. :biggrin:

Do you do the fill and empty every ride on the bow ballast or did you add a switch based fill system to your bow? If you have added a system do you have pictures?

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Yup 400# in the bow. My claim about prop rotation is just observation on my boat. The wake seems cleaner on the goofy side for some reason but I cant speak from experience as I don't do the dark side. :biggrin:

That also holds true with every other boat I've ever been on as well.

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That also holds true with every other boat I've ever been on as well.

agreed on this. i get a better surf wake on the goofy side with the less weight than i do on the regular side. though i can get the regular side bigger and better.

btw. the are no goofy people here in texas.

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given that goofiness is roughly attributable to left-handedness, I'll just point out that 4 of our last 5 presidents have been lefties, and at least one of them called Texas home.

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I'll definitely take the time to move things around and see which side works for me. I would imagine that prop rotation has something to do with it. Ever add weight to opposing side to clean up the wake wash?

Do you do the fill and empty every ride on the bow ballast or did you add a switch based fill system to your bow? If you have added a system do you have pictures?

We are fairly low tech so we fill every time. Shifting the sack isnt that big of a deal. Center for wakeboarding, port or starboard for surfing. We just shift it to one side or the other.

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given that goofiness is roughly attributable to left-handedness, I'll just point out that 4 of our last 5 presidents have been lefties, and at least one of them called Texas home.

100% of the goofy riders I know are right handed

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agreed on this. i get a better surf wake on the goofy side with the less weight than i do on the regular side. though i can get the regular side bigger and better.

btw. the are no goofy people here in texas.

That's one reason why we are moving there :thumbup: We ride both sides of the wake but it really doesn't matter on our boat because the wake is so small :) 21xti can't get much worse of a wake surf than that!

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