Can you have two much weight??

[Wakesetter67]

So we had some time on our hands to do some wake tuning, in my VLX # 1 all stock ballast, with 750 in locker.. 4, 200 + Guys and my wife and daughter, 10.6 MPH No wedge, I thought the wake was awesome, So then a buddy comes up with an extra 750Lb and a 400 Lb, Added a few more people so 11 all together, and two 4Lb Yorkies, You know to tweak the wake....LOL So I figured a total of 1600Lb In People. 1000 Lb stock ballast, and a 750 in locker, and finally a 750Lb On surf side seats and a 400 lb in front with wife and Yorkies, I was surprised that the wake really was not that much better, Not to mention, 5500 Altitude, took for ever to reach 10.8 MPH... Add strong wind Felt like the captain of the deadliest Catch, There was water everywhere, So I'm Thinking we overweight the boat. It was like setting a mid size car in your boat... something around 5000 Lb total. and no real advantage...We did toss the yorkies around to Clean up the wake......

[Tory1340]

Only a slight hijack - does anyone worry about the USCG capacity plate? I read these threads with ridiculous weight on board and have visions of boats foundering or worse. --Hijack off

My guess is there is a physical limit to what the hull shape can do with the finite power supply you have. Beats me - I'll ask my physics-major daughter to think about it...

[BLWNZ]

I noticed the same thing in my Vride when we had 12 people on board plus surfing weight. Seemed like speeding up and not using the wedge made it clean up.

[REW]

To get the same displacement as you had before you will need to speed up when you are really heavy, The wake will clean up and you should have more room to play on the wake.

[martinarcher]

The boats I have surfed on seem like there's a point where adding more weight has diminishing returns and causes more trouble with fuel consumption, safe driving, and getting out of the hole than actually enhancing the wake anymore.

Pulling the wedge up with that much weight will certainly help the boat get out of the hole.

[board brained]

The boats I have surfed on seem like there's a point where adding more weight has diminishing returns and causes more trouble with fuel consumption, safe driving, and getting out of the hole than actually enhancing the wake anymore.

Pulling the wedge up with that much weight will certainly help the boat get out of the hole.

this I can totally agree with. I think you can over load and get to the point where more issues come up and the wake is no better Each boat type is different as to where the "optimum" is......... I went through the process of continually adding weight, more in the rear (increase steepness) more in the bow (lengthen), more more, change prop...add more......finally came to the point where I have now backed off some of the weight, found a great wake and am enjoying it. And it is not a monster to drive....... my only logical next step is to go to a bigger boat I guess as i have the runt of the litter..........

but it has a killer wake so...maybe not

[Wakesetter67]

this I can totally agree with. I think you can over load and get to the point where more issues come up and the wake is no better Each boat type is different as to where the "optimum" is......... I went through the process of continually adding weight, more in the rear (increase steepness) more in the bow (lengthen), more more, change prop...add more......finally came to the point where I have now backed off some of the weight, found a great wake and am enjoying it. And it is not a monster to drive....... my only logical next step is to go to a bigger boat I guess as i have the runt of the litter..........

but it has a killer wake so...maybe not

I agree, Before my friend came up with His Large Buddy's and extras fat Sac's I think we had it pretty dialed, But I wanted to see if More was better, Not So Much, Trying to drive and keep the boat from taking on More water was a challenge, So I Guess if your lacking human Ballast, add sac's. My Fav set up so far was 7 Med size peeps in boat, Full Stock Ballast except non surf, and 750 lb in Surf side locker, 10.6 MPH No Wedge, I find that deploying the floating wedge was counter productive when we had enough weight, If we were light on peeps wedge work fine!! I will try to find pic's of surf wake, Remember i said tryng to keep boat from taking on water was a challenge, Droid X fell Victum....So No photos to post till replacement arives... BTW Snap out carpet was the bomb.....

[pdxWAKE.com]

Vince, What prop are you running with all that weight?

I had a similiar problem with the 537 that came stock on my boat.

I put on the old spare prop from my Supra which is a 1235 and it pulls out of the hole without any issues.

We are running about 1800lbs extra when surfing plus the stock ballast.

[Wakesetter67]

Vince, What prop are you running with all that weight?

I had a similiar problem with the 537 that came stock on my boat.

I put on the old spare prop from my Supra which is a 1235 and it pulls out of the hole without any issues.

We are running about 1800lbs extra when surfing plus the stock ballast.

We had the 1235 Prop on, I just think with all the extra weight and being at above 5000 ft defiantly had an effect on performance, I have had no issues here, But i have never wighted my boat down as much as we did up there. I had all together about 4500lbs People, Stock Ballast and extra ballast.. Im Thinking way too much...

[nyryan2001]

I sometimes run some real heavy weight like that and the wave certainly gets bigger. when you start to exceed 4K its like turning a freight train and takes a lot of work to manage. running that kind of weight I go quite a bit faster, 11.4-12.2mph. It cleans the wake up and it'll make it longer, larger rideable area and you can jump, do 180's and other stuff other than right there in that most steepest area. Also, as your weight in the boat goes up you gotta add weight to the bow, but then you gotta worry about sumarine-ing under a wave. I like to use an extra guy in the bow when running real heavy, then he'll scoot back and forth...when on plane and when not.

I have found that about 3K well placed is an 80% solution, gives a great wave rideable at 11.6ish, good speed and very manageable, stable, easy on the boat and engine.

Edited August 17, 2011 by nyryan2001

[The Voodoo Cowboy]

Only a slight hijack - does anyone worry about the USCG capacity plate? I read these threads with ridiculous weight on board and have visions of boats foundering or worse. --Hijack off

My guess is that the manufacturers under rate the real USCG capacity requirements for liability reasons. I could be completely wrong though, it's happened a time or two.

[Wakesetter67]

My guess is that the manufacturers under rate the real USCG capacity requirements for liability reasons. I could be completely wrong though, it's happened a time or two.

Well we almost got to test that theory, A Sheriff boat was headed our way, and I thought here we go, But turned away at the last minute, But I would assume they might of gave us a warning about the weight issue, But from what i have heard, alot of the Marine police really don't know a whole lot about ballast and wake surfing in general, I remember at Camp Far west they were giving The coordinator a hard time and was asking why that boat was leaning over so much, He didn't have a clue....

[fatbelliedwakeborder]

I overloaded last weekend and could not get the boat to reach 10.5. There was just too much weight. I am going to try to switch my prop and see if that helps. We did the same weight and placement in my buddies MC and the wave was incredible. I cant let his MC outride the BU!!! Any ideas from any one?

[nyryan2001]

look at the OJ props... they have one that'll drop your top end speed by 3-5 MPH but your real world torque under load goes up by like 25%. most iboards with 350hp and stock 45mph props get stuck at or around 3000-3500lbs. They'll be running 4000-5000rpms at 10mph trying to push the weight.