Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Sporter LX Correct Ballast for Surfing?


kpair

Recommended Posts

Hey all,

I need some advice. Last year my bro-in-law bought a inland surf board specifically to ride behind my Sporter LX. Even with the Wedge down and 400lbs of people, it sucked. Since then I've learned, I need to have a lot of ballast on the passanger side of the boat. The question I have is, how much ballast? The Sporty rides low to the water already and I know to keep the rub rail above the water line but, what's the number I should be shooting for 450lbs, 750lbs ????

Thanks

Link to comment

In that boat? The least amount that works! It really won't take much weight on one side to get a sporty scarry close to taking water over the edge, so put weight in the boat and see, use people at first to get the positioning, weight, and waterline issues worked out without fear of sinking. That's not a great surf boat for many reasons so their will be some trade off no matter what. Good luck.

Link to comment

Holy smokes...that has got to be over the wieght limit for a sportster. A Tony said it's a trade off since the sportster is best for slaloming and footing. I'd like to see the wake behind that thing. I've seen a Sportster w/ about 6" of water in it...still not great for surfing. Crazy.gif

Link to comment

If I did that with mine, it's be slammed to the bottom of the lake.

What happens if I buy a 750lbs and only fill it to 550lbs? Does the water slosh back and forth in the fat sac?

Link to comment
If I did that with mine, it's be slammed to the bottom of the lake.

What happens if I buy a 750lbs and only fill it to 550lbs? Does the water slosh back and forth in the fat sac?

I wakesurfed with my 99 Sportster with no ballast. Just put the wedge down, sat 2 of my buddies (150-190 pounds each) at the rear sitting on yhe gunnel ran 6-8 MPH and voila! Surfing.gif The boat didn't ride low as much as to one side...Surf picture We rented an inland surfer for the weekend and everybody managed to keep up with the boat even my little cousins... The only thing is be carefull not to get water in the gas tank's air vent. When I changed my water seperator that year, it was half full of water. I didn't buy one finally because I was affraid to damage the engine because I the oil level must be too high on one side of the block and too low on the other... I strongly recommend not to add any ballast to a Sportster LX or a Response LX. The open bow on these boats act as a scoop when your cross wakes from a wakeboard boat who's loaded with ballast. I actually saw a Response LX with 6 people abord and FatSacs almost sink when the nose of the Response LX plunged under the wake of a X-Star with a load of ballasts who just past by. One passager was actually a pregnant woman not even wear a PFD Shocking.gif ... At least nobody was hurt and the guys from the X-Star pulled the Response LX to shore. If you want to get serious about surfing, I sugest you change your boat, if it is just for fun and don't intend to do tricks, stick with passanger weight. That's my advise... :)

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...