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2017 A20 surf wave question


JosZam

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I'm about two trips in with my first surf boat(a20). My question is about optimizing the surf wave.  I've seen people saying wedge down, plug in play ballast full and 3 people, but where should they sit and what if there are more people?  Should I put less in the ballasts? Is there a "guide" available that might give me indications of if there is too much weight or if I'm going too slow or?   I assume that the boat makes a perfect wave with three and full even ballasts etc so if I have 300 lbs of extra people on one side can I just take 300 out of that side and be good?   We keep stumbling onto killer waves now and then but when we change drivers or someone moves then its not as good...Help?

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ahopkins22LSV

Have any pictures or video?

What speed are you running?

What size bags are your PNP?

What depth water are you surfing in?

I would try 10.8mph and keep the weight even in the boat. Maybe a slight list to the port side if surfing regular. If you are running 750's or even 550's for PNP you may need some help with bow weight. Try moving people up there to see if that helps and then you can decide on how to keep that weight up there. Lead, plumb in an external bag, or through a pump over the side for an external bag. And for water depth, 15' or more feet is optimal. But min 12'. You will loose the wave or degrade it in anything less.

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I'm double checking the weight of the bags..they are bigger than the normal ones I think and the water is 40+.  I'm going to try no wedge and full bags tonight, I may be too heavy in the back.   

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when it goes from KILLER to not so good what are you loosing. I would keep slemming it out totally full and let people land where they may. YOur tuning will most likely be playing with the wedge and bow weight. You will most likely want more up there. So start with what was said above, move people up there and see what it does. A slight list on surf side due to people piled over there is fine. Good even. Just dont have it get leaning too much or your surf gates will become less effective

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I run full stock 825s in both tears and a 650 bow bag and usually 2 people in bow around 10.8-11... if I have a lot of people I'll dump some rear ballast... it's good but not perfect still tweaking...if you're on Instagram look up mnsurfdad... he's got his dialed in ... I'm sure he's on here just don't know if his name is the same 

Edited by powderski14
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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm getting closer.  I'm good on the speed I think at 10.8-11 ish I'm thinking that I should trade out the big bags in the back they upsold me.  I have a pretty short wave with a clean face but crusty top.  Right now I'm working on no wedge and full ballasts.  Tomorrow I think I'll try wedge and no ballast weight in the back and then only front and center with everyone up front and no weight in the back to see what that does

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I'm still fiddling with 2015 A20, but here's where I get the best results:

10.8 mph (actual 10.8...adjusted speedo...do this if you haven't)

950 PnP bow ballast full

Two 50 lb lead wake bags in bow under seats

center hard tank full

rear hard tank full

rear PnP 750's about half full

wedge down

I have to tweak a little...feel like the swim platform adds the Crusty Top if I don't keep the bow down...which is key.

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I go one of two ways with my '16 A20.  If it's just the wife and I I go all hard tanks full, rear 550s full, bow bag under cushions (whatever that really gets - a few hundred likely), plus our 650 lb bow bag on the cushions.  If I run the bag on top of the cushions I use the wedge and the wave is really nice.  I prefer 10.4-10.6 when we are this light of a crew.  If we are just going for a few quick runs I go all plug and play, no extra bow bag and I keep the wedge up.  Riding my Phase5 Diamond it has plenty of push/speed for me at 6'1 190lbs.  This set up with our Phase5 Oogle - forget it.  Doesn't have enough speed to keep me in.  The Oogle in the first set up worked out great.  Great starter board, but the diamond is legit.  Last way we go is if we have 5-6 people I do the same set up as the first with everything.  However if I have a couple larger folks they ride the bow, but people with use tend to like the rear to be closer to the rider so the 650 bag goes on top of the bow cushions.  The best we had was the everything full, the 650 extra bow bag on the cushions shifted a little to the side so a buddy of mine could sit up front (so 850 lbs on the cushions), then the driver and 3 other adults in the boat, wedge deployed, 10.6 mph.  This was was awesome!!!!  Again with my size I usually am hitting the gas surfing frequently (not as much with the new board), but with the new board and that amount of weight in the boat my bag leg was sore from having to hit the breaks all the time.  Absolutely love the might max A20, but now I want to ride behind a slammed T23 just to see the difference.  Also heard the M235 even tops the T23, but it should since its twice the cost.

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  • 4 years later...

I have an 18 a20 that I run a 450 under bow cushions n 650 on top center tank full rear hard tanks full n 865 bags full on each side. Wedge up unless u want a steep face. Usually run 11mph and a crew of 3 for more time on the board. When I take a 4th they sit on the bow bag.  I noticed about every 30mins or so hit ur pumps n confirm all your bags n ballast are full.  Sometimes the wife will stop filling when the air lines start to puke water. Really make sure ur bags are water filled not air over top of water, this makes a huge difference. Hope this helps everyone

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  • 5 months later...

I've got the 2022 A20 axis, and i'm really facing hard times in the wave formation, i'm kind of new to this. I've got extra ballast bags 450lbs in bow (under the seat) and 550lbs on each side in the back. what is the best setup for this kind of boats. i'm surfing at 25ft depth at 9.3 mph, the wave is always not clean and the boat is splashing all the time (either from the surf gate or from the boat itself). Wave is not giving enough push, and is not clean at all. 

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My first thought is that 9.3 is waaaay too slow to allow a good wave to form. Every day, boat, crew, current for me and crap in the boat is going to be different and effect the wave in some way. A good starting point with any surf gate equipped boat is to have it evenly weighted front to rear and side to side with a slight bias toward rear weight for a firmer wave and front weight for a longer wave. I would not worry about other peoples numbers. I would drain and fill to see what works. Move weight to see what cleans up the wave or gets the wave you or the rider likes. My speed is faster than what my wife likes and she likes a very lippy wave so the presets reflect accordingly. There is such a thing as too much weight especially on a SG equipped boat. Good luck.

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Concur that 9.3 mph sounds like first thing to change. 

If it were me, i would fill all ballast, put wedge at 2, and sweep speed from like 10.4 to 11.6 in 0.2 mph increments and simply watch what happens to the wave at each speed (just learn your new toy).

I suspect around 11mph you'll see something much more to your liking and can use that as a starting point for fine tuning (wedge, speed and/or ballast).

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hello again, i tried the boat with some variances as mentioned. I'm still facing issues with the wave as there is no enough push, wave is not steep , wave is not clean , too much splash on the non-surf side. I increased/reduced ballast as well as speed. at 10.4 mph (bow full)(mid section full)(rear 50% surf side) (30% non-surf side) 

the wave was flushed and not really giving the push. I also got a wakeshaper but i couldnt have the chance to try it out earlier today. 

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any pictures?  did you try up to 11.0mph with full rear ballast? From above (and my experience as a novice who bought an A24), that seems like it should be a good starting point?  Did wedge settings change anything?  

One idea: Are you in a river or body of water with current using GPS cruise control? if so, GPS speed won't be giving you the same thru-the-water speed you want and may want to use the paddlewheel.

Final comment - are you new to surfing?  my first few trips i was blaming the wave for not having enough push, but looking back, i just didn't know how to surf and was going too slow.  After speeding up from high 10's to low 11's and a dozen days on the water, my opinion of the wave improved dramatically.

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With my 2016 A20, surf starboard side always has a better wake. More than 30% in rear pnp bags does cause extra splashing and does not help my wake. Surf port side is normally not as good and does improve with 50% in both rear bags. Level or slight listing to the surf side does best for me. Keep the center and front full. 
You didn’t mention the crew size. Wake can degrade if my entire crew sits on the rear seat. 10.8 mph is the sweet spot for me. 

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  • 4 months later...

As recommended guys, added some more ballast, increased the speed to 10.2 mph , wave started getting better , push was better , as well as the shape of the wave! Only issue i faces was a flushy wave , (fixed by adding more weight in bow). Wave is clean and has many variations which is perfect.

Thanks

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