Ballast, bow rise and speed

[Weaklink]

On my 21vlx with full ballast plus 2 550 PNP bags in the rear lockers and the power wedge engaged and just my wife and I on board you have to stand up when driving to see over the bow and the boat struggles to reach 10mph. Seems to do better with more people in the boat and weight up front so I’m unsure whether I need more weight in the front, a prop change, or both. There are not a lot of options for weighting the front since there is zero storage there. What has everyone else done?

[klingsdesigns]

What prop do you have. Might need a more aggressive pitch. 14.25

[Fman]

Dump some weight out of the rear bags.  You will be surprised what 200 lbs less on each side will do.  Your wave could reduce in size but my guess is it will be minimal.  I only run my rear bags in my LSV at about 350-400 lbs each.

You wedge setting can also come down to bring the bow down.  What setting on wedge are you currently using?

Your other option is to add more bow weight (lead or another bag on the seat).  I would try dumping some weight first to see how it works for you then move to the other options. 

Edited June 25, 2018 by Fman

[RyanB]

My suggestion is bow weight.  That is what I just did on my LSV - added 250 pounds of lead around the bow tank.

As a side note, if I were to do it again, I would skip the Leadwake (although it was a good product), and make my own by buying used lead tire weights, and putting them into PVC pipe.  It would have been a lot easier to get weight around the tank that way.

[Heiny]

I was struggling with the same issue and it was really frustrating me. I ordered a 750 lb bow bag and it made a world of difference. While those bags can be a little extra work, the results were totally worth it. Performance of the boat was great. I could have the wedge were I wanted it and the wave, especially on the goofy side, was as good as I have seen or ridden. The new pumps for the bags are really fast so that isn't really an issue. Add some bow weight and you will like you boat again. 

[Weaklink]

Thanks for all the suggestions!