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Malibu VTX wakesurf issue


MWP

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I have a 2017 VTX. When I fill ballast to 100%, the wakesurf kicks out and with wedge down, the wake is just like you were driving without surfgate open. There is no difference. I have to take weight out of the boat to get a nice clean surf wake. Any advice?

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ahopkins22LSV
1 hour ago, ndahlberg12 said:

How big are your PNP bags?

What position is your wedge set at?

What speed are you using?

Once we know this we can clean it up in no time!

Also take a look at this thread. The vtx is a very solid surf boat for its size. 

 

Edited by ahopkinsTXi
Forgot the link...
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I tried speeds between 10 and 11mph and wedge at different angles. I didn’t try with the wedge stowed which might actually help.  I think my extra bags are 500lbs each but not positive. 

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I have a 2014 VTX with the four internal hard tanks and PNP. I added a 450 lb sack in the port locker and set the wedge about half way,( factory setting) and we can surf around the lake rope free with just two people in the boat. It is amazing for a 20 ft boat.

 

John

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If anybody has tips on where to set ballast for optimal slalom wake that would be awesome too. I have to ski super short line to avoid the mountain of a wake at 36 mph!  Used to a TXi

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ahopkins22LSV
42 minutes ago, MWP said:

I tried speeds between 10 and 11mph and wedge at different angles. I didn’t try with the wedge stowed which might actually help.  I think my extra bags are 500lbs each but not positive. 

If I have a full tank of full I run 10.2-10.4 for regular and 10.6 for goofy. Wedge in ramp or one click up from ramp. When the fuel gets to 60% or less we can go 10.8. Not really sure if I can actually tell the difference between 10.4-10.8 though lol. This is with full mls, 550 pnp and an extra 150 of lead all the way forward in the bow.

If you are running more wedge then that you are probably creating too short and steep of a wave that will wash out on itself. 

How deep is your lake where you ate surfing?

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ahopkins22LSV

I also just came from a TXi. Try -28 or -32 off at 34mph with the bow tank full. I haven’t skied it at 36 yet. Ski from the center pylon too. That the best we have found and it’s pretty good considering the size of the boat. -22 is out of the question because of the bump. -15 might be far enough behind it but I haven’t tried to be honest. It’s not going to compare to your old TXi but it’s still pretty dang good for open water turns. Luckily my friend I ski with has a response for when we ski the course. 

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Lake is 50’ deep where we surf. And, I’m a rookie at this, what is MLS and PNP?  I have a 17 VTX and it has 2 additional soft ballast tanks I can fill in the back. Seems like when I fill them though 100% we can get a nice wake. It’s just washed out. 

For skiing, I’ll have to try from center pylon again. I tried it once at 32 off and line kept hitting tower so i just moved line back. 

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ahopkins22LSV
2 minutes ago, MWP said:

Lake is 50’ deep where we surf. And, I’m a rookie at this, what is MLS and PNP?  I have a 17 VTX and it has 2 additional soft ballast tanks I can fill in the back. Seems like when I fill them though 100% we can get a nice wake. It’s just washed out. 

For skiing, I’ll have to try from center pylon again. I tried it once at 32 off and line kept hitting tower so i just moved line back. 

Mls is the stock hard tanks. Pnp are the bags. If you are just filling to when the screen says 100% that isn’t filling the bags all the way. The sensors are only in the hard tanks. 

However if you are filling those all the way and cants get a good wave I suspect your are running too much wedge or have a ton of people in the boat and probably need to drain some rear ballast. Last weekend we had 6 adults and I only had the rear bags 1/2 full. 

One other question, the bow mls hard tank is an option. Do you have that? Or do you have storage under the bow seats? If you don’t have the bow tank you might be running wayyyyyy to stern heavy and I’d suggest in buying about 400 lbs of leadwake bags. 

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In our, 2011 vtx, we need weight in the front, a lot of it. We fill the front ballast, then throw a 400 up there. We have to be super careful not to dip the front. 

Basically if all your weight is too far back, the wave is too short, and gets washed out. Most of the time we surf with the wedge either all the way down, or stowed, depending on number of people in the boat.

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I've got a 16 VTX and struggled to dial my wave in a bit at first, too. I think I've got it figured out mostly and the key is bow weight. With just the stock ballast in the bow, there isn't enough weight in the front to level it out a bit. 

Mine tends to like filling all the stock tanks 100%, my bags in the rear between 50 and 75% full and I like to have ~300 pounds extra weight in the bow by combination of lead or people. If I've got more than 7 or 8 people (2 in the bow, 1 driving, 1 riding, 3 or 4 in the cabin) I might drain a little bit more from the bags. Generally set speed between 10.2 and 10.8. This has been my pretty successful set up so far and can ride ropeless on my Phase 5 Model X or my Ronix Kaol Classic pretty easily and I'm not that good.

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My guess...is that you have too much weight in the rear so the water is going OVER the surfgate and why its not working. Like stated above.....best option is adding bow weight since it allows you to use the rear weight you have, but also pushes down the bow which brings the stern up some allowing the surfgate to do its job, the only other option is draining weight at the rear if you do not want to add bow weight. Surfgate does not work right when you bury it well below water level....the same thing happens on suck gates, the wave gets washy when top edge is too far under the water, it needs to divert the water to create the wave.

Edited by Infinitysurf
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So what would you consider "too far under the water"?  I've got a suck-gate (home built) and I mount it as high as I can.  With the shape of the hull, that buries the gate when I am at full ballast while running.  It's not a long ways under water, but it is under.

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ahopkins22LSV
15 minutes ago, mrothwell said:

So what would you consider "too far under the water"?  I've got a suck-gate (home built) and I mount it as high as I can.  With the shape of the hull, that buries the gate when I am at full ballast while running.  It's not a long ways under water, but it is under.

Is your wave good?

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"good" is subjective.  I have honestly only surfed behind one other boat in my life, that was 12 years ago behind a V-Ride a couple times.

I think my wave is pretty good for a 20 ft boat.  It isn't long, but it's decent height, decent shape.  I can ride back there all day long, but when trying 360's I fall out of the wake.  I think that is more of a skill issue than anything, though.  Every time I try to lengthen the wake by adding more bow weight, I dont like the wave as well.

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