2003 23LSV surf wave

[isellacuras]

Hey guys. Looking for a friend who is looking for a boat to surf. I know it’s not a “surf” boat but how is the wave when properly weighted?  With the boat market out of control, this price point is at the top of his budget (over of course). He almost bought a mastercraft X1 of the same vintage but I don’t think that was the right boat for what he wanted to do. I was trying to get him to step up to a 2005-2008 VLX but he found a reasonably priced 03 LSV. It has manual wedge. Being a little bigger boat, I am hoping it might compare to the later model VLX. Thoughts and pics are greatly appreciated. Any known issues are appreciated as well. It has the 335 monsoon. 

[shawndoggy]

@wakemitch's folks had one of these IIRC.

It'd be a great foil boat and those ski very well too.

[Brad B]

A 2003 Wakesetter 23 LSV is absolutely an awesome surf boat.

Had a youtube blogger visit us last week and you can see some of my wave in this vid 

 

[Fffrank]

Will surf better than the newer VLX you describe.  When setup properly it will be a wave that is only a shade down from the modern surf-designed boats.

[cla10beck]

@Brad B,  what is your setup?  I am trying to dial in my surf wave and it looks like I need to be setup like you.

[95echelon]

1 hour ago, Fffrank said:

Will surf better than the newer VLX you describe.  When setup properly it will be a wave that is only a shade down from the modern surf-designed boats.

I have been in the previous generation 23 LSV with the SV23 hull and my 2005 21.5 VLX with the newer V25 hull, both can put out a great wave. The v25 though is a bit wider and has essentially no point of diminishing return with ballast, you can slam it with 6000 pounds and create a monster wave in height, but to get the length of the 23 wake you have to surf faster. Only advantage I can think of in mine other than the weight is that it can create a higher wave with more push, which can be helpful for beginners or heavier folks to go ropeless. 

In that 03 you'd want 1000lbs triangle sack in the bow, full underfloor ballast, and rip out the rear hard tanks to replace with 1100lb sacks. Then just give it some list and put a shaper on. Lack of adjustable wedge does kind of suck, but full down is what I surf and about 10.9-11.3 MPH. Some prefer it without the wedge completely. I have seriously considered having a couple of holes drilled so I can use my wedge the equivalent of a "click up".

Other consideration is prop...

[Brad B]

Hard tanks removed and plumbed in 1100s in trunks. Changed prop to 1235.

Fill both trunks equal - probably about 950-1000 - Fill ski locker MLS (350lbs?) - 600lb steel under bow seats. Mission Delta as far back as possible and 3-4 inches under waterline - use this to determine which side is surfing so changes only take 10-20 seconds. Find the lowest speed that the wake cleans up and thats your lowest - we run 12-14 but not GPS - just a number to us. 

750s will work OK in trunks too. With anything bigger you need to reinforce the motor box divider walls.

[Fffrank]

I'm rocking the same setup as @Brad B

I fill surf side until it's full and about 50pct on the non surf side. I also have the stock MLS bow tank and don't need any more weight up front.

[cla10beck]

Thanks for the info, I have 1100's in the rear (not all they way full) and the mid ballast full with wedge and wake shaper and the wave is pretty good, but it sounds like I need a lot more weight in the bow

 

Have any of you cut out the useless coolers under the bow seats to make room for an under seat bow sack?

[Brad B]

We removed the Wedge. Made the wave very steep and less fun. And with all that ballast the Wedge would drag even when up - so much that it would pop the door and make a fountain - so we took it off - no regrets - even drives easier.

We have 6 solid steel bars 4.25" diameter x 24" long - painted and wrapped with Gorilla tape in the coolers (~80 lbs ea), along with 2 anchors and their rode (30 lb Navy style), and some 40 lb pop bags stuffed in the nose behind and under the little triangle seat. So really I guess we are closer to 700 lbs - but whose counting. Makes those coolers less than useless. But also we don't trailer - we leave the steel bars at the dock if we have to pull the boat out for some reason. Before, we used to have one of those triangle bags - our goal was to eliminate sacs and stuff on the seats and in the floor. now we have no ballast showing.

[shawndoggy]

12 hours ago, Fffrank said:

I'm rocking the same setup as @Brad B

I fill surf side until it's full and about 50pct on the non surf side. I also have the stock MLS bow tank and don't need any more weight up front.

you have a different hull than @isellacuras was asking about

[Brad B]

28 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

you have a different hull than @isellacuras was asking about

Yea. 03 was the last year of the Diamond on WS23LSV - unless his 04 is  Sunsetter 23LSV which I believe was still on the Diamond. 04 WS23LSV changed to Wake hull.

[Fffrank]

54 minutes ago, Brad B said:

Yea. 03 was the last year of the Diamond on WS23LSV - unless his 04 is  Sunsetter 23LSV which I believe was still on the Diamond. 04 WS23LSV changed to Wake hull.

My mistake.  I thought 03 and 04 were the same.  

[shawndoggy]

11 minutes ago, Fffrank said:

My mistake.  I thought 03 and 04 were the same.  

03 is a "tiny" boat by today's standards even though it was "big" back then.  It's like a skinny lightweight low freeboard T22.

[JLT3]

Mine is the 02 Sunscape 23 LSV and I have some people have trouble going without the rope.  I have 850s in lockers, Acme 1235, 650 in bow, swell V1 suck gate, and about 10 people in the boat to move around.  If wedge down the wave gets taller and that is about it.   Speed at 11.2 with PerfectPass.  @Brad B Does your platform not chop the wave off?  When I load the 850s the platform is a good 4 inches deep in the water.  And removing the wedge makes a big difference?

[blk93jeepzj]

9 minutes ago, JLT3 said:

Mine is the 02 Sunscape 23 LSV and I have some people have trouble going without the rope.  I have 850s in lockers, Acme 1235, 650 in bow, swell V1 suck gate, and about 10 people in the boat to move around.  If wedge down the wave gets taller and that is about it.   Speed at 11.2 with PerfectPass.  @Brad B Does your platform not chop the wave off?  When I load the 850s the platform is a good 4 inches deep in the water.  And removing the wedge makes a big difference?

May have to put spaces between the platform and platform brackets to help keep the edges from digging in.  I used a 2x4 for experimenting (and it is still there).

[Brad B]

54 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

03 is a "tiny" boat by today's standards even though it was "big" back then.  It's like a skinny lightweight low freeboard T22.

She loves being called skinny - specially when we feed her like a pig.

[cla10beck]

I have found that the placement of the wake shaper makes a huge difference.  Early on, I would go from one session to having a great wave, and next session with the same ballast wasn't nearly as good.  I am going to consistently try Brad B's placement advice above (3-4 inches below waterline and as far back as possible)

[Brad B]

21 minutes ago, JLT3 said:

Mine is the 02 Sunscape 23 LSV and I have some people have trouble going without the rope.  I have 850s in lockers, Acme 1235, 650 in bow, swell V1 suck gate, and about 10 people in the boat to move around.  If wedge down the wave gets taller and that is about it.   Speed at 11.2 with PerfectPass.  @Brad B Does your platform not chop the wave off?  When I load the 850s the platform is a good 4 inches deep in the water.  And removing the wedge makes a big difference?

Yes our teak platform is 3-4 inches under water line when still but as soon as we get underway it skims right above the water line. The corners splash just a tiny bit. Its only 2 bolts to remove Wedge so was a very ez "mod" to try. Then leave it sitting in your office and just about everyone will ask you what the heck that is.

[Brad B]

1 hour ago, cla10beck said:

I have found that the placement of the wake shaper makes a huge difference.  Early on, I would go from one session to having a great wave, and next session with the same ballast wasn't nearly as good.  I am going to consistently try Brad B's placement advice above (3-4 inches below waterline and as far back as possible)

We even had to flip the "gate" part of the Delta around so that it wound be as far back as possible - to copy actual Surf Gate. The suction ends up in front of the gate on the hull. This did make a big difference. The depth didn't seem to make that much difference other than if its too high it seems to throw fuzz into the wave.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Brad B

[JLT3]

Well I guess since I was using a version one swell I should try the new Delta 2.0.  I have 2 850s in the rear and they are saying they have verified it will work with our boats and create a killer wave.  They also recommend 500 in bow which I can easily do.  See below.  $320 sounds better than a 150K boat.  lol