Is Bigger Really Better (for Surfing)?

[Donnieb]

I’ve seen pictures/video of some great surf wakes behind the 24 ft Enzo SV240 (long and steep), and some mighty fine ones behind the Malibu Wakesetter 23LSV and the VLX. I’ve heard some say that to get the best wakes you need to get a bigger boat, although you’ll need to add a lot more weight to get those wakes. Yet I’ve also heard that the shorter the boat, the easier it is to weight it and you can get great, long wakes without a huge crew onboard.

So, are people happy with their VLX for surfing? Has anyone weighted and tried the new VTX for surfing yet?

Thanks.

Don

[wakecrashin]

I have an 06 VLX and it is awesome for surfing! I have a video but no pics. Send me your email and I can send the video.

Ryan

[Donnieb]

Hi Ryan. I just PM'ed it to you.

Thanks!

Donnie

[chathamsolutions]

I have an 06 VLX and it is awesome for surfing! I have a video but no pics. Send me your email and I can send the video.

Ryan

Come on man, give us the goods!

Stick that video on YouTube and let us all see it!

[Cbrown]

The vlx is an excellent boat to surf behind with weight. I have surfed the vtx with the wake hull and it was good in factory form with the potential to be great as well. The wake was a nice size and shape with factory ballast power wedge and 5 people in the boat. The only thing that it lacked was the push that I was used to with a vlx with a fair amount of weight.

[WakeGirl]

The longer the boat, the longer the wave will be. The 247 takes a bit more weight to get it there, but the resulting wave is substantially longer than a VLX's by comparison. With that said, you've got to ask yourself, how big do you need? Here's what we get with our VLX, crew of 4 adults & 1 kid....and some extra weight :

[Guest J-Ro]

D-Goose's '03 VLX puts out a macking wave and it's a 21 footer. I have pics of me and my son behind his boat and the wave is taller than my kid. Proper weighting is key.

[Brad B]

The wave from a certain black '06 VLX I've frequented is long and big enuff to surf 2 large humans.

[relentless]

the money that you spend on the longer 247 can probably be put into weighting the the 21 VLX and and come out with better results at the end. i am sure someone here can correct me if i am wrong though

[relentless]

The wave from a certain black '06 VLX I've frequented is long and big enuff to surf 2 large humans.

i would like to see that. is it two different boards or both on one board. me and my cousin both got on a hyperlite landlock and were able to stay up for about 40 seconds behind my boat. i weigh about 165 and he is about 160lbs.

Edited February 1, 2007 by relentless

[LS-One]

Lets not forget the right board for your size/weight helps a bunch to. I'm happy with 05 vlx wake.

[SacRiverRat]

me and my cousin both got on a hyperlite landlock and were able to stay up for about 40 seconds behind my boat. i weigh about 165 and he is about 160lbs.

I can only wonder what that might have looked like... I'm going to rewrite it a bit, in my mind, and assume you were both hot chicks

otherwise, it is a little disturbing

[jetskipro550]

me and my cousin both got on a hyperlite landlock and were able to stay up for about 40 seconds behind my boat. i weigh about 165 and he is about 160lbs.

I can only wonder what that might have looked like... I'm going to rewrite it a bit, in my mind, and assume you were both hot chicks

otherwise, it is a little disturbing

And they didn't start from the platform...one had to straddle the other

[SacRiverRat]

me and my cousin both got on a hyperlite landlock and were able to stay up for about 40 seconds behind my boat. i weigh about 165 and he is about 160lbs.

I can only wonder what that might have looked like... I'm going to rewrite it a bit, in my mind, and assume you were both hot chicks

otherwise, it is a little disturbing

And they didn't start from the platform...one had to straddle the other

Yup.. and in my senario.. it was the chicks from Edwin's Avatar, and... well... ah.. . I'll just keep the rest to myself

[Steck]

Here is a you tube clip of me surfing the first time I figured out how to ride without the rope.( advise from Greg S) This was with 5 people in the boat and stock ballast. I really need to get the weight dialed in but I was really surprised that we could do it without a lot of weight.

Not a great video but...

[kb3]

me and my cousin both got on a hyperlite landlock and were able to stay up for about 40 seconds behind my boat. i weigh about 165 and he is about 160lbs.

I can only wonder what that might have looked like... I'm going to rewrite it a bit, in my mind, and assume you were both hot chicks

otherwise, it is a little disturbing

And they didn't start from the platform...one had to straddle the other

Yup.. and in my senario.. it was the chicks from Edwin's Avatar, and... well... ah.. . I'll just keep the rest to myself

You can tell it is the middle of winter by the direction these threads head.....

[D-GOOSE]

D-Goose's '03 VLX puts out a macking wave and it's a 21 footer. I have pics of me and my son behind his boat and the wave is taller than my kid. Proper weighting is key.

Weighting is the Key, I find most of the VLX's like more weight up front. This keeps the noise down and the wake longer.

This is just one of the pics of J&T carving the wake.

[relentless]

me and my cousin both got on a hyperlite landlock and were able to stay up for about 40 seconds behind my boat. i weigh about 165 and he is about 160lbs.

I can only wonder what that might have looked like... I'm going to rewrite it a bit, in my mind, and assume you were both hot chicks

otherwise, it is a little disturbing

And they didn't start from the platform...one had to straddle the other

Yup.. and in my senario.. it was the chicks from Edwin's Avatar, and... well... ah.. . I'll just keep the rest to myself

You can tell it is the middle of winter by the direction these threads head.....

sorry both guys. but the board is huge. it was pretty humorus

[zzbutler]

The wave from a certain black '06 VLX I've frequented is long and big enuff to surf 2 large humans.

I second that. The pink stripe makes it go faster too!

"large humans" - haha

[Brad B]

The wave from a certain black '06 VLX I've frequented is long and big enuff to surf 2 large humans.

i would like to see that. is it two different boards or both on one board. me and my cousin both got on a hyperlite landlock and were able to stay up for about 40 seconds behind my boat. i weigh about 165 and he is about 160lbs.

It was 2 seperate boards - Oogle and a Prop.

Heck - Ronnies got a pic around here somewhere of 3 (on seperate boards) on his wave

[Brad B]

At nite even

[WakeGirl]

the money that you spend on the longer 247 can probably be put into weighting the the 21 VLX and and come out with better results at the end. i am sure someone here can correct me if i am wrong though

Not true, the 247 has more potential for a longer wave. You just have to have the weight to get it there. Here's a link to a thread on the 247 & how long the wave can be, complete with pictures. I've never, ever seen a VLX wave that long.

[relentless]

holly crap that is fricken huge

[Brad B]

Bigger is better

4 surfers

[WakeGirl]

holly crap that is fricken huge

Without going back & reading the thread, IIRC they had 13 people in the boat & were using stock ballast in conjunction with the power wedge (they may have had one bag in the rear locker, I can't remember the details & don't have time to read the thread right now). So obviously you need a lot of weight for the 247, whether it's in the form of ballast or VAB. But the potential there is better than any other boat that Malibu currently produces or has produced in the past.