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2016 vtx bow high surfing


Jcm11

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I have 2016 vtx with the 410 monsoon, 2249 prop and fly high pnp bag and when I fill all the ballasts it feels like the bow is super high up. I actually have a hard time getting up to 10mph with the surfgates out. I see everyone else surfing and the driver is sitting down and we have to stand to see anything.  

Usually it’s just two little kids in the boat and two adults. Any help would be appreciated because my wife doesn’t like driving with the bow so high so that means surfing once a month if I’m lucky. 

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You have too much weight in the back. There are three options. 1. Don’t fill the rear bags full. 2. Get a bow bag to add weight to the front. 3. Invite people to boat with you and make them sit up front. Your weight distribution should roughly be 60% in the rear and 40% up front. Right now you are probably close to 10% bow and 90% rear. This will drastically reduce bow rise as well as allow the boat to accelerate. 

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1 hour ago, vaporbluebu said:

You have too much weight in the back. There are three options. 1. Don’t fill the rear bags full. 2. Get a bow bag to add weight to the front. 3. Invite people to boat with you and make them sit up front. Your weight distribution should roughly be 60% in the rear and 40% up front. Right now you are probably close to 10% bow and 90% rear. This will drastically reduce bow rise as well as allow the boat to accelerate. 

Option 2b - buy a few lead bags to move around (takes less space than bow bags, no hassle to fill).  300 lbs (6 bags) in the right places can do a lot.

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3 minutes ago, Stevo said:

+1 for the lead bags, I’d stick the 300 in the tip of the bow and use another 200 on the port side if you have regular surfers in your crew.

If they have the VTX for skiing do you still want to do lead or is a bag better so you can go back to zero weight? We always have large crews so I don’t have experience with either.

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ahopkins22LSV
16 hours ago, Stevo said:

+1 for the lead bags, I’d stick the 300 in the tip of the bow and use another 200 on the port side if you have regular surfers in your crew.

 

16 hours ago, vaporbluebu said:

If they have the VTX for skiing do you still want to do lead or is a bag better so you can go back to zero weight? We always have large crews so I don’t have experience with either.

You will want the lead on the port side all the time even if you are skiing with the VTX. Even with equal passenger weight, the boat still tends to list due to prop torque at ski speeds. I then have 200lbs of additional lead I put in the bow for surfing and skiing. Seems to plant the boat better for tracking skiing and helps with bow rise. The VTX will always have more boat rise than other boats though because it is only 20' long, you are working with a much shorter lever to offset the rear ballast bags.

@Jcm11 Do you know how big your plug n play bags are? If they are bigger than 550's, I would say they are too big. Even with just 3-4 adults I don't fill my 550's all the way depending on which adults they are. Also, try starting with the wedge in lift, gradually moving the throttle as you are accelerating to get the surf gates out then set the wedge at the desired position. On our 2019 VTX (same hull as the 2016) we found wedge 3 was the best position for goofy and 4 for regular. Speed around 10.5 but no faster.

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Thanks everyone for the great advice. If I was to add lead in the bow does it just sit under the cushions next to the bow tank?  Anyone ever try the 50lb dip in the water ballast bags?  Just thinking because I trailer so much I would be constantly taking the lead in and out.
I’m guessing the fly high bags I have are 550 in size (they fill the whole compartment).  I’ll try the lift mode on the wedge next time we are out. 

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ahopkins22LSV
6 hours ago, Jcm11 said:

Thanks everyone for the great advice. If I was to add lead in the bow does it just sit under the cushions next to the bow tank?  Anyone ever try the 50lb dip in the water ballast bags?  Just thinking because I trailer so much I would be constantly taking the lead in and out.
I’m guessing the fly high bags I have are 550 in size (they fill the whole compartment).  I’ll try the lift mode on the wedge next time we are out. 

550’s did not fill the whole compartment for me. I still have enough room on top of them for fenders and lift jackets. 
 

I also trailer and I just move the 200 in lead to the floor just in front of the center rear seat for when we are not surfing and trailering. 

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