How to weight my '86 sunsport for surfing.

[Graeme]

Hi,

I am having a problem trying to find a good wake on this boat, even though I have seen others with awesome surf wake(wakemikey I think) on this hull. I have a 600# bag and 3x200# bags.

The wake seems to be really vertical in the center, and and so it doesn't curl over. The pocket is really small, and the wake is very choppy/foamy after the vertical pop up in the center.

I am goofy FYI.

I noticed the other day that when I had two friends in the bow the wake seemed better. Should I add weight in the bow? Worried about swamping this thing.

Graeme

[wotan2525]

I'm sure mikey will chime in and help you.... I think the best advice is to experiment, experiment, experiment. I know that he (and most others) add weight to the bow. I also know that I've never been able to get a clean goofy wake (but I haven't tried that hard.)

[Supra-in-steamboat]

These hulls throw a nice wave- even in comparison to newer Supras and other new models. Try searching a few key terms like ballast, weighting, sacs, wakesurfing, wakeplate, etc in the forum archives... There are a ton of posts and mucho information on this very subject. Yes bow weight helps- makes the wave a bit longer. More in the back makes it taller. More on the side makes the boat "list" or lean over to the surf side creating a nice curl. Try moving the weight around during flight- see how the wave shape changes. Here is a pic of a goofy wave with only @ 400lbs. There is 100 lbs surf side up front and 150lbs surfside next to the engine and 150lbs surfside in the back. Normally we run @1000lbs- but weight placement is more important than volume.

[Graeme]

Yea, that looks like a nice wave there. Is that someone in the wave? Hilarious!

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Hey Graeme - You are on the right track. With the bags you have, I would run a 200 in the rear ski locker, and another under the rear bench seat (modify to remove dividers). Put the 600 sac on the rear floor alongside the engine. Then take the last 200 and experiment with it. Start out with it in the back on top of your 600 sac or try it in the bow on the surf side.

Starting it in the rear will let you make your wave as steep as possible to learn on. If you find yourself running into the swim platform, you wave is too steep and could benefit from bow weight which will lengthen the pocket and give you more wave to surf closer and further back from the boat. Untill your wave is above thigh high I would not worry about bow weight.

All the people should be sitting on the surf side. Some rear weight that is centered side-to-side is nessecary (about 400 lbs) but the rest should make the boat lean.

Personally I run 350 rear ski locker, 275 under bench seat, 720 on the rear floor and 350 in the bow on the surf side. Good luck!

Here is the biggest I have been able to get my goofy wave. Summer before last, we added a few hundred pounds of weight since then.

[olivier_20]

Old thread resurection !! Hey M. Graeme , i want to know what is your setup for the cavitation plate ?? is it set lower,equal or upper than the hull ?? I have a 87 Sunsport and my plate is not hydrolic and i don't know how high or low it need to be set fo the better wakesurf shape. Here's a shot of the owner manual about the cavitation plate and it doesn't help me much for wakesurfing...

[wotan2525]

The further the plate is up, the bigger your wakesurf wake will be. The further it is down, the longer your wave will be.

The plate can compensate for not enough or too much bow weight, as well.

The best solution? Plate all the way up and LOTS of ballast. Then play with moving the plate down each time and seeing if your wave gets better or worse....

[olivier_20]

All right then !! Plate up and I'll try to put more in the bow ! Thanks mate

[villain]

i think i read somewhere that someone put a hinge in the cav. plate so there was more movement. am i right?

[Jetlink]

You guys are all approaching the issue wrong... It's not always about more weight or people.

I give you exhibit "A."

http://youtu.be/WNX0U2GYC1c