Should I expect more from '06 Malibu vride?
 

Video from yesterday's session below.

The good: wave has plenty of push and it seems like I can stay in/on it all day long.

The bad: it's still not all that big and the pocket isn't all that long.

Setup: 2006 Vride (320 LCR motor / stock 537 prop), wedge down, two kids and my wife on board (300 lbs total), rear and mid stock tanks full, 750 in rear locker, 150 brick on surfside floor, 150 brick in walkway, 400 sack in bow on surf side.

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/D3NNruewQNA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/D3NNruewQNA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aGHIHdqdY14&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aGHIHdqdY14&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Certainly doesn't look too bad to me.
I don't know a whole lot about weighting a Malibu, but, how much do the mid and rear stock tanks hold?
Don't take offense to this, but I think you could have recovered at the very end of the 1st video with a little better pumping and working of the board. You did have a nice recovery from fairly far back about the middle of the video.
Out of Curiosity, what board are you riding?

LOL, scott, no offense taken... I'm certainly not purporting to have any skillz.

Mid tank is 500, rear is 250. So I'd estimate we have 900ish rear (250 plus a mostly full 750 sack), 650 mid (500 tank plus 150 brick), 400 bow on the surfside (vdrive sack up on the cushions). Plus 300 lbs of people surfside and a 150 brick on the floor surfside.

Board is a shoreline squash 5.0. Running 2 of 3 fins (was way slow with center fin).

Board could make a big difference in how it feels.

Do you have any pictures of just the wave? No rider or anything.

But im with you, that wave looks really small. especially since you do have it weighted. I would say that you have too much weight up front, but the wave doesnt seem to be that long. Typically weight in back adds height, and weight up front adds length. I would empty the mid tank, and switch the 150lb brick on the floor with the 400lb sack you have up front. Throw that 400 on the seat and I think itll help alot.

Does the rear stock ballast fill on both sides?

2:10 is a nice recovery
I think the pocket is looking pretty good, but would try to add another 400 or so to the rear surf side to add more height. I'm not familiar with how the wedge works, but could you move the bow weight to the rear corner, then adjust the wedge to drive the nose of the boat down a bit to gain extra pocket length?

The rear is just filling the surf side. I do have my batteries (3 of em) on the starboard side though, so there's a couple hundred pounds of ballast built in.

So Joey, you are suggesting putting all the weight behind the driver on the surf side?

It's definitely weighted, and while underway, we're at the rub rail in the back on the surfside.

@scott, no my wedge is fixed / manual (i.e. deployed or not) so no adjustments there). I do have another 400 vdrive sack that I've not busted out yet. Maybe I'll try that on top of the 750 next time out. When we're stopped the surf side swim platform is probably 2-3" under water as it is.

Yea, as much weight as you can get in that back corner should help. I would even put the 150lb brick from the walk way in the corner if you can fit it.

Based on your setup, you should have a nicer wave, but in the vid the wave is REALLY small.

I think all the weight behind the driver is going to make the wave short, fat, and proud of that..... just like Winnie the Pooh. :)
I'd, personally, keep the mid tank full because I like to sink the belly of the boat too. I just haven't found bow weight to be productive, but, then again I don't know much about weighting a Malibu.
You've definitely got a nice surfable wave going there, it's just a matter of fine tuning it a bit for maximum enjoyment.

What are the specs of your VRide? Length, beam, draft?

Length:21' Beam: 93.5" Draft: 24"

Yeah, I was having a heck of a time getting it surfable at all this season, and it seemed like the brick in the walkway made all the difference between a wave that "looked" surfable and one with push.

But given I've got the extra 400 vdrive sack, I could throw that on top of the 750 with my existing setup and see if we can get some height going.

Wish I did have some pics without a rider... the shape looks good -- decent pocket with a nice curl to it at the end.

Scott, maybe it was the angle, but that wave looked tiny for the amount of weight. I think he just needs to mess around with it. I know with Tiges, the more you can get in the back corner the better, but its different for each boat. I havent talked to any bu surfers either, the guys I see surfing behind bu's are never going fast enough....its just white wash back there so I havent really seen much out of them surf wise.

So I guess just play around with it, Get to speed and start moving those bricks and filling/draining sacks. Have you tried not used the wedge?

Yeah without the wedge it completely sucks ass. just a big foamy mess back there with no face to the wave at all.

Ok, then DONT try that haha.

Next time you go out, try some different set ups and take some pics to show us. the wave should be bigger IMO, With my 02 Tige 20V with 400# sack plus ~200# in freshwater jugs all in the back corner, 2 people on the surfside, and about 200# in the bow we get a much bigger wave than that.

When the boat is totally sacked, 9 people crammed on one side, plus above weight, our wave is monster. Planning on getting a 1100 sack for each locker.

Yeah, I've got less than 300 between wife and 2 kids in the boat, so not a lot on the human ballast side.

Even without human ballast, our wave is significantly larger. I would still work for a bigger one.

dug up this old thread: http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/...rf-setup-help/

also indicates lots of weight at the rear, so I'll try it. The wake in the pics doesn't really look much different than mine, truth be told. I think a lot of the size is the camera angle.

different angle so it's hard to tell, but I think the wave was bigger this time. We put the 750 in the rear locker and stacked a 400 on top. 150 brick in the bow and everyone sitting surfside. Wedge down.

This is as big as it gets from this hull imho.... We were at and sometimes above the rubrail while under power. Gas cap only a few inches above the water.

<object width="1280" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AUXkaJ5yMG4&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AUXkaJ5yMG4&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="1280" height="745"></embed></object>

I dont see where anyone has asked what depth that water is you are riding on. I agree, with that much weight, it looks to be a bit small. The area you are riding in looks to be a deep area, but looks can be deceiving too. Can you give us an average depth reading just to rule that out?

that's in 40-60', so I don't think it's the depth.

oh yeah....definitely not the issue! lol. Sorry man, that's all I got then.

That wave can be better. 1100# bag in the locker, 750 on the surf side seats. 400 in the bow. the wave will get a little shorter but much longer and definatly have alot more power to it. the water line will be at the rub rail when at rest and will just come over the corner of the boat when under power. Also make sure you have a full tank of gas. It WILL make a differance!

Throw the surfboard back in the boat and get your wakeboard out. That's my suggestion.

might be camera angle, but that newest video the wave looks at least surfable. It should be bigger, but thats pretty decent man.

LOL, wakeboarded all morning till my hands couldn't hold the handle anymore! I'd rather wakeboard too, but my body quit cooperating.

Yeah, gas tank was full. Wow, man, THAT is a lot of weight! Not sure I trust my wife driving the boat with that much weight if the water is that high... she still tends to take one over the bow on occaision... don't need to add taking one over the transom too.

I'm actually pretty stoked with the setup as-is. I think over the winter I'll remove the hard tanks and hard-plumb in a set of 1100's and call it good.