Epic Boat owners
 

How do you weight your boat for wakeboarding?

Please have the following info.

Model Year:
Speed:
Line Length:
Ballast Setup:
Trim Tab Level:

If you surf how do you setup for that?

Also if you have any photos please share! Thanks!

2011
21.5 and up
65 at that speed - longer the faster you go
this is w/o ballast and trim tab at about 40 - 50% down

adding ballast: Front 1/2 full and back 1/4 full - play with trim tab but likely will stay around the same position - otherwise the table is too wide and will easily wash except you speed up to 23 or even 24mph

Surfing: Front and whatever rear side you're on full - opposite side 1/4 to may half full (if you search for that topic this is pretty much it). Speed between 10.5 and 11. Wakeplate for shaping wake only - all the way up = steep/rampy, anything after that makes it long. If you add a fat sac then the wakeplate makes the difference as you know have enough push for the wake to be long, w/o may not work (btw - these are experiences from last year when I still had the 2007 - just in case)

My boat has the surf trim tabs so I can play around with it more but have found out yesterday that you got the weight first right w/o playing with the other stuff and then use it for tuning. Had to go in circles with my 07 but with the 2011 you can go straight.

I don't have any pictures from the ride last night - can check what my friends took via their phones but here's a link to some public videos I shot last year with the 07. They are pretty long but were done at various speeds, ballast setups and wakeplate settings to give you some ideas.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/?id=767914695

2007 23V

Front Full
Rears 1/4 to 1/2 (slightly more on the left to compensate for no third at times as well as prop wash.
Trim 15-25%
speeds are good from 21.5 to 24.5 and allows for 65ft to 70ft.

Surf
Depending on people on the boat
Front 1/4 to 1/2
Rear 1/2 to 3/4
10.5 mph and varying depending on the rider.

I don't have any pics right now but there are plenty on this forum.

2007 23V

Surf (rough water - very windy)
11.3 mph
front 1/2
left 3/4
right 3/8
3 lighter kids on the left side
trim 25%

Both sides were solid, but with the wind on the right side, the left wake was great with a really neat curl. With the trim at 25% plus a little, the pocket moved back from the boat and lengthened. Out in the full wind (almost a gale) and rough water, it was washy at the tops. With both aft 3/4 full, the right or goofy side is very good.

This was the first day out, but it just got too rough to continue or get a good picture. With calm water, the wake would be spectacular.

What a PITA to get the boat back on the trailer with the 30 mph wind. It was great once the bow was over the trailer, but getting it there with a bent prop (oops, darn boat bobbing in shallow water) was a bit challenging.

The good news is I found a prop repair shop in Winnipeg that offers 2 day or less service.

bummer about the prop after I just redid it :-( but glad she runs fine and you enjoy it - not sure if I would go out with 30 miles wind though ...

Epcis are nice, but have you guys thought about an MB?

A bit of thread drift, but I will take the bait. Yes, just about bought an MB from a repo dealer in Utah. They are very nice with a bit more bling than the Epic. Of course, a few inches wider. I just about bought Supra and a Centurion. However, from a value of use perspective the Epic was a good buy for me. Not wanting to bash other boats, but let's be honest, the engines are nearly all the same, GM Marine with small changes to make them unique to the supplier. The hull is probably the most important part for usage. The interiors of some of the boats will make you a slave to maintenance and after 5 years will require work. A new boat is always nice. My only wish of all of the inboards was that they had better turn performance like the Yamaha ar230 or the Seadoo Challengers.

you think the turn performance of an inboard is lacking?? lol... never heard that one before!

Frank you obviously shouldn't have taken the bait ... ;)

@Ryan: You do read the topic of this particular thread? Your contribution beyond the fact that you own a Malibu is utterly lacking any substance to the topic itself and proving that you don't necessarily know the difference of the different ways of propelling a boat forward doesn't help either :rolleyes:

What does the fact that I own a Malibu have to do with anything I've said in this thread? i'm very aware of the different types of propulsion. My statement had nothing with do with comparing the two, just stating that most people that get into an inboard have never complained that it didn't handle great!

BTW, are those German Shepherds in your PIC? my mom just got a 8 week old pup and i have been considering getting one myself, they seem to be great dogs?

MBs rule. Hows that for off topic

So um back to the Epic owners posting there wake setups please :)

@Ryan - still off topic - start a new thread or pm me about GSDs then I'll chime in - might have to say a word or 2

@ Wakedirt - Glad somebody is showing me the light :rolleyes:

@Smitty - ok was out yesterday again - still w/o pics - training my dogs to hold the camera but hasn't worked out yet ... anyway - my setup described above for surfing with rider side full, other side 1/4 to 1/2 and front full plus trim tab at 25% didn't generate enough push - have to admit that I'm riding a 50" liquid force tc custom skim - at least not at 11mph. Buddy was riding afterwards on the right side of the boat with the same setup except opposite tank empty and that looked much better - at least from the driver perspective. I still haven't figured out how to make use of the trim tabs - was super excited about them as I thought that I could ditch the additional fat sac in the locker which I had in my 2007 (which btw is the boat Frank/iceberg was talking about earlier). So will show pictures/video as soon as I get my wakejak or have more people in the boat.

tbc

Ill be going out friday most of the day so I should be able to add to this post then, just was looking for a baseline/starting point.

I saved this comment when I was researching Epic boat wakes last year. I don't know who the author was or where it came from, but here it is:

"I do believe the biggest wake this boat will put out cleanly is 2/5 port, 1/5 starboard, and full front. Its huge and clean. As my buddy says, its like a double up off his air nautique. The wake just isn't as good once you go beyond this fill level in my opinion when wakeboarding."

Something to try.

Model Year: 2012 23v 8.2L horizon
Speed:23mph
Line Length:75-80
Ballast Setup:port 1/2, starboard 1/2, bow 1/2, 5 people with 3 sitting port 2 starboard
Trim Tab Level: 1/2

This set up yesterday was one of the biggest wakes if seen out of my boat it was huge, clean and consistent. I'm running 200ish pounds heavier on the port side. Right now as a general rule I will fill the boat evenly between all the tanks then once on plane open the starboard ballast gate until the wakes clean up. It takes about 10 seconds to tune the wake like this and has been working well. I will get some detailed pictures of different ballast set ups and line lengths for everyone this week.There was so little information on this when I was looking at boats that I hope it will make peoples buying choice easier in the future....stay tuned i'll try and get it up asap

Jeff, thanks for that one - I will post an update tomorrow or Friday in regards of use of the surf trim tabs - the way you do it makes it a lot easier - good call! One more question: Are you opening the valve to clean up with or w/o a rider being pulled?

We use the same way to set the wake. Another tips : put the trim plate a 100% each time you start, let the boat get out of the water and reset the trim plate where you want. The boat will stop straight to your speed set up. If you let the trim plate up during the star,t the motor will give a big push around 18 mph and you will pass the preset speed....
*we use the second start setup for wakeboarding

Her are 2 photos of the port wake. Both about 11mph with 3 people in the boat. The swim platform probably creates the early curl. The boat is tracking dead straight, minor camera distortion.

No ballast
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8027/7...fd00c7cb_c.jpg


front full, left full, right 1/2 full (about 3200lbs)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7222/7...4d6cb925_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7...432438b1_c.jpg

Here is a video for the right side. This is the young riders 3rd and 4th attempt on day one. With this set-up we could go straight with him (85 lbs) but to make life easier for me on the same board, we to make a slight right turn or I would fall out. I probably should have added more weight, but we were switching sides surfing, using the wakeboards, wakeskate and kneeboard.

2 people in the boat (310 lbs)
Front 3/4 full (750)
right 3/4 full (1150)
Left empty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr2t-...are_video_user

Ive got a whole collection of photos Ill be posting this weekend/next week of various wake speed/weight setups as well as a few surf waves.

One thing I really noticed on the surf wave, if you add another 750 in the rear locker, on top of 3/4 tank on desired side the wave is a monster!