setting up a ski boat for wakesurfing help request

Before I go ordering stuff I may or may not need, I suppose I better ask for some help from those who have gone before me.

I own a 2003 Moomba Outback. I bought the bought for it's non existant wake for slalom skiing.

Recently I was exposed to wakesurfing and am totally hooked on it. I recently purchased a CWB Ride board.

After a couple of Sundays trying, I have not been able to let go of the rope as of yet. In fact, I haven't felt any slack in the rope at all. I'm presuming that most of my problems are from the small wake. (the folks who introduced me to wakesurfing could only get about a 5 second ride).

How should I go about setting up the Outback to produce a skiable wake?

Everyone that rides with me is a Goofy footer.

Appreciate any help!

Ed G
Clermont, FL
(home of the annual moomba/supra jamboree)

I have a 2003 Moomba Outback and i run one 600lb sac across the back and one 440lbs on the side and a couple people on that same side. It throws a pretty nice wake in my opinion and I ride the hyperlite coex 4'4 which is a small board.

Hey Ed, I'm not familiar with the Moomba, but it is possible to wakesurf without a massive wake.

You might check this thread:

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87668/237507.html?1120997543

If that doesn't help, then...

Some additional info would be helpful, like how much you weigh, that Ride may not be adequate for getting started. Also the specifics of your setup when you attempted to wakesurf. A pic of the wake is best, also speed setting, and any ballast details you used.

Jeff,

I weigh 175 lbs at present. I'm a bit fat from beer swilling, but I'm training for the Tampa Marathon (Feb 26,2006) and losing a little weight every week. My target weight is about 155 lbs.

The guy who showed me how to wakesurf is about 170lbs and uses the CWB Ride board. The Ride is designed for beginner to intermediate wakesurfers.

Only setup I do when attempting to surf is put the beer cooler and all passengers into the rear starboard corner - everyone is goofy footed.

The boat is driven around 9-10 MPH according to my Garmin GPSR.

The Outback has no built-in ballast. It is designed to throw a minimum wake for slalom skiing.

Perhaps I am riding the board too far back.

Dave, thanks for the reply. Which sacs are you using?

(Message edited by ed_g on December 01, 2005)

Hey Ed the Ride should be fine for your weight. Certainly a bit more ballast would only HELP the situation and as you progress, you'll want more wake, so...if I were you, I'd invest in that.

If you are unable to feel any slack in the rope, I'd try a few different things. First and foremost make sure that you are actually in the pocket. From my experience, most newbies are afraid of running into the transom and so have the tail of the board beyond the curl...try pulling yourself up closer towards the back of the boat. If you can feel the board "take off" you're in the pocket. You can always dive off to the side if you feel out of control.

If you feel that you are in the pocket, then you're most likely correct that it's positioning ON the board. There are two ways to gain a bit more speed. Moving your toes closer to the edge of the board that is in the wake will help, BUT don't overdo this. If you continuosly fall to that side, move your feet back towards the center of the board.

The other change to make is moving your feet (and therefore weight) forward towards the nose. Do this slowly and see if you can feel the board scooting forward. If you end up pearling (burying the nose) then you've gone to far forward. In this siutaion, it's more than likely just a matter of adding some ballast.

Try those changes and let us know how it goes.

Good luck!

Thanks Jeff.

I just ordered two 600lb BG Wake Enhancers from Barts. Got two so I can move 'em around as needed for tweaking.

I'm definetly not afaraid of being to close to the platform (no one can hand you a beer to far away!), and have not felt being in the pocket.

I'll be out there again this weekend and will try moving up on the board.

Well see what happens when I get me bags.

Thanks again man. Appreciate the input. If your ever in the Orlando area, shoot me an email. I'd be willing to take you out on the lake to show me how it's done.

e

here is me surfing the wake from my 05 outback
http://entrustclothing.com/wakeboarding/surf.jpg
i ran a 540# sac in the rear a 350# sac in the bow and a 350# sac on the passenger side and about 3-5 people on the boat

Ed,

I learned on the CWB Ride and quite a few of my friends learned on it too. I weigh 175 lbs also so I think it will be a good board for you to learn on.

The idea on weighting is to get as much weight as possible (without causing a risk of sinking of course) on the side of the boat that you'll be surfing. Especially concentrate on getting that back corner of the boat pushed down into the water. I fill ballast bags in the back locker and underneath the side seat and put people on the port side of the boat until the rubrail and gas tank vent is just slightly above the water. You do want to be careful not to push the boat so deep into the water that the gas vent can take on water.

I could be mistaken but I think that the prop rotation on a Moomba creates a better surfing wake on the port side of the boat so one option would be to weight that side of the boat and just learn to surf backside instead of frontside. You'd be surprised at how much fun backside surfing can be on a nice clean wake. Of course I'm regular so I don't have to worry about that most of the time since most boats create the best wakes on the port side because of the normal prop rotation.

I've found that 10.3 mph is the best speed for my boat (Malibu Wakesetter LSV) but that varies with the boat and personal preference.

Almost everyone has some problems finding the sweet spot on the wave at first and it's frustrating to them because it seems so easy when they watch someone that already knows how to do it. When you find the sweet spot, you'll most likely make fast progress. As you get better, you'll find that the sweet spot is actually much longer than you thought at first and you'll be able to use much more of the wave.

I'm sure you'll get it soon. Have fun.

We as well have a 2003 outback. We have the factory ballast filled and then one two 350# sacs on the side of the rider, as well as the passangers on that side. Works well for us. We use a Hyperlite Broadcast love the board.

Here are a few pictures of our 2003 Outback

i have an 05 and i put 400lbs in back(stock)two 540lbers on both sides of the motor
we wake board more than we wakesurf so when we do wakesurf we just have everyone move to one side of the boat
it throws a wave just as nice as a 210 nautique with one side of the ballast filled
really alot of people like wakesurfing behind my boat more than my friends 210

I was behind a malibu response lxi wakesurfing, it was rediculous!!! 4 300 pound fat sacs and it was just gody, moral of the story, ski boats are easy to weigh down.