Ski Nautique 2001 Ballast Question

ok, so I bought an '82 Ski Nautique 2001, finally, i've been looking forever. Now I am looking to put some weight into it. I've heard the best way is the put the weight on either side of the motor, but I want that room free for walking and moving around. Since the back seat is just a cushion I have been looking to replace that, and I saw the Fat Seats and the Fat Sofas. Figured if I got one of those I could kill two birds with one stone. The question I have is which one will fit better in my boat? Also how much should I fill it up, and with however much weight I put in the back, how much do I add to the bow of the wake? I want something that is very durable, as I plan on keeping it for a long time. Also do you have to fill up and let all the water out everytime, or is it possible to just keep the sofa/seat in the back filled up all the time? Let me know Thanks.

Brandon Kee.

You would have to drain the sofa seat. That is a lot of weight to put on your trailer. I would say the sofa is going to be way too much weight in the back as compared to what you'll be able to fit in the bow. Sacs on the side of the engine is really the way to go. I know you want the walking room, but you also don't buy a SN 2001 for the abundance of seating and walk space!

Post on the 2001 site and see what kind of replies you get there as well. Good luck and I'll sure you'll like the wake as it is nice with a bit of weight.

Heck, that wake is great without any weight! I love my Nautique, and I am the year before the 2001 (1981).

Congratulations!

If your going to keep it for a while, put in some boxes. I love my set up and it will seat 4 people very comfortably. All the weight is virtually hidden. It took me almost 3 years to find the correct way to weight my boat and to figure out what works really good. I say with direct drives 50/50 front to back works very good in my boat. I don't have pics of the wake but I'll get some tomorrow. I love the back trunk, It is made to put a 750 fly high in it perfectly, and when I'm not loaded up I throw all my stuff in there. I also put the 1000 bow triangle in the nose of the boat but only fill it with about 750 pounds, you can see it in the pics.

Yea I could deal with it one either side of the engine if I create a step like you did. It would steal be easy to walk around yet it would have the weight on it to. Also, what kind of speakers are those, i'm sure there waterproof? So people cal sit on top of the speaker box? Is it comfortable? My boat already has some speakers installed so it would be easy to wire some to the back. Let me know where u got that box also.

I made all the boxes out of ply wood and 2x4's and just covered everything with carpet and staples. Super easy and cheap, just takes a little time. I tried to fit stuff with the lines of the fiberglass and it turned out alright. The back speakers are 6x9's and really cheap one that I don't care if they get wet. All the boxes are held to the floor with only 4 screws except for the hinge on the big box. It has like 12 small screws into the fiberglass.

By the way in the small boxes on the floor, it is just for storage. Pumps in one and ancor and misc. in the other. I started off with side sacs and thought of putting them in long boxes on the side of the motor but that was just not enough weight.

so far i have been playing with my weight on mine... i did the lounge seats 540 each.. so about 1000 in the rear.. 150 pounds of stereo up front and then driver and observer which is another 400 up front.. and it seems to work great for me

I have had my 2001 for 8 years now and have tried every setup there is. I ride with a 650 in the rear in front of the seat. A pair of v-drive 400lbs each on oth sides of the motor and about 150lbs of stereo in the front. I like the shape and size with that setup. I like the wake to have a nice lip at the top and this setup has it.

I run 2 350 lb bags on the sides. Unless you can definitely balance out your rear weight with PLENTY of front weight I'd be wary. The 2001 wake can become like a vert wall really easily. With the weight centered it is still just and firm and rampy.

Hosh, is that all you run. That's only 700 lbs in total ballast. Doesn't seem like near enough. How much does that change your wake size?