Direct drive ballast .

Hey just been offered a Launchpad launch sofa and was wondering if anyone has used these and know if they are any good ,

Add extra weight without sacrificing your seating space or style. Replace the rear seat in your inboard or fit the Launch Sofa to your own boats configuration.

24" wide, 70" Long, !2" Seat height with 28" High Back Rest.

Holds up to 1200 lbs of water

4 Quick Fill/Drain Valves for ease of filling, trimming, and draining, especially with automatic and multiple pad systems.

Special firm formula, puncture-resistant 30 Gauge PVC bladder w/electronically welded seams for durability.

Custom Gaskets, Caps and Plugs for quick, easy and efficient filling and draining.

Straight Line say there heavy-duty, materials, seams and bladders will outlast all other brands.

Pillow Top Air Ride for Comfort.


I'm looking at putting this in my 94 Ski Brendella. Im a bit worried as it doesn't have much free board but like the idea of not loosing a seat . My other though was putting 580 lbs on each side of the motor . And 580lbs up the front .

One of the issues with those is that it is very hard to get enough weight in the nose of the boat to "offset" the weight of these couches and most direct drive boats have a hull that likes weight in the nose.

The set up I have is a sack in the rear ski locker, a sack in the front ski locker in the floor and then when we have a more serious riding day another sack in the walkway of the bow.

Ya i agree with the weight in the nose. Used to have one in the rear of my direct drive. You would really have to weight the nose right to get any benefit from all that weight in the rear. But your swim platform on the back will probably be ankle deep or more...LOL!

Originally Posted by jeff_mn

One of the issues with those is that it is very hard to get enough weight in the nose of the boat to "offset" the weight of these couches and most direct drive boats have a hull that likes weight in the nose.

I agree. When I had a DD I use to run two #600 fat sacks. One one each side of the engine and a little lead up front.

That poor Brendella. Your gonna end up with close to 2000 lbs of ballast in it. Like it's already been said, the swimstep will be ankle deep & it will be tough not to take on water over the rub rail.
Some DDs can take it, but the older Brendella hulls just don't do very well with a ton of weight.

I have a 2000 Centurion and put a 750 lb sac in the rear locker, 500 lb sac on the floor between rear bench and engine. That is plenty of weight for a sick wake. Add 5-8 bodies on the boat and it still floats! Wake is good and weight is balanced when we have a body or two in the bow. Good luck!

Do you have a bench in the back of your Brendella? Are you just going to yank it out? Not sure thats a great idea, imo...

I have a 2003 Response LX and i put a little over 2500# in it. but that seat wouldn't work for me. I take out the rear seat, and put a rear seat bottom sac that's 680# back there, 580# on each side of the engine, and 700 in the bow. And put the wedge down. with about 3 people in the boat, i have an awesome wake. but like others have said, that big seat back there would be too much for the rear. mainly because i couldn't get enough in my bow to balance it out.

I put the seat back there and loved it. Fill it up, put 750 in the bow in the floor. I had some sand bags under the seats about 160#'s. Then we would fill up some side sacks. Im not sure if we really made the wake any bigger with the 2 side sacks. Almost like it got to a certain point and my wake jus didnt get any bigger, no matter how much weight we had up front. Just go by the old rule of about 60% rear and 40% front. Just mix that up till you find whats best for you. Might be %50/%50 for your boat. Its fun to figure out tho! I would also turn my fat seat around backwards. Rear entertainment for the passengers! Again watch the nose....water will definatley come over the front.!!

I've got a 1990 Sanger DX (profile pic)... there's no way I could have that much weight in the back

150# steel shot under the rear seats
260# sacs on either side of the engine
200# steel shot up in the nose

I know of others that have had similar setups, but with 400# sacs instead of the 260's...

as others have mentioned, balancing things out would be difficult and water over the rail would be a concern.

I threw one of these seats in my 1990 Master Craft Pro star 190. I had a 500lb Sac in the bow to balance out the weight. She was riding low but handled the weight fine. Not the best seat in the house for your friends, but as long as you are riding high does it matter?

Ride on...

i've got one in the rear of my 22' sanger and really dig it. i totally agree about weight in the bow- i've got 100# on each side, but need more. nothing in the locker yet... i fill the seat about 3/4 full for boarding and completely full for surfing. (sorry no pics)

yeah think i might just stick with the sacks beside the engine and one up the front and see how it goes I really cant afford to lose the rear seating .

Originally Posted by piggie

yeah think i might just stick with the sacks beside the engine and one up the front and see how it goes I really cant afford to lose the rear seating .

Honestly, the side sacs just add overall weight to the boat unless you push them as far back as you can. With rear seat bottom sac, it's 680# and people sit on it all day. Actually they put a vest behind their back against the engine cover, feet up on the rear locker and it's super comfy. If your just going to use side sacs and one up front I'd get some big side sacs and push them as far back as you can. Just my opinion though.

Here's some of the wake. Puts out a pretty good wake, and it has an awesome shape to it.