Minimum Ballast for a Newbie

I just bought a Mastercraft X-1 (205V hull)primarily for taking my kids wakeboarding. Being an older guy (48), I thought I would like to try wakesurfing given the lesser impact to the body. I'm not looking to do much in the way of tricks, just some surf-style freeriding on a longer board (Inland Surfer Blue Lake). Question is, can I get away without buying additional ballast sacks/lead for now just to give it a try? The boat has a 250 lb tank in each side rear locker and a 200 lb sack in the middle floor ski locker. I realize I need about 1000 lbs to create the perfect wake, but don't really want to deal with that immediately. Without a lot of passengers, would I still be able to experience some level of novice freeriding based on what I have?

You will indeed be able to surf it! We just bought our first wake boat this year, an X-1 as well, and have had a great time surfing behind it. We simply fill the port side rear tank as well as the center ballast bag, and have all the passengers sit on the port side of the boat. With a minumum of 3 passengers and having the Mastercraft Cruise set at 10, you can freeride for an hour. We have a Hyperlite Broadcast 4'9" and everyone that has tried to get up and surf has, and many have thrown the handle. It's all about the weight placement on the board, and feeling comfortable with your balance.

Here is a picture of the wave from all I have described, with 2 adults and 1 child sitting on the port side.



Hope some of this helps!

Here is how we ride 75% of the time. Port side ballast full, center ballast full, Starboard side ballast empty. two people sitting on sundeck, two people sitting on port side seats, and then one in the bow (port side). I go about 9.6mph and try to always have a slight turn going, just to help the wake curl that much more.
Now of course if your boat is loaded up with people the wake can be huge. With 12 people in the boat I have been 20' back before and made it all the back to the boat.

Heres a short video we shot last weekend; only 3 people in the boat, one driver, two passengers on the port side seats:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtEdmgBB0ok

Thanks for the feedback. Great to know for sure this can be done on an X-1 without going crazy on additional ballast. I'll be picking up a board/rope for the weekend!