how to weight an 04 X-Star

Last weekend we had port ballast full, 7 people and only I could really let go of the rope because I only weigh 134 pounds. Anyone have any advice, thanks!

I'm going to take a risk here. There have been several people that have the same issue as you Rachel and attribute it to weighting. I going to start a new thread that will list the most common factors, I believe, for diagnosing the problem of being able to drop the rope.

I stuck my neck out!!! Try this, hopefully others will add additional insight.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87668/237507.html?1119972851

Rachel,

I have a '04 X-Star and we all ride a 5'6" Broadcast ropeless no problem. Since we are all 185-205 lbs your 134 lbs should let you really tear it up! We usually go out with just 3 people (we normally go out during the week to avoid the crowds), so we don't have a lot of weight to work with.

So far our best setup is BOTH rear tanks full and front tank about 1/2 full running at 10.3 mph on the PP. Passenger moves as far as possible to the right rear and driver drives from observer's seat (stretch that arm!). Going to try to get some more weight into the right rear locker and do some experimenting...

Please post any good stuff you learn about weighting your boat!

Rachel,

Update from Wednesday...

We added 400 lbs ballast in a fat sac to port side locker, had one other person on board (3 total), filled all tanks full and ran at 10.5 mph. The wake was MUCH bigger (thigh-high at least), we could ride much further back on the wake, and one of the guys could even ride a Trick Boardz Surf Skate w/o the rope (that board is tiny!). Hope that helps...

Anything new on your end?

BTW, what board are you riding?

Hey Arnie, Check out my new post titled "I finally found out you don't need a big wake".
By the way, thanks for the tips.

Rachel, glad to hear you got everything sorted out and found the sweet spot!

One of our crew managed to pull a 360 on a HL Broadcast 5'6" today with essentially your ballast setup running at 10.5 mph. We didn't think that would have been possible with that board - and HE sure looked surprised!

BTW, what speed are you surfing at?

I would like to see some pics your setups.I have a 04 xstar and would love to do a killer setup for surfing. Right now the weight is not working the best.I will be @ boardstock to check others setup. Any pics w/specs would be greatly appreciated.

Wild Bill, I'll see if I can get some pics. But this is what we did. Port and Starboard ballast full. KGB ballst 3/4. Load all your people on the left side of the boat and drive straight at 10.5 mph. We were surfing on a small skimskate and did fine. It's all about foot placement and being able to get those back fins not to drag. The wake is not overly huge, but then again we only had 3 people in the boat. Oh, we've only been able to do this on the left wake, this is because the prop is a Left hand turn prop and throws a much better wake on the left side. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be fine, especially if you have more people.

I added 2 600lbs sacs.One in the center,one in the rear compartment.Im trying to get a wave/wake thats curls.I have the size.I ride a broadcast..super fun.Im over 200lbs.I think I need a fish to get the pump like surfin.I have been surfing for 30 years and I really dig this wakesurf.My girlfriends and kids together barely weigh 200lbs. Im a little afraid of weighting too much up front.She is just learning how to drive the boat weight.We get some big rollers from tube pullers.This week is boardstock...I hope to see some cool setups.Any pumps better than others? tsunami???