I/O Wake Help, Tips and Suggestions

I have an '99 Sea Ray 210 BowRider, and it has been a great family boat. It is a very clean and solid boat, it has served all of our purposes very well up to this point.

But lately, we find ourselves doing more and more wakeboarding behind the boat. And, I can't believe how sensitive the wake is to adjustments.

I have been playing with the speed of the boat, the trim adjustments and the weight of 2 different fat sacs - 1 in the ski locker and 1 in the bow.

I have 2 batteries on the port side and third battery on the starboard side engine compartments. But no way to adjust the weight back there.

I have read that getting weight in the bow seems to be the most important thing for I/O boats, but I don't see a lot of difference when playing with the weight of the bow sac.

There are times when we are out that I think the wake looks really good, then other times it looks horrible and I really haven't done anything different.

Basically, I think the wake is usually too abrupt. It is plenty tall for us; it just lacks a good shape. I would like it to smooth out more.

I know we really need to upgrade to an inboard boat but for now I need to make the best of this boat.

Oh..and the boat has a Bravo 3 lower unit.

Any advice would greatly be appreciated....

Adding weight to the bow will make the wake less steep and move back the spot where it gets froth on the top edge. Fill whatever sac you've got up there all the way up and then try adjusting your movable ballast (the people) to the bow or stern to see what happens to your wake. It might be that you just need more weight up there than you currently have.
Adjusting the trim is the last thing to play with as it can be hard to get the same, but it is the fastest adjustment. Always do starts with the trim in, of course, and then trim up to steepen the wake by pushing the stern down. Never more than 1/3.
What speed are you doing and what is the capacity of your two sacs? How many people are in the boat? How much fuel do you have on board and where is the tank located?

The ski locker sac is 750 lbs and the bow sac is the V sac that is 650 lbs but I can only fill them about 70% due to compartment size.

Anywhere from 2 - 6 people in the boat.

Gas, usually topped off and the tank is toward the rear of the boat.

Speed varies on the rider but usually anywhere between 20 to 25 mph.

Here is a shot of the wake with my son riding. This is an older picture and he is about 5' 9" in this shot. I would consider this a good wake, and this was before I added any ballast. I would like to get this shape back.

I have tried with and without ballast and I just can't seem to find the sweet spot again. ....and I don't know why or what has changed???

It always comes down to the proper weight distribution.Do you have any pics with ballast?

BTW the stock wake looks decent is that trimmed up ?

20-25MPH is a pretty good spread and would try to get speed more consistent. It takes lots of small throttle adjustments and having a consistent speed is the first thing to a consistent wake.

If you do not have a foil on your lower unit, that can help keep the boat steadier (less porposing) and help with consistency and allow you t trim it a little more which often can clean the wake up. Bow weight is usually what you want but you will have to experiment.

The 20-25 spread would be for the whole family...the 2 older boys ( the real wake boarders of the house) are usually around 24. I just added Perfect Pass so I am hoping that will help get my speed more consistent.

That picture would have probably been around 23-24 mph and with the trim up about 1/3, which is normally where we run it (down of course to get going though).

I'd really like to get that same shape with some weight in the ballast...just to make it bigger.

I do notice a big difference when I play with the trim adjustment..but once I add ballast weight all the adjustments become really sensitive.

It's odd but I can find the right setting, and have a great wake, one part of the day and then later in the day, or just turning around, that same setting isn't nearlly as good as it was???

Next thing to do is put more weght in bow than ever before ,it should improve the transition.Then play with trim to clean up lip.Post some pics of wake with ballast if you can.