2003 Centurion Avalanche ballast

Has anyone built a ballast system for this boat? I have the stock hard tank on one side and the bag under the walk way but it is not enough.
Thanks!

How deep of water are you running in??? My buddy's Avey w/ stock ballast is great.... add a couple people & it's even better......He is usualy in +12' water

Stock ballast on my Avy is good for intermediate ramp, hit the switchblade and it goes to pro level.

I'm not a pro boarder, so I'm actually going to remove my hard tanks and move the plumbing to fat sacs on the port side of my boat for surfing. From measurements, a 750 Enzo Fly high fat sac in the back doesn't look like it'll fit, definitely the 440 lb V-Drive locker sac will. I'm told the stock plumbing works fine with Fly High sacs and their quick connectors. Harder to remove the hard tanks which isn't that hard... The pumps are slow so probably will upgrade those too.

Not exactly a reply to your question, but others have posted on removing the hard tanks and putting in various sizes of sacs. From all the posts, Fly High had good reviews for not having to modify any of the plumbing. I'll find out for sure in about 2 months when my re-plumb happens.

(Message edited by sailing216 on January 25, 2008)

Thanks for the info. I am usually riding in water 30-40' deep. I have already pulled the hard tank and put a 500lb sac in. The walk way causes problems on the drivers side. Have you seen anyone put bags in the front? Do you have problems with the blade while traveling? Looks like it would hit the ground. That thing is huge!

How much for the cost of purchasing and installing a switchblade through a centurion dealer? I have an 05 avy and have some interest. As for how I weight my boat, I have mystock center hard tank of 200lbs, I throw a 400lb sac in the rear passenger side locker and fill it completely, and I squeeze in another 400lb sac through my walk trough, fill it as much as I can to where you can still walk over the area. The weight is not proportional but I adjusted my manual wake plate to take it the weight difference and it throws a pretty mean wake. If I have no people in the boat I will throw a 300lb sac in the front. I pretty much only weight the hell out of my boat when my friends who are the better riders go out.

Do you have dual gas tanks? Mine has two takes one 25 gallon and one 31 gallon. Where is the center tank located? I am not sure of the price of the blade but would be interested if anyone knows.

I just got an email about the switchblade being available for aftermarket installation.
Here's a shortened copy of the email:

Automated Wake Enhancement Systems are now available for aftermarket installation!

www.fatwakeco.com

Please check it out. You will find a PDF version of the Switchblade User Guide and Installation Manual there as well.

Pivotal Designs, Inc
Sales & Marketing Division
Lake Norman, NC
888.818.wake
www.fatwakeco.com

Switch blade on the Avy is pretty nice. We had one at a competition last year.

Hey what is the razorblade?

told all the Avy's are reinforced for either wakeplate or switchblade, so nothing extra needed to brace it.

Looks like the razorblade might be for I/O's.

I have the second gas tank on mine. Its right by the v-drive transmission. the main tank is in front of that from what i've been told. (i also have the C4 though)
I've been doing the stock tanks 200lbs, 150lbs of lead on each side in the back, an integrated bow sac up front ( not filled all the way.. too much in the front wasn't good. washed out bad..), a fat brick on the floor to help with side to side wash, and for the last couple of days this past season threw a tube sac across the rear seat because it was only 3 of us..
Wake got out of control with too much up front.. I'm debating upgrading the pumps and doing sacks instead of hard tanks... Don't know if i want to do that yet.. Pretty much all beginners so we have more wake than we know what to do with, now its about keeping it clean and convenient..

What pumps are you guys upgrading to?

Here's a good, long link on pumps and plumbing:
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/49129.html
Rule 2000

If I didn't already have the switchblade, I'd check into that razorblade. Looks like 2 trim tabs for I/O's but I think that would be better for surfing since you want to tilt the boat in surfing. The switchblade wants to balance the boat which isn't good for a surf wave. You'll hear of some surfers leaving their switchblades at the dock. I don't think Inland Surfer's boats have switchblade for this reason. Price anyone?

I exchanged emails with Scott Adams at Pivotal Designs about the Razor Blade. He said that the Razor Blade is intended for the I/O market and that it is somewhat less effective than the Switch Blade (I presume because the Razor Blade doesn’t divert prop thrust.)

He also said that they have been testing a modified Switch Blade. The modified Switch Blade solves some surfing problems. The revised or surfing Switch Blade prevents water spray from getting in the surfers face and corrects prop rotation issues. The bad new is that the new Switch Blade won’t be available for a while. I’m big in to wake surfing so this puts the Switch Blade back on the radar for me.