Ballast Questions

Im still a beginner rider but I ride with a few more advanced guys and I obviously want to continue to advance my skill level. My boat is not exactly a purpose driven wakeboard boat by any means but I would like to work on making it a bit more wakeboard friendly.

My boat is a 1989 Rinker 186 with a 4.3l V6-




I have a few plans for the boat this winter to get it much more wakeboard friendly next year-
- http://www.bigairpylons.com/ Vapor Tower with board racks
- Lower pitch prop, somewhere from a 15-19 pitch (havent done much research yet)
- Ballast bags

I'm also open to any other things you guys suggest to make the boat better suited for wakeboarding, This boat will still very much be a cruiser boat that i take the friends out to hang in the sand pits and on the beach so i don't want to sacrifice any of that stuff...

My question specifically about ballast bags is my boat is rated for 7 people and i believe around 1500-1700 pounds (cannot remember specifically off the top of my head) and I'm sure adding bags when i have 4-5 of my buddies along will take me over that weight limit. Is that a very bad thing?

Is there alot of extra stress put on the boat by the ballast bags? I don't want to cause un-needed problems by trying to increase and clean up my wake.

Basically I'm a newbie wakeboarder trying to learn as much as possible and I've heard from many people this forum is the place to be!

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks so much!

Hi, I have an I/O, its a caravelle, but still an I/O. I havent done any bags yet because mostly I ride with around 5 people or so and I put about 500lbs of sand in the bow and my wake isnt too terribly bad like that. Everyone I talk to about it say weight it in the bow but dont sink it lol. As far as the prop, I wouldnt do 15, you will over rev for sure. Im running a 17 on mine, and my uncle has a similar boat to yours and runs a 17 as well, I would try a 17p 4 blade as big diameter as you can get. you can get a decent Aluminum one in the 150s range online. and that will help the most with weight. I put a DIY Wake pro air tower on mine and I love it. its pretty dang strong.

How does this prop look?

http://boatpropellers.iboats.com/Mer...t_id=615957674

I would try that. IMO there are better out there, but hell you cant beat the price on those. Just make sure not to over rev, I doubt you would with it being a 4 blade. and it should yank you out of the hole. And on the weight thing, I would try around 700 lbs in the bow and see how that does, then just start moving people around to see where else the weight it needed