Exceeding Max weight + gear sticker

I want to purchase a Integrated Bow Sac for my i/o, from this blog I discovered the two sacs in my engine compartment was doing nothing for me but getting me frustrated, so the people say weight the front and have your buddies sit in the back, this should improve my wake for a crisper more ramp shaped kind of wake. My worries are when I let off the throttle, and hit a wake I take a lot of water in the front, we call it the dunk tank. If theres 600lbs of weight up there, is this a disaster waiting to happen? I don't want to sink my boat or blow up my amps and stereo equipment (nothings waterproof I learned). Also my sticker says 1150lbs max persons and gear. How dangerous is it to double that? I usually have about 1700lbs, but with this additional bag will be like around 2300lbs give or take depends how many friends..

If you are already taking on water without the bow sack, you better beleive you will with the extra weight up there. Also, how thick is the hull? if its like 1/4-3/8 thick like some i/o hulls (think old Bayliners)then I would worry a bit about the structural consequenses to the hull. Maybe use a bag with less capacity in the bow? Idk

From what I remember, and I am for sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong, water weight does not count as total capacity as opposed to led, brick, ect. I personally think that 2300 lbs is a bit much for an inboard. With an inboard your trim will affect the wake more that where weight is in the boat. It seems most have commented they get the best results with a sac in the walkway and trimming to their preference. As far as taking on water sounds like you need to work on how you turn around to pick up your rider or either give the boat some throttle to pick up the nose and get over the wake.

In my I/O I have the 1,000 lb triangle fat sack in the bow, and 300 lbs in the rear right now. I'm going to be adding a little more weight in the rear and some in the ski locker. You really just need to know how to drive your boat correctly to not dip her. If your coming towards another wake you need to give the throttle a little gas, not let off. Giving it a little gas will lift the bow up and push your boat THROUGH the wake, instead of rocking around and maybe taking on water.

Wakedoctor, yes water does count. Everything inside the hull counts. Water weight only becomes irrelevant after the boat is submerged.

Matt, what you are suggesting is not a good idea. As a former naval officer I sort of cringe when I hear of these types of stories. Your boat is not designed to exceed the recommended capacities. These are established by Ocean Engineers typically (via USCG regs)and will greatly affect performance. You can probably get away with it 99% of the time but that 1% is a real B****.

when i say i'm at about 1700lbs in my boat i'm talking persons, gear, and ballast, all weight total, I would never put 2000lbs of ballast in my i/o, thats crazy. . I have 2 300 lbs sacks, + 6 dudes + wakeboards + ice chest + tower... actually Probally a lot mor e than 1700lbs is on my boat. I'm going to try what craig cox said and try putting one in the walkway and one maybe in front of that one, like on the bow floor, and have buddies sit in the rear seat. I think this may be the best possible wake without damaging my boat. Anyone agree? The photos uploaded is the configuration I was running. It just made the boat hard to plain out and gave me •••••• gas mileage. No improvement on the wake at all. I feel stupid because this is what I've been doing for 2 years. Then I get behind a Nautique and I could pop like 3 times higher. Effortless inverts and spins. I want to made my wake even just twice as good and I'd be stoked.

Topsidemarine, The USCG says 1150 Persons + gear, thats a F***ING joke, I exceed that with me and 2 people, plus gear and ice chest. What about these new wakeboard boats with 5000lbs of ballast, I couldn't imagine purposely wanting 5000lbs of water in your boat, even if your on a pro level of wakeboarding. I feel 2000lbs is the most you need. A Nautique I ride behind only has 1000lbs. And is PERFECT! No need for additional weight, I can pop a railey 15 feet high on this setup.. I don't have 50k for a wakeboard boat, so this is what I'm working with, theres gotta be a way to get this wake crisper. .

i second mike on knowing how to drive your boat correctly to be safe with all the weight. i don't have much experience with weighting I/O's, but i know in my xstar with 1400 lbs in the bow alone (along with 2700 in the rear)you have to watch your every movement if you're behind the wheel.

(Message edited by ironj32 on February 11, 2009)

Matt, you might think it's a joke but the standards are basically the same around the world and there are several ways that they are calculated. As I said in a reply to an earlier post by you, many people do load their boats beyond the rated capacity. Just don't forget why they have capacity plates. One of the reasons is so you don't swamp the bow when you make a driving error.

How much weight you put in your boat is your business. Obviously, most of us exceed what's on the plate, some folks by several thousand pounds.

How you drive the boat has a lot to do with how often you swamp it. Hull shape will play into this a lot, but generally speaking, most boats can handle additional weight, even if its in the bow. Balancing some of the weight in the back is a pretty good idea and will do a lot to help out once you get it fully loaded.

Are you doing this on your own wake? or crossing other wakes?

Maybe I need a different boat. This was best bang for the buck. Bought it with 113hours from a couple dykes for 9000. I didn't want a sun raughted 1980 something Nautique with god knows how many hours on it.. I respect everyones opinions, I certainly don't want to sink it. All I'm saying is it says max 10 persons, but total weight allowance is only 1150, persons + gear. The reason I disregaurded the sticker is because that would mean absolutely no gear, and everyone must weigh 115 lbs.. not very realistic. But like I said I respect everyones opinions and I'm looking at different options just from this post. Any suggestions?

Are you doing this on your own wake? or crossing other wakes?

Nacho....I do it mostly on purpose to soak my buddies, I know how to drive a boat, my original question was if I were to put 600lbs in the bow would this happen regularly, and everyone has said "learn how to drive a boat", which isn't the case, I grew up on a lake, I have 10000 hours on boats, I'm not retarded. I guess my original question was though. Now i think about it I've had 4 people in the front weighing about the same without problems, I am new with the ballast, and I'm getting excited for spring, getting my boat ready buying new stuff, end result I will not purchase anymore bags for my boat, I will place the existing bags in the walkway and one on the floor in the bow. And everyone else sit on the rear seat. Hoping this makes for a solid wake.

chill out man.
Nodoby said you're retarded. NObody said you can't drive.

Driving your mom's pontoon and a fully loaded wakeboat are two entirely different things. stick a fat friend or two up there to start with.

And if everyone said "learn to drive" do you think maybe there's something to that?!?

enjoy the summer. i'm out.

The maximum persons capacity is a different standard than the rated weight capacity. Essentially it's how many people you can line up on one side before the hull lists too much. They calculate the two numbers separately.
Your Caravelle looks like it's about 18'. On most boats that would give you 6-8 person capacity.

On the ballast. Start by rearranging what you've got to get the best you can. Then add another sac or two. One really good option is to get a 'brick' type sack with handles that you can move. You can take your sacs with you when you get another boat so there is not a big risk in owning them.

We run about 1570 lbs in our I/O...and usually about 3 or 4 people. Weight limit states 9 people or 1950 lbs. usually 2 ppl sit in front, driver and passenger in the other middle of the boat passenger seat. We run a 350lb bag in the bow under the bow cusion, a 700lb bag in the locker, another 350 in the middle rear bench area, and then (2) 85lb bags to balance out if we are a person short for white wash. Have no issues getting on plane and the front end still isnt close to the water..it sits up pretty high to begin with though...Thats worked best for us..when we didnt have the 85's or the 700, we used to run the (2) 350lb bags in the locker and under the bow filler cushion..that was the best setup until we added the others...From what ive understood, front end weight on an I/O will determine height and the rear will determine steepness of the wake..can't remember where I heard that or if its valid though. Hope that helps a little bit matt...

You should probably stop doing the "dunk tank" thing to your buddies and listen to everyone's advice about driving your boat. I find it hard to believe that with your "10,000 hours on boats" you would want all that water in your bow and possibly ruin your "non waterproof amps and stereo equipment". Properly driving a boat (especially a wakeboard specific boat with ballast and riders) takes a lot of responsibility and practice.

/\/\/\/\/\ Agreed.

um, no stereo or electronic is in the bow to ruin. .