Ballast for a 1980 Ski nautique

Guys

Old boat here but what wieght is ideal for it also thinking of just using sand bags good idea or not?

Was thinking about 800lbs in total 500 rear and 300 front in kilos thats about 350.

At the moment the wake is washing out both sides and is like hitting a brick wall.

any ideas?

if its washing out and is that steep then my guess is that you need to speed up to start out. Then add weight accordingly. Weight to the back will add height and steepness to the wake. Weight in the front will add transition and hardness. Its different for every model of boat. Add weight in smaller incriments and work your way up to find out what ballance of front to back that boat likes.

I had a 79 ski nautique. Not sure if it has the same hull but i had a 600 lb sack in the back and 6 45 lb plates in the nose plus two people @ 21-22 mph. Had a home made extended pylon on it. I wouldn't put much more weight then that in mine. Drove fine, it was just sitting pretty low in the water.

Good wake with good pop. Much better then my 17" glastron i had before it but nowhere near my SAN i have now.

Well, I have an 80' as well, first off you want a newer prop, such as an Acme 542 or 1608.
Some have claimed that 4 blades even soften the wake more than the newer 3 blades.

These old narrow little boats like to be weighted evenly like 50/50, and dont go too madd adding weight on the rear since they are too narrow over there and little weight there needs a lot more to compensate.

My setup is 350-540 between the engine and the rear seat, 350 between the passenger seat and the engine, plus driver and observer, I even like to add another 150lbs below the bow deck for a cleaner softer wake.