Just by reading the title, you probably have a good idea of what this post is all about. We wanted to clarify, however, that when we say “your modern Supra or Moomba,” we are specifically referring to models recent enough to have integrated surf systems. If you own or are thinking about owning a 2014 or newer Supra or Moomba, this one is for you! With that said, most of what we’ll discuss below actually applies to V-Drive boats in general, and not just these two brands. Now that we’ve taken care of that, let’s jump in.
Length vs. Push
When it comes to shaping your surf wake, there are two basic factors to consider: length and push. Length refers to how far behind the boat the wave extends, while push refers to the amount of force a wave has to thrust the rider forward without the use of a rope. Unfortunately, to gain a significant amount of one, you must take away from the other. This is not to say that these boats cannot create wakes that have a great deal of both at the same time, but rather if you take them to the extreme, they tend to counteract one another. For example, you can probably create a surf wave right now that is 35’ long, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a rider skilled enough to ride it without a rope. On the other end of the spectrum, you could create a chest-high surf wave that has so much push you can barely keep from riding it back into the boat, but this wave likely wouldn’t have the length most riders would prefer. For this reason, most riders tend to look for something closer to the middle of the spectrum, leaning more towards one or the other depending on their riding style. In case you were wondering how you can achieve more of one or the other, let’s explore the most common methods for adding length or push to your wave.
Adding Length to Your Wave
Creating a longer wave is achieved most easily by changing the angle at which your boat rides through the water at surf speeds. Pushing the bow of the boat down adds considerable length to a surf wave, and can be achieved with a few different methods. One of those, or course, is ballast. Simply filling your front ballast zone to 80-100% will make quite a difference. Of course, you can always add additional ballast to the bow of your boat if filling the front to 100% still does not quite achieve what you’re looking for. The other tool you have at your disposal to help push the nose of the boat down is your center wake plate. Pushing the wake plate down to about 25-30% will also help you achieve a more desirable ride angle in order to get more length out of your wave. Finally, if you have tried those and still feel you are lacking the length you want, try bumping the boat speed up .5 of a mile per hour. We’ll warn you though, that in order to keep from losing massive amounts of push, you’ll likely want to limit your speed to 12mph or less.
Tips for Adding Push to Your Wave
As you may have guessed, adding push to your wave works just the opposite. In order to achieve more push, the bow of your boat must ride higher out of the water. If you’re lacking the amount of push needed to ride ropeless, we would first recommend that you empty a bit of the ballast in the bow of your boat all the way down to 60-70% full. Your center wakeplate will make a huge difference here as well, so to create a wave with maximum push, you’ll want to pull the wakeplate all the way up out of the water at 0%. Both of these methods will help to lower the stern of your boat and make the bow ride higher at surf speeds, which is a tried and true method of getting more push out of your wave. Finally, we’ve observed that keeping your speed between 10.5 and 11mph (our preference is 10.8mph, to be exact) helps you to achieve maximum push in late-model Supra’s or Moomba’s.
Displacement
This may seem obvious, but when you break it down to its simplest form, creating a powerful wake behind a boat is all about displacing water. The more water you displace, the bigger and more powerful the wake is. For example, a 400,000 ton oil tanker creates a much bigger wake than any water sports towboat in the industry could dream of. That’s a pretty extreme example, but the same concept applies to boats in V-drive category. If you’ve tried out some of the methods above and still don’t have quite what you’re looking for, odds are you may want to invest in some additional ballast.
While your boat is outfitted with plenty of ballast and wave-creating technology right from the factory, it is human nature to continuously strive to make things bigger and better. So for those of you that won’t settle for less than a tsunami, here are a few things you may want to consider.
Ballast Bags
No matter which late-model Supra or Moomba you own, your boat comes with ballast bags from the factory that fill with water using integrated pumps. There are many configurations, as some boats have just bags, others have hard tanks that flow into soft bags, and many recent models have bags that are completely hidden underneath the floor. Regardless, larger or additional ballast bags can help you achieve much more displacement and help maximize the wave your boat creates. In most models you may simply be able to purchase larger bags to replace ones from the factory, and in others you might consider additional bags with an external pump. Whatever you choose, ballast bags offer you the advantage of being able to create a great wave when full but being virtually weightless when empty. If you’ve got questions about what type of ballast bags would help you create a better wave in your specific boat model, give us a call or let us know here.
Lead Ballasts
Another popular form of ballast are lead bags. Contrary to their commonly used name, these small, 50lb bags are actually typically filled with steel pellets and provide a great alternative to typical wet ballast bags. Their biggest advantage is that they are very compact, can be moved around easily, and don’t require any time to fill. However, the advantages of lead bags can have some drawbacks too. Because their weight is constant, they can have an effect on fuel consumption when just cruising around the lake. With that said, many of our customers find that the combination of their factory ballast system and a few hundred pounds of lead bags helps create their ideal surf wave while not becoming too detrimental to their fuel consumption. If you’re interested in lead bags for your boat, give us a call to check our current inventory or let us know here.