News & Events

Ballast Basics – Properly weight your inboard wake boat

03/25/2011

There are many ways to weight your boat for wakeboarding or surfing, but starting with the basics is an important first step. There are two different types of inboard wake boats that people are working with for wakeboarding and inland surfing, the V-Drive and the Direct Drive. The V-drive boat has the motor positioned backwards and in the rear of the boat, the direct drive boat's motor is positioned forward and in the center of the boat. Since the motor is essentially ballast, each type of boat will require different ballast positioning. Now the general rule of thumb is 60% rear ballast and 40% front ballast, for a slightly tail heavy boat, this is where the line becomes blurry. The boat weight should also be positioned in such a way that you didn't load your 40% all in the tip of the boat… but you are thinking about the 60/40 rule as center of gravity. Just picture your boat sitting on a triangle like a see-saw. The triangle point should balance the boat perfectly if it is touching the boat's hull just behind the tracking fins. For a clear picture outlining the principles behind each boat type print the respective document and use it to set up your boat!