Smallest amounts of ballast surfing!!
 

After the surf myth thread.. I figured it would be fun to see how LITTLE ballast some of you run. Who cares about the size of the wave, if your like me, you surf every now and then and just want a surfable wave with a very small amount of set up time. Or like most families just learning to surf without the rope. But obviously surfing has gotten just like boarding where it is thought you need XXXXX lbs of ballast to simply execute the activity.

Here is my contribution. This was my standard surf set up for my old boat.

2001 Tige 21V
400 lb rear locker
400 lb in integrated bow sac (I know the fly high integrated bow sac is rated for more weigh, but I am taking a guess at how much it actually filled to)

We would run this set up with a good surfable wave with only a driver in the boat. Pic is with a driver and 2 passenger (1 in observers seat and one (pictured) on port side)

lol.. Smith surfed my Moomba direct drive with no ballast..

he wins.

lolz... I saw the video... there was more man ballast in that than I usually run in water ballast.. ha ha ha

My dad used to surf behind a 18ft check-mate outboard on a long board in the 70s (You surf, without a rope, way back on a longboard). I have surfed behind a closed bow direct drive with no ballast and about 4 people before. With the right board you can surf anything. I've surfed ankle-high waves in the ocean on a 12ft.

08 Tige Z1 no ballast, as in not using the factory ballast, just driver and one passenger.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...Picture046.jpg

6'2" tall 99 vlx with only a 750# sac in the surf side rear locker

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...20883498_o.jpg

@Tigemike - That's a pretty nice wave for no ballast..
900lb passenger?

@ Russ,

Nope, wife driving, son taking pics in the corner seat. He was maybe 180lbs back then.

Yep - I'd guesstimate 500-600 lbs in man ballast, direct drive on a 4'6" board. Granted I had to stay 18" off the swim platform but it was rideable.

that takes a certain level of commitment from said man ballast to make sure that weight is as far to the surf side as possible..

They look real cute together. I would rather not surf than have to snuggle up with one of my buddy's.:D

well played

MB TWB 23' on stock ballast and 4 peeps. No wake plate hence the ugly wash.

http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/z...y/c377435b.jpg

This is a good thread. I just bought my first surf board and will be trying it this week on Dale Hollow in TN. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to surf with the weight we had but this is incouraging! We like to do a little bit of everything so hopefully i'll be able to report back with pics after the weekend.

1986 MasterCraft Stars & Stripes. No ballast, 3 people in the boat.

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=1616077004559" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0"></iframe>

I was able to surf my '99 X10 with no ballast and just a driver and passenger, but it was not fun.

Does my 14 A22 with surfgate count? lol

We took out a friend with a Tigé 24v and 6 people including the driver.We were able to surf both sides easily. The wave wasn't that long,but had good push. The goofy side was better of course.