Best ballast setup for San 210
 

We recently purchased a new to us 2000 Super Air Nautique. We're super stoked about our purchase but a little bummed it's so cold. But, I guess that gives us time for a few projects and have it dialed in for next year. We just picked it up and I have added nothing so far. No ballast came with it, but it has been recently plumbed with 3 pumps. 1 for each side of the engine compartment and one in the ski locker. I'm thinking I need to plumb one more for the bow under the seats. How much weight can I fit/ what do I need? What's the best set up for this hull? Any help you all have to share would be great!

Most people throw 750 lb sacs in the rear compartments and a fly high seat bottom in the ski locker. I have the same boat and am in the middle of installing three jabsco reversible pumps. I tore out my stock rear tanks. I am going with 400 lb sacs in the rear compartments for now because I already had the sacs and didn't want to drop another 300 bucks for 750 lb sacs that I would rarely fill to capacity. I think 400 lb sacs in the rear compartments along with the 580 lb seat bottom sac in the locker and another 400 in the bow will be perfect for me.

If you surf a lot then I would go with the 750 lb sacs in the rear.

And if you go with 750s in the rear then you will definitely need some weight up front and probably have to reprop

750s in rear
Seat bottom in locker
U shape bow sack under front seats
Small bag of your choosing on top up front
I ran a 750 but 400 also worked good
That setup will mellow out the lip a bit and make it perfect. And very large. Talking about it makes me miss my wake lol

What I have have done and like. Is i pulled the hard tanks in the back and put in 1100 sacs. So for wakeboarding we run port full (3 button presses) and i have a 600 sac i put under love seat on port side. And frankly we can't tell much difference at that point with belly stock tank full or empty.

For boarding we just run between 1 and 2 button presses and full belly.

I have a 1999 SAN210

750's in each rear locker

400lbs in the locker

400lbs in the walkway on top of the locker

1,000lb triangular sac in the bow

Total= 3,300lbs (There's typically only 1 or 2 other people in the boat so that's why we run that much weight, if I have more people I take out some of the weight but my GT-40 handles it like a champ and I'm not even a Ford guy)

All are flyhigh sacs and I started out weighting the back of the boat more (traditional 60/40) and I found that my particular boat likes a little more weight in the nose to keep the transitions clean and not overly lippy.

Have an 02 SAN
Our weight set up is

Triangle 1000
Seat Bottom in Locker 600-700
Wedge Tanks 250 x 2
Wedge Sacks 400 x 2
Lead for side to side 40 x 4

The wake cleans up around 25 but we just ride 23 at 75'

Scott- I did the same thing, I pulled my factory tanks and to the OP I would recommend doing the same thing. You'll have much more room and those factory pumps in that year weren't the best.

^ What he said! I have a 99 SAN as well. The more weight in the nose the better IMO. I just upgraded my prop to an ACME 1578 and it is significantly better!

Although many people say they do, I really have not found a necessity to put weight in the bow. I do have a new prop coming in next few days to move from stock 645 prop all the way to the 1433. I think bigger (diameter) will help get on plane when we 2 the 1100's two-thirds (2 button presses) full.

http://www.wakeprops.com/wakeboard-b...oat-propellers

It is so nice to have the bags vs the tanks because they fill the space so much better so they sit lower and you have more room for storage, and end of season you just pull out. And changing oil or plugs you just stand on top of them and you are right there on side of engine. It is great.

The only down side is your gauges don't work. But I don't care. I just count button presses due to filling is on a timer. Each button press is about a 1/3 of the 1100 bag. And you just look to see how far down the swim platform is. So easy.

^ I completely disagree. Nose weight, and a lot of it, is essential in my opinion. I run the FlyHigh triangle bag in the bow of mine. It looks like you have a current gen 210, which I have no idea how to weight. The OP is asking about the pre-2007 210.

2500-3000 #s evenly distributed throughout the boat is where it's at.

Yea def need the nose weight unless u want to get kicked off axis constantly. I removed rear tanks As well. Ballast system was completely different 02? And up so disregard the button press stuff

I defer to others with pre 2007, sorry. But I am sorry to report I do not have "current gen 210"....2014 is new hull supposedly. LOL. Time and tide stop for no man.

Awesome, thanks for all the input. So here's what I'm thinking. 2 750's in the rear hatch, a 580 in the center locker, and an integrated bow that's 650. The hatch is plumbed with 2 pumps and the ski locker is plumbed as well. I'll run one pump up to the bow and I should be solid. Am i on the right track. Ps. The pumps are all aftermarket 2 ways.

Integrated bow sac for below cushions? I think you'd be hard pressed to get 650 up there... Do 750s in the rear, bow triangle 1000 and your 580 in the locker!

I've experimented a bit and I think the largely even weight throughout is the most consistent/best wake on the 210. From the water, looks like the front bow ring and the swim deck are both at, or just under, the water line.

With the 750's in back, you need to work hard to compensate with the weight elsewhere in the boat to make the front/back ratio work. I don't think the integrated bow sac can fill to 650, or anywhere close. I figure 400 maybe. Throw some lead up front or another sac on top of the seats and you should be good to go. Adding another 300 or so in the main lounge area really puts the cherry on top.

****, I was really hoping to have everything under the seats. Any ideas?

Only way to keep everything under the seats is to simply run less weight, but even then if you want a nice sized wake you will really need something up front on top of the seats. This also depends on how big your normal crew is too. Even when I had only the hard tanks in the back (250 lbs each I believe), I still put about 600lbs in the locker and at least another 600 lbs in the bow. You need to be careful coming off plane with all the nose weight but the end result is well worth it.

Is anyone really going to sit in the bow?

IMO its a balance both for the nose and the rear. You can take in a lot of water over the back on that boat as well. As you said its well worth it but watch both the nose and the snake chasing you.

If you pull off the gas easy the give it a bump to keep the wave from coming over the back. If you time this right you can get the wave to push the back around as your turning as well.

What about the integrated bow bag plus a second center bag on top of the ski locker pushed as far forward as possible. Then it would sit below the play pen cushion. I would get extra counter weight up front while still keeping the seating open. Any thoughts?

Any set up that doesn't involve a bag in the nose won't be adequate bow weight for an optimal wake IMO. You can try it though. My guess is you'll constantly second guess it and end up with a bag up there anyway. It sounds like wake quality is important to you. If that's the case don't sacrifice it for bow seating.

Makes a lot of sense, thanks for all the input everyone. I think I'll just save a little cash and not plumb the bow and throw a 1000 up there! Put a 650 in the locker and throw the 750s in the hatch. Then I'm ready to go for around 700 bucks instead of 1100. Now on to phase two, what do I need to get it solid for surfing?

Plumb the nose sack and run some lead up there as well

Man I hate to say it, but the only way to get enough weight up there without putting anything on the seats is lead like Mase said, but that's not something that's easily taken in and out. The U shape sac that goes under the seat will not work well with that era boat. It won't fill near to capacity. Maybe throw 200lbs of lead up there and if you have a big crew have 2 or 3 people sit up front when you ride.

this is an option. Do you have a bow filler cushion? If so, you can put a few hundo in lead under there and nobody will see it, that plus whatever you can get under the seats may be enough bow weight. Also, look in the very tip around the bow eye to see if there is any space for a couple lead bags in there, that far far forward lead weight makes a huge difference even if only a hundred pounds.

Thanks for all the input, I think I'll have this thing dialed in pretty solid. Soooo..,... What do I have to do to make it surf-able? What kind of weight and where do I need it?

Like everyone said tanks should be pulled 750 in rear full 750 in rear corner also and 400 up front on side u are riding. Wave is clean on both sides and massive! Tallest surf wake I have ridden. Not super long but still very good. If u have factory system I would completely rip it out pumps and all and start over. The factory system was like the first system made and was pretty junky

Got it, I thought everyone was still talking wake not surf. Is it best to wimpy the drive side bag in the hatch or should I leave it half full?

Damn auto correct! EMPTY not wimpy

Man I'm glad somebody started this thread and great info Mase. I have been trying to dial in my surf wave and I think I need more nose weight too just haven't figured out how to keep it all on the surf side. I run a 750 in the rear surf side, 400 on the seat (surfside) in front of the engine, and then about 400lbs in the locker. It's so tall and clean but it's super short. Maybe if I throw some weight in the nose it will lengthen the transition.

Won't lengthen too much just the way that boat is. U could speed up some

You just asked what do I need to do to make it surf able and I answered don't understand what u are confused about.

Empty everything not on surf side no weight in middle or opposite side it will wash the wake

So stoked, thanks for all the help everyone!

It is possible to get a big wake with sacks hidden running 750's in the rear. The ski locker is huge and goes all the way to the nose. It probably holds 900-1000lbs. I measured out the ski locker and had a custom sac made for it. I run the integrated bow sac with 160 lbs of lead in the nose as well.