I have a 2012 Malibu wakesetter VTX and I love surfing behind it but I am still trying to figure out the perfect wake. I fill the front tank 100%, center tank 50%, back left tank 100%, power wedge 100%, a 700 lb fat sack in back left locker and 1 person sitting on the left side. I like the height of the wave but I want it a little longer. Do you all think I have the weighting correct or should I change it up?
Fill your center full. Plus add a 200-300lbs in the bow. Mslibus like a lot of bow weight, this will help draw the wake back. Second, how fast are you riding?, if you speed up some..11.5 range, this will draw the wake out also and have plenty of drive. Hope this helps!
Ok I will try filling up the center tank. I dont have a second fat sack so I need to figure out an alternative to get some extra weight up front. Another problem that I have that is that when we are surfing the nose of the boat rides really high and I have to stand up to see infront of me, will filling up the center tank help plane the boat better? I have the speed set at 10.2 mph. so I will try bumping it up to the 11 range. Would moving the fatsac that I use in the back locker to under the seat or should I leave it in the back locker? Thanks for the inputs!
We fill all of the surf side MLS tanks including the front.
1100 in the locker but I would estimate only 900 fits
1000 under the seats(surf side only)
500 in the front (surf side)
Daisy # 55 where she wants
Power wedge all the way down
The shot of Dave riding is a good example of how the FAE has no effect on the wave
Would the wake on most malibu's be better and longer with jsut water ballast? Is the Wedge what makes the wake so short(length wise)? It seems like full stock 1250 pound water ballast plus the biggest sack you can put in the rear corner plus another 500+ pound sack on or under the surf side seat would do the trick? Have any of you experimented setting up a malibu for surfing without using the wedge?
I have found that the wedge makes the wave taller. I have not tried surfing without the wedge. Would you all recommend the power 100% or what percentage do you put the wedge at?
For a long goofy surf wave setup:
All internal ballasts 100% full
150lb bow bag on surf side (starboard)
750lb bag in the rear starboard locker
wedge fully deployed
5 people on the driver side
This wake is super fun to ride and has plenty of push for skim, surf and longboard style boards.
07' VTX:
Front MLS full, Center MLS full, Port locker MLS full, 1300# Port to Observer seat sack full, floating wedge deployed, and 9.8 MPH. Port side wave is mackin'. by Bucky Images, on Flickr Mike Wakesurfing. by Bucky Images, on Flickr
Front MLS full, Center MLS full, Starboard locker MLS full, 550# Starboard Locker sac, 1 in the starboard rear, 1 in the bow, floating wedge deployed, and 9.6 MPH. GangGreen. by Bucky Images, on Flickr
I just rode a 2012 VLX this weekend. We originally started with the wedge down, but found that with the wedge all the way up, the wake cleaned up quite a bit and we got a better, cleaner wake without it.
It also produces a much better regular wake than goofy wake, even when weighted the same.
I don't recall the exact weights we were running for internal ballast, but we did have a 750 in the surf side locker full as well as people in that corner or a 3/4 full 750 when half of our crew bailed. I believe the stock bow tank was full though.
I just rode a 2012 VLX this weekend. We originally started with the wedge down, but found that with the wedge all the way up, the wake cleaned up quite a bit and we got a better, cleaner wake without it. It also produces a much better regular wake than goofy wake, even when weighted the same.
I don't recall the exact weights we were running for internal ballast, but we did have a 750 in the surf side locker full as well as people in that corner or a 3/4 full 750 when half of our crew bailed. I believe the stock bow tank was full though.
Prop rotation favors the goofy side on the Malibu's.
I rode a 2010 Wakesetter that was front MLS, center MLS, starboard MLS, 750# fat sac in starboard locker, 1 in the center, 2 in the bow, 3 along side the starboard side, no wedge, and 10.6 MPH. One of the better waves I have been behind.
Interesting. From what I understand the Malibus run a LH or CCW rotation prop, which is better for a regular wake than a goofy wake. While out we had goofy riders and regular riders and at first were struggling to make a decent wake, but after raising the wedge it became decent.
Using the same setup, but just swapping out 3 guys for one sack that weighed about the same as those 3 guys on the regular side, the regular wave was amazing.
Here's a video of me riding on the regular side. We broke the camera out after we switched, otherwise I would show some video of the goofy side, it worked, but it was not pretty.
I do hear from others that they love Malibus for the goofy wake. It just wasn't really happening for us though.