How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

[KentV]

What exactly are trim tabs and what do they do? I have a 1985 Sea ray seville 5.6 bowrider and the engine is a 3.0 140hp merc cruiser inboard outboard motor. I am just wondering what all I can do or ad to the boat to make it have a bigger wake behind the boat and be more like a wakeboarding boat? IF adding ballasts is ok for this boat how much weight specifically at max could I add? If it would make the wake bigger by adding a different engine to the boat, what is a reasonably priced engine I should buy? Thanks everyone, hope you can help.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

A wake is the product of the hull displacing water, so if you add weight to the stern, more water will be displaced. This will result in a larger wake.

There are folks who put ballast tanks that hold water(since it's heavy) in the stern of the boat to increase wake size. This is very common in wakeboarding boats that have towers also.

You could add a huge livewell and fill it with water and fish, or a huge cooler full of beer to add weight as well

 

[texomatom]

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

I have a 19ft I/O that we sometimes use for wakeboarding.
I have found that I get the best wake by adding a 600lb fat sac (water ballast) as far forward as I can and trimming the outdrive up a little. The weight will hold the bow down while the trim angle pushes the stern down.
It's never going to match the wake of a V drive inboard, but it's a decent enough wake for us amatures.

HTH

Tom

 

[KentV]

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Ok, so it is ok for me to ballasts in this boat, and I am suppose to position them in the front of the boat in order to get a bigger wake?

 

[texomatom]

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Ok, so it is ok for me to ballasts in this boat, and I am suppose to position them in the front of the boat in order to get a bigger wake?

You can add ballast to any boat - it's just a question of how much

I'm not familiar with your boat so you may not get the same results. This is what we've found works best for us. Your mileage may vary.

This is an easy test for your hull. Just load up four of five LARGE friends, seat some of them in the bow and go wakeboarding.

T

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Boats with planing-type hulls will often have trim tabs attached to the trailing edge of the hull or transom. These are used to adjust the pitch attitude of the boat while underway. Changes in boat speed or weight placement will usually require the trim tabs to be adjusted to keep the boat at a comfortable and efficient pitch attitude. This reduces the work of the captain by reducing the amount of manual control necessary, as well as providing for greater efficiency by keeping the ship in the ideal orientation for the conditions.

You can add ballast up to the weight capacity of the boat, there should be a placard someone on the boat stating its limits. (e.g. # Max Load: 1275 lbs (578 kg)# Max Persons: 9 or 1275 lbs (578 kg)) Your amount of ballast should be taken into consideration to those numbers, and remember so is the weight of your fuel. I have one fat sac myself that I just bought. I am going to put it in my ski storage locker in the floor since I have ski and wakeboard racks on my tower.

http://www.wakemakers.com/wakeboard-ballast-bags

Thats really not the strongest motor either to be pulling wakeboarders. You want at least a V6 to have the power to pop them out of the water instead of drag them up. I tried wake boarding behind a 3.0 and it got me up, but not as nicely as a v6 or V8 does.

 

[actionljackson]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Your adding weight to a boat that is already underpowered.It will produce more wake but forget about a holeshot.

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

You could add a huge livewell and fill it with water and fish, or a huge cooler full of beer to add weight as well

The only problem with that is by the end of the day you have no weight left!

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Be careful how much you add. Use the total capacity of your boat as a guide but don't overdo it.

 

[pmillar]

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

The only problem with that is by the end of the day you have no weight left!

You might say it just gets pissed away

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Re: how to make my boat have a bigger wake?

You can add ballast to any boat - it's just a question of how much

I'm not familiar with your boat so you may not get the same results. This is what we've found works best for us. Your mileage may vary.

This is an easy test for your hull. Just load up four of five LARGE friends, seat some of them in the bow and go wakeboarding.

T

like Larry the Cable Guy says when he was pulled over for suspected DWI
" Why Officer, is there a fat girl in the back seat???"

 

[CAVU V]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Like Queen says:

Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin' world go round

 

[cr2k]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

What ever you do DO NOT flood the bilge. We had a run of rentals come in with bad starters right after the wake boarding craze hit several years ago. A little inspection turned up that people were just flooding the bilge for ballast and soaking the starters.

Trim tabs are used to level the boat, if it's listing to port trim the port tab down a little. If it is hard to get on plane or running bow high trim them both down.

 

[grego]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Yea! but, by the end of the day "WHO CARES!"

 

[Chaz7R]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Slow down to just under plane, we shorten up the rope so you are cutting thru the wake closer to the boat that is higher.

 

[Sean-Nos]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

This is a post form my forum in Ireland he was my back up boat and forgot to put his bung plug in.
http://www.powerboat.ie/forums/sports-boats/4822-launch-sean-nos-10.html

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o304/xatco/Sean Nos/IMG_4984.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o304/xatco/Sean Nos/IMG_4940.jpg

 

[JimMH]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

With that motor boat combo it you add too much weight you are going to drag whoever is behind the boat. I agree a Fat sack is the best way to go and it should be in the stern of the boat not the bow.

 

[Subliminal]

Re: How to make my boat have a bigger wake?

Before you go geeting ballasts I'd suggest just putting all of your friends in the front of the boat and see how that works. 3 people up there will equal that 600 lbs...plus or minus a few.

As to the 3.0 for wakeboarding, if it'll cruise at ~20-30, you're set. You don't need to pop people out of the water for wakeboarding...heck, I'm no pro and I could probably get out of the water behind a canoe. There's so much resistance on the board you come out no matter how slow the start is...

Good luck!