2018 SAN 230 wake improvement help

[RJ230Surf]

I am new to this forum and have read a bunch of ideas about adding weight to improve the wake on the 230's. Much of what I see is for older models and I am not sure if they are the same. I honestly feel ignorant and a little overwhlmed.

My goal is to improve the wake on my 230. I don't need perfection, just decent improvement. Does anyone have a setup they feel works well? I am not sure if 500+ pounds of lead would be ideal to start with or if I would be better off replacing my current ballast or piggy backing on what I currently have? I have the upgraded pro ballast so I am currently at 2100lbs.

My first thought was to add 300lbs to each side in the rear and maybe 200 in the bow, all lead bags. Wanted some input - would I regret the extra weight when just cruising aorund or tubing with the kids?

Thanks for any help,

RJ

[Paul W]

Hi,
I have a 2017 San230. Love the boat.
Here is a thread on loading a 230 for surfing. I don't surf a lot since I like wakeboarding better. The water is pretty shallow for surfing were I keep my boat, 4' to 8', but its smoooooth most of the time since its a narrow river.

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...summary-thread

Are you trying to surf, wakeboard or both? I feel the wakeboard wake is second to none. Such a nice ramp with a little lip on the top to give you a nice pop... When I have the tanks full, with the extra lead, the wakeboard wake is huge with getting huge scary air off of it.
I have 300lbs of lead and the pro ballast set up as well. I put 160 of the lead all the way up in the bow, the boat needs more up there once you add more to the back.
I was looking into getting the Wakemakers Exact fit 650 that go on the hard tanks in the back. You would remove the pro bags and add in the 650's on top of the factory. I think this is what I will do next season. For wakeboarding, the wake that I have now, is all that I need and then some.
Once I do the 650's I will add another 200 to 300 of steel shot bags. It will need another 200 up front to get the nose down with the 650's
What engine do you have in your boat? I have the H5
Paul

[RJ230Surf]

Thanks Paul.

I am mostly surfing with a little wake boarding mixed in. I have the PCM ZR4 6.0l

I was definitely thinking some weight up front would be important for displacement and balance.

RJ

[kdonzi123]

I have the 2018 230. we use 750's on top of the hard tanks and a 650 sac under the front seat. I have speed set at 10.8 and NSS at 3 and wake gate at 3. We all surf all the time.
How ever you would give up the trays . We live on the lake so it was not something i wanted or needed.

[RJ230Surf]

We live on the lake as well and keeping the trays isn't that important to us.

Did that addition make a big difference or just subtle? I would assume much more push which is what our wake seems to lack.

I am thinking about possibly getting Wakemakers 650's for each rear compartment and grabbing another 500 in lead bags to play with.

[PapaBear]

We live on the lake as well and keeping the trays isn't that important to us.

Did that addition make a big difference or just subtle? I would assume much more push which is what our wake seems to lack.

I am thinking about possibly getting Wakemakers 650's for each rear compartment and grabbing another 500 in lead bags to play with.

That is the exact setup I have in my 2015 230. Wakemakers 650s and 500 lbs of shotbags distributed around the boat with a 150 lbs port bias. The wave is awesome.

[charlesml3]

That is the exact setup I have in my 2015 230. Wakemakers 650s and 500 lbs of shotbags distributed around the boat with a 150 lbs port bias. The wave is awesome.

Pretty much the same as I have in my 2019 SANTE 230 but I'm getting 650 pounds in the back on each side with a combination of shot bags and the Pro Ballast bags from the factory.

I don't have anything in the nose. I've tried adding shot bags there and it doesn't make any real difference.

[Paul W]

With the added weight in the back for wakeboarding the boat takes awhile to get on plane. So the additional weight up front helps to get you up to wakeboard speed a lot faster. Not to much difference in surfing.

[charlesml3]

With the added weight in the back for wakeboarding the boat takes awhile to get on plane. So the additional weight up front helps to get you up to wakeboard speed a lot faster. Not to much difference in surfing.

I'll take your word for it. I've never had a wakeboarder behind my 2019 nor my previous 2017. Nobody in my crowd wants to wakeboard anymore.

[RJ230Surf]

Looks like I am headed in the right direction. I just ordered the Wakemaker's 650's and 500lbs of shot bags. I'll let you all know in a couple weeks how it worked out. Sounds like I am going to be happy! Thanks everyone...

Any market out there to sell the Pro Ballast factory bags?

[Paul W]

Looks like I am headed in the right direction. I just ordered the Wakemaker's 650's and 500lbs of shot bags. I'll let you all know in a couple weeks how it worked out. Sounds like I am going to be happy! Thanks everyone...

Any market out there to sell the Pro Ballast factory bags?

No on the Pro Ballast bags, everyone is trying to get bigger on the bags in back. They should make the Pro Ballast bags from the Factory with the 650's. I would consider that a Pro Upgrade.... Come on now how much more would it costs 300 more per bag over the bags there using now?

Good luck on the new direction. Let us know how you like it and the weight distribution you end up with. Send us pics of the wake with the new improvements. : )

[RJ230Surf]

Exactly what I was thinking Paul. To go from a 400lb bag to 650lb bag coudn't be more than a couple hundred bucks. It's not like it's a $12,000 boat .

I will send updates for sure. Really excited and looking forward to it!

[RJ230Surf]

That is the exact setup I have in my 2015 230. Wakemakers 650s and 500 lbs of shotbags distributed around the boat with a 150 lbs port bias. The wave is awesome.

As a starting point, where do you have your 500lbs of shot bags distributed?

[PapaBear]

As a starting point, where do you have your 500lbs of shot bags distributed?

Of course, I have the wakemakers 650s filled, but I leave the starboard storage tray in which keeps it from filling quite all the way full, giving me maybe 50 lbs of port bias just with the ballast.

As far as the shot bags go, when I first started, I had 200lbs under the farthest back port seat, 100 lbs under the furthest back starboard seat, and 100 lbs each under the port and starboard rear facing observer seats (midship). However, my kids (5 of them) all gravitate to the back of the boat when someone is surfing, and I had a couple of occasions when the back of the boat felt so heavily weighted that were too bow up and even had trouble getting to surf speed and onto cruise control. The wave also felt short and steep with this setup and even noticed that changes to the NSS seemed to have negligible effect on the wave shape. In short, I think the weight is too rear biased in this configuration.

So, I went to 100 lbs under the far rear port seat, 50 lbs under the far rear starboard seat, 100 lbs midship port and 50 lbs next to the trash can, 50 lbs midship starboard, and 150 lbs up in the front of the bow. This has resulted in a lower bow and a much more customizable wake. The wake will get longer and flatter with more speed and lower NSS as it should, and it will get steeper with more pronounced lip with lower speed and higher NSS, as it should. I like surf style riding and really enjoy 11.2 to 11.6 mph with NSS at 2 for a little added steepness.

[RJ230Surf]

Thanks for the detailed info, tips like these will probably save me a lot of time.

I only have two kids but like you, everyone wants to be in the back of the boat when someone is surfing.