First, I am going to preface that you should only do what you feel safe doing and be aware of whatever local laws are that govern that stuff. Also, we only surf when the water is calm and we are lucky to be able to go out in little traffic. Under heavy conditions you should be careful adding too much weight to the bow.
Our RZX was the first one ever made, and I think it has more than 800 up front, pretty sure, but not positive. My answer to this is quite long, I am actually doing a new video on weighting listed and unlisted, some general rules I have learned.
I will tell you that my thought on front weight is VERY different than a few years ago. There are some things you hear when asking about weighting, that I think are not completely true.
1. Always start in a rear corner. (find my old weighting video, I say this as well)
2. Some boats don't like too much weight up front.
3. If you add too much weight up front, you lose push.
What I have learned is that if you have to take weight out to make your wake better, its not because you have too much up front, its because you don't have enough in the back, or positioned far enough back. Every boat has a sweet spot, and that sweet spot is almost universally with a good amount of weight up front. Maybe 25-33% of total ballast, just a rough estimate. The solution to a good wake is to displace the most water possible and over as large an area as possible. If you don't weight the front, you get short steep, and a hole for a transition.
Now don't get me wrong, you can't get the right weight on a bad hull and get a great wake. Some hulls just don't make good wakes.
So if you start with the most weight you feel safe with for your conditions, and weight the rear to that, most likely you will get your boats best wake. And also put as much opposite weight as you can while still having a clean wake with a good lip. So as little list due to opposite weight as possible. This will displace the most water, which is just about the entire equation to getting maximum "push". Also, spreading the weight out is safer because the boat won't be tipping over and close to the water in some corner. Making sure the bow is sufficiently displaced also gives you a longer wake and a better transition with most hulls. The front of the boat helps SPREAD the water out which makes for less of a hole or trough behind the swim deck.
This is especially true with the RZX, look at that CRAZY keel and front hull. Its so FLAT and WIDE. It becomes a plow spending the water out and allows for a more massive wave but yet has a super silky transition.
That said, I feel like the 1100 lbs in the front of the Z3 was safe in most conditions and if I had a new one, if it was my boat, I would put 1100 in the front and make that my starting point. I have weighted more than 1100 in the Z3 a few times in the front, and I didn't like it, it didn't feel safe to me.
I should add one thing, partly cuz I don't know when to shut up. ;-) The 24Ve was a big lesson with this. I always just figured the boat didn't like that much weight up front. Until I figured out how to get more weight far back, removing batteries and rear panels to get sacks that go ALL the way to the rear hull. Once I did that I was able to fill up the 700 lb front bag and that wake was old school listed heaven. ;-)
Note to Dads: Test this stuff on a calm day, preferably a week day with a buddy or teenage kid and be safe. You don't want to do something that is going to spook your family (wife) and make it hard to get people on the boat the next time. Be patient. If you just got your 1000 lbs of lead and can't wait to try it but its busy and windy, save it for another day. Make smaller changes and enjoy each step.
Our RZX was the first one ever made, and I think it has more than 800 up front, pretty sure, but not positive. My answer to this is quite long, I am actually doing a new video on weighting listed and unlisted, some general rules I have learned.
I will tell you that my thought on front weight is VERY different than a few years ago. There are some things you hear when asking about weighting, that I think are not completely true.
1. Always start in a rear corner. (find my old weighting video, I say this as well)
2. Some boats don't like too much weight up front.
3. If you add too much weight up front, you lose push.
What I have learned is that if you have to take weight out to make your wake better, its not because you have too much up front, its because you don't have enough in the back, or positioned far enough back. Every boat has a sweet spot, and that sweet spot is almost universally with a good amount of weight up front. Maybe 25-33% of total ballast, just a rough estimate. The solution to a good wake is to displace the most water possible and over as large an area as possible. If you don't weight the front, you get short steep, and a hole for a transition.
Now don't get me wrong, you can't get the right weight on a bad hull and get a great wake. Some hulls just don't make good wakes.
So if you start with the most weight you feel safe with for your conditions, and weight the rear to that, most likely you will get your boats best wake. And also put as much opposite weight as you can while still having a clean wake with a good lip. So as little list due to opposite weight as possible. This will displace the most water, which is just about the entire equation to getting maximum "push". Also, spreading the weight out is safer because the boat won't be tipping over and close to the water in some corner. Making sure the bow is sufficiently displaced also gives you a longer wake and a better transition with most hulls. The front of the boat helps SPREAD the water out which makes for less of a hole or trough behind the swim deck.
This is especially true with the RZX, look at that CRAZY keel and front hull. Its so FLAT and WIDE. It becomes a plow spending the water out and allows for a more massive wave but yet has a super silky transition.
That said, I feel like the 1100 lbs in the front of the Z3 was safe in most conditions and if I had a new one, if it was my boat, I would put 1100 in the front and make that my starting point. I have weighted more than 1100 in the Z3 a few times in the front, and I didn't like it, it didn't feel safe to me.
I should add one thing, partly cuz I don't know when to shut up. ;-) The 24Ve was a big lesson with this. I always just figured the boat didn't like that much weight up front. Until I figured out how to get more weight far back, removing batteries and rear panels to get sacks that go ALL the way to the rear hull. Once I did that I was able to fill up the 700 lb front bag and that wake was old school listed heaven. ;-)
Note to Dads: Test this stuff on a calm day, preferably a week day with a buddy or teenage kid and be safe. You don't want to do something that is going to spook your family (wife) and make it hard to get people on the boat the next time. Be patient. If you just got your 1000 lbs of lead and can't wait to try it but its busy and windy, save it for another day. Make smaller changes and enjoy each step.
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