Getting a ri257 next week

Wakeballast · June 23, 2017

Sorry for being a newbie, I just traded my axis t23 and ordered an RI257 getting it next week.

would love some pointers on setting up my centurion ballast wise for the optimum longest wave. I'm planning on adding 20 50lbs bags or 1000lbs extra ballast. I should mention I'm the owner of wakeballast so adding bags is easy for me.

Let me know how should I set the weights around the boat

Cwazy1 · June 23, 2017

Just be careful to not hydrolock your engine if you've got the silent stinger and have that much lead weight in there

InfinitySurf · June 23, 2017

There are some members on here that have posted up how they set up their RI257...badass boat with an incredible wave. If you type "ri257" in the search bar at top right....it will pull up some of the threads. Like Cwazy1 said....be careful maxing ballast, simply cause a couple hydrolock issues have happened, probably due to how low engine is mounted and water backflowing thru exhaust risers when a ton of ballast is on board. Sounds like a couple simple things you can do tho to avoid problems, check out the threads.

carguy79ta · June 23, 2017

sounds Awesome! I'm sure you will love it. if you scroll down thru 2 pages of this forum you will find what you are looking for. in particular Darksides thread '257 tips and suggestions' has ballast and settings info.

Bawshogg · June 23, 2017

I posted on your IG account, I have found that honestly the boat does NOT need much weight at all. In stock configuration I feel like 600-800 lbs is ideal if you run a small crew. I've tried up to 2klbs in WAKEBALLAST bags and the results are dwindling returns.... All that weight..more fuel usage...longer times to plain...and you have to tow it around for really minuscule differences in the wave size/length and feel. Kinda diminishing returns

The boat stock has 3 tons of water weight, weighs close to 8K lbs alone and has MAJOR adjustability from CATS, center stinger, and Quicksurf tabs...let alone Ramfill thrown into the mix.

How did you score a 257 in one week? In-stock boat? And as badass as the 257 is....I really think advertising wise it was the wrong boat for you! Should have went for a boat that NEEDS 3k lbs of lead to produce. Congrats anyways and welcome to the team!

Wakeballast · June 23, 2017

13 minutes ago, Bawshogg said:

I posted on your IG account, I have found that honestly the boat does NOT need much weight at all. In stock configuration I feel like 600-800 lbs is ideal if you run a small crew. I've tried up to 2klbs in WAKEBALLAST bags and the results are dwindling returns.... All that weight..more fuel usage...longer times to plain...and you have to tow it around for really minuscule differences in the wave size/length and feel. Kinda diminishing returns

The boat stock has 3 tons of water weight, weighs close to 8K lbs alone and has MAJOR adjustability from CATS, center stinger, and Quicksurf tabs...let alone Ramfill thrown into the mix.

How did you score a 257 in one week? In-stock boat? And as badass as the 257 is....I really think advertising wise it was the wrong boat for you! Should have went for a boat that NEEDS 3k lbs of lead to produce. Congrats anyways and welcome to the team!

I beg cried kick every one I knew lol I will start with 1000lbs of extra weight as it seams to be the sweet spot.

thx for all the info

257Tsunami · June 26, 2017

Why don't you try out stock ballast first than go from there. In stock form this thing is HANDS DOWN the biggest wave you can get. Figure out your adjustments from there, than start adding weight. I get that given the line of work you're in, you're kind of obligated to sack that b*&ch out. But it truly needs nothing outside of stock ballast. With that said, I wouldn't mind seeing what one of these can do sacked right out. So be sure to post pictures. Due to the Ramfill tanks, the storage areas under the seats are relatively shallow given the depth of this boat. So you'll have a hard time finding places to hide any more bags. If you're using led you'll be fine. Start out with Transom Bag 100%, STBD and PORT PnP 100%, Centre 75%-100%, Centre PnP 0% (if you have it), Surfside Ramfill 100%, Non-Surfside Ramfill 90%, Centre Tab 75%, Quick Surf 80%. Start there and add weight and adjust from there. Seems that on the 257's you only need to start weighting the bow once you start adding rear weight over the stock setup.

Regardless of what you do or don't do with YOUR boat, congrats and have a blast. You'll for sure be happy with your decision.

Edited June 26, 2017 by 257Tsunami

257Tsunami · June 26, 2017

I meant to add, try 11.7 mph for speed.

Bongo Fury · June 26, 2017

On June 22, 2017 at 7:46 PM, Wakeballast said:

Sorry for being a newbie, I just traded my axis t23 and ordered an RI257 getting it next week.

would love some pointers on setting up my centurion ballast wise for the optimum longest wave. I'm planning on adding 20 50lbs bags or 1000lbs extra ballast. I should mention I'm the owner of wakeballast so adding bags is easy for me.

Let me know how should I set the weights around the boat

Congrats on the new ride and right on for becoming a Supporting Member so quickly!! Welcome to the club!