Can you surf behind a 2002 Centurion?

[opie311 0]

So we are looking at buying a 2002 Centurion Escalade from a dealer.  We haven't seen it yet in person and the photos are limited.  We are first time buyers and are interested in getting into an affordable surf boat.  The price fits this bill. It has a wakeboard tower and a ski post.  It also has the walk through transom which makes sense to save the interior.  It aslo had ballast but they couldn't tell me much information about that, mainliy the number and location.  

My question is this. Can you surf behind this boat without placing FAT Sacs or other ballasts above board? If there are not rear ballasts is their room in the rear storage to conceal ballasts?

Thanks in advance for any info. you can provide. 

[Bigcatpt 408]

The Escalade is the base model of the Avalanche.  It will FOR SURE surf!  The Avalanche is the OG of surf boats.  

The Avalanche/Escalade will surf really easy on the regular (port) side.  Throw an 1100 fat sac in the rear locker and a 540 under the port side seats and it will have an incredible wave.  Don't bother with any bow weight and don't use a surf gate/wedge device on the side of the boat.  This boat likes to lean.  Get the port side rub rail touching the water and the wave will blow your mind.  Want to perk it up a little bit more...... throw 100# of lead bags (Wake Ballast) in the very rear of both rear compartments.   

The goofy side will take a little more work to get a good wave but can definitely be done. But there will be visible bags everywhere to do it.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions.  I had a 2003 Escalade/Avalanche for 12 years.  Great boat.       

[Troy. R 198]

11 hours ago, Bigcatpt said:

The Escalade is the base model of the Avalanche.  It will FOR SURE surf!  The Avalanche is the OG of surf boats.  

The Avalanche/Escalade will surf really easy on the regular (port) side.  Throw an 1100 fat sac in the rear locker and a 540 under the port side seats and it will have an incredible wave.  Don't bother with any bow weight and don't use a surf gate/wedge device on the side of the boat.  This boat likes to lean.  Get the port side rub rail touching the water and the wave will blow your mind.  Want to perk it up a little bit more...... throw 100# of lead bags (Wake Ballast) in the very rear of both rear compartments.   

The goofy side will take a little more work to get a good wave but can definitely be done. But there will be visible bags everywhere to do it.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions.  I had a 2003 Escalade/Avalanche for 12 years.  Great boat.       

I second @Bigcatpt response. I had an '07 Avalanche for years with the exact setup he suggested (1100 in rear locker/540 under port side seat). It threw a fantastic wave! I also second that the goofy wave is a little trickier, but can be done. You would have to fill the locker under the walk-thru and have a bag on top of the walk-thru as well to start with.

[opie311 0]

Thanks for your responses!

So is sounds like I throws a great wake port side.  Which is good for half my family two of us are goofy and the other two are left foot forward.  

Would a wake shaper and a bag in the transome walk through locker be enough to at least produce a surfable wake even if it is nothing close to port side?

 

[Dreamer 96]

I think a wake shaper is the way to go for the older boats. You’ll probably want some bow ballast and fill both rear lockers. Place the majority of your passengers on the surf side. 10.5-11 mph

[Nick213 583]

Had my Avalanche for a few years. 800# of lead, 1100’s in the rear lockers, 540’s under the seats and an A-plate for the goofy side. It threw an incredible wave! I put a 400# bag on the starboard side seat when we surfed goofy and it was almost identical to the port wave. I will say the boat was SLAMMED with that much weight.

let’s see if the picture of how slammed it was will load…

[Mikeyan1122 0]

Hi Nick,

I have a 2008 AVY 4 and was wondering if we could connect for 5-10 to review the ballast set up I was thinking? Custom sacs vs connecting #1100's and #480s per side.

Think I have an idea of what I want to do but would really appreciate the feedback before I go all in ha. 

Thanks,

MIke

[daltonbourne 0]

The ideal boat should be 18 feet long and with a deep-V hull design to have a great experience of surfing behind your boat. The best speed for wake surfing is between 10 and 15 miles per hour or 8.7 to 13 knots.

[daltonbourne 0]

Surfing behind the boat should notice maintaining the correct wake surfing posture, especially when approaching a wave. You can press your lower back with your free hand to help prop up your stance.