weight in a stars and stripes?

buzztail · Newbie Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 28

I'm looking to weight an 82 MC Stars and stripes. With no weight, there is no wake at 20-22mph. My question is, can I put some weight in this boat to get a reasonable wake? If so, how much and where? The boat rides real bow high at boarding speeds. Thanks in advance.

Jim M · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 2933

I have a friend w/ a 83, known as the 'Bars and Stars'. You definitely need to weight it to get a hittable wake, it is rather narrow and small at riding speeds.

I would recommend getting a tower or pylon if you don't have one already, it will free up the back seats for body weight. As far as ballast, you have a few options. You can get side sacs to put on each side of the engine, 500lb sacs will squeeze in fine, you don't have to fill them all the way, just let them mold into position. Be sure to add weight to the bow since you can't sit people up there. That will help keep you on a steady plane, and it will keep good form in your wake. The closed bow is pretty tight, I would use removable weight like dumbbells or sandbags. You can wrap them with towels so they won't jump around.

You can also take the back seat out and drop a large sac across the stern, but you will need to counter that by adding a lot of weight to the bow. If you weight the back too much, the wake may be too steep without transition.

Check out www.gethighsports.net and ebay.com for great deals on ballast sacs and pumps.

buzztail · Newbie Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 28

I am really not into haulling a bunch of ballast to and from the river, would a #500 sac up front work? What am I looking at as far as wake quality goes? Will this boat support enough weight to produce a nice large wake?

Jim M · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 2933

For decent weighting, I would get a pair of 500lb sacs and put them on each side of the engine, I have seen pairs on Ebay for like $125 buy it now. You can fill them and drain them one at a time off one 1100gph pump in just a few minutes.

For 'I am not playing games' weighting, one of the big Get High Sports sacs would be perfect for the stern in place of the back seat, it fills that whole area with about 750lbs and makes a pretty decent seat if you get the sac cover. I think they are killer sacs. If you do that, I would recommend weighting the bow compartment w/ at least 200lbs. You can get one locker sac or just carry some weights in the truck and throw them up there. You will feel the drag if you have too much stern weight, if it drops under 18-19 the boat will drag like a mofo.

buzztail · Newbie Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 28

Thanks, I'll give it a try. I may haul some sandbags until I figure out what I need in the way of sacs.

dizzyj · Soul Rider Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Posts: 485 City: Austin, Tx

I've got an 82 s&s and im a little worried about weighting it down. The boat already sits so damn low in the water, and doesnt handle other boats wakes very easily. I'd be afraid with an extra 1000 lbs of swamping it.

I've got an extended pylon and the wake at ~21 is usable. I can jump wake to wake, work on 180's (working my way to 360's). Not sure if I'd try inverts on it, but im not sure if I'd try inverts anyways.

I figure when I outgrow this wake, ill look at a late 90's nautique or something, but until then, its a sweet ass, old school style, paid off, hella fun boat.

Dave · Newbie Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 33 City: Indianapolis

I have a 86 pro star 190 (similar to the stars and stripes) and i usually have a 500 pound fat sac and about 6 poeple inside the boat while boardin. So thats about 1700 ponds of weight on average. The boat handles very well and does not even come close to swamping. The wake is awsome and any trick is possible including inverts. Just my two cents..........