Boat, Board, Rope, Wake and Speed Questions

Trader137W · Newbie Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26

Alright a little back ground first. I grew up on waterski's and to this day can waterski very well and enjoy it.

Last year I tried wakeboarding for the first time. After spending half a day listening to everyone else on how to get up I said screw it and just started feeling it out and after about 15-20 tries I was up and on my way. Problem was I was exhausted from the effort to get up. However still loved it. Purchased a board and bindings over the winter(up in Minnesota so only get about 5 months a year to ride) I got a HyperSlide Tantrum board and put some nice Obrien binding, the lace up kind that are fairly adjustable. Went out a number of times this year and I am starting to get good but I think part of my problem is the boat and speed.

I can jump pretty nice off the wake but not W2W and I can do a Fakey 180 from the heel side.

The problem is I have to have the boat going about 25-30mph to get the wake far enough back to me on a 75ft ski rope. I just purchased a actual wakeboard rope with 4 sections but have not tried it yet.

I have a 96 Bayliner Capri 1600 with a outboard 90HP engine - I know not the optimal Wakeboard boat but at least I have a pull.

I absolutely love wakeboarding and want to go out every chance I get.

Here are my questions:

Will I ever be able to do W2W and real tricks with this boat?
How fast should I be going?
What length should I put the rope at?
is the board and binding setup good for begginer/intermidiate?
Is there any way to make my wake bigger without making structural changes to the boat?

howabouttheiris · Addict Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 677 City: Austin, TX

YES
18-24 MPH based on water, wake and preference
55-75' based on wake and preference
?
add ballast, adjust trim, add friends

howabouttheiris · Addict Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 677 City: Austin, TX

Here is how I figure out a speed/rope length setup for me....

1. Set rope length to the longest that I can still go W2W.

2. Set the speed to as slow as possible where the wake breaks behind me at that rope length.

Trader137W · Newbie Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26

Sweet I don't think the wife is going to let me get a different boat and I think this sport is awesome, I should be going out this weekend with the new adjustable rope so I will try your trick. ThX

I had a week off last week and we spent it at a cabin on a lake, my goal was to jump W2W and I was super pizzzed when I couldn't do it but I think the main problem was length of the rope because the main height of the wake was about 10 feet in front of me but if we slowed down to about that 18mph or so the wake doubled in size but was like 20 feet in front of me.

I can't wait...........Thanks again.

Trader137W · Newbie Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26

Once I got the hang of jumping I would always land in the low point just before the other wake and launch back off of that right away.

I also think though that I maybe was not holding my progressive edge all the way through the wake, I might have been flattening out the board just before the wake and probably losing a lot of steam.

Practice Practice Practice

TerryProII · Newbie Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 33

I'm an extreme newbie at wakeboarding as well (was a competitive slalom skiier in my younger years). Something I found that helped me was to push through the wake instead of trying to get up. The wake on our boat gives plenty of ramp for me at this stage and gets me up quite naturally.

Trader137W · Newbie Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26

Question: on making my wake bigger/better

if I put the boat in the water without the drain plug in and let some water fill into the hull would that be a good way to add ballast or would that be a really bad idea?

I would obviously start out with a small amount and work my way up until I had an amount that seemed like it created a good wake, but basically wondering if anyone else has done this.

kevoLFwake · Outlaw Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 132

you always want to pop up. The momentum from your progressive edge will carry you across the wake.
When you go off the wake pop straight up as if you were suddenly standing. That should get you some good pop.

Dirt Girl · Newbie Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Posts: 16

Filling your bilge is a terrible idea. Plus, the auto float on your bilge pump will turn on the pump and empty out the water you are putting in.

Buy some fat sacs off ebay.

kevoLFwake · Outlaw Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 132

and you dont want to continually work your bilge causing it to burn out quicker. agreed with dirt girl... bad idea.

Trader137W · Newbie Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26

Good point, I didn't think of the float on the bilge but I I would have realized it once I tried it and then stopped. I did look into fatsacs, are they really 200+ dollers per?

Man that seems like a lot for a sac that holds water.

kevoLFwake, I will be focusing on that next time out, thanks

howabouttheiris · Addict Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 677 City: Austin, TX

Don't use your bilge as it will move about as you ride and be really unstable (ie rush to the back when you launch making it hard to get on plane)

There are really not that many good options that are cheap, fillable/emptyable with a pump, and can hold 100s of lbs of water. I tried a few diy bags and finally spent the cash on a set of 440s.

pet575 · Posted: Jul 23, 2008 6:43 am Post subject:

Trader137W, find a super single waterbed mattress. Way cheaper and, while bigger/bulkier, it will do the job and you can decide how full you want it to be depending on how much room is in the boat.

Trader137W · Newbie Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26

pet575, Thats a great idea, to think I sold my old, and I mean old, waterbed last year in a garage sale.

I think I remember from a while back the mattress not being to expensive.

What would you suggest as a method to fill the bag?

Sorry guys for the newb questions, really appreciate all the help though! Very Happy

pet575 · Posted: Jul 23, 2008 7:40 am Post subject:

Ya those mattresses are not very expensive at all. I use a bilge pump with a section of garden hose and a waterbed-hose adapter to fill/empty my fat sac.

Hairygary · Newbie Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 28 City: The Region

If you have to go 25-30 to get the wake right, then you might want to go down two pitches on your prop. If you add more weight it might be even harder for your boat to plane out.

Trader137W · Newbie Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26

First of all great news! I did it. W2W on Friday, did it 3-4 times, also I can do a surface 180 pretty good both fs to ss and ss to fs. Also can do a FS HS 180 off the wake with no problem and SS HS 180 no problem off the wake.

I took 2 nasty diggers and one time I hit the way really weird and it was like my board hit a rock or something it just stopped and flipped me upside down and my lead foot came out of the boot.

Hairygary - I had a little better luck with the shorter rope, we were at about 20mph or so and had a OK wake at 55ft of rope. However, I think I have a high pitch prop built for speed, It says 23 on it. Do you know a lot about props? What kind of prop should I get, would it make a big difference in wake?

Thanks for all the help and pointers, I had a great time this weekend, super sore though, I feel like I aged about 20 years in one day

bass69 · Addict Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 529

honestly, a new prop is like 800 bucks and you would be better off with some fat sacs or maybe just some sand bags or cement bags

Trader137W · Newbie Joined: 18 Jul 2008 Posts: 26

Cool, thanks for the advise, I just saw a video from another thread and it had some amazing tricks on very little wake so I think I am going to keep working on form and getting this down before I worry to much about my boat.

Plus it would be nice to try and wakeboard with a calm lake, every where I have been riding lately has either been loaded down with boats or super windy.