Wakeboarding Behind an Outboard Scout Sport

cbcliatt · Newbie Joined: 17 May 2010 Posts: 1

Hey guys, this is my first post here but I am excited about joining the community. I just have a few questions regarding optimizing the wake size and shape. I am riding behind a Scout Sport series, which is an outboard boat designed for fishing (that's what the family likes best).

Here is a picture of the boat so you guys have an idea of what I am working with:

This boat looks a little more "fishy" than mine. Also important to note that my T-top is made of stainless steal while this one seems to be plastic.

Here are my questions:

1. At the end of last year I began attaching the rope to the top of the T-top. I went easy on at first and then pretty much put it through the paces and it appeared to hold up fine. Anything I should be worried about there? Seems a lot more sturdy than some of these home made pylons I see around.

2. There are two 15 gallon live wells on either side of the back of the boat. Would filling these act as an internal fat sack improving the shape of the wake? I will be testing it tomorrow but just seeing if anyone knew off hand.

3. There are trim tabs on the boat. Any hints on how to use those optimally? I am not sure if they are on wake board specific boats or not and really have no idea if they would affect the wake at all. Like wise what about the trim of the motor, any tips there?

4. Any other ideas as to how to increase wake size would be great, thanks a lot.

dalderman · Soul Rider Joined: 08 Aug 2008 Posts: 356 City: Carlsbad

When I first started riding it was behind a similar boat - dual console fish/ski outboard. I used a Fat Sac tube sac down the middle which added about 400lbs. I also filled the bait tanks and made sure the fuel tank was full. These types of boats are usually filled with foam between the fiberglass walls which makes them sit higher in the water and minimizes the wake. You really need to weight them down to get any sort of wake out of them. Definitely experiment with the trim and tilt to get the wake how you want it.

dbismyname · Posted: May 18, 2010 10:23 am Post subject:

Foam inside of a Hull does not change how high in the water it sits

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

The t-tops on those type of boats if it is stock are strong and when mounted to the floor. Since it is mounted to the floor which is at least 5/8 wood encased by fiberglass or solid fiberglass, it is most likely stronger than anchor points on most wakeboard boat towers. What I am more curious about is where you are hooking the rope up too, as this could be your weak link. I have never seen a watersport rope spot on a t-top, and often the tops, like the fiberglass one pictured may not be designed to cary that weight.

I have heard trim tabs are bad for wakes, but no body can tell you for sure, you just need to play with the setup, tabs up and down, to see how you like the shape of the wake.

Are you using the tabs when wakeboarding, if so, and you need the tabs to plane out at wakeboarding speeds, you may want to consider a prop change to achieve the lower plaing speeds, but hay it's your boat!

If you want some prop recomendations, tell us what kind of prop you have, pitch, stainless or aluminum, number of blades, what your engines maximum rpm range is and the current rpm's you are achieving at WOT, trimmed out.