weighting the boat

I've got a 21' Chapparral deck boat, and it puts out a pretty good wake. My problem is that the ideal wakeboard speed seems to be right at the point at which the boat begins to plane, so its impossible to keep a consistant wake. can i add weight to the bow or center to solve this? (not enough $$$ for a perfectPass)

What would you define as "the ideal wakeboard speed"? For some people that is 20mph and for others it's up around 30. That's a pretty big difference. You might just need to get used to riding a little faster. It'll be a little weird at first, but you'll get used to it. Adding weight in the bow might help a little bit, but only if you didnt have any weight in the back. Otherwise you would be better off taking the weight out of the back. Like I said, I think going faster would solve your problem.

I agree with Mark. Try more weight in the nose. The wake always looks nice and big right before the boat planes. Consider riding faster. 22-24 mph isn't out of the ordinary.

Our old boat (87 fourwins horizon 170) had the same problem with planing. We just rode about 20mph, no PerfectPass either. and put as many people as we could up front, to keep the bow down.

I ride near 30, which is comfortable, but the wake flattens out alot and i am loosing alot of pop. i'm gonna try the bow weight, and i'm looking at a 3-stage Hyperlite Premiere, hopefully that can make up for it :-) any comments on the premiere?

I can't see how you people can wakeboard @ 30mph!!!!! I am having trouble building up too 22mph!!!! I also am not wakeboarding behind some huge wake making machine either... I'm riding behind a 21ft. Sylvan Deckboat with about 800lbs. of ballast!!!! So, after reading about so many of you going @ around 22-24mph we are going to give it a try this year...I know every boat is different...but we want to adjust our rope to be a little longer! WISH ME LUCK

This is like two threads in one...

I ride at about 23, which is comfortable for me. I can't see myself ever getting up to thirty, but then again, I don't think I've ever tried it.

And Luke, throwing some weight up front will definately help with keeping the bow down and staying on plane at wakeboarding speeds. Also, if it's a I/O, put a hydrofoil stabilizer on it. We did on our old I/O, and it was like night and day.

what does the stabilizer do, just help stay on plain or does it help make a better wake?

It really helps the boat to stay on plane at slower speeds.

Actually, I've got a brand new one sitting around the house for a 4.3 Alpha One Mercruiser, if anyone wants it.

I had a 20 ½ I/O with a Merc 4.3. Maintaining wakeboard speeds required constant – constant effort at the helm. As with your boat the ideal speed for wake boarding was at the cusp of coming on plan. If the throttle was left unattended the boat came on plane, and sped up well above the 18-23 mark to maybe 30 mph.

I did have a stabilizer on my boat. The stabilizer helped the boat get on plane more quickly. I did play with removing the stabilizer a few times for wakeboarding. For my boat it helped some but not enough to make a difference. With the stabilizer off the general opinion was that the wake was a bit larger.

While driving we constantly adjusted the throttle, sawing back and forth just a little bit. I wore out my throttle control right at the control position for wakeboard speeds. Last summer I replace the throttle cable as well.

If you wakeboard a lot maintaining a steady boat speed is going to be important. Driving the boat for wakeboarding was a point of some frustration for my wife. I gave up on my old I/O and bought a wakeboard specific boat, with perfect pass. Sounds like that’s not an option.

As far as speed goes, 30 is unbelievable, many wakeboard specific boats claim decent slalom wakes at that speed. I’m not making accusations or anything I just can’t imagine boarding that fast. My old I/O would be on plane at those speeds and there wouldn’t much wake to play with.

Maybe bow weight will help I never tried it.

Good luck

30 on one boat is 18 on another. most I/O boats don't have adjustable speedos for calibration.

30 sounds crazy i know, but i have an analogue and separate digital spedo on my boat and they both read anywheres between 25 and 30.

And i hear ya on the throttle sawing. I am able to keep speed pretty well when I drive for other people, but some people couldn't keep the speed within 10mph if their life depended on it. having a driver that knows how to drive can make all the difference in the world. it just comes naturally to some people.


(Message edited by mahaney on February 26, 2005)

If you are riding 30mph, you're speedo is calibrated incorrectly (or in your case Luke, both speedos). on my absolute, I think 30 would be too fast to even set an edge (big board, light guy). And don't even think about catching the front edge. ouch!!!

one word. . . GPS!

GPS is not a word – Global Positioning System lol.

btw the instrument I used the most to maintain speed for boarders was my tachometer, I’d look for an RPM that the boarder was happy with and then adjusted the throttle to maintain RPM.

A lot of the time our boat has the same problem. we ride about 20-21ish (about 2000 to 2200 rpm)and with a really strong cut, it will slow the boat pretty good. I've had it kicked up to about 23-24 and it stays on plane better, but we had to pin the outdrive out a little more to keep the wake good. Trim tabs help the boat quite a bit, but also will take away from the wake when forcing the bow down.

p.s. if you wakeboard at 30, you're nuts!