perfect pass-you really need it?

Is perfect pass that big of a deal to you all. Any of you kicking yourself for not getting it after you spent all that money for a boat. I am not a good boarder-- (old skier) but I do drive for everyone--does this feature really make a difference for the rider/driver. Also with all the electronics on these boats, doesn't this invite big time electrical issues? How reliable are these things; i.e, perfect pass, ballast pumps, and whatever else.

I don't "need" it, I have been driving boats for 25 plus years without it, but it sure is nice to have it. I have found that I am able to concentrate more on steering the boat a safe direction and actually enjoy watching the rider in the mirror vs constantly trying to keep the speed the same. Boat driving for dummies I guess.

I am not too concerned about it breaking, I have a nice warranty to cover it for a few years and I am hoping if something goes wrong it will happen before then.

Really depends on the boat & the driver.

We spent last week behind 2 LSVs with the Malibu Cruise..... that turns off every time you stop the motor. Every one of us who drove would occasionally forget to turn it back on every time. Some of the guys would get going, then stop the boat, turn it on, then go again. Only a few of us would actually drive the boat to speed till the rider crashed, then turn it on.

So it's not a necessity in my book. But is definitely nice to have.

All that said, I like the PerfectPass on my 05 Vride better than the Malibu Cruise on the newer boats. It stays engaged when you stop the motor. Plus it seems to hold it's speed better, less surging & fluctuating, even in the corners.

Do you really need ballast for wakeboarding? Do you really need non-stretch rope? Do you really need a wakeboard better than a Skurfer? Do you really need a wakeboard boat? Do you really need...your question fits here.

I have also been driving for more than 25 years.
Do I need it? No but much like power steering, auto trans or air conditioning in your car you don't need it but I would never buy it without.
The Nautique Zero Off is GPS based. I have 104 hours now it has worked flawless.

I find zero off to be flawless so far as well. Spent last night driving double and tripple ups for my buddy, would never use perfect pass for double ups. But Zero off could keep up, it was fun.

....if you love wakeboarding and want the best experience ..............yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been pulling people without it for years, until this summer when I upgraded my boat. New boat has is and I personally think it's great. Definately not necessary, but if you are going to be pulling wakeboarders for a long period of time, it makes the experience much more relaxing.

Do you need water to wakeboard?? Of course you do!! We rode for a year without it. Then I bought and installed it. It is the best investment next to the boat.

If you are just a driver and want that pure experience, no. If you ride behind the boat and you don't have a dedicated "professional" driver yes yes yes.

It has greatly enhanced my riding experience with less qualified drivers.

Saved my marriage!

Now my wife can give me a near perfect pull!

We used to be a little frustrated with each other when I rode. Her speed was all over the place and combined with attempting to give a straight pull, avoiding other boats, wakes, etc.. she really didn't like to drive much!

PP saved the day! We both joke about it calling it the "Marriage Saver."

Since we had it first in 2002, she has not had to drop me in the middle of the lake and leave me!

Can you drive better than a perfect pass? Yes.

Can someone that has never driven a wakeboarder drive better than the perfect pass? Probably not.

So I ended up breaking my foot at the beginning of the summer but I still took my friends to the lake every other weekend and so I did A LOT of driving and floating...and I will have to say...I wish I had perfect pass! It'll be my next big purchase!

I guess if you've never had it, it's something you don't miss.

Been driving boats for over 40 years, (yes I'm OLD!) Never driven with perfect pass, and used to drive slalom courses without it.
My wife and boys learned to drive without it also, and have no problems maintaining speed.
Maybe it's just our boat, but I can set the throttle at a speed or RPM and it pretty much stays there without effort.

Now, the I/Os I've owned, those were tough to keep at tow speeds, and would have loved PP back then...

yes for the wife, makes it why worth it for me.

I would say with out a doubt, YES! I instructed for 4 years driving a boat nearly 10 hours a day with out it; BUT, most of the guys pulling me have not. I don't know about you, but I get frustrated if the speed ranges between 20 and 24.
PP is worth every penny when I'm behind the boat.

^^ thats the kicker. It's not how good of a boat driver YOU are, it's how good is your driver while you're (boat owner) on the rope. Everyone in my crew gets a good pull cuz I can drive without PP. When its my turn, its a different story... So I've had to train a few drivers over the years. It's a long process and it would have been a lot nicer to say "Accelerate until it beeps. Then just keep it straight."

They call it the "marriage saver" for a reason.

I don't have PP, but my next boat will.

have you ever installed it yourself? Is it difficult?

Looks like perfect pass has a gps version now. Anyone used both and have a comment on whether the gps version is worth 45 percent more cost?

I agree with Tim M. I feel comfortable driving without because I've driven enough, but get my wife behind the wheel, or someone else who doesn't drive much and you will notice a HUGE difference with perfect pass.

I'm comfortable driving without it too. I have to say that there are enough things going on while towing one of my kids that having one less distraction makes the world a better place. So for me it's a plus. There are frustrations with it sometimes but the overall value is there easily.

When I didn't have PP, I wouldn't even bother going wakeboarding unless one of my 'A' drivers was in the boat. Just too frustrating charging at the wake and seeing it disapear when the boat would slow down only to be going mach 1 a few seconds later. Even if you have a large pool of 'A' drivers, a speed control device makes driving so much more enjoyable, not exactly a necessity, but one of the best options out there.

edti: I installed PP myself in about 3 hours. Pretty simple if you have a paddle wheel you can splice into. The GPS varieties are probably even simpler to install.

(Message edited by bmartin on September 15, 2009)

Im with Chris, My sanger actually holds speed really good.. you get the occasional up and own but you do with perfect pass as well.. perfect pass is really nice but it does surge. I can live without it when im driving, but it would be nice for when other people are giving me pulls

I didnt have it on my first boat and really believed that I didnt need it as the boat was able to hold speed pretty well and it was just another thing to go wrong.
Now that I have it on my new one I would not buy another boat without it. Not only so that other, less experienced drivers can pull well but just to be able to relax a little more while I am driving instead of having to maintain speed.
I dont know of anyone who had it and went away from it because they didnt like it or use it.

alot has been mentioned about surging...correct me if I am wrong but if you have pp calibrated to the weight you have in the boat it wont do that. I would not say that my pp surges.....unless I am totally out of the weight range that its been set up for.

"have you ever installed it yourself? Is it difficult?

Looks like perfect pass has a gps version now. Anyone used both and have a comment on whether the gps version is worth 45 percent more cost?"

I havent installed it myself. I had it installed in my I/O a year ago. It is Stargazer which is the GPS based version. I Love it. It has been a relationship saver for us as well. No more fighting to find perfect speed and it holds within .03 of the set speed. I had a buddy that had the paddle wheel version and we couldnt ever get it to hold right, adjusting kdw, boat weight and all the other settings. With the GPS all you adjust is KDW and it works flawlessly. I havent had issues of it cutting out and it is very accurate. I think its worth it for the upgrade cost. Btw, my buddy with the paddle wheel version upgraded his to stargazer and it works alot more accurately and is precise on speed.

To me its a must have simply because it makes you able to focus so much more on other safety factors. Can I hold RPM just fine while pulling yes but why would I when a device can. I will say that I do overide it when pulling around a turn so it doesn't speed up to much. Simply put it makes life on the water more pleasurable.

It is absolutely necessary and I've had mine for 10 years with no problems.

I can drive a boat without it, but it takes a lot of effort and when its your turn to ride can the alternate driver hold speed?

Also, its near impossible to operate the stereo and drink a beverage and hold speed if you don't have it. Its probably safer to be looking up rather than at the speedo all the time too.

Chris,

You don't know what you're missing! I'm "old" too and been driving many, many years. But, PP makes the experience SO much more enjoyable. With PP, there's still plenty to do, including some speed control (when reaching speed, turns, etc.). But it takes a lot of the work out of maintaining speed and allows you to concentrate on other (better) things. AND, in more crowded water & passengers-in-boat situations, I think the freed up concentration makes things safer. (But then, I know you don't ever drive in crowded waters!)

Best $1,000 you will ever spend on your boat IMO.

Great. This is just what I needed to see!

I just picked up a pair of Bullet 7.7 hlcd hollow points INSTEAD of perfect pass! (well, it was their sale that got me)

Now if I can just get them to put Stargazer on sale ( onlyinboards...come on! pm me)

Somebody had it for sale in the classifieds here for 850 I think...dont know if its still avaliable.

Perfect Pass Stargazer is a very simple install and if you have had any dealings with the paddle wheel style you'll recognize all the compents and see that they are almost identical. The control module even has the older paddle wheel input on it as well. The only differance I found is routing the Garmin GPS sensor in clear view of the sky as opposed to the paddle wheel pick up. The sensor works fine thru the windsheild and once you activate PP, it will take up to 30 seconds to lock your current location. The power and ground and RPM inputs are the same as is the throttle adjuster motor. I like Stargazer better than the pw style because you can even measure river currents with the engine off. Since its always tracking your GPS position, even small movments are registerd on the display. If GPS signals are blocked for some reason, you can still use the older RPM style pick up so you at least have some kind of speed control. I have had mine on a wire controled throttle 00' Prostar 205v for almost two years. The control display went blank once and was replaced under PP warranty for the cost of shipping. They have great tech support as well. So yes. PP is a must.

Zach,

Is it correct that the stargazer provides speed and RPM always even if your just cruzing with the system off.

Tim, in system off mode, it displays speed, time, and RPM. If you still have the pw hooked up it will show water temp.

What Greg said, no time displayed when on for some reason. Its nice to have three custom rider settings too. All can have independent speed and kdw settings personlized for their liking.

Now my wife can give me a near perfect pull!

Not touching that one with a ten foot pole!

Seriously....cruise to me in a wakeboat is better than sliced bread. Wouldn't have one without it!}

You will never be pissed you have it
but i can assure you
YOU WILL BE PISSED YOU DONT!!!!!!
Get PP star gazer it works great and is easy to install. I have installed a few and everybody loves it.

(Message edited by kko13 on September 15, 2009)

we have the GPS perfect pass, took about 3 hours to install. pretty simple. the only time we have lost reception was when we did a supper hard turn, and then a few seconds after we straightened it out. it found it again. but on like a turn for a double up, no problem with losing signal. its awesome. plus no drilling into your boat for the paddle wheel. ours is under our dash which is like 1/2 inch fiberglass. and it still gets signal