Waves over the bow

This has happen to me twice, going back to get a fallen rider and into the turn back I come up to my own swells, the nose dipping down and causing a wave to come over the bow, its kind of funny watching the kids get drenched but sucks filling the boat up with water, Is there an easier way to deal with the big waves? Straight through them?, Sideways?, Or what?

put the boat in neutral and do not turn until your roller have passed you

Straight through them with giving a little bit of gas to the boat. Waiting for the rollers works too and is more comfortable, but i get impatient.

When you let off the throttle to come off plane for a downed rider, make a quick turn to the left, then back to the right and idle to yoru rider, you'll be inside your rollers. It takes a few tries but you'll get the hang of it.

When I'm towing i turn (some do some dont) and so when I turn around for a rider down i turn the oposite way so the waves arent that big, but make sure you slow down before you turn otherwise you will hit those rollers. I had like 900lbs in my X-star bow and the starboard pickle was 3 or 4 inches from the water, I took some water over the bow.

I hope your talking about surfing because thats what I'm talking about. If not, ignore anything I said

Sounds like you are power turning and that will get you yelled at around here. When the rider falls, just put the boat in neutral, turn the wheel so the boat goes maybe 45 degrees to the original line and let it settle. Try to turn the wheel to the side the downed rider is if you really have your head on. You will be in the same line as the rider so boats will not try to stear toward you. The waves will pass quickly. Once they pass just idle back to the rider. You will stay closer to the rider than speeding up to power turn. The whole affair is just as quick as power turning. Power turning causes big waves everywhere and speeding up to your rider while hitting big waves is recipe for disaster. It only takes a wave knocking you off line and into the rider at speed.

If you are setting still already, you have waves coming at you and have absolute knowledge that nothing is behind you; you can throw the boat into reverse and the waves will go right by the nose without dunking the boat

when the rider falls keep going for another few feet then slowly turn around and drive back slow to get them. this is of course as long as there aren't many boats around

No no no. You guys have it all wrong. When the rider falls, punch the throttle to wide open and crank the wheel around. You will be going much to fast to take water over the front.

I just cut the throttle when the rider falls and turn the wheel right when the boat is about to fully settle but don't give it gas. Let the boat spin the 180, then just idle up, if you rush your turn you have to give it gas and end up wasting gas/sending rollers with a half power turn sort of nastiness. Just be patient, the rider probably doesn't mind an extra 10 seconds of rest

Adam has the correct and quickest no roller method IMO. The left flick and the right turn around at idle creates a big flat spot with no rollers.

Brooke: That only works on a BU!! My 210 will not rotate on its own axis like a VLX can.

well then you just spin a bit before you settle, I drive either our '06 VLX or my friend 97 supersport V-Drive (210 hull) and that's the way I usually do it.

the zorro: at least that what one of my homies calls the left, then right, then hard right. Works perfectly.

dizzyg: I was just kidding really but there is a big difference in how much faster my friends 04 VLX will rotate around compared to my boat when both are loaded down. (with pop-bags of course)

I didn't even notice who posted that! I've driven your boat, it turns fine!

Stan's boat only has issues with waves over the back if I stop too fast!

I pretty much "Ditto" some of the above. When you hear the observer say "Down!" Immediately straighten the stick to neutral. Once the nose of boat goes down, count to 3 then Idle to right or left a 180 and go back to your down rider. Seems best way to me to minimize water churn and douching the bow!

Brooke has got it. I just cut the throttle when the rider falls and turn the wheel right when the boat is about to fully settle but don't give it gas. Let the boat spin the 180, then just idle up, if you rush your turn you get into your own rollers. once you have made the turn if you need to give it gas to get back to the rider for some reason you will not send rollers down the whole line.

I would make this part of the requirement for having a boat license. Seeing the Wally's at my local small lake has got me down. A lake that could handle 7-8 boats with complete good water, can be ruined by 1-2 power turners.

I'm with Adam, I learned that from a post on here and have passed that on to many people. It seems to keep the water clean for other boaters too.

As many have said, Adam said it first and correctly. Below, I have added some tips and tricks to the process.

What is the goal? Get back to your rider in a reasonable amount of time, preserving smooth water, and making the boat ride a pleasant one for your passengers, and let's not forget safety.

Inboards will turn one direction better than the other, just like they crab one direction when in reverse. It's all prop rotation related. You should know which direction your boat turns best. For me, it's to the left. Don't fight it, use that to your advantage.

Rider goes down...

1. Pull back the throttle quickly to forward idle (~600rpm). I don't recommend all the way to neutral. If you really feel your boat, you will notice that the prop will probably cavitate when you do this, which will shake the prop, hanger hardware, and your shaft seal, which is bad.

2. As the boat is coming down off plane, you make a quick, yet shallow turn left or right. In my case, since my boat turns better left, I will turn right at this phase.

3. At this point, the boat has settled, and you should be in a forward idle. Make a full rudder deflection turn to your favored direction of turn. For me, it's left as I've said several times. As you are in the middle of the turn, you can add throttle to a fast idle for the turn. You do not want to add so much throttle that it will raise the nose. You just want to help the turn. This is the critical point where if you are too fast for this turn, you will send rollers right down the path of the next pull.

4. As the turn completes, the nose of the boat should tuck just inside of your now dissipating wake.

5. Straighten your line just to the left of your rider reduce throttle back to forward idle (~600rpm), and return to your rider. Except when that cigarette boat is coming at your rider, then all bets are off and use speed, and position yourself appropriately. But normally at this point there is no reason to rush, your rider may need time to gather themselves, get a breath, or even put a foot back in their binding.

Encourage your riders to use and signals. You can communicate with your riders a great distances. My group uses the Scuba Diver's tap of the top of the head to indicate I'm ok. Or raise a hand high if you need help. React accordingly. A driver should be able to see if the rider is removing their board. If they are, teach your crew to coil the rope at this point.

6. Blame this one on my grandfather. My CARDINAL RULE is... NO SUSHI! When you return to your rider, ALWAYS circle them on the driver's side of the boat. This is as I said, a RULE on my boat. If you want to drive my boat, you will do this. Period! Even wake surfers that ride the left side should be brought down the drivers right side for the pickup. A driver MUST ALWAYS know where their rider is when in the water. There is a lot going on, on the boat, and this is the safest way to drive around a rider. This is when you verify with the rider, are they really ok, ask about the speed. If you didn't know when they got in the water, find out what trick they are working on. For surface tricks, you might want to slow the pull down a mph or two. Now is when you figure out what will happen on the next pull.

Those basic steps will keep your bow dry, and your passengers happy.

Now, if you have found yourself in a position of the imminent bow dip, or you are cutting through a wake heavily laden, or with passengers in the bow. Then you must add throttle to raise the bow. Typically, it's now a lot. Maybe 1500rpm will do the trick. If you time it correctly, you can chop the throttle and bring the bow down on the last wave cutting through it, and using it to slow you back down to forward idle.

Smooth water!

Toneus

Yup what Adam said.

Holy Crap Toneus !!! I would hate to see how big your reply would be on a question like "How do I change my tranny"?

Ooops! I guess I was on a roll. Sorry if it was long winded.

Toneus- save that in microsoft word and paste that in these forums when this question comes up. It usually comes up once or twice a month. When you see the forum just open that document and paste it because that was a perfect explantion

Can this be posted at every lake?

Thanks Toneus, I'm going to make fliers and hand it out at the lake. Nothing worse than huge power turns to impress the girls in the boat to ruin the lake for everyone out of the boat.

Toneus, number six on your list is a definite rule in my boat as well, has been for 30 years.
(I'm probably as old as your grandfather...)