porpoising

In looking to buy a wakeboard/inboard boat, I have been getting a lot of information from this site--one thing I came across was the mention of porpoising at high speeds. I didn't think this was an issue with inboards that pretty much hug the water. On my current boat, stern drive, I installed "smart tabs" which keep the bow down for quicker hole shot and no porpoising at higher speeds-I occasionally would like to cruise at high speed in my new rig--is porpoising ever an issue with inboards at 22' or so...
jg

Mostly happens with heavily weighted boats, also some sort of trim tab, like the smart plate on a Supra, Bennett on a Centurion or the TAPS on a Tige will pretty much eliminate it.

What do you consider high speeds? Most wake boats are not fast.

x2 what craig said.
I have a Tige, and have to adjust the taps for speeds over 30. Boat tops out around 47.

MC Maristars used to have the problem so bad in the late 90s that MC had a warranty recall in place for a while. They would add fiberglass to the rear bottom surface to create a lip, forcing the bow down. In hind sight I think I'd just add a trim tab.

Just add some lead in the bow, problem solved.

The smartplate on my 2008 Supra automaticaly sets to 54% when not towing a rider, that would lead me to believe its an issue with most inboards

My old 2001 Xstar porposed something awful when you would run full or close to full throttle. I would usually have to back off of it and quickly and rethrottle it to get it to stop.

The wakeplate on my supra keeps this from happening.

I've been on a couple different boats that had this happen too.

My 98 v210 Sanger at full speed with no one in the bow did it.

My in-laws 2001 X9 same thing at full speed

centurion elite-v and bowrider as well. for the most part a little weight in the bow will correct it. 80 lbs of lead right up front stopped my sanger and my in-laws x9 right away.

@ Justin, When a buddy of mine had this problem on his 96 Maristar, we thought about the same thing.... just add weight in front. So we'd try standing in the bow to see if it would settle down. I'm like 225 & he's probably close to 280 & it wouldn't change hardly at all. We'd have to slow down & throttle back up like Paul describes.

Plus if you have weight in the front, and someone decides they want to sit up front, then the bow rub rail is in the water & it's harder to keep from subbing the bow.

A trim tab gives the driver the ultimate flexibility...... just trim it up or down, depending on conditions. Or if your boat responds to bow weight better than his did, then maybe a bow sac that can be filled/drained from the driver's seat.

Bill -what's up!?

I don't have any experience with the 96 Maristar hull specifically, but I have a ton with almost every manufacture out there. Every V-drive I have ever been in does porpoise to some extent under full power, it's the nature of the beast with all of that engine weight in the back. Additionally, wake boats are meant to plow, not plane such as direct drives do, and thus your porpoising problem occurs.

I'm being specific when I say lead (or shot) in the bow, which is a different type of weight than water in a sac or people which can move around -we'll call it "static weight" vs. "fluid weight". Static weight such as lead is not going anywhere and sits solid, whereas people and sacs can and do move around.
Take for instance this past week -my buddy's 2006 X-2 porpoises like no other under way, emptied the back sacs, threw some lead and shot in the bow and it was golden under way.

J. Gatsby asked about porpoising in general, and every v-drive where I have put lead in the bow (and removed some weight from the stern), has eliminated porpoising.
Even with my boat, when I cruise up river or long distance on the lake, I empty the sacs in the back and the lead works perfect in the bow to keep it from porpoising under full power.

Not sure what to say about your 505lbs in the front of the Maristar other than you were both standing, which was probably making the porpoising worse because your body will sway with the boat and perpetuate the porpoising.

Hope this helps.

Wow, you should have been working for MC. They wasted a ton of money fixing boats & all they needed to do was install some "static weight".
Amazing.

Smart Tabs are basically spring loaded trim plates that the water pressure pushes up. They aren't that great for a wake boat for a couple reasons but having an adjustable plate is a tremendous help in many situations.
The problems with porpoising are not as bad with most inboards as they are in I/O's because of hull design but if you've ever driven a Tige with the plate not working you know it can exist.

I've only noticed this when I have ballast in my 97 Sunsetter VLX. I usually just slow down or have someone sit up front and it goes away.

When ballast is full I only have rear sacs and the ski locker sac so the boat becomes even more rear biased.

Wow, I think we found a subject that Tige has the upper hand on (FINALLY).

There is nothing easier than pushing a button to stop the porpoising.

BTW- I am not gung-ho Tige fanatic nor any other brand fanatic. But I do like the TAPS.

Greg,

the only thing that would be easier is supra's smartplate that automatically adjusts for you. Haha. Just messin.

I have very little experience in wake boats, there just are not many around here! But our 01 Sunsetter VLX only seems to porpoise when the ski locker sac still has water in it. It is the last one to drain and it seems if we head back to the dock before that one empties it will porpoise worse then with it completely empty. This is the diamond hull and maybe thats the difference. We like to just cruise allot and it does porpoise some time without the ballast but its very minimal when it does and most often doesn't at all.

j. gatsby, you don't have to worry about it on a Sanger.

I have always been concerned when I'm at full speed with too much pressure on the wake plate. Is there a max speed that your supposed to stay under with your wake plate down?

You have to stay under 126 MPH.

Jon-
That must be a really new feature. Does the smartplate automatically detect porpoising?

"The problems with porpoising are not as bad with most inboards as they are in I/O's"

In an IO, all you have to do is trim it down. Thats the advantage of cruising in an IO vs inboard. You can get your bow up out of the water, or plow it in.