DRIVING

im just starting out and i was wondering what the perfect driving speed is..thanks

The speed limit.

Just kidding, but that will be a personal preference depending on the rider and the wake. Typically I start newbies off around 19-20. Most everyone else rides behind my boat somewhere between 22 and 23 mph.

Hope this helps.

IMO there's no such thing, too many factors involved, boat shape, size of the wake, the rider's ability....etc I would call my husband and I still beginners (can't do any inverts/spins) and he rides at about 30 mph and I only ride at about 22-24 mph...

thanks alot....i have a really good feel of the board and i can land like 90% of my jumps, but i cant get alot of air....im in a 96 glastron GS 160, its a really round boat... can u tell me what speed to go now shanda??

...and im looking for MORE AIR

Go at a speed where the tip of the wake doesn't curl over onto itself. As you become more comfortable go faster but don't increase the speed to the point where the wake shrinks. Those are the things I look for when I ride

I'm with Huser on this one..my husband realized that going 30 mph he could gain a lot of speed, but it washed the wake out (made it curl over) and if we slowed down to about 26-28 mph his wake was smoother and he could generate the speed with a wider, more prgressive cut.

since you are fairly comfortable with your jumps, go as fast as your wake will let you!!! To get more air, you've really got to be on your edge all the way through the wake...get yourself on video if you haven't alreay... I thought I was edging hard, but after i saw myself, I realized what a panzy I was being! practice your edge out in the flats as you cut away from the boat and make sure you are applying that same deep edge as you attack the wake!!!

Hope this helps. Let me know!

omg - 30mph??? are you insane?

cameron, there is no perfect driving speed, but most folks ride between 22-24mph. don't substitute speed for edging ability and technique. if you can't do it at 23mph, you're not doing it right. by going faster all you'll do is get more hurt at some point. learn how to edge, load the line and pop off the wake.

plenty of people can do inverts and spins w/o much wake at all, or even air tricks (done w/o any wake in the flats). being a good rider has infinitely more to do with technique, position, balance and perseverence than wake size.

ok thanks alot all, i wont be out on the lake for about 4 days so il let u know if that helpend on monday...Thanks again.

ya, i thought i rode fast, 30mph?? you sure your not looking at the tachometer?

Trust me on this one....i know the difference between a tac and a speedometer! as mentioned before he has slowed down to about 26-28 mph as the wake is much better there, but he seems to love the speed! What can I say... I just drive...

Shanda, I'm thinking your speedo might be off. 26-28 is cookin', 30 is out of control. At 30mph on my boat there is no wake, it's not much better at 28 and 25 seems to be the magic number for a V-210. I can't imagine any comp- boat putting up ridable wake at 28mph.

B-

"being a good rider has infinitely more to do with technique, position, balance and perseverence than wake size."

Words to live by.

30KMH?

I often ride behind a 2003 X-10, stock ballast, and 5-9 people in the boat. At 21-22mph the wake is above my knee, it is HUGE! At 24 and up it loses about 8 inches of height. At 30mph there is no wake at all.

For starters, we ride behind a 66' correct craft, and the possiblity of the speedometer being off it fairly likely. In fact we took a guy out last night that says he typically rides at 22mph and so we had him tell us when it felt like he was going 22. When he said it was good, our speedometer read about 26 mph so you all were right on... our speedometer is off about 4-5 mph!

If you want big air you need a decent wake. If your wake sucks then just work on technique. Sooner or later a SANTE of X-Star will give you a pull and good technique will allow you to launch off the big wake.