What speed & rope length do you ride? Faster = better?

Sure this has been discussed before, but had an interesting experience this past weekend. Been working on consistency in my jumps. Had HS no problem, but TS was inconsistent. I went from 21.2 to 22 mph at 75' this past weekend and it's like the light came on. No issues of casing far wake at higher speed. Easily cleared wake and could just focus on my form. Settled on 22.4 mph at 75'.

Interested to hear what other folks have found. Seems key to gettting over the hump may be to speed it up a little (slightly harder falls but a lot fewer of them). Faster speed = more consistent W2W jumps?

I change my rope length and speed based ont he boat I'm riding behind

This from a complete rookie without a proper wake boat.
What I do is run the boat with whatever liquid and organic ballast I have on board for the day and determine the speed at which my wake looks the best. I then run a handle out to where the rider would be in the nicest section of that wake and set it there.

Works for me.

never measured but it's kind of short on my boat.

The amount of ballast threads i see lends support to the thought that every boat and weight scenario is different and you must adapt.
22.4 at 75' behind my boat may not be optimal. But if I had a spare 6 people it may be perfect.

I would like to hear from the experts with real wake boats.

Im no expert more of an intermediate but I have an 09' F23 which weighs ~ 4400 dry plus 2400lbs pure vert stock ballast, 400lb bow sac and evening sessions about 5 people (4 in boat 1 riding) We ride at 85 feet and 24mph. Baitkiller is correct, every boat is different , I hafta find my sweet spot every time we go out , another person can change the speed I tow at, and ill pull in the rope 10' and drain some ballast for less advanced riders.

I ride at 25-27mph depnding on the boat, typically i always ride at 85 feet. Really it comes down to personal preference Like Moto817 said its all about finding the sweet spot in the wake. I like a longer rope and a faster speed. I think this allows you to take a wider approach,geneate more speed, without compermising body position. Take a trick like a backside HS 5 you need a good amount of speed to get the proper pop but you also need a rather tall body position and minimal Line tension. On a short rope this is hard to achieve. With a longer rope I can take a more mellow cut while still being progressive and have a tall body position at the wake, lessing the line tension so the rotation is easier. This allows me to take the trick up high and get the handle pass easier.

Hope this makes sense.

The more weight in the boat the more speed you need.ALSO the longer the line the more speed you need.Both are to clean up the wake.When i went to the wakeboard camp all they kept stressing is what a clean wake looked like,because like Baitkiller mentioned all boats are different.If you know what shape,steepness and height wake you like you can adjust it to your liking.More weight up front makes the wake more rampy.More weight in the rear makes the wake steeper.The longer line is prefered by the pro's because you have more time and less tension in the air allowing more difficult tricks.Like Andy said more speed means a less agressive cut is needed to generate pop.Speed on the water increases surface tension for the board and a harder wake so you get a big reaction without as hard of an edge into the wake.So a longer line requires more speed,but so does more weight.I ride between 80-85 feet with 2000 lbs of ballast in a 4300 lb 22 foot boat with a 102" beam and the speed i like is between 24.5 to 25 depending on water conditions.Like Baitkiller said you have to figure out your best speed and length.

^, ^^, and ^^^. All these are bang on. I ride at 60', between 23 and 24 mph, behind a 17' I/O, and when I ride my buddy's VLX I'm at 75', 23.6 mph. I prefer slower speeds (because I get scared when the boat goes fast), but I'm by no means an advanced rider, so that may just be a temporary thing until I progress a little more. I know behind my boat I'll bump the speed up for a rider on the cusp of making it wake to wake, just to give them that little extra horizontal distance, but I've always looked at it as a bit of a crutch. I may have to re-think that based on what Andy said.

in answer to your question, yes, if you are having trouble clearing the wake, speeding the boat up or shortening the rope will both make where you hit the wakes narrower, thus easier to clear.