Wakeboard Rookie

[OKANAGANGUY]

I am wondering what legnth the tow rope should be from the tower to the rider. I am new to this and trying to find some info. I am also looking for advise on pulling a rider out of the water (should I gun it or is a gradual speed increase better) and once the rider is up what is the best speed to travel at. I have pulled skiers many times with no problems with my boat. I float a 1992 Canaventure 1750 with a 4.3L 210 horse V-6. It tops out just short of 50 mph and planes around 15-17 mph. I don't think this boat was designed to wakeboard behind but I think it will still do the trick. The hull design is quite similar to a Maxum. Thanks in advance for your advise.

 

[salty87]

Re: Wakeboard Rookie

most of it is going to depend on speed and rider comfort.

the rope should be long enough so that the rider is in the clean section of the wake. where that clean spot is will depend on the speed you're going. it will be somewhere between 50 and 65 feet. you can let the rope out at speed (no rider, someone to drive and someone to let the rope out/take it back in) or go with trial and error with a rider. lighter folks usually like to go slower at the beginner level.

as for getting the rider up, gradual speed.
- you'll want to get the slack out of the rope first, idle speed only.
- when the line tightens and your rider signals they're ready, gradually give it somewhere around 1/2 throttle (hard to say on YOUR boat). at this point the rider is still coming out of the water so they don't need much speed but they need to get out of the hole easily.
- once the rider is on top of the water (vs fighting out of it) gradually give it more throttle until you get to the speed the rider wants.

hand signals are pretty important, discuss with your rider first what they're going to be.

you'll probably be comfortable in the 18-19 mph range depending on weight. heavier people force the board in the water deeper and need more speed to stay on top. kids and girls, maybe closer to 16 mph.

 

[OKANAGANGUY]

Re: Wakeboard Rookie

Thanks salty. Thats some good stuff.

 

[sabastianunf]

Re: Wakeboard Rookie

I ride with 55' of rope at 22 mph. As far a throtle I gun it in my boat and back off as they get up on plane. However, my boat is a little under powered. If your boat can get people out of the water at 1/2 throttle you may want to consider a fat sac to increase the wake size.

 

[Liquid_force]

Re: Wakeboard Rookie

Having boarded behind 10+ different boats - 55-70' will generally be the range. I use a 60' rope, 5' handle, but our tow point is about 8' in front of the stern.

With an adult rider I don't know why you wouldn't WOT (or close to it) on take-off. The hardest part of getting up is maintaining the board's tracking before it gets up to speed and tracks itself. You don't have to nail it like a slalom skier, but once the rope is tight I run it up to WOT at maybe a 2 sec. pace, get it on plane, reduce throttle and find ~19.
18-20 will be the most comfortable speed - for the rider and the boat. Slower for a beginner, maybe - but not much.

With a more practiced rider the take off throttle is less of an issue. At 195lb I can get on top of the water at <10mph, it just takes a lot more work. The quicker a boat can get me to 20 (within reason) the better.

 

[TahoeBlue]

Re: Wakeboard Rookie

When we first started wakeboarding behind our boat i shortened the rope to a little longer than what i thought it should be then went for a pull. Once up i pulled myself up the rope toward the boat untill i got to the area the wake was best and how far up from the handle i ended up was how much more length i took off. As for pullin out, do what feels right. If you are pulling a beginner take off kinda slower so you don't rip them apart but if they know what they are doing i would say rip them out.