I have a question and wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions. My boat seems to get on plane at 18 mph or right around there.
Issue is, my son wants to board at 18 mph. When the boat planes, with no added throttle, we pick up speed to about 24. If I pull back on the throttle we settle back in to the water and drop to about 16.
Any suggestions on how to maintain 18? Should I trim up the outdrive for the hole shot and see if that prevents me from getting on plane at 18? He's up out of the water and boarding before he even hits the prop wash from the initial prop spin up, so I don't think the change will affect him much.
The trim might help, but if the boat wants to plane at 18, it will still probably want to plane even if you are running the motor at a higher RPM. I don't think changing the prop would help for the same reason.
You could try adding weight to the bow or stern to either get up on plane at a slower speed or keep it from getting up on plane at 18. If you've got others on board that would be easy to test by asking them to move around.
Ah, that's a good point, I didn't think of moving people around in the boat.
We were a little lighter than normal that day too....just two little ones and me in the boat, maybe 325 pounds total and 1/4 tank of gas. 160 pound boarder off the back.
We'll have to see how that goes. Other thing is, I just changed from an old beat up, dinged up 3 blade prop to a 4 blade....stuck with aluminum for now, too much invested in the new (to me) boat this year. Trying to get a better hole shot and it may have us planing at a lower speed too. Oh well, I'll get it worked out one way or another.
The other thing you might take into consideration for pulling wakeboarders is that you don't want to be "on-plane". The largest wake is produced by running just short of planing speed if able, so long as you can maintain 18-20mph.
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1976 Mark Twain 200VBR w/351 233HP "Heart & Soul"
Any suggestions on how to maintain 18? Should I trim up the outdrive for the hole shot and see if that prevents me from getting on plane at 18? He's up out of the water and boarding before he even hits the prop wash from the initial prop spin up, so I don't think the change will affect him much.
In my experience, the only boats that don't require a LOT of throttle input to pull a wakeboarder at at consistent speed is a tournament wakeboarding boat.
I would say...every 5, no more than 10 sec I have to nudge it slightly higher or slightly lower. You have to learn to anticipate speed changes (such as a hard cut to the wake) in order to keep it steady. That's just the way it works at 18-20 in an I/O.
I watch the rider for a while to see what speed they're most comfortable at - mentally note the speedo and RPM readings, and take note of the wake - most importantly width where the rider is crossing it.
From that point it's a lot of feel and slight adjustments of the throttle. The wake width is usually the first thing to tell me if I've sped up or slowed down too much. As long as I can keep the wake looking good in the mirror the tach and speedo take care of themselves.
It's basically a series of glancing in the mirror, and looking ahead. I'll take a look at the tach/speedo once in a while just to verify what I see behind me. Then there's the occasional peek over the shoulder if I know they're setting up for a good trick.
The only person that's ever maintained a consistent speed through a set for me is my brother, and vice versa. If it's anyone else we just have to make the most of the few seconds of 18-20mph we get between the 15's and the 25's.
I agree with the previous posters, you do not want the boat on plane but rather just before plane. Planning speed is a function of hull design and dispacement and cannot be messed with... too much. Find the speed in the 18 to 24 mph range that has the best looking wake and stick to that speed. Adjusting throttle constantly is normal for every boat.
I agree, lots of throttle input. For clarity though, I would argue that you are definitely on plane, just not an efficient plane. Anytime the transom is dry, you are on plane, hard to see with a big platform though.
Everything said so far is good advice - doing a good job driving for a wakeboarder is an art form - you really have to play with the throttle a lot and be predictive about it.
Here's another suggestion (it's something I'm doing right now) - get a 4 finned prop with lower pitch
Apparently a 4 find prop has a lower plane speed so that you'll be able to get and hold him at 18 mph easier - I bought something with less pitch to give my boat better hole shot to pop me out of the water better as well.
This is only coming from research I've done online - I have a 4 finned prop on its way to me now so I'll be finding out if it’s going to work the way I expect soon....
Not that you want to spend a lot of money but maintaing speed is easily done with a perfect pass. I have no problem with any speed with any rider or tubing at what ever speed. Perfect even helps maintain speed when turning. I am a first time boat owner and we use perfect all the time. Even at night - so I don't speed by mistake.
Wakeboard speed issue
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