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I bought my 2005 Outback brand new and have loved the boat - however, I always thought the slalom wake was a bit harsh compared to a family member's 1989 Mastercraft Prostar 190 that I grew up skiing behind. I have read reviews that say the wake is soft on the '05 Outback - am I missing something?
You have to keep in mind that the 190 is a much smaller boat. That being said I have a 07 OUtback and ski with a group that is comprised of 1 Moomba and 3 Master Crafts. We are a kind of high level group and I get nothing but positive feedback on my Outback wake. Speed and prop have a lot to do with the size and softness of the wake.
To be honest I find my wake much softer than the 2000 Prostar we ski behind. Not flatter just softer. Make sure you aren't mixing the 2 comparisons.
Boat size has A LOT to do with your comparison, the MC is much smaller both in length and wideth. I rank my Malibu Sportster LX 1st, MC 195 2nd, Outback 3rd, & MC 205 4th in a few of the boats that I have owned. The Outback and MC 205 are roughly the same size, and the Outback wake is/was a lot better. I did a ski school last year behind a CC 206, that wake was slightly smaller, but just as "hard".
What speed are you at now? How much weight in your boat.
I feel the MC 190/197, CC 196, and Bu Response do have a slightly better wake at all line lengths and most speeds, but there is a $20,000 difference in price. Not that much difference in wake IMO.
I currently run at 32mph at 15' off. As far as weight goes I only run with gear ( a couple of skis, a wakeboard, jackets,etc... ) and have had only the driver/spotter in the boat while skiing.
I also got to ski behind a 06/07ish Malibu Response (open bow) last year and couldn't believe how much better the wake was.
One thing I was looking at was the stationary trim plate that sits below the exhaust. On wakeboard boats this plate is hydraulic and adjust to change the nature of the wake. Is this thing removable and will it have an effect on the wake if removed??
Actually that plate can be moveable on a ski boat as well. Fact of the matter is that the plate improves the ski wake. Trim it down and it flattens the boat trim in the water and makes the wake smaller. Raise the plate and the stern drops deeper into the water and creates the larger wakeboard/surf wake. As we all have learned as well, the prop will make a big difference in how skiable the wake is.
Do you have a 3 or a 4 blade prop? I have an 05 Outback as well with a 4 blade and the wake is decent but not near as nice as the bigger Malibu I skiied behind last year. I was considering changing to a 3 blade for this reason.
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Originally Posted by eworbob
1. You should try skiing at 34/36 mph and see if you can tell a difference in your wake. It gets better the faster you go, especially at 15' off.
2. The Diamond Cut hull is hard to beat for ski wake, the Response has some steering issues that most people won't ever notice. Spend a little more money ($15-20K) and you WILL get a better wake. Bu, CC, and MC obviously do A LOT more R&D with their ski hulls.
3. The plate is removable. If yours is all the way down, you won't be able to tell a difference if you remove it.
I know this isn't going to help much but we had a 1975 MasterCraft Stars and Stripes and it had NO wake, if it did I don't remember it! I guess when you weight about 2200lbs you can do that. But my wife did ski behind Maxpowers boat and she really likes the Outbacks wake.
So depends on what you really want out of a boat. I met Jody of Florida Inboards today and he had a Gorgeous 2007 Ski Natique 196 and that is all he wants for a boat so he sold his open bow Ski Natique for this beauty just to go down the course. I on the other hand like to take people to ski, surf, wakeboard, kneeboard and just cruise. This was impossible on our great ski boat. Our LS can do all as long as I remember she isn't going to do any of them great, but that is what is great, for the money we spent EVERY ONE is happy!
Well Put!!
Same reason I own my Roo :)
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Originally Posted by zegm
Holy Cow, Viking, that's some signature you got growing there :D
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"Do you have a 3 or a 4 blade prop? I have an 05 Outback as well with a 4 blade and the wake is decent but not near as nice as the bigger Malibu I skiied behind last year. I was considering changing to a 3 blade for this reason."
Didnt see this answered? any thoughts, i was wondering it my self?
From my experience skiing behind both 3 and 4 bladed props, it doesn't change the size of the wake itself that much. Where you notice the biggest difference is in the rooster tail at 22' off. The 3 blade prop will produce a taller rooster tail and the 4 blade will produce a more flat rooster tail. Anywhere else in the wake, I could never tell the difference.
One thing Mastercraft did on the Prostar 197 hull that provided one of the best slalom wakes in history was to add a slight lip or hook to the bottom of the hull at the transom. I've looked at a 197 up close and you can see how all along the edge of the bottom of the transom, there is a slight lip that is glassed in and part of the hull. This acts to lift and lighten the entire back of the boat when it is under speed. A thought I had would be to experiment with our fixed wake plate and add a washer or two to the rear mounting screws between the plate and the bottom of the boat. That would act to tilt the plate down just a bit to give it a slight lifting action - similar to the fixed hook on the Prostar 197. Too much and I'm sure it would create a very unstable boat but a little bit might improve the slalom wake. The big difference is that the 197 lip/hook runs the entire length of the bottom of the transom so it has equal lift from port, center and starboard areas. The plate on our boats is only in the center so too much lift might cause some tilting/steering issues.
The other thing regarding slalom wake is that weight is your enemy. Remove the tower for a good couple of hundred pounds. :-)
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Originally Posted by markcr
markcr - I will check this out on my Outback. Interesting idea about the effect that a few more degrees of fixed wake plate might have on a slalom wake. Also, with respect to the tower, I doubt it weighs 200 pounds. While it is akward to handle when separated from the mounting plates, my guess is the weight of the rad-a-cage tower that came stock with my boat is closer to fifty pounds. Will let you know. My tower is hanging in the garage. - Deerfield
One reason we went from a 3 blade to a 4 blade was less roostertail and this proved to be very true. Thanks OJ props! We also feel the wake is better but I have not way to validate this, it only subjective.
Yeah, deerfield you're right. The tower couldn't weigh 200 lbs. Now that I think about it, when I took mine off, it was cumbersome to move around but certainly not 200 lbs. I think you're closer to the real number at around 50 lbs or so.