Help: Speed, rope length & tricks

[jose LSV]

Hi,
I need some help to tune speed & rope length as I´m trying to start with rolls & 360´s.
I´ve got a 2004 LSV (320CV engine) with factory 3 ballast system, wake plate & perfect pass.
I ride a O,brien Saphiro with Nice PR2 bindings. I weight 170 pounds.
I´ve got a nice sharp wake by loading the 3 bags, setting the parfect pass at 18mph & then lifting the wake plate to 3/4 of total heigh.
I´ve read advices about moving to 21-24mph. for harder tricks. However, I ´ve found two problems:
1. I already get jumps high enough and most times too long (6 feet out the wake) at 18mph. In fact, I sometimes have to put my Straigthline ropes at full length (not remomoving the extras) in order to catch a wider wake or I have to start cutting no more than 10 feet outside the wake
2. I cannot get a nice wake over 20mph (even with 6 adults + ballast). Wake is completelly destroyed.
So questions:
1. What rope length & speed should I use ??
2. can anybody give me a rule of thumb way to tune them depending on trick complexity??
3. For the second problem, could it be that the speedometer is wrong?? When I ski(not loaded ) the boat cannot run over 29-31mph

[Shoemaker Mobius]

Jose LSV,
Based on my experience with my 2004 Mobius LSV, it sure sounds like your speedos need to be recalibrated. I am guessing that they are reading slow by 3-6 mph. If you have three full sacs and you get a nice wake at 18mph, but above 20mph it is washed out, I am guessing you are really going 21-25mph instead of 18. My wake when weighted washes out somewhere around 27-30mph. Do you have access to a gps handheld? That's the best and very accurate way to calibrate your speedo. Once the analog speedo is set correctly, then you can recalibrate the Perfect Pass also.

[jose LSV]

Thanks guys,
You were right. I´ve just recalibrated. It was reading 4 miles below reality.

I still need help about choosing the right length & speed depending on the tricks. What would you recommend for:
1. Back roll
2. Tantrum
3. 360´s
Do you also have any trick to feel how high I am jumping (apart from video recorder or someone telling you from the boat)

[sextons]

For a 360 you shouldn't need a lot of speed because you need to take the trick up first with low line tension or you'll get pulled off axis. If you can go big wake to wake at your current speed and line length you should be able to do that now.
A backroll is done with more line tension than speed, you only should need to cut 10-15 feet from the wake to get all the way around.
You need a ton of speed to pull off a tantrum and it's all generated by your cut but I've found it does help to be going faster than 20mph and you'll get a little more snap on the way around.
For reference I have a 2003 Mobius LSV and currently run with 4 sacks and anywhere from 2-6 people and ride at 75 feet and run around 20.5 with 2 people and 21.5 with 6.

[Keaton]

Tantrums are alot easier if you pull as far away as you can and cut early and egde hard. You want to build alot of speed because you'll loose your speed when you let off your egde before you hit the wake. I ride all the way out. 03 Mobius V. I like the wake better. But boats are all different. Its gonna be hard to get enough speed to do a tantrum with your rope at 15 off.