08 XLV GG Boat Wake

[dcuz383]

Just got a new boat with the Gravity III bags (1950lbs.) and having problems cleaning up the wake. We have had the boat out for three weekends now (39.5hrs) and still have not found the best wake for wakeboarding. There is only a clean wake on one side or the other. We tried moving people, adjusting the plate, full bags and 13 people 120 QT cooler full and still no luck. When I asked some of the guys at performance ski and surf they told me to put at least 4000lbs in the boat (bags and riders). Will this work? If so should I put more bags in or add some of the other products out there like the weight bags from pop-products.com or lead plates? If bags where should I put them?
Also having problems with the bags filling with air on the way to the lake. I tried closing the fill valve but no change. It sucks bleeding the bags every time out.

[wake08]

My main question for you would be how fast are you pulling people? If you are at 18 or 19 mph you are going to have a washed out wake. You need to get up to at least 21 mph to get a clean wake. I think ballast is a good thing however what you are using should get you a very clean and well shaped wake, you dont need 4000lbs.

[04OUTBACK]

Definitely make sure you are 20+ in that beast.
Fill the center only and work your way up with the rear slowly..
When you say clean on one side... you might have some effect when a rider edges out to one side or the other.. that will pull the boat over a little and create some more of a wake on one side (at least my LSV does that..)
If you are running with 13 people, I would suggest you probably not fill the ballast all the way.
Also, get a GPS and check your speedo and perfect pass.. Speed will have an effect on cleaning it up..
I have 0 experience on and XLV so that is all I know..

As far as air in the bags, i have heard that if you put tape over the drain holes for the ballast (on the sides of hull) that that will prevent air from filling.. my rear bags don't really fill with air while towing but my center one does...

Again, I would say, fill only the center and just ride at wake speed for a while.. see how it reacts.. then fill both rear at the same time and see how it reacts.. I think most boats require some fine tuning of people to move
a little.. rear center seat is a good place to fine tune as moving a person from one side to another can be too much sometimes..
I believe the XLV has the rear facing seat you can slide out.. use that as a balance point..

hope this helps.. Sounds like you have had some long days..3 weekends and 40 hrs...!!

[Chefwong]

Whats the speed on that, I would suggest 22mph at minimum for a 65'/70' rope. I ride the XLV at 24.2 at 80' with a very clean wake.

I had a full boat last weekend (Probably around 4000 pounds with ballast full) and I had to go 25/25.5mph to get it to clean up.

I usualy put the plate up no more than a half no less than a quater.

On this boat more weight isn't nessicary like it is on other boats, like the mastercrafts and Malibu's.

[Jon]

Maybe I can help. I've been running the 08 XLV all year. It actually took me while to figure out the new hull wake as well. Right now I am running the 1150 lb bag in the play pen and then 650 lb bags on each side of the engine. I run my wakeplate where it reads almost all the way down on the gauge. I have found out that on the 2008 XLV, between 3/4 of the way down and all the way down has the same effect all the way up to all the way down (on the gauge) on other models. With my weight setup I have everything full and at 75 ft at 24 mph the wake is perfect. The main thing on the XLV is to weight it down evenly from front to back and do not have the wakeplate too far up. Like I said, on the gauge you will need to have it where it reads just a tad above the all the way down mark. From there, position your people in the boat where the rooster tail shoots straight up and both sides of the wake will be clean.

[dcuz383]

Thanks for all the input. The speed I have been pulling is between 18 and 23 mph. The rope length has been all over from 60' to 80' long. And yes lots of long days and gas! Everybody loves the boat. And don't get me wrong the wake is huge! Just can't seem to find the sweet spot where is clean on both sides. I will try these ideas next time out.

By the way I bought the Moomba "Gas" shirt and it works. I wore it Sunday and everybody chipped in for the gas. Well wroth the price. Even nice comments from other boaters.

[Ian Brantford]

I find the same as the other posters here, and it's on a 2005 XLV. In addition to using the wakeplate to get the bow down, make sure that you have a couple of people sitting in the bow. If everyone is in the interior, you can easily have too much weight at the stern.

With weight unbalanced toward the stern, even if you get the wake smooth, it will still be steeper than with more weight at the bow. Some expert riders might like this, but most riders will probably prefer a more moderate slope on the wake. You can see this effect quickly just by checking the mirror while moving the wakeplate up and down.

[billstephenson]

Wow,

I am a month into my brand new boat and having the same issues. I have multiple calls into Skiers Choice as well. I am all over the board trying to get this thing set up, empty or full - wake plate up or down, bodies and weight added and taken away, and boy is it frustrating.

I understand what I am reading, but if i have to drive this boat at 24mph to get a clean wake, then i might have made the wrong purchase.

It also seems like the wake is extremely steep, almost like hitting a surf wake. If at all possible, I would like to mellow it out a bit.....

For those of you with experiance with this boat, i would like to talk a bit. Feel free to give me a call.

[dcuz383]

I agree. I tried all of the ideas and found that it did clean up at 24.5 mph. This faster then I would like. My normal speed is 22.

[billstephenson]

dcuz,

Do you find the wake to be really steep? Does adding weight to the front mellow it down a bit?