Wake Differences

[jester]

On the 08 OBV i can get a clean wake at 18 MPH. wakeplate all the way down but i might move it up a little depending on how the wake looks. I tow new people at around 18.5 and it seams like a good speed for them.

[wolfeman131]

^^ same and move a folks to the bow if I need to mellow it out a bit

[Boonejeepin]

Any speed and ballast advice for the XLV?

[you da man]

Any speed and ballast advice for the XLV?

Levi (aka: 501) says he can get a clean wake on both sides around 21-22 even loaded with ballast. Myself (I used to have an 08 XLV) and a couple other XLV guys say we can't get a clean wake with no ballast until 23-ish. It's a bigger boat with more freeboard. Also, at 22.5-23mph the XLV is very sensitive with side to side weighting. I've literally had an average size person move over 6"-12" and it effected the wake. The LSV seems less sensitive that I've seen.

[501]

Ya, we routinely have people ride at 21 or even a touch less with little ballast or if there is any ballast, only in the front tank. Then put the plate all the way down, or %95 of the way down. Use a rope that is like 55-60ft. We run 2650 lbs fully weighted and 21.7 is the slowest we go with a fairly short rope. We usually ride at about 22.5 now. I will GPS it and try and take some pics the next time Im out. There are tons of videos showing my wake on here too.

[08LSV]

18mph for us as well is the slowest reasonably clean speed. I usually have to bump the wake plate around to keep it clean though.

[KSmith]

18mph for us as well is the slowest reasonably clean speed. I usually have to bump the wake plate around to keep it clean though.

Yup ^^^ 18 it is. 15 is a fight, feels like the boat is on the fence if it will plane or not, I could at times get one wake cleaned up but not a speed I'd run at for boarding. 18 really is about a slow as I can go and get a decent clean wake, although it is a bit touchy at times and one side or the other will wash out some. On the bright side when it is being fussy it seems to clean up on the side the boarder is on so they have a good take off wake but a bit washed out for landing, but for us non-pros it works just fine. I do prefer around 20 myself, sometimes 21-22 depending on how much self propelled ballast we have onboard... 18 I use for times I am feeling froggy and know I am going to bite it, so set the cruise a bit slower so it hurts a bit less

[Lawdog]

I'm not looking for a clean wake at 15 mph....LOL. I was just saying that my daughter likes that speed right now. We had her up to 18 mph the other day and she took a faceplant on the whitewash when she tried to cross back over the wake. It looked painful too. She was a trooper and although crying she got back up again and took another set. My wife likes to ride around 19 though. It's funny because when we were test driving boats it never dawned on me to slow it down and see the best wake at the slowest speed. The salesmen just punched in a speed and away we went and were amazed at how good the wake looked. Another reason I am looking at downgrading is so that I can store it in my garage rather than our wharehouse. Any additional pics would be awesome and I do appreciate the responses.

[08LSV]

Any additional pics would be awesome and I do appreciate the responses.

We are heading out in the morning for some surfing but I will try to get some pics at 15mph on the way to the cove before we fill the bags for surfing.

[newty]

Try shortening up the rope a bit. This does 2 things. It gets her into the cleaner part of the wave at lower speeds, and puts her at a narrower part of the the wave so it tends not to be so intimidating.

Kids don't need to be 75-80ft back. Get them closer to the boat, it makes coaching and encouragement much easier. lol. As they progress let them out.