Wake Differences

[Lawdog]

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.

My daughter typically rides at 65 ft or less. The problem she is having is she wants to cross back and forth over the wake and start jumping but the white wash tends to "trip" her up. I think she would be fine at 18 mph with a clean wake. I also have a 4 yr old who is going to try wakeboarding (loves to kneeboard right now) toward the end of this season and an 8 month old who obviously wont be ready for the water for quite some time, so a smaller boat may suffice for quite a few years.

[Ian Brantford]

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.

Ditto, except I'd say to shorten it up a LOT. I have one old rope with a loop set around... maybe 40-50 feet? Maybe it's even less.

There was a thread on here some months ago about great success with a wakesurf rope for first-time wakeboarders, so that's about 12 feet!

[cab13367]

My daughter typically rides at 65 ft or less. The problem she is having is she wants to cross back and forth over the wake and start jumping but the white wash tends to "trip" her up. I think she would be fine at 18 mph with a clean wake. I also have a 4 yr old who is going to try wakeboarding (loves to kneeboard right now) toward the end of this season and an 8 month old who obviously wont be ready for the water for quite some time, so a smaller boat may suffice for quite a few years.

This topic came up recently so I made it a point to take a pic of my wake at a GPS confirmed 18 mph with just me on board (see below). I think the issue of "what is the slowest speed that a boat will throw a clean wake" is one that most buyers overlook, and probably most boat salesman don't mention (of course, they want you to buy the bigger, more expensive boat). My brother fell into the same trap - he bought a new 24' Tige as his first boat in 2005 and at the time, had three kids under 11 years old (and a timid wife). He soon found out that his boat needs to go a minimum of 22 MPH to get clean wake so his kids and wife to this day are still wakeboarding in white wash because they are not willing to wakeboard at 22.

In your situation, I think you will be happier with the LSV and the fact that the LSV will fit in your garage is a huge added bonus.

[501]

Yup, a very short rope is great for beginners. Try wakeboarding at 11mph on a surf rope, it actually works, and is kind of fun when you are tired or beat up from crashes. In fact I have videos of me throwing backrolls and raleys off the surf wave, so it is possible. But if you have a beginner wanting to cross the wake and learn to jump a little, the short rope will really help at slow speeds. Like Ian said, try 40-50ft. And make sure no ballast and the plate all the way down to keep the nose of the boat down.

[kaneboats]

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout right there. Nice and clean. FYI, I couldn't really get a clean wake with my Outback LS below about 16 or so. I think the LSV is as good as anything at lower speeds. How about the OBV anyone?

[bergermaister]

Try wakeboarding at 11mph on a surf rope, it actually works, and is kind of fun when you are tired or beat up from crashes.

Been thinking of trying that. Maybe if the little kids or scaredie cats see that they'd be more willing to try it too...

[deafgoose]

You cant really get a clean wake much lower than 18mph because you need to be on plane.

[KSmith]

You cant really get a clean wake much lower than 18mph because you need to be on plane.

^^^ Same as DG with my NG OBV. 18 is good can be a bit sensitive, over 18 is golden, 15 is no good, boat is right on the fence to be on plane or not, 16-17 so so, I could usually get one side to clean up but not both no ballast wake plate full down just the wife and I and under a half tank gas. I did't try and slow speed runs with ballast as I did not have any ballast bags with me last night (still trying to recover from last weekends rollers over the bow LOL)... but if the boat is on th efence at 15 without ballast it'll be no better with ballast I suspect... I like 18 when I know I am going to crash, 20 is probably my favorite speed for just farting around... over 22 starts getting a bit too painful for my old bones so I try and avoid that at all cost

[mk_deuce]

This topic came up recently so I made it a point to take a pic of my wake at a GPS confirmed 18 mph with just me on board (see below). I think the issue of "what is the slowest speed that a boat will throw a clean wake" is one that most buyers overlook, and probably most boat salesman don't mention (of course, they want you to buy the bigger, more expensive boat). My brother fell into the same trap - he bought a new 24' Tige as his first boat in 2005 and at the time, had three kids under 11 years old (and a timid wife). He soon found out that his boat needs to go a minimum of 22 MPH to get clean wake so his kids and wife to this day are still wakeboarding in white wash because they are not willing to wakeboard at 22.

In your situation, I think you will be happier with the LSV and the fact that the LSV will fit in your garage is a huge added bonus.

Are you running any ballast in that pic? My 07 wouldnt dream of cleaning up like that at 18 unless I had my guests play musical chairs.

[mnpracing]

My '08 looks just like Alcab's above at 18 with no ballast and 2 adults/3 kids on board. My 9 year old clears the w2w on a 70ft rope at this speed. He's even landed in the flats a few times.