Opinions on Boat speed for Wakeboarding

[BigBald]

I am curious about what boat speeds folks use for wakeboarding. I know that speed is determined by several factors, level of experience, boat type, and boat weighting arrangement.

I see some folks that run 23 or 24 mph.....and that seems really fast to me. I have observed other boats on the lake that run at around 25 or 27 mph....that seems really really fast to me. I would hate to take a face plant at that speed.

If you could add your boat type, boat weight, level of experience to your comments....that would help.

FOR ME:
Boat - 1999 Sport Nautique (no ballast only human weight)

Experience - I would say a 3.5 (scale of 1 - 10.....1 being brand new...and 10 being trying every trick known and ready to turn pro)

Speed - 19 mph (and I slow down to about 15 when I start working on surface 180s and 360s)

[OKWAKEBDR]

'05 210 TE

Stock Ballast 830 lbs + 200 lb fat sack behind driver's seat to level out boat with human weight; Sometimes I will bump the total ballast and fat sacks to about 1500 lbs.

Experience - 360s, 540s, 3 or 4 different inverts

22.5 mph @ 70 feet (normally); sometimes 23 @ 75 ft

I've had people in my boat doing inverts with the same ballast set up as described above, but only 60 feet of rope and 18.5 mph.

It is just a preference.

But, your rope length normally determined the speed, and vice versa

Those people riding 24-27 mph are probably using 80 or 85 ft lines

[Alan-S]

'03 SANTE

Stock Ballast + 200-300 bow plus 4-5 people

I usually ride 22.3-22.7 on 70'. lots of 180's Tant., Backroll, Scarecrow.

A few of my friends are a lot better than me, 10+ inverts and spins, and they usually ride 75- 80 23-24.

my wake washes under 19.5 no matter how little ballast I have.

More speed equals = more line tension
More line tension = better control and more lift.

[Alan-S]

If I had my choice I would ride 85' at 24 mph, but my toeside tricks are not good enough and I would case the wake too much.

[FLCERIK]

01 Super Air

We run 21.5 mph with stock ballast and an extra 400 lbs in fat sacks. In addition we typically have 6 to 8 people in the boat. With this setup we will use a 75 ft rope. We have found that this set up works best. My buddy who is a pro rider often rides with us and says it does not get much better.

When we do not have the extra 400lbs in fat sacks we will use a 65 ft rope instead of 75'.

Your line tension should be controled by your approach to the wake not the speed of the boat.

[sperbet]

boat- 1995 SS with about 2600lbs of total ballast. water and lead

experience- I'd say about a six or seven, back rolls, bs 3s, big grabs, 180s. I have two buddies I would put around 9, they each have a ton of inverts and spins.

Speed- We all ride around 23-24 mph. I ride at about 75 feet and they ride about 5 feet further back. I have the same problem as Alan S on the toes. I could ride 85' on my heels, but would always be casing the wake on my toeside if I did so. **** toeside,lol. Line length definitely goes hand and hand with speed. The more line you let out the faster you have to go.

[Alan-S]

FLCERIK, yes line tension is controled by your approach to the wake, however there is definitly more of a pull the faster you go. Think about it. Randall Harris rides at 26-28 mph on a 85'+ line, he does it for the pull, not for the distance from wake to wake. The distance W2W at 85'@28mph is probably about the same as 70' @ 21mph. The wake is larger at 21 but at 28 he is getting that solid pull that helps him out with all of that crazy shifty float stuff he does. Try a Raley at 20 and then try one at 24, huge difference.

[Molly_2000SAN]

2000 SAN

Fill both tanks and sometimes a phat sac
Ride one out from the shortest length
22 mph
Only do W2W jumps and 180's

[Socbum]

02 SAN
Stock ballast (left & right no center)
Experience -- 3
Speed 21.5

I started at 18 and moved up by 1 untill I felt comfortable and did not trougth(sp?) through the water.
Surface 180's, Ollie's, lip slide and W2W jump

Does your individual weight play a factor?

[surroundsound64]

21 in the 1981 ski.

[DRAGON88]

22.7-23.3 mph behind an 05 SAN stock balast.
85' line I'd rate myself a 5 or so, I can spin ts5's, grabbed 3's exc.

Weight wouldn't really play a factor so long as you're riding a board that is the correct legnth...

[bkhallpass]

Weight wouldn't really play a factor so long as you're riding a board that is the correct legnth...

Dragon, I'd agree that the riders weight is not much of a factor
if the board is sized correctly, with the exception of Big guys.
When you start getting 240 or bigger, there just aren't many boards that
get bigger, and if they did, they would be impractical. Big Guys can
really ride low in the water, even with 142 or 144 boards, unless they
pick up the speed to plane better.

BKH

[DRAGON88]

Rail shape also makes a huge difference in where a board rides in the water, more then the surface area within reason.

[AirNautique211]

How about for little riders - groms form 50-100 lbs.? My boys like it from 14-18 mph. They jump with grabs and do some 180's, mostly surface. My little guy is only 58 lbs. on a Byrly 134.

[ihaveansv211]

04 sv211

i ride at 19.3, 65 ft line, 750 lbs ballast, and hydrogate pulled


hey airnautique211 what are u riding at normally?

[NautiqueJeff]

I ride 75' @ 23.5 - 24
2003 SANTE
Stock Ballast + 1000 lbs. lead

[Flux]

02 San, stock 900 + another 800 split equally between bow and stern.

24-25 mph 75-80 ft back.

It seems a bit fast at first, but you can get the tension you need. You can cut faster and it gives you more time to stand up into the wake for pop. The wake is firm and you can adjust weight for preference. I tried slower speeds, but lost air time and pop.

[Mikeski]

05 SV211

Front tank 3/4, rears full, hydrogate in wakeboard mode.

23.5-24.5 @ 75'

for the beginners I run 21 @ 65' empty tanks in wakeboard mode

if you fill the front tank it flattens the wake too much

[TURBOURBO]

I have a 2003 SAN TE. with 2350 in added weight.

I ride at 80 feet with my speed at 25 or 25.5. I'm an intermediate rider and feel very comfortable at that speed.

If any of you saw the DownSideUp wakeboard video that was released last year quite a bit of the riding was behind my boat. Here are some of the stats that have on some of the people in that video who I have pulled at one time or another behind my boat

Sean Murry... I think he was at 85 feet and rode at 25 to 26
Sean Legg... rides at 85 (maybe 90) at 26.5
Rhett Whatley... I'm not sure of his rope lenght think 85 at 26
Matt Simms... I think he was at 85 at 26
Corey Bradley... I don't know what his rope length was... believed I pulled him at 26.5

All of them range there speed depending on conditions and weight. I would have to say the average is 85 feet rope length at 26 to 27 MPH.

PS... My girlfriend rides at 75Feet at 24.5 mph and is an intermediate rider as well.

[ryanandrews]

i board at 65'....around 85 mph behind me brothers 38' donzi..no need for ballast or weights

[fwMiata]

skill 3 or 3.5, i can do a handfull of w2w grabs with pretty good air. a few ts w2w grabs, and have been working on a few rolls but havent nailed one yet.

i ride at many different speeds,
21.5 and 65 or 70 ft depending on how brave i am behind the sv211 (stock rear tanks, and sometimes a 1k(ish) sac in the floor. and gate down with no extra weight and sometimes up with the extra
20ish and 65ft behind my dads martinique (sometimes faster as the wake shapes better at more speed)
20 and 75ft behind a well weighted 2000 supra launch dd

[Rhode]

75 feet, plus a foot or so more since this fall with the new FCT...PP at 22.7 mph.

Rhode