Watersports Driver Tips for Jet Boaters

[sysinu]

Okay... so this is probably stupid and obvious to a lot of people, but it's observations that I have had and questions that I have come up with over time, so I figure I'd ask them .

Questions first, because I'm selfish...

Wake Surfing - Where do you launch your rider? I have seen people starting standing up from the platform (won't that just ruin your platform material?), I have popped surfers up laying in the water... but it is no easy job doing this with a jet boat. When my riders are down in the water and I am trying to pop a new rider, they tend to get exhausted trying to keep the board perpendicular to the line of the boat without being right behind the boat. This is my primary concern that they not be right behind the boat as you do have to give it some thrust to pop your rider up and the jet wash/rooster tail just blasts the rider in the face. So what is your advice here? .

Wake Boarding - This one is much more simple, but for those of us without a speed control unit... what hints do you have to share? These are the things I have picked up so far:

• For the pop, use both throttles at least 50% or more throttle for the pop. I have had to use 100% throttle for riders who don't plane out quickly or who weigh a lot.
• For slight velocity control, I vary the thrust of one of the two engines, usually the engine that is opposite the side of the rider (so to avoid washing the wake any more than needed).
• 70' rope for beginners @ 16-18MPH
• 65' rope @ 19MPH
• 55-60' rope @ 21MPH
• For wake to wake on anyone up to intermediate, you need to be going over 22MPH or they won't be able to get enough pop. Usually anyone intermediate or better can wake2wake at 20-21MPH if you have sufficient ballast.

Knee Boarding - This can be a learning curve for the driver.

• If you're water launching, get an Aquatic Hook!!! http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=12931
• For the pop, give it about 2/3 the throttle initially that you do for that same person on a wakeboard. Then cut back to about 5-6MPH, just enough to keep water built up and pressure under the kneeboard while your rider climbs up. Once the rider is up, change speed to desired throttle more aggressively than gradually.
• If you gradually accelerate with a kneeboarder, they will tend to porpoise and adjust only to start porpoising again. If you accelerate to your desired speed (within 2-3 seconds from the 5-6MPH speed) then that should be about right.
• I've never had a kneeboarder want to go over 16MPH. Most are usually 12-13MPH.

Tubing - this is the most simple, but I have found a few gas saving tricks.

• Tower vs Tow hook... use your own discretion. There is feedback for both approaches on this... the tower seems to work better overall.
• use at least 70' rope if you're using the tower.
• If you want to cheat and get the tube out of the wash and into an easy whip... slow your speed, turn hard port and increase throttle until you have a wake forming, then turn hard starboard. This will cause the wake to elongate by the time it gets to the tube and the tube will ride the wake out of the wash.

What are your water sports "AHA!" findings? Particularly those that apply to the driver/owner of the boat .

 

[Master-Spud]

I don't know about other people but I start right behind the boat wakesurfing... You don't need to spring them out like skiing or wake boarding, slight drag until they flip the board with their heals and then slowly increase speed... This way they don't get blasted with the jet. Haven't had a problem since I started doing it like that. Less is more lol

 

[buckbuck]

I always put the surfer on the port side with a little tension. Just as I ramp the throttles I turn the wheel to starboard so I don't blow the board out from under them.

 

[Big Shasta]

How many people hard throttle "power turn" to go back and get their downed boarder?

I was a perfect pass so bad I can taste it. Especially when I've got a wakeboarder that likes the speed to be just as the boat planes....before I know it I'm going 25+

 

[jetboater4life]

Perfect pass will overshoot to 25mph if you don't help it. The reason is because it doesn't anticipate the change in acceleration as the boat comes off plane. I help it by pulling back on the throttles when it beeps around 17mph

The less weight you have in the boat the less overshoot you get.

 

[sysinu]

So a slow ramp start is how you pop surfers? I tried that and it seemed they just struggled with it much more than a more sudden burst of thrust. Maybe it's a combination of slow start + them being behind the boat?

 

[octavio3311]

With surfing - keep some tension on the rope until they're ready, and then a slow smooth start until they flip the board. Once they get a feel, they're up almost immediately.

 

[octavio3311]

You mention using 100% throttle sometimes to pop your riders who weigh more. Really??
They still have arms?

 

[sysinu]

You mention using 100% throttle sometimes to pop your riders who weigh more. Really??
They still have arms?

Yeah :-\. I don't give them that much for long, but a 280lb guy that doesn't like to bend his knees enough is hard to pop up without giving it a lot of juice.. I keep trying to tech him how to pop up smoother, but he doesn't listen (and I don't weigh that much to know if it's because of weight that he can't get the wakeboard on plane)

 

[jcyamaharider]

I am with buck buck, we put our surfers out to the side that they are surfing on. Gets them infront of the wave already and once they roll the board they are up super easy.

 

[Glassman]

I just drag them until they let go. I just realized that nobody ever wants to go twice!

 

[Julian]

I just drag them until they let go. I just realized that nobody ever wants to go twice!

Laughed out loud! Good one!

 

[jasoraso]

How many people hard throttle "power turn" to go back and get their downed boarder?

I was a perfect pass so bad I can taste it. Especially when I've got a wakeboarder that likes the speed to be just as the boat planes....before I know it I'm going 25+

I rarely "power turn" to pick up downed skiers or wakeboarders. When my skier falls, I will decelerate quickly (almost like doing a sub move, but without taking on water), then initiate a turn and return to a downed skier at near wakeless speeds. This is generally just as quick as a "power turn", but w/o creating extra waves, even when I've been pulling a skier at 30+mph

If another boat is coming towards me or my skier, I will usually perform the quick deceleration, and then return at a speed slightly above wakeless if necessary, to protect the skier.

 

[GTBRMC]

Anyone have driver advice on popping up novice skiers (on two skis/combos)?

I have tried a couple times... I think I did not give enough throttle but worry about yanking skier's arms off.
The old "just bury it" approach from stern drive days of old doesn't work with the jets' immediate hookup.

 

[jasoraso]

Anyone have driver advice on popping up novice skiers?

I have tried a couple times... I think I did not give enough throttle but worry about yanking skier's arms off.
The old "just bury it" approach from stern drive days of old doesn't work with the jets' immediate hookup.

I vary my approach to pulling up a novice skier, depending on the whether they are on 2 skis, or one, and their weight. The heavier skiers and slalom skiers get a harder pull out of the water, but I always initiate the pull (first 1-1.5 seconds) slowly.

I took a bunch of my daughters 14yr old friends out last week. I got two new skiers up after 2-3 tries each. They were skinny 14 yr old girls, and on 2 skis, so I went pretty easy on the throttle. I also attached the "training bar" to the front of the skis to help them keep the skis together. Once they were up (or almost up), I tried to keep from quickly accelerating, which required backing the throttles off quickly, and then doing a slow, even acceleration.

One other thing I did was to attach the ski rope to the tower, rather than the low tow point behind the engines. I figured the additional leverage from the high tow point couldn't do anything but help them get up out of the water easier, and it seemed to work well. I've also tried this approach when someone is learning to slalom (besides having them use a "cheater" slalom rope that has the "V" that holds the ski in the center of the rope).

 

[Glassman]

Anyone have driver advice on popping up novice skiers (on two skis/combos)?

YES! Send them over to your friend's boat because he is an "Expert" on teaching beginners!

 

[Glassman]

Oh, I just realized you might not have one of those friends. If that's the case, I work closely with them on body position and weight transfer. Explain how the hydrodynamics will pop them up and that they don't need to try and stand up prematurely. I'll even bring them close to the boat, pulling them very slowly so they are comfortable, gently guiding them on how to stay tucked, feet together, feel the water move under the skis and feel it lift you up.

Then I drag them til they let go!

 

[sysinu]

Anyone have driver advice on popping up novice skiers (on two skis/combos)?

I have tried a couple times... I think I did not give enough throttle but worry about yanking skier's arms off.
The old "just bury it" approach from stern drive days of old doesn't work with the jets' immediate hookup.

I've never popped up skiiers, only wake board/surf - but one thing I do is have a downloaded youtube video on my phone that I have the rider watch before I give them any advice. There's a lot of good stuff on youtube.

 

[GiddYupJoe]

Anyone have driver advice on popping up novice skiers (on two skis/combos)?

I have tried a couple times... I think I did not give enough throttle but worry about yanking skier's arms off.
The old "just bury it" approach from stern drive days of old doesn't work with the jets' immediate hookup.

When ever we wakeboard we typically have 5-6 or more people in the boat. When this is the case, I have found it easiest to get wakeboarders up by giving it all its got for a couple seconds. As soon as they are in the motion of standing up i back off and set the speed. Not sure about pulling up a skier but I would think it is comparable.

 

[GTBRMC]

Success! Got my 11 year old up 2 out of 2 tries!

We tried half dozen times a year ago, but he wasn't ready. This year, no problem.
Thx to all for the tips.