Rope Length

[Lake Bound]

I was wondering what a good length of rope to run is. I have a 2002 Outback LS with a tower and sacks. We have run as close as 45 feet and the new Accurate rope I bought is 70'. 70' seems a long ways from the boat and the wake is not nearly as big. Comments appreciated.

Thanks,

[Troy0501]

i have an ouback with the tower as well, 70' works well..but you can shorten or lengthen the rope a few feet if needed to find the sweet spot on the wake. I use 2 phat sacks and added 5 feet to my rope (75') and get a really good pop off the wake

[noneya]

It also depends on what speed you run as to where the wake is good, 45' is really short though, I would suggest 65' @ 21 mph to start with, if the wake is too small..add weight!

[atxparrothead]

I dont know how u can board at 45'. Arent you still in the rooster tail a lil bit? I board at 55'-60' off the tower and it's perfect as far as distance and wake sweetspot.

[waterboy]

I use a 60' rope, too. I'd like to try another 5 or 10 feet in length just to see what it's like, but that's how long the rope came...I wonder if using a length of my wife's slalom rope would be too stretchy to use. Any thoughts?

Brian

[Cryonchick]

I use a proline slalom rope with sections. I am not a very experienced rider by any means, but I've used it at full length and at 15' off. I prefer the 15' off, the wakes from my boat are cleaner and close enough together to either get to them or clear them. Full length (75') is a long ways apart, but I am not using a tower or pole either, so who knows.

I don't notice a lot of stretch, but I am sure there is some, just not to where I notice it.

[noneya]

If you get a non-stretch rope you will notice a difference. The stretchy ones are dangerous we had a couple pop back into the boat and hit people. The second time it was really bad and nailed a girl in the observers seat. Usually the big pop backs happened with beginning riders who were trying to get up, but when we got the new rope I noticed a big difference. You get a lot more pop by being able to load the line up and you stay more stable in the air and on landing.

I personally wouldnt use a link of Poly rope, they do have the 5' extensions at most boardshops and definetly @

http://www.buywake.com/catalog/index.lasso?cat=5&-session=buywake:F368FDF6B2531B109AC19EA9E098863D

[Inliner]

I learned the hard way about boarding with a slalom rope. Once I came out of the water and moved back behind the boat, the rope began doing the bungee cord thing. I then pulled back to exit the left side of the wake and I shot across like a hellion and busted it when I zipped over the wake and overran the rope. I use a Japanese braid static line for boarding at 15 off. I use a full-length line to train newbies to move them out of the high side of the boat wake. It makes it easier for learning. Once past the learning stage though they quickly shorten the rope.

[waterboy]

Thanks for the advice, Noneya. I picked up an extra section at the local ski and board shop for a few bucks. Next week I'll be jumping farther than I ever have before:p ...God help me.

Brian

[noneya]

Right on...just make sure you land it!! haha

[Inliner]

An update on my rope usage while wake/kneeboarding. We were sculpting the wake on my 2003 Outback when I was out with my boarders to make a bigger wake and improve the pop. We succeeded in getting the wake where we wanted it, but our riders were too far back, even at 15 off. I took another 6 feet off and it was close, but still no cigar. I took 6 more feet off and our kneeboarder (who was the guinea pig at the time) landed his first MAJOR wake-to-wake jump, putting a couple of feet of air under him while doing so. We decided that was the perfect length and sent out our wakeboarders. They loved it and were pulling 3 feet of air pretty easily. The distance between wakes was perfect for the landings. The kneeboarder made a joke at first about me "...putting him in the boat...", but that lasted about 30 seconds when he hit his first wake-to-wake. All in all, the riders were VERY happy with the result. I can say the kneeboarder about had an orgasm. He had never sailed that high and far before and landed it successfully. That is a testament to having the wake and line just right.

[MobyRick]

I was riding at 60 feet last year and added another 5 feet this year. I tried 70 feet but just could not clear to the other wake without going faster than I was comfortable with. 65 seems perfect for my skill level but as you get better add more so that you have more time in the air to pull your tricks

[sextons]

I have generally been running either 75 or 80 feet depending on the number of people we have in the boat as well as the boat speed. We run anywhere from 20-24mph depending on who's riding. We have a Mobius LSV with tower stock ballast plus 2 additional fat sacks.

[Inliner]

Orginally posted by Mobyrick

I was riding at 60 feet last year and added another 5 feet this year. I tried 70 feet but just could not clear to the other wake without going faster than I was comfortable with. 65 seems perfect for my skill level but as you get better add more so that you have more time in the air to pull your tricks

That is probably why we had to shorten the rope up so much on mine. I have no fat sacks or anything. We relied on body weight and rope length to get it right. It worked pretty well, we just had to shortline it to get it to come together. Since mine is primarily a ski boat, we aren't overly concerned about wakeboarders since we prefer a smaller wake. The boarding thing is strictly secondary to our skiing. A side pursuit so to speak.