Mastercraft Prostar 2018 wake for slow speeds. Is something wrong with mine?

[blagrata]

Just wanted to hear other's experience with this. I have been pulling some kids (double skis and slalom) behind my 2018 Prostar between the speeds of 15 and 19 mph. The wakes looks huge... far greater than a 2011 Ski Nautique that they also get pulled behind. To be honest it actually looks like a pretty good wakeboarding wake for that speed. Has anyone else experienced this? I know that the wake at those speeds isn't usually great... but I wouldn't have thought there was such a stark contrast with the Nautique. I do have one back seat in.... and the fuel tank has been fairly full. I do also have a tower on the boat. We tried putting a 180 lb person in the bow... and that didn't seem to make any difference. Any thoughts to make this better (I'm sure I will get snide tower comments... but I don't think that can make that much difference). Does one 40 lb seat and some fuel make that much of a difference? or is this just how it is with a Prostar at those speeds. Thanks.

[Horton]

@blagrata do you have weight in the bow? Do you have the bow lid on or off?

[LoopSki]

It's for sure the tower. I'll be happy take it off your hands ! Lol Here is my slow prostar wake. Not best pic. I'll get a better one tonite.

 

 

 

[blagrata]

@Horton bow cover has been on. No extra weight in bow (except for brief experiment with someone sitting on bow cover....which didn't make noticable difference). This is on a fairly deep lake...approx 30 ft....and the nautique is run on a 5 ft deep ski lake. I have not run the Prostar on the 5 ft lake for comparison.

[eleeski]

Sorry, as a tricker at those speeds, the wake is not huge. Actually it's not steep enough to be a quality trick wake based on historical standards. Virtually every current good slalomer learned behind a bigger and steeper wake. Toughen those kids up. Don't put any negative thoughts in their heads.

 

They are kids. Put them on a trick ski!

 

Eric

 

@LoopSki Is that Liberty Lake in Yuba City?

[skihart]

I think the issue may be in the definition of "slow speeds" to me 15-19mph isnt really considered slow, its trick speed. Slow for us is 21mph and up. MC wants a decent wake between 15-19. Try bumping the kids to 21 once they can handle it and my guess is that you will see a substancial difference.

[Horton]

@blagrata I agree with @LoopSki you likely very compromised the slow-speed Wake size when you added a tower. I put a 120 lb in the bow of my new ProStar as an experiment and the trick wakes definitely got bigger than expected. My guess is the tower weighs a lot more than that. On the other hand I didn't notice any difference in the wake size at above 30 miles an hour.

[blagrata]

@eleeski the kids haven't said anything or noticed any difference...I certainly havent brought it up to them. There is no need for them to have any larger wake if something can be done to make it better...and I guess I was expecting a little more out of this generation prostar.

[blagrata]

I certainly can try stripping everything down (including the tower) and see what difference it makes. At 20 mph it really seems to settle down....but it is my perception that a lot of parents start running their kids in the course at a speed slower than 20 mph.

[oldjeep]

Tower sits midship, hard to believe it mames any difference considering the weight of most of the boat owners i see out there

[blagrata]

@oldjeep. My thought on the tower was the same. It's robust looking... but I believe it's aluminum. I can't imagine that it would be more than 200 lbs... particularly because it's made to be taken off if desired. I wouldn't think that would make any more difference than 2 people sitting in the observer seat instead of one.

[blagrata]

@skihart Perhaps the comparison to the Nautique isn't quite fair. Nautique has the advantage of the hydrogate to tweak the wake. Mastercraft had to try to design the hull to be trick at "low speed" and flat at "high speed". I have accidentally skied behind the nautique with the gate in the "trick" position.... and launched myself off the wake onto my face.

[Horton]

@blagrata I asked someone at MasterCraft about this and they suggested that lake depth is likely the biggest factor. The cool thing is that tower should be easy to remove if you want to try that. I would try tower and deck lid off - see what happens.

[Broussard]

Lake depth is a huge factor, the boat is going to sit lower in the water in a deeper lake. The extra weight from the tower and bow lid certainly don't help.

[eleeski]

Sorry, this looks like a troll thread to me.

 

You buy a boat with a tower usually means you like to have a little fun behind your boat. Wakeboarding, kneeboarding, (I won't say tubing because I hate tubing), barefooting and tricking are fun from the tower. Yet your focus is on drilling little kids in slalom? Not likely that they will still be skiing when they grow up out from that pressure ski environment.

 

MC redesigned one of the best all around boats ever (the 197) because of unsubstantiated whisper campaigns about the slow speed wakes. There is no validity to starting rumors about this hull. The wake is too small at 18.

 

Enjoy your wonderful boat and ALL the fun things you can do with it and your family.

 

Eric

[epnault]

Yeah - this is the exact opposite of my experience. This is the best slow speed wake I have ever seen. I have a tower on my boat and it maybe 50lbs. I offset that with the lighter 6.2 engine :)

[blagrata]

@Horton Thanks for your help. I suspected maybe the two different lakes (shallow and deep) might make a difference (I've heard it can make a difference with surf and wakeboard wakes.) I'm going to try a few variables of the tower off... stripping the back seats and bow cover off, etc and also run the Prostar on the shallow lake with the same config that I've been running on the deeper lake. I haven't been as thrilled with the Prostar wake at 15 off 30-34 mph... but was thinking that might be more due to the lake depth, course set up...or the extra stuff I have weighing the boat down. I have skied a Prostar with no tower and seats on the shallow lake and it seemed pretty comparable to the Nautique. Could have been my mentality and technique too.

 

@eleeski I'm not sure what exactly a "troll thread" is. If you're implying that I'm trying to be negative about the Mastercraft or something compared to the Nautique or bash the Mastercraft then you're dead wrong. It's a fantastic boat... it is rock solid in every way and I wouldn't have bought it unless I did some vetting before hand. My wife loves the wake at 28 mph and we love the layout.

 

My intent was to get a boat that was a little more multipurpose and family oriented without compromising the adult speed ski wakes. My focus is not "drilling" the kids on slalom... it's to let them develop and succeed in whatever they want. They even love tubing behind the boat and I love driving it for them. I'm not trying to start any rumors about this hull or anything of the sort. I have no such agenda. I'm throwing these questions out to an experienced community of skiers who may have juggled some of the same variables in order to better understand how I can maximize the performance from this fantastic machine.

[BraceMaker]

@Broussard - I see that on our lake all the time, our lake has large sandy areas that go out from shore ~250-300 feet with depths less than 10 feet then it plummets in areas to 150+ feet.

 

The more weight in the office/crew in the boat the worse the depth impacts the wakes. On the flip side if I have 4 people in the boat and we run shallow wakes remain pretty good despite all the extra crew.

[The_MS]

The wake on our 16 looks pretty good at the slower speeds. I just wish we would have the passenger ballast system on our boat. Sucks dealing with weights and it does need at least 150lbs under seat if no spotter

[lakeho26]

@blagrata, Had my 2018 at Norris last week seems to be a bigger wake for trick speeds on the deep water there.(tested with the trick) No tower or bow lid on mine. if you want to compare im out on portage lakes or berlin!

 

Adam

[mfjaegersr]

@blagrata Anything to report? Tower v no-tower, other?

 

Asking for a friend... ;-)

[Horton]

@mfjaegersr my 2019 without a tower and without any weight in the bow has a surprisingly tiny wake at idle through 12 miles +/- an hour. I'm actually considering throwing a bunch of weight in the bow just for tricking.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByQy-jVBvtS/?igshid=175oxefc0311q

 

That picture is a little bit of zoomed-in so it's hard to tell how small the wakes really are. If you want a better picture just let me know.

 

[mfjaegersr]

Thanks @Horton My interest is more in the slalom wake at 30-34MPH/15-22...a buddy has two - an '18 and a '19, and the wake (as above) on the '18 is considerably...more considerable. It has a tower, bow lid on. Not certain about the fuel level, though typically a 1/4 tank or less. Wondering if removing the tower or lid made much difference, or if using the on-board ballast helps balance the boat and somehow equalizes/minimizes the wake and or hump?

 

Cool pic - Buford, in no immediate danger?!

[Horton]

@mfjaegersr as I recall from the original post you are comparing wakes from a shallow Lake to a deep lake. That is always going to make a huge difference. And then I don't know if the MasterCraft engineering guys would agree with this but it seems to me that weight in the front of the MasterCraft has more impact on the slow speed wakes then how much fuel you have on the boat.

[ScottScott]

On our '17.....We don't have a tower, but usually start the day with a full tank of gas, bow cover on, back seats in, and the back starboard compartment is used as a cooler (so full of ice/water and drinks.) Wakes are still great 28-32mph even though I haven't gotten sandbags to balance when its just me and girlfriend.....it will be even better then.

 

@blagrata your report of bigger wakes compared to the Nautique at those slow speeds is surprising since trickers seem to prefer the bigger wake of the Nautique, they put extra weight in the prostars.

[aupatking]

I got my ski partners daughter through her first full pass at 19 mph behind my last Prostar (2014). She was always afraid of the wake behind our other boats (mostly 196s and 200s in tournaments) and would let off her pull and flatten out coming into the first wake. Not that Prostar. Very little wake. I had the 5.7, tower, no back seat, bow cover on, and a shallow lake. Sounds really odd to me. My 6 year old wants “the black boat” back. Pulling her on the skimmer barely over an idle the wake was still small. Smaller than my 196. What prop are you using?

[blagrata]

@mfjaegersr I didn't end up having time to run the experiment in the proper manner. We're always pressed for time... so being able to ski it with the tower on... tower off... and controlling for other variables is time consuming. I also ski two different lakes...as mentioned before... one shallow and one deep. Lots of variables.... and on top of it.. I'm not sure I can be an impartial jury. Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll be able to ski it with the tower off... and then the bow lid off on the shallow lake.

 

As for the Nautique wake @ScottScott .... the 200 has a little movable plate in the back that changes between "trick" and "slalom" configuration. As I move the thing back and forth there is a very noticeable difference. I believe that's how the Nautique gets a better trick wake.

[ScottScott]

You are correct....forgot about that. I've done slalom passes when people have left in trick mode.

[skimtb]

Tower is very light. I guess under 100 lbs for sure.

[Cent]

Lake depth really makes a very big difference.

 

Less gas and seat out may help some. Try it.

 

Also as you add a little speed it may come down quite a bit.

[wski1831]

I have a 17 Mastercraft, with a tower and back seats. Usual lake we ski at is 6-14' deep. My only complaint is the trick wake is too small. I normally run the boat without tower and back seats, but don't really notice a difference. It'll be interesting to see what you find with your boat.

[aupatking]

It’s broken. Post pictures and selling price.

I could climb in or out of my Prostar on the trailer with the tower on one shoulder. It’s heavy, but if it’s more than 100 pounds, I’m a stud (it’s not).

[mfjaegersr]

@Horton I'm not the original poster - that's @blagrata (and thanks for your reply; I understand the limits of time. I hope you will report if you try the tower off; I will if he's willing to try it).

 

The lake/depth difference in this case is: the '19 is in an AZ lake (depth likely not more than 6-10'?) while the '18 w/ tower is in a WA lake (max 6'). Buddy just came back from wintering in AZ and HE was really surprised at the difference between the two, again bigger wake on the '18.

 

It was said above ' the boat is going to sit lower in the water in a deeper lake'. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the physics of that...unless it's some buoyant 'rebound' effect seen only while moving in a 5' deep tournament lake? Once you get beyond 10' what's the difference? I'm no physics major and I'm not staying in a Holiday Inn tonight, so perhaps someone wants to play Science Guy...nicely!?

[eleeski]

At rest, the boats will sit exactly the same in a shallow or deep lake. But wakes are not a product of a non moving boat.

 

Water is fairly incompressable so any pressure generated by a moving boat will reflect off close objects like a shallow bottom back to the boat. This nearby reflected pressure will lift the boat. The pressure wave ( both primary and reflected) has a lot more room to spread out in a deep lake so it will not affect the boat much.

 

5 feet is shallow and will have a lot of bottom effect. 20 feet is deep enough to not notice it. In between the effect might be hidden by things like weight, balance and water properties (salinity, turbidity, temperature, chop, etc).

 

The human variable is also relevant. Our observations are affected by prejudice, opinions of others, advertising and our own mood. Sometimes trivial differences are magnified irrationally. Or sometimes real differences are ignored.

 

Bottom line (see what I did there?) is that the boat will ski fine on any lake. Adapt to the differences.

 

Eric

[Jerry44]

For what it's worth, the tower weighs 62 lbs.

[Tom351]

Lake depth does make a difference- We occasionally surf behind my 99 Sport Nautique and I remember once the wave just losing all push while I was riding.... boat came back around to get me and we were right on top of a shallow spot at 6' deep (on depthfinder). There was a noticeable difference from the rest of the area that maxed at about 17 feet deep.

 

[eleeski]

I built a lake that was shallower behind the boat (4 feet) than at the buoys (6 feet). The ski had solid water to accelerate beautifully in the pull while decelerating marvelously in softer water at the buoys.

 

Everybody loved that course for slalom. I made more 35 offs at that site than everywhere else combined. Surveyed course. Same water and orientation as the adjacent course which felt tougher.

 

Lake depth is a real effect even for a ski.

 

Note, the lake is for sale!

 

Eric

[theboardingschool]

The tower is far less than a person sitting in the boat. I’ve had a tower on every ProStar I’ve had, and find it laughable when people complain about it.

 

Honestly at slower speeds weight in the bow should help flatten it out. We have a tower, bow cover with seats, and run a 50 pound Lead Wake bag in the bow.

 

We do tons of kids and beginners, and Fred runs 41’ behind it, all with that set up.

[Jaypro]

@theboardingschool , Travis what do you use for the 50lb weight in the bow? Wondering if it’s something I can get at a hardware store....

[addkerr]

+1 for @theboardingschool set up. Their boats ski sweet as anything I have ever been behind before.

[skimtb]

@Jaypro I believe he is using this: https://www.leadwake.com/

[ScotChipman1]

@mfjaegersr What lake in AZ? Lakes that have a lot of minerals and salt will allow the boat to ride higher in the water compared to a nice fresh water lake with a low mineral content.

[mfjaegersr]

@ScotChipman1 Lakeside.

[theboardingschool]

@Jaypro Just levels the boat out a bit, and I think makes it track a little better. Yes, we use the Lead Wake bags. They're great.

[SkiSam]

Never heard anything negative about LeadWake.

A few people I know just put their disassembled booms inside the boat for ballast (Usually just to counterweight the driver, not for tricking).