AN206 formidable wake

[OREGON85]

When I decided to buy a boat it was because I wanted to wake surf. As fortune would have it, I could not afford a v-drive and ended up with with a 2000 Air Nautique 206, which is a direct drive. The seller left a ski in the ski locker and I figured I might as well give it a try and discovered that skiing is WAAAYYY more fun than wake surfing. That said, the wake seems huge. My understanding is that the only difference between this boat and the Ski Nautique of the same size is the tower and ballast. Perhaps I am mistaken? I try to keep weight down, but when we go out it is for the day and ski first so the fuel is full and we have all the gear and people for the day. I have anyone who isn’t skiing sit in the bow to keep the weight forward as much as possible. Is there anything else I can do to get a smaller wake?

[jjackkrash]

Less people.

Peeps in the front.

Less gas.

No tower.

No back seat.

Faster.

Shorter rope.

 

It is probably the tower and number of peeps. I had a 206 no tower and the wakes were fine, especially a 32 mph and faster. The wakes got better as the line got shorter. 28 and in, @34mph the wakes were as good as a 196, IMO. I have skied behind a 206 with a tower, and the wakes were comparatively very big, even at faster speeds.

 

Good luck.

[escmanaze]

I would say to try 34 mph at 28 off. But then you might be like "whoa!!! 34 mph!! what?? I told you I just started skiing...I'm not ready to do 34 mph."

 

Other than that, I would agree with everything that @jjackkrash said except that I dont' believe that a tower is as big of a hindrance as he says it is. Additionally, if you have a few folks on the boat and you are out on the lake all day instead of skiing of a dock or whatever, then you really don't have the choice - you just can't live without the functionality and the storage space of that tower. So even if he is right that the tower makes the wake a lot worse, there just isn't anything you can do about that.

[oldjeep]

First I would ask - are you crossing the wake on edge or with a flat ski?

A lot of wakes look intimidating, but are mush - but if you cross on a flat ski you do tend to get launched.

[h2onhk]

@OREGON85 I wish there were a lot more people like you who would actually give skiing a chance to be fun and not just surf because its the popular thing to do. Its also cool that you guys ski first even with a full boat. While the wake may not be as forgiving, what better way to continue to introduce people to skiing. Encourage them to try!

 

Any details on the ski that was left in the locker? Depending on your size and the age/size of the ski, you might be able to upgrade skis to better suit you and make the wake more tolerable.

 

 

[UWSkier]

Congratulations on your revelation! These guys have good advice so nothing to add there other than you have a great boat. Those things are built really well. Wakes are a bit on the harder side but they shouldn't limit your progress in the least.

[Joeprunc]

I regularly ski behind a 206 with a tower, the wake is larger than all the other ski boats I ski behind, until you get to 34 mph @ -28'. I'm assuming if you are just getting into skiing you are probably skiing much slower than 34mph. Try skiing at 28-30 mph with -15 off the rope (if you have a colored ski rope you should have the red loop around the ski pylon).

 

I've seen a lot of people ski behind this boat at many different speeds and rope lengths, it is a great and very well built boat. the 206 may have a larger wake than some ski boats, but leaps and bounds better than any V drive.

[OREGON85]

These are all great responses. Thank you!

 

Changing the number of people is difficult because the lake we ski at doesn’t even have a dock and the finger we ski in is several miles from the ramp anyway. Fortunately, at least three of the people that always come with us are 60 lbs or less and don’t want a turn until the tube comes out in the afternoon. :)

 

@oldjeep I’m trying to stay on edge, but it is kind of scary! I’ll try harder. I have noticed that I get sprayed in the face really hard by water coming off the ski when I do my half-hearted-edge approach.

 

@escmanaze and @Joeprunc I’ve been skiing at about 29-30. I think I could bump it up a bit. I don’t have an official ski handle yet, so I don’t know where I’m at, but I did tie a knot so that I am just a bit behind the rooster tail. It looks like the flattest spot to me.

 

@h2onhk The ski was an HO impact of similar vintage to the boat. It was a good ski for me to get started on, but just last week I got a new HO Omni. I love it! I’ve only had it out once, but it was so fun I skied until I couldn’t go anymore, twice. I’ve been paying for that at work this week. I could hardly move the first half of the week. :D

 

My wife skied before and is a bit better than me and she is using an old Connelly F1. I think mostly she likes the double animals on that ski better that what’s on the Omni.

[slow]

In would speed up some and match the rope length with the sweet spot in the wake. The boat wake is melts a way at 28 off(47 ft rope) and shorter vs 22 or 15 off.

[jjackkrash]

I'd recommend investing in a decent rope. It is nice to know where you are on the line and also have the ability to make adjustments quickly. (Plug for Brenda at In Tow if you want a really nice rope, but any slalom mainline will work in your situation).

 

Also, if you can find other boat people to go out with to take the load while you ski a bit, that helps. We either limit the crew or head out with my parents, who have a pontoon boat, and we use the pontoon boat as a crew and ski gear base, or go ski with other peeps with boats and take turns holding the people while we ski.

 

[tjs1295]

Definitely agree with everyone. Just keep in mind that increasing boat speed, and shortening line length doesn't completely eliminate the troughs and bumps you will have to navigate crossing the wakes. I was always under the impression that doing so would make it feel like nothing is in your way when crossing the wakes. My first time trying it I was wondering what the heck everyone is talking about. There's still plenty to deal with, especially if you're new to slalom skiing and don't have great technique. It's a very different feeling than being at 15 off. Let us know how it goes.

[tjs1295]

 

This part of the wake crossing was the hardest part for me when I shortened the rope. It doesn't look like much (especially when done by Terry Winter), but it feels like your ski is slamming into a curb if you're first trying and a novice skier.

[Killer]

I skied an Air 206 a few weeks ago. there was 1 adult and 5 little kids in it. Its been a while since I"ve skied behind anything but a 20' tournament boat.

 

I was shocked at how big and hard the wake was at 32off. no perfect pass but I was going around 55k.

 

skiable for sure but I sure won't be giving up my 196 for one, totally different leagues.

[Fatroll]

I used to have a '03 SN 206. Slalom wakes were a little bigger than others but very soft. if you are in a proper stack, it should have minimal impact on you. At slower speeds, the difference was magnified. -28 and shorter was fine. The boat did crossover to wakeboarding very well and barefooters liked the pull. IMHO this is the ultimate crossover boat.

[OREGON85]

Sounds like I need to think about technique and stop thinking about the boat!

[OREGON85]

I made a small change that made a huge difference. I was having most of the passengers is in the bow. Now I have a bit more weight in the observer seat and it is much better.

[ScottScott]

I skied a bit behind a friends 206 as I was 1st learning the course. The wake is a bit bigger, but its do-able. If you're starting to learn the course, or will be, you'll want to be getting used to entry level speed and rope lengths....28mph/15off. While there are many boats with better wakes, your's is manageable. I would focus on technique/body position. Too much on the back foot and you'll hit that wake a lot harder. Get some coaching if you can, study threads here and youtube videos if you can't. You'll find that if you're in a good position you won't notice the wake.

[OREGON85]

I’m bringing this up again. I moved and now have access to a course on public water. I got pretty happy with crossing the wake behind my boat at 32 MPH and 15 off. Now I am trying to learn the course and have slowed it down to 28 to try to give myself more time to reach the buoys and the wake is huge again. I think it is making my form worse because I am afraid of the big wake and (even more so) the giant trough. Any advice? I’m almost ready to sell it and buy a legitimate ski boat, but the closed bow would be tough with the family. 

[Rednucleus]

Try 30 and put some weight in the bow

[ETskier]

There are several good ski boats with open bow. Ski Nautique 200 OB comes to mind. But, beware. Look at the current threads going "Malibu LX" and " Malibu Announcement ". Driver awareness and seamanship is very important when using, well, any open bow boat, but particularly a fine tuned slalom ski machine.

[03RLXi]

@OREGON85 whoa up a bit before you start thinking about a drastic action like changing boat. Some the wake you're feeling is from passenger weight and realistically changing boat won't change that if you're still going to have more than driver and observer on board. The remainder of wake you feel is from your technique. It's almost 3 years since your original post. Since then how often have you skied? Importantly are you self coaching, or have you had some professional coaching? Your fear of the wake could be from a quite minor (or major) technique issue. Post up a video if you can. It not as good as in person professional coaching but better than nothing and a whole lot less $$$$ than changing boat!

[OREGON85]

@ETskier one time when my dad was driving my boat he washed my kids right out of the bow seats by plowing into a wake just exactly wrong. It was fairly humorous, but in a don’t ever do that again sort of way. 

@03RLXi Okay, I’ll hold off on selling the boat for a bit. The passengers were three kids 11 and under, so not significant weight. Fuel level was about 2/3. 
 

Last year was a bust as far as skiing goes. My wife had a pretty serious mountain biking injury and my work load spiraled out of control for a bit and both coincided with ski season. So I really haven’t had much time to hone my skills. I felt like I was crossing the wakes pretty well before all that but with time and slowing down for the course I’ve lost ground. I would love coaching, if for no other reason just to be able to set the time aside to ski. 

[Horton]

13 minutes ago, OREGON85 said:

one time when my dad was driving my boat he washed my kids right out of the bow seats by plowing into a wake just exactly wrong. It was fairly humorous, but in a don’t ever do that again sort of way. 

Super scary. Have you read the thread about the Malibu accident? 

[OREGON85]

I just tracked down the thread and read through it. Yeah, super scary. Fortunately, our boat has a walk through open bow, so it pushes inward (onto the floor) and towards the back. Instructions were given to the driver and it hasn’t happened since.