GregHind

@jpwhit is spot on. Dual puck zero off is hopeless now unless you upgrade the firmware. I built my own cable to do it and there is a thread detailing it on here that helped me build mine. That said you can send your pucks to perfect pass and get them to do the upgrade (yes I said PP can fix zero off pucks) or you can upgrade to the new single puck. Dual puck is great once you fix the firmware.

Is that a race motor?

A jacking plate will also change the centre of gravity of the boat by moving the engine back further from the running surface of the hull that lifts it. This makes the rear sit deeper in the water and makes the wake bigger especially at low speeds. It all depends how much the plate sets the motor back.

@MI3Eventer your problem is the gps puck firmware is out of date. 100%. You can send them to PP to be updated. I made a cable to do it myself but it is a very fiddly process to get right the first time. The same pucks are used for dual puck zero off and has the same problem. It is transformational when you fix it. The other thing is to make sure you have current software on your PP. version 9 was a huge change. From memory 9.1 was also big. Version 9.2 is an updated interface where you don’t have to fiddle to change speeds. Make sure you have at least version 9.1

@DangerBoy I've got PP on my 225HO G1 e-tec and have had it since new in 2007. I also helped a guy install it on a 150 G1 e-tec back about 8 years ago. We're both happy with it. There are quite a few photos of different outboard installations here on ball of spray that will help you figure it out. I've seen it on a Johnson, a Suzuki and helped plenty of Merc EFI, Merc Opti, Evinrude & Yamaha owners get it up and running. Evinrude and Yamaha are similar to each other and both are harder than Merc to get up and running.

Zero off is heavily integrated with the engine ECU. I would be be surprised if it was doing more than just moving the throttle. For example let’s say you accelerate to set point and instead of backing the throttle butterflies back to speed you partially back the butterflies and fuel off but also retard the timing 10 degrees. Then you have INSTANT power available just by advancing the timing even as you wait for the butterflies to open when commanded. If stuff like that is going on then that could explain why having more headroom in timing (from increased octane) makes more difference than it should to feel. Does anybody know?

Fast lock-ins. Smother speed control. Better pull.

You don’t need to upgrade to single puck. All you need to do is update the firmware on the pucks you have. It’s a really common problem and an easy fix if you have the gear to do it. There is a thread on here about it. Or pay perfect pass to do it for you (yes they can do zero off pucks). It will work a LOT better than it has in years.

@swbca do you have an update for us?

I had mine done 20 + years ago and went skiing the next day. Had a massive eye lid peeling crash and was sitting in the water holding my eye thinking oh my god what have I done. It was fine. Let me tell you it is AWESOME to have perfect vision. Better than glasses ever gave me by miles. I only crashed because I was so busy checking out the beautiful scenery in High definition and my ski wanted to be on edge so it just threw me!

You can upgrade the software from wake to the latest 3 event version

VERY interested!

For what you are describing I’d look at a 2012 to 2016 Malibu response txi. They work well with 5 people and some gear plus the slalom wake is awesome even at kid speeds. Get a tower with racks if you need more storage

@swbca Where is your battery located? Have you tried temporarily removing stuff from the rear of the boat? Seat, boarding platform anything you can I’ve never skied behind a correct craft they are fairly rare in Australia. I spoke at length to a very good ski boat designer about 8 years ago about this. He said to try a fixed hydrogate style setup on my boat. I think he said to sicaflex it on for testing at these speeds. From memory have it stick down 15mm. I’d probably brace it back to the boarding platform brackets If you go with a plate make sure it has channels on it so the water can’t escape out the sides, that force it to run down a tunnel. I.e either bend the side edges down or fit some angle along the side that sticks down say 20mm I think this kind of thing is fun but you have to be prepared to fiddle. I have an outboard and fitted a plate between the hull and motor but ended up removing the 6” set back jacking plate and have not cut and shut it yet to fit again. But I will. It helped a lot. The hydrogate turns the water down and provides lift like the hook does. The further back the plate goes the more leverage it has. Wide obviously helps too. A small amount of negative attitude of the plate helps a lot. You may want to remove the hull hook to make the most of the setup The plate makes a big difference to an X14V. I’d have to look if the x14v has hook in it. If it doesn’t then I’m not sure if the hook would disrupt the water going over a plate too much. Two friends had Australian built boats with horrible slalom wakes. One fitted a plate and it was amazing. The other realised if he left all his ski gear in the nose of the boat Kneeboard, skis, boom bar the works and ran with very little fuel (rear tank) it made a huge difference. Both were really good after that All good fun to play with this stuff!

You may or may not work it out though.

If the goal is to meet IWWF and AWSA boat rules and have a great wake at all speeds and line lengths (like the hydrogate does) that is a massive engineering task. If you are happy to choose between the stock wake and a great wake at YOUR speed only (probably ok for a range of line lengths but probably not perfect for every single speed and length then you should be able to get a plate to do that. I.e plate up stock wake. Plate down your wake is great but maybe not 36mph. I’ve skied behind an Australian ski boat that was crap without a plate and with a plate was awesome. https://teamtalk.mastercraft.com/showthread.php?t=79540 The plate will push the nose down and increase drag but that extra boat in the water not just the plate by itself will increase lift and make the wake smaller.

What is the gearbox ratio? If it is 1:1 that prop is wayyy off

@Stevie Boy where in the world are you. I’m in the coldest state in Australia and our summer water is WAY warmer than that!

@matthew the Mercruiser engine is not based on a chev. It’s their own block. Been around ages and I’ve never heard a bad thing about it. But no zero off for that one.

@swbca I've loved every one of your posts and comments so far and I'm looking forward to your future stories. I need to know! When was the last time you had a slalom? Why did you stop? Why are you coming back now? You seem really passionate - where did that passion go, how come it came back now/what triggered everything you are doing at the moment. I love it and would really like to hear more about why and your story of how you go. I'm batting for you!

@riverside is the boat a matrix?

@ScottScott thank you. I saw the starting speed (for scoring purposes) for all divisions is 25kph in the AWSA rules. Any idea if the IWWF has similar rules I couldn't find it.

For the purposes of scoring, what are the IWWF slalom starting speeds for every division (both genders). I’m looking to see how many buoys an open female gets paid when she runs her opener if her opener is 15 off 34mph, same with open man, men’s 3, boys 2, men’s 6 and the rest. A link would be really appreciated.

I'm looking for a ski initally for my two older boys aged 14 and 11. Both are almost 110 pounds and growing fast. They are both in the course already, at the moment doing the mini with a few big buoys in there too. I'm looking for a ski that will last and be shared by them both for at least 3 years and at least all the way through 32mph. @brooks would a Radar TRA 65" be suitable? Is it ideal for this?

@Parkemnz Yamaha & Evinrude throttles take a bit more getting your head around. They both work the same (see the photos in this thread). No the hand throttle does not move. It can be done with a bell crank or as per the photos here.