GregHind

About 120 pounds and growing fast. I don’t have the junior ski with me right now. What would an oversized prophecy be like at slow speeds? Terrible?

I have a 67” prophecy sitting on the shelf, haven’t tried to sell it. Not worth much. Is it worth buying bindings to give my son aged 14 to ski mini course at 46kph. He currently has a 20 year old Obrien junior and progresses fairly quickly.

@bracemaker I’ve never heard of that abbreviation before (I’m Australian). Interesting. That would be an awesome way to do it too. Possibly easier and better. Either will fix it.

If that prop was an acme 13x13 and you were running 5000rpm you would be running 50mph So it sounds like you are propped wrong or under developing horsepower or both and your tach seems miles off. That’s way too many variables - basically so far it could be anything. Check of PP is set to v8 4 stroke. I doubt PP is reading wrong. You could try the inverted tach setting on it to be sure it stays the same. If you really are running 5000rpm at less than 40mph then you need a new prop. Your engine won’t breathe above 5000rpm and will run out of puff. An acme 13x12.5 should be close but ask the factory or acme or oj props what they recommend before buying. Or just borrow a known good prop from a similarish boat.

Run an extra wire from the ground under the dash direct to the battery. Use at least a 6mm auto cable (4.6mm2 cross sectional area). 8 gauge would be great (even bigger) but not strictly necessary. No need to disconnect the old one. You can also run a new positive wire direct from the battery. That would need a 15amp fuse near the battery and a relay switched by the ignition switches. That is the best solution. Wire example https://www.bunnings.com.au/narva-6mm-50a-red-black-automotive-cable-twin-sheath_p0047797

If all you can get is 36mph in that boat then your engine is almost certainly not even making 200hp. Don’t assume what the prop is. Check. A 13x13 should be ok but ultimately a 13x12.625 or 12.5 might be better. When you are that far down on power it could be that 2 spark plug leads are swapped onto the wrong plugs, spark is not advancing or some other simple but major setup problem is killing power. That last 5mph takes a LOT of power and you are probably missing the last 8mph meaning you are probably close to half power.

What do the same photos look like for @adamhcaldwell when he does run 41?

A huge thank you to the Lake Meadowbank Waterski Club for their vision - what an example they set fostering and growing tournament waterskiing. Meadowbank Ski Club arranged a massive state-wide public and club skiing weekend immediately after Moomba - the biggest waterski tournament in the world. All done because they wanted to bring Freddy Krueger not just to Melbourne Australia but even further, to Tasmania. The club went all in and built a whole fun filled family weekend around Freddy. Social skiing, barefooting, teaching kids to ski you name it. The club jump was fully refurbished and Waldy Priekulis - one of the best ever 3 event drivers ever came too. Waldy was in command of a 6.2 litre Prostar to give Freddy his best shot at clearing the 60m long line of buoys for the excited crowd. Over the 3 days, Freddy ripped set after set of HUGE jumps! The club organised an amazing Q&A session and Freddy's stories captivated – and motivated - all. As this happened, my four kids aged 7 to 14 took it all in and coming back from an evening ski, my 12-year-old daughter asked me if I would let her have a try at jumping. In a moment of weakness (I can't believe I said yes), as we pulled into the finish dock, I asked an up and coming skier if anybody might be able to help (thinking she might be willing). She kind of laughed at me, looked over her shoulder and said "um" (as in can't you see whos standing right here!). Standing behind her, keeping warm under his hoodie, I hadn’t seen it was Freddy but his eyes lit up, he stepped forward and he offered to help! Freddy made all the time in the world for us, searching the whole site for suitable skis, then taught Zarah to ski on them on open water. Declared ready by Freddy, Zarah couldn’t wait for the next day. The plan was for Freddy to jump for the crowd until his feet could take no more, then he would rest for 5 minutes and ski next to Zarah. The next day came and the crowd roared as much as the 6.2 Prostar did as Freddy smashed the 60m mark. Freddy helped Zarah with her gear before putting his back on himself and off they went. Freddy showed Zarah exactly how she was to go over the corner of the jump by doing it next to her himself then they swapped sides and off she went. He reassured her the whole time as they skied together; he held her by the jacket as she went over. As a Dad, you can't ask for more than the best jumper ever, with probably the best driver ever, behind the best jump boat ever for your daughter to learn the sport. What an amazing chance. The crowd support was unreal and many told me the highlight of their weekend was watching Freddy teach Zarah. I can’t explain how caring and patient Freddy & Waldy were except to say that they treated us like we were doing them the favour! It was an incredible weekend, check out the video and see Zarah from 1m42s to 1m46s A huge thanks to Lake Meadowbank Ski Club, Freddy, Waldy and all the top skiers who made the trip to Tasmania and put this on for us!!! Although all this happened back in March, I’ve been waiting for the video to be available before posting this. Anyway, check out the video here https://facebook.com/watch/?v=231588301362289 And another video here @FreddyKrueger

@MISkier that makes me wonder. If that’s what you get for adding .004”, what would you get if you added .008”!!!

@H2oskierh thanks for the pictures. Do you have a before shot? What are you buoy times like?

Incat have been building massive wave piercing catamarans with computer controlled stabilising foils for decades. If the foils the ability to steer left and right plus control up and down they would become an incredible ski boat. I guess the boat this thread about would basically already have that because it can steer when flying. Cool... and what a way to get kids skiing faster and faster through the course until they are doing a speed and are big enough they can handle the wake of a traditional boat. This would really help my kids progression all aged 7-14. Here is a pic of an in at boat. I would think this one would be fitted with their computer controlled stabiliser for rough sea use.

So cool that I got to hear about this back in March and yet news is only just coming out now. I’m in about the furthest In the world place possible from where it is being made. More than 50 improvements. Will be very interesting to see it!

@keithh2oskier i would have expected to hear the engine fighting you with a z setting of 15. Try higher

@LittleLeapingFox that motor is usually rated to wide open throttle range of 4800rpm min to 5200rpm max. Check the plate on the side of it. If the boat can achieve 5200rpm with a light load (not much fuel and just you driving) then the prop is OK. The thing is, the boat has to be able to achieve 4800rpm minimum under full load conditions. If you test the prop with an empty boat but always pull Barefooters or skiers or have people in it you aren’t testing properly. That’s why I make sure to be hard at the top of the range when the boat is empty. Mercury now makes you water test their new engines and upload a report including maximum rpm proving they are high enough as part of the install to get warranty. Maybe it will spin a 13x13 but everybody else runs a 12.5 pitch or 12.625 pitch with that boat. Interestingly it’s the same with any small block 350-400 chev in that boat because the lower horsepower are low rpm engines so they top out at a lower boat speed whereas stronger engines all need to spin more rpm to make power so they just turn faster to go faster. They all use the same prop on that boat

I had one eye done and it went great. Had the other done two weeks later and the river was glass the very next day. I figured just take it easy and I won’t fall so no risk. Cut out wide and stopped to enjoy my new vision, I’d never seen anything like that clarity. Unbelievable. Every stick and detail on the trees hundreds of metres away. I just stood there gliding and looking for a few seconds. My early Connelly F1 was a mistress that would not be ignored and simply threw me off. I had a massive eye peeling crash. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before or since. Anyway I was sitting in the water with pretty strong pain in my newly operated LASIK eye. And yes I’d had the version where they cut a flap in the front of your eye. I was holding my eye when the boat came back hurting like I’d been punched and peeled. I took my hand away, forced my eye open and asked if the front of my eye was still there. It was. I’m fine. 20 something years later I still have perfect vision, way better clarity than I ever had with glasses. I don’t recommend what I did but no way would I be waiting 3 months!

I need to update my perfectpass puck which is the same Garmin puck but I think has a different connector. I plan on getting a standard serial cable I have lying around, cutting it and inserting it into the PP connector (making sure it has a firm connection). The wiring diagram is here https://www8.garmin.com/specs/pcwiring.pdf I reckon I will build a cable to do my friends ZO boats. It’s winter here with boats put away, can anybody take a picture of the zero off connector on the Garmin puck so I can see what connector I need to make?

@EFW that screen showed you came in a bit fast, slowed down all the way to 2 ball then gassed heaps to make almost all of it back up by 3 ball. If that is how it regularly looks, it would be better to ski behind if you fixed it by changing the background settings or crew weight. The other thing you can do is check your Servo motor is operating smoothly in both directions. To do that, with the motor switched off, hold the hand throttle in the position it would normally be when skiing (say two thirds throttle) and run a Servo motor test. Watch the point where the Servo connects to the engine throttle and ensure it is perfectly smooth with no delays or hiccups as the Servo changes direction. There are good videos on PP website showing how this would look Compare the buoy times here and you will see how it is chasing its tail. https://www.usawaterski.org/pages/divisions/3event/AllBuoyTimingChart.htm 9.1 is a huge improvement and I really like the 9.2 interface changes. Same pull as 9.12 (9.1 something anyway) which I already have But I want to upgrade just for the interface.

I’ve been on lockdown too long, knew it couldn’t be true but wished for a Nautique version of this https://youtu.be/_-7I00cZUE0 48 seconds in now that is how to settle which boat has the most holeshot.

@Jody_Seal do any of the drive by wire boats implement torque vectoring (rate of acceleration limiting)?

@Dsully yes but they are very different to ski behind compared to a new prostar.

I’m familiar with the physics but believe it might be possible. For example the stejcraft pro skier outboard has as good and usually significantly better wake than the new prostar at every speed I mentioned until at least the first couple of shortenings, from 26mph to 36mph. Tracking, speed control, driving isn’t but the wake is the best. This is done with a 220kg outboard hanging BEHIND the transom. Sure v drives are heavier but the physics of engine weight location helps. I’m not sure if shaft angle makes it better or worse though. The Petrol tank is in the nose and that helps a lot. Also the transom angle has the motor tucked under to push the nose down Getting the centre of gravity right is vital. Is it possible? I think so. Is it viable price wise? I’m not sure. Tournament ski boats aren’t selling but there are lots of people that would love a top quality built boat that is really good for recreational skiing. I think it would be much better to compromise on spray and really shortline wakes than you compromise on kid and wife speeds. If you can add ballast to make it surfable then home run. How can you recover the Center of gravity? The TXI has the fuel tank in the back. 100+kg. How far forward could that weight go? Could the battery be moved forwards or replaced with lithium? Does anybody else want one of these?

There is a lot of room in the market for a v drive prostar that actually skies great. When I say great I don’t mean skiable at 34mph with a short rope - that is crap. I mean that my 12 year old daughter could learn the course safely and enjoyably because the wash was really good, my wife who skis at 26mph loves the wake and the layout is so family friendly plus it is way better for barefooting. A big ask but please no more of those crossover things that promise to be great for skiing but are honestly terrible.

Australian made easytow trailers are excellent. They are much heavier duty. You’d never see a Nautique on a single axle easytow. Every American trailer imported to Australia that I’ve ever seen has been crap in comparison. The Aussie dollar is low at the moment probably a great opportunity for somebody. They make great trailers here for your boats.....

@BC_Skier ive looked up the Suzuki 2 stroke and it appears to use the same tasch signals as a Yamaha 2 stroke which works fine with PP. is it reading the wrong RPM or can’t you make it read at all? Have you tried inverted setting? How good is your earth? Is both tach signal and earth wires hooked up correctly? In my experience the PP tach signal works with pretty much anything.

@BC_Skier how well does it work for you? What software version?