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Boat bounces at wakeboard speeds


Drapes

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Hi everybody - I have a 2009 Response Fxi with the Power Wedge, ballast and Illusion X tower. My family just bought the boat this summer and we absolutely love it but there is one thing that I want to get figured out ... when running at roughly 20 MPH with the Wedge deployed to a 45 degree angle for maximum wake the boat will spontaneously start to bounce quite violently until the driver lets up on the throttle briefly. It's almost as if the boat hits a natural frequency and begins to oscillate out of control. I've noticed that slight increase in speed or boat rollers will sometimes initiate this bouncing.

Has anyone else experienced this??? The only advice I have thus far is to put more people (weight) in the bow, I haven't been able to determine if this fixes the problem for sure or not. I'd like to get this figured out for next year; it's a bit of a drag as a wakeboarder when you're all psyched up and about to go big but the boat suddenly slows down because it's bouncing so much that it could throw somebody overboard!

Thanks all. Cheers

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put wedge all the way down and run it like that and see if it porpoises. Then one click up, and keep testing. 45 degrees probably just too much downforce for a 20 footer so try to find your max setting without porpoising IMO.

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put wedge all the way down and run it like that and see if it porpoises. Then one click up, and keep testing. 45 degrees probably just too much downforce for a 20 footer so try to find your max setting without porpoising IMO.

:plus1: The weight in the bow will also help, to keep it from porpoising.

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Put a fat sack in the walk way will help. Bigger wake too. My boat has the old manual wedge and we never use it. All it does in my opion is make the wake steeper, makes the boat harder to steer and burn more gas.

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Hi everybody - I have a 2009 Response Fxi with the Power Wedge, ballast and Illusion X tower. My family just bought the boat this summer and we absolutely love it but there is one thing that I want to get figured out ... when running at roughly 20 MPH with the Wedge deployed to a 45 degree angle for maximum wake the boat will spontaneously start to bounce quite violently until the driver lets up on the throttle briefly. It's almost as if the boat hits a natural frequency and begins to oscillate out of control. I've noticed that slight increase in speed or boat rollers will sometimes initiate this bouncing.

Has anyone else experienced this??? The only advice I have thus far is to put more people (weight) in the bow, I haven't been able to determine if this fixes the problem for sure or not. I'd like to get this figured out for next year; it's a bit of a drag as a wakeboarder when you're all psyched up and about to go big but the boat suddenly slows down because it's bouncing so much that it could throw somebody overboard!

Thanks all. Cheers

Hey, Drapes, welcome to the Crew ... and nice boat! I'm not going to be able to help you much, despite having the same boat. (Hey, FXIGUY, there's another one of us!) I have the G3 tower on mine. We haven't ever had any trouble with porpoising, but our conditions may be just enough different than your own. When I ride, it's at 22.5 - 23 mph, with the 400 lb. ballast tank - does yours have that? - full, Power Wedge in the same position as yours, and with a crew of 1 - 2 adults (not including the driver) and a couple little kids, all usually riding forward of the engine box. Even when they ride further back, though, or when I've given others a pull at lower speeds, there's never been any porpoising going on, but I haven't ever hit your exact conditions. Where is the weight in the boat when you ride? Placing people forward will help you out, as suggested by others. Other than that, I'm wondering about the speed for your situation. For me, the wake cleans up quite a bit with a little more speed than you're carrying, but that may not be something you want to try. I'm bummed about your post, that's for sure. I saw a MC porpoising across the water this summer and said (rather cockily, I'll admit) that the 'Bu would never look like that. I was off on that, I guess.

On a side note, as a Physics guy, it's cool to see terms like "natural frequency" being bandied about once in a while!

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Ours did that with the The Wedge deployed (manual) and a 500lb bag in each locker with no one up front.

Solution: http://www.wakemakers.com/fly-high-integrated-bow-sac.html

All hidding under the bow seat storage - I am guessing about 300lbs when filled up. Should fully resolve your issue without having to have some bag laying in the way.

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If you decrease the angle of attack on the wedge ie bring it in towards the transom you will no longer experience porpoising. It is due to an imbalance in the pressure on the hull due to the wedge being run at such a high angle, you may also be gaining and losing the negitive lift on the foil as well. You will also experience this phenomenon if you are running the boat with a large rear weight bias.

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I have had some brutal issues with my 09 VTX porpoising. Have replaced almost every part multiple times and the issue has not yet been solved..good luck!

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yeah ive run into it a few times in my vlx, but its only when we are running full factory ballast plus aftermarket sacs plus max wedge plus a bunch of people all in the back of the boat. Usually I just drop the wedge a few clicks and it stops.

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Hi everybody - thanks so much for all of the helpful tips, I can't wait for next season so I can try them out. This has been my first experience with contributing to a forum and it's been very positive. I think I'll really enjoy being part of the Malibu Crew.

Cheers

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