The Great Compromise of 2018... Ski and surf review added!

[UWSkier]

How'd the Jeep change directions if nobody was home?

[ahopkins22LSV]

53 minutes ago, UWSkier said:

How'd the Jeep change directions if nobody was home?

Ghosts

[Hemmy]

2 hours ago, UWSkier said:

How'd the Jeep change directions if nobody was home?

Well Done!  All the comments about the new boat and how nice it looks and new power wedge questions and you make a comment about the Jeep being moved.  You must have played those games that sit at bars where you have to point out the differences between two pictures that look the same.  I don't know why but that made me laugh.  That's good stuff!

BTW the boat looks great. Gotta love that new boat smell.

[Brett B]

Boat looks very sharp and clean, nicely done on the design!

[AussieSkier]

@ahopkinsVTX have you had a ski behind the new VTX yet? What did you think?

[ahopkins22LSV]

6 hours ago, AussieSkier said:

@ahopkinsVTX have you had a ski behind the new VTX yet? What did you think?

Not yet. Just finished breakin earlier this week. Evenings on our lake are not skiable and with me having to take my daughter to daycare in the mornings I can’t get out before work right now either. I did get a picture of the wake at 34.2mph and to my it looks better then the 17 we demo’d. But I also don’t have any pictures from the 17. I hope to be skiing it Sunday. 

[carguy79ta]

Very nice looking boat!

[Badger]

Is there a confirmation of a hull change between the '17 and '19?  Or what's the theory of a better wake?  Prop?  

[ahopkins22LSV]

10 minutes ago, Badger said:

Is there a confirmation of a hull change between the '17 and '19?  Or what's the theory of a better wake?  Prop?  

I don’t think the hull changed at all. At least I wasn’t told. 

A few theories:

First - I’m going by memory of what the 17 wake looked like. But to me there is less trough and less rooster tail. I could be wrong though, real test will be skiing it.

Second - the change in power train. New engine, maybe it lighter? Not sure. New transmission/gear ratio, maybe that helps? New prop - I’d say for sure is helping. The standard prop on the 19 is an OJ 951. From what I’m told it is a custom cupped OJ948 for the vtx. No idea what the cup change is though. At 34.2mph it was turning 4200 rpms which is lower than the 17. Could be as simple as it’s turning up less water behind the boat.

Third - the power wedge is higher up my almost 2 inches. Maybe it was hindering the wave on earlier models. 

Forth - surf pipe. No clue what this could be doing but the 17 didn’t have it. Maybe it’s helping the water disperse behind the boat? That’s a long shot I think but who knows. 

That picture was my wife and I in the boat with 1/2 tank of fuel. No lead or bow ballast filled. 

Edited August 15, 2018 by ahopkinsVTX

[ahopkins22LSV]

Here are some pictures of the surf wave. Just messing around the other night, should be surfing it tonight. Just my wife and I in the boat, so 285lbs of people weight, half tank of gas, full MLS with PNP, no additional lead or bow weight. Speed 10.6mph. Wedge 2/3 I think will be where it is at! Will have 150lbs in the bow tonight too, and more fuel. RPMs were a few hundred lower at wedge ramp and 1, with more throttle left. Hopefully the lead in the boat leaves some throttle but so far I am very happy with this engine, transmission and prop combo. Especially if the ski wake is better!

Goofy Wedge Ramp:

Goofy Wedge 2:

Goofy Wedge 3:

Dash pic at 10.6mph wedge 3:

[ahopkins22LSV]

Regular Wedge Ramp:

Regular Wedge 2:

Regular Wedge 3:

Regular Wedge 3 Dash:

[braindamage]

I can’t wait to hear the ski report!!

[ahopkins22LSV]

23 minutes ago, braindamage said:

I can’t wait to hear the ski report!!

I can't wait to post it!

[85 Barefoot]

get that wedge more aggressive.  Shorter boats, in my opinion, need more dig.

[ahopkins22LSV]

5 minutes ago, 85 Barefoot said:

get that wedge more aggressive.  Shorter boats, in my opinion, need more dig.

Surfed it last night at those same settings, actually just wedge 2 and it was quite good. Was long and had plenty of push even though I was riding a fairly slow board. Just picked up a Buzz for my wife and wanted to trial it before her as she is still learning. We will need more bow weight for wedge 3 with the PNP bags 100% full. Had limited time last night so didn't experiment too much because 10.6mph full PNP and wedge 2 was quite good.

[Suggy]

@ahopkinsVTX Can't see bow rise but RPMs are looking amazing for wedge at 3 on a 20' boat! Under 3500 is great for that much wedge with full PnPs.

[ahopkins22LSV]

56 minutes ago, Suggy said:

@ahopkinsVTX Can't see bow rise but RPMs are looking amazing for wedge at 3 on a 20' boat! Under 3500 is great for that much wedge with full PnPs.

It’s high haha. I ran 150 in lead in the bow yesterday and to be honest I’ll probably get another 150. And like I think I mentioned these new plug n play bags seem bigger then the ones in the 17 we demo’d. Still haven’t looked into that much but I may just run those at like 70-80%. Just trying to get myself out of the mindset that everything has to be 100% full and telling myself who cares if the wave is awesome! 

One thing I noticed is that the new Lift of PWIII has a dramatic effect on getting to speed even surfing. 

[23LSVOwner]

14 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

It’s high haha. I ran 150 in lead in the bow yesterday and to be honest I’ll probably get another 150. And like I think I mentioned these new plug n play bags seem bigger then the ones in the 17 we demo’d. Still haven’t looked into that much but I may just run those at like 70-80%. Just trying to get myself out of the mindset that everything has to be 100% full and telling myself who cares if the wave is awesome! 

One thing I noticed is that the new Lift of PWIII has a dramatic effect on getting to speed even surfing. 

I heard that it is a 25% decrease.

[ahopkins22LSV]

20 minutes ago, 23LSVOwner said:

I heard that it is a 25% decrease.

I’m not sure what you mean by that? Lift of PWII helped on some boats in my experience but comparing the 17 vtx lift to our 19, the 19 is way more effective.

[23LSVOwner]

2 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

I’m not sure what you mean by that? Lift of PWII helped on some boats in my experience but comparing the 17 vtx lift to our 19, the 19 is way more effective.

Decrease in time to get on plane.

[ahopkins22LSV]

1 minute ago, 23LSVOwner said:

Decrease in time to get on plane.

Oh ok, that makes sense. Haven’t tried to get to wakeboard speeds but I can see how it will be very good. 

[oldjeep]

So how does it ski?

[hunter77ah]

11 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Oh ok, that makes sense. Haven’t tried to get to wakeboard speeds but I can see how it will be very good. 

I'll be your test subject. 

 

[ahopkins22LSV]

4 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

So how does it ski?

Skiing it Sunday. Our lake is not skiable in the afternoons as I mentioned above. 

[ahopkins22LSV]

2 minutes ago, hunter77ah said:

I'll be your test subject. 

 

Come on up!