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

[oldjeep]

31 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

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

That's quitter talk   Looks plenty skiable in those pictures of the surf wave.

[G Spot]

4 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

That's quitter talk   Looks plenty skiable in those pictures of the surf wave.

I heard Hop gave up skiing after experiencing the surf wave...

[ahopkins22LSV]

55 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

That's quitter talk   Looks plenty skiable in those pictures of the surf wave.

There were 3 other boats out surfing and probably 25 pontoons out. Feel free to come over any time to try to ski in the afternoon. 

Edited August 17, 2018 by ahopkinsVTX

[asp13]

Post some vid of you skiing when you get out. Can't wait to see how it performs. Beauty boat, love the colors!

 

[braindamage]

6 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

There were 3 other boats out surfing and probably 25 pontoons out. Feel free to come over any time to try to ski in the afternoon. 

Yep...that’s my world. Early AM is the only time!

[ahopkins22LSV]

51 minutes ago, braindamage said:

Yep...that’s my world. Early AM is the only time!

Spring and late fall it’s possible but between Memorial Day and Labor Day it’s not even close to possible. That’s ok though early am is perfect everyday!

[ID AX]

hop, how is that dark vinyl in the sun and heat?  We are looking at doing mainly Sepia interior and I'm nervous about it.  Just sooooo tired of white vinyl.

[Pnwrider]

6 minutes ago, ID AX said:

hop, how is that dark vinyl in the sun and heat?  We are looking at doing mainly Sepia interior and I'm nervous about it.  Just sooooo tired of white vinyl.

I have a dark interior and spent a week in Idaho this summer. Does it get hot? Yup. But really no different from any vinyl in 90 degree heat. 

[ahopkins22LSV]

6 hours ago, ID AX said:

hop, how is that dark vinyl in the sun and heat?  We are looking at doing mainly Sepia interior and I'm nervous about it.  Just sooooo tired of white vinyl.

We spent all day last Saturday out. It was perfectly fine. It seemed less hot than the old vinyl. Even when just floating it warmed up, but I wouldn’t say it was hot. It was mid 80’s and partly cloudy last Saturday. Probably going to be out all day tomorrow too. Will report back again. 

[braindamage]

12 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Spring and late fall it’s possible but between Memorial Day and Labor Day it’s not even close to possible. That’s ok though early am is perfect everyday!

Afternoon only works here during Packer games.😁

[Chappy]

13 hours ago, ID AX said:

hop, how is that dark vinyl in the sun and heat?  We are looking at doing mainly Sepia interior and I'm nervous about it.  Just sooooo tired of white vinyl.

I was also tired of white vinyl and I just went with an all graphite interior and it isn't much worse than white.  All vinyl gets too hot to sit on when you are at 90 plus.

[ahopkins22LSV]

We skied it this morning and it is much better than the 2017 we demo’d. I’m not sure exactly what the reason is behind that, but I don’t care! Pull was strong and consistent. Pull up is a bit doggy but not bad. Boat tracked quite well from the center pylon as well. I didn’t really notice the rope touching the tower the few times it did.

We had 60% fuel, two people in the boat at about 280 total for people weight and 150lbs of lead in the walkway. The second set I moved the lead to the left side of the bow and that got rid of the slight list that you can see in the video. Also filled the bow ballast and that seemed to help a bit too. I’m looking forward to trying it with 20% or so fuel.

34.2mph 28 off. There is decent size bump but it’s pretty soft. It’s like an old Supra or something from the late 90’s direct drive 22 off. I broke at the waist once and you can see how the wake is less forgiving then a response but not bad!

32 off is where it is at though! A little bit of a trough but not bad at all. Very happy with how it skied here. 

And here is my friends wife at 32.4mph 15 off. We moved her to the back pylon so she was completely behind the bump. She was surprised at how good it was. 

 

Edited August 19, 2018 by ahopkinsVTX
Added more detail

[Fman]

@ahopkinsVTX that is a really nice ski wake! especially at 34.2.  Pretty impressive for a boat that can also throw a great wakeboard wake and surf wave

[Elkinsa]

Looks good! Happy for you! Cool colors too. 

[ahopkins22LSV]

@Fman I’m quite impressed and very happy. Still weird behind pulled up by a “wake” boat but once I’m carving dollar signs (lame slalom talk there  ) I could care less!

Plus the boat looks damn good from the end of rope!

[oldjeep]

Nice.  Just don't let anyone on bos know that you think it is possible to ski behind a v drive 😁

[UWSkier]

Looks pretty good! How's the spray? On our 01 the headwind spray at 32 can be a little annoying. 

[MustGoFast]

On 8/18/2018 at 5:50 AM, braindamage said:

Afternoon only works here during Packer games.😁

Which lake are you on BD?

[ahopkins22LSV]

2 hours ago, UWSkier said:

Looks pretty good! How's the spray? On our 01 the headwind spray at 32 can be a little annoying. 

It was there, but just a tiny bit. 

[braindamage]

2 hours ago, MustGoFast said:

Which lake are you on BD?

Lac LaBelle in Oconomowoc.

[LateNightSalami]

Looking good behind the boat! I have a 2008 VTX (no center pylon unfortunately). I open water ski at 15 off on the back pylon. I have noticed the wake looks kind of intimidating at first (kind of tall). Every once in a while I hit it and it feels hard but there are times I cruise right over it without noticing. It seems over all like he harder I attack the wake the smoother it gets (like you mention with how the wake feels soft).

[slvrbulit]

wow,  that is some great skiing.  Did the soft pull up bother you? 

[ahopkins22LSV]

5 minutes ago, slvrbulit said:

wow,  that is some great skiing.  Did the soft pull up bother you? 

Thank you!

Did it bother me? No. Is it how I prefer to start? Also no. I prefer a much quicker start but as long as you stay in a tuck and are a bit more patient it’s perfectly fine. 

[kstateskier1]

Pull through the wake and the wake would seem much nicer  

 

That wake is pretty impressive from a V Drive.  Interested how much you would get into the tower in a slalom course at 28' off and deeper as it doesn't seem like you're pulling very wide and still getting close.

[kstateskier1]

I take that back, just looked at the 32 off video and you're not as close as I thought to the tower.