www.iFourWinns.com

Here's a thread from another forum with alot of information regarding improving the wake on I/O boats for wakeboarding. Some of the members here already know about this thread, but I figured it would be good for those whom don't really venture outside of this forum to have easy access to the link.

Pet has alot of information in the link regarding weighing his boat with ballast in addition to his numerous contributions to this section of the forum already.

http://forums.wakeboarder.com/viewtopic.php?t=40609

Careful Breazy. I don't anyone thinking I know what I'm doing.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

you may not know what you're doing lol, but you've at least given ideas on multiple occasions lol

btw pet, Did or do you have problems with wash on top of the wake? Our boat, a 220ss w/ the 5.7 dp setup has alot of wash on top of the wake. If you did have the wash problem, did the ballast fix it? If you didn't have any issues with wash on top, do you think it could be a dp setup only problem?

This is what our wake looks like right now.

toe side


heel side

I had no problems with wash and I doubt any problems you have are due to the DP v. the Merc B3 that I have. These hulls make a nice, deep, cut in the water so they will generate a decent wake for riding and jumping. It is just a matter of getting your setup right. I stuck a 600+ lb ballast bag in between my bow seats. I also have 2 sand tubes in the bilge to balance the boat out so that the wakes are the same on both sides.

I ride at 20 MPH but pull my brother at 19MPH or so and have no problems with wash. You'll get more wash at 16 or 17 MPH. I've found that trimming the motor up a small amount gets rid of the wash that I DO have if trimmed all the way down. How fast are you riding? Are you using the trim? That wake looks pretty flat, which leads me to believe that you need to trim the motor up some. That will mash the stern into the water a bit, steepen the wake SOME, and clean up the wash as well. Your speed might affect that as well. You should be able to do all of those things without a bit of ballast, though. The ballast will only steepen the wake.

Keep your questions coming.

_________________
Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

My dad says he's pulling at roughly 20ish, but it's hard for me to see the speedo from back there lol. as for the trim thing, i'm also not real sure what he's doing in regards to that. I've asked, but i really didn't get an answer lol

Well, we essentially have the same boat so here's my quick recommendation. Have him pull you up, then trim the motor up to about 2/3 of the way to the set of marks on the trim indicator. At that point, adjust the throttle to get you to 20MPH. Fine tune from there. A little more trim will clean up the wake and put a better lip on it. A little less gives you a foamier lip. All of this without ballast.

If you add that weight between the bow seats, then the rule on mine is that a little more trim is required to clean that foam off and steepen the wake to give you a nice lip. With a full bag and 2 or 3 people sitting in the bow, trim all the way up to the marks (this will vary from boat to boat, as that gauge is not precise by any means).

You'll just have to feel it out and get it fine-tuned based on how many people you've got, how much ballast, etc. As a rule, put your people in the bow and use the trim to adjust the stern of the boat. If you have more than 2 or 3 people AND also have a ballast bag between the bow seats, any extra people need to sit on the bench seat at the stern of the cockpit.

Also, I take one full section off of my line to get to the best part of the wake. Make sure you keep that in mind while riding back there. If it seems like nothing you do cleans the foam off where you're hitting the wake on your board, consider shortening up to get a little closer to the boat.

You'll figure it out.

_________________
Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

Agreed with the above....
The one thing I did that helped a bunch. I had everyone in the boat with a few of the "drivers". We took turns driving at the ideal speeds trying different trim settings, loading configurations, etc. Once we were all comfortable in getting about the same wake, I took the rope and dropped it back, taking out the number of sections neccesary to get in the part of the wake I like. This was a good tool, since everyone could see how much effect everything had, and understood how to get a "better" wake for the riders.

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Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

saturday we had the new rope and handle in the boat finally, Shortened it up to 60 feet to give that a try, and also had 6 people in the boat as well. Wake was double the size i've dealt with before and had no froth/foam on top. It was actually intimidating lol. Didn't get to go out today stupid having to go to work early but they went out again with another full boatload and from what i understand had the same luck with the wake. Only issue was dealing with the idiots

Good! Usually throwing a few people in the bow and the front half of the cockpit takes care of your needs for ballast. Glad you figured it out.

_________________
Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)