Wake plate adjustment

[mike84comp]

Can anyone give me some advice on adjusting the wake plate on my 84 Supra Comp. The owners manual says flush with the bottom of the hull for skiing and 1/4" up from flush for barefoot. I did that and the wake still seams high in the middle. I am having a hard time crossing the wake on edge. I could use some help.Thanks.
Mike

[hoosier skier]

Mike What length rope are you sking at, what is the boat speed,and what ski are you using. I have the same boat and the ctr. hump is the most at about 15 ft. from the transom with the plate level. I ski at 15 or 22 off and haven't noticed a prob. If you want I could measure the strut adjusters this weekend. Jeff

[mike84comp]

Thaks for the reply Jeff. I am skiing at 30-32 with a regular 75ft rope on an HO SST which is about five years old and has been replaced in the product line by the Burner. I am just a recreational skier but I was hoping the change from a big, deep, 20ft aluminun v-hull outboard to a modest ski boat would result in a better wake but so far this summer ( 3 ski outings) I am uncertain I really gained any improvment in wake. Every other aspect of our boat is a ten fold improvement over what we had so I am really happy about that. The first time I skied behind my Supra I had not touched the plate from the previous owners setting. Prior to my second and third outings I put the plate even with the bottom of the hull. I used a straight edge and held it on the flat part of the hull sticking out under the wake plate. I used a 36" aluminun yard stick on edge and had approx 12" in contact with the hull. I then adjusted the struts so the plate just rested on top of the straight edge. I have noticed the plate appears to be slightly warped or bent, such that the middle of the plate is slightly higher than the outer edges by maybe a 1/4" to 3/8". I decided to leave it alone until I determined if this was normal or not. Any thoughton that? I need to go out again and take note of where the center hump really is. Maybe I will take some pictures of the wake and post them so others like yourself could tell me if I have a problem or just unrealistic expectations. Prior to buying this boat I had only skied behind a tournament boat a few times. A couple of pulls behind a mid 98 Moomba several years ago and the last two summers I got a couple of pulls behind a Malibu Response. I certainly did not assume a 1984 Comp would be a direct comparison, I just thought it would be a littlle more dramatic improvement over my previous boat. I have never tried skiing with a shorter rope but maybe it is time to take a section off. I think I will drop the plate a 1/4" and see what happens. I'll post again when I've tried that.
Mike

[Dinoz]

Mike, I have an '89 Comp and notice the same problem. However I find that when we ski at 15' off, we are just catching the tail end of the hump. I have tried skiing at 22' off and found that I cross directly over it. What we did to help was: 1; Calibrate your speedo's. The reason for this is to make sure your skiing at the speed you want to. Keep in mind that the faster you go, the ugly hump will start to go away. 2: Try speeding up the boat a little, 1-2 mph at a time.

Regarding the plate adjustment, I have been told by Skiers Choice that 1/4" down is where you want it as well. The lower you go with it you'll find that either side of the hump, or the "valley's" will get deeper, thus causing a crappy wake as well. Altimately you have to get it set up to your speed and rope length. This was an still is a big adjustment for me sinse I use to ski behind an 200 hp outboard and a charger that virtually had no wake at all.

My question to anyone out there is when lowering or rising the plate, which direction does the hump move? When the plate is lower, does it move clower or further away from the transom?

One more thing Mike, you mentioned that the owners manual gave you some info. What manual do you have? All I've ever found with the manual for the engine. If it is possible to send to me via fax, or email that would be fantastic. I'm interested how it say a 1/4" UP for barefoot........


Cheers,

DZ...

[mike84comp]

Hey DZ,
I will get out the owners manual I have tomorrow and see if I can scan that page for you. I think the manual is several years newer than my boat, but that's what came with it.
We are going out first thing Sunday morning. Tomorrow I am going to drop the plate down a 1/4" and see what change it makes. I will observe the center bump condition and try a shorter rope.We'll see what I can learn and get back to you. I might even try to get some pictures.
Thanks for the help.
Mike

[Ed Obermeier]

In my opinion lowering the plate tends to move the hump towards the boat a bit but not too much and only to a point.

What I've done for skiers sking 15 off at 26 - 28 mph is to lower the plate some (I have the hydraulic wake plate on a 2000 Legacy and there is a guage to indicate plate position so it's real easy to play with it) to smooth out the wake at the point where the skier is crossing it. The effect is to make the hump larger and a bit closer to the boat (making it appear bigger and uglier) BUT the wakes on both sides where the skier crosses are lower and rounder, making the crossing AT THAT POINT better. At 30 it's kind of a point-of-diminishing-returns issue but a little may help, at 32 and up I run it level with the bottom as described earlier.

At 22 off 34 mph you're kind of hitting the front side of the hump, 28 off and in I'd put the wake up against anything out there. Until around 35 off where the spray starts hammering you (which is the one and only knock I have against my boat). Haven't had an opportunity to ski behind the newer Supra slalom boats but my understanding is that they've fixed the spray on the later hulls.

[Dinoz]

Thanks Ed for the info. Do you know if your legacy hull is based off the Comp? I will definately keep playing with the set up. I'm curious into installing the hydraulic plate as well.

Mike, that would be great if you can send me some pages of the owners manual, you can send it to this address: [email protected]

Thanks again.

DZ.

[Ed Obermeier]

The Legacy is a slightly stretched version of the Comp hull. My understanding is that they stretched the front end above the water line a bit to accomodate a larger open bow. My Legacy has probably the largest, most comfortable open bow in a comp boat (one of the reasons I bought it). Playpen open bow is the bomb, hate to get a different boat because there is nothing out there that skis this good with this much bow and storage space in it. The ski well under the padded pass through easily holds 2 bagged slaloms with double boots plus a bunch of other stuff. I'm 6'3" and I can completely lay out in it (legs in the pass through of course). Try that in your average slalom boat! Don't know what year they changed to this particurlar hull but I'm yet to find a family/slalom boat that beats it for space and comfort. Just wish the spray at 35 and in was better...

Had a friend with a '99 Comp that was the same hull but closed bow. His wake was ever so slightly smaller than mine. Noticable but just barely. Anyone know what year my hull series started?

Ed

[mike84comp]

Well I forgot the camera today. Duh!
I moved the cavitation plate down 1/4" lower than even with the bottom of the hull. It appears to have made the center hump of the wake closer to the boat if anything. I think it actually flattened the hump a little. I also dropped the 1st 15ft section off my rope as Dinoz suggested and I think I am heading toward a setup I can learn to ski with. I made several runs today and actually made a few wake crossings on edge with a feeling I could make a edge transition into the turn and not be totally out of control. A bit of a breakthrough for me. I am excited now.
Thanks for the info guys.
Mike