89 2001 wakeboarding question

[nelbird]

Hello, this is my second summer wakeboarding behind my 89 2001 Nautique. I have two teenage boys who are getting pretty good. I bought a skylon poll this summer and was thinking about buying some fat sacks. My boys want to start getting more air for there tricks. Will fat sacks make a big difference? I pull them around 18 to 20 miles per hour is this a good pulling speed? How does the wake on these boats compare to the newer Nautiques? I love the way this boat rides and handels. I got a new apprecition for this boat after riding in my neigbors American Skier. It could not come close to comparing with my Nautique.
Thanks Ken

[surroundsound64]

I don't have fat sacks in my 81, but when I have a full tank of gas and put 3 people in the back seat the wake gets bigger than it's already huge status. hehe. At 21mph that is. I'd be real careful about that skylon pole... I talked to a guy who used to sell those, he said, especially for older boats, that he saw a lot of boats mess up their floor after thet installed one of them. They attach at the nose of the boat, which is fine if you stay behind the wake, but with wakeboarding you spend the majority of your time outside the wake. Without any lateral support, there is extra strain on the floor where the pole attaches from the extra amount of leverage coming from the extended pole. Just keep an eye on it.

As far as a wake comparison... it's a bigger wake than the new SNs, but I've never been in an AN or any of the other Airs so I wouldn't know. I imagine the Air's have a better wake though.

[bkhallpass]

Weighting the boat will increase the size of the wake, no doubt. It can also change the shape. If you have too much weight in the rear, the wake will get very steep. Search this site, there have been a lot of discussions about how best to weight the boat. You may also have to play with speeds, because weighting the boat can change how clean the wake is at any particular speed. You may also find that it is more difficult to maintain a constant speed without a perfect pass, if you weight the boat heavily. You might also check out the2001.com, a site dedicated to your particular model of boat.

As far as wake, your boat will put out a superior wakeboard wake to any of the ski nautiques that came after (though the later SNs do have a better ski wake than your boat). Some say that your boat puts out a wake as good or better than the sport nautiques, as well. The V-Drive
wakes will be bigger because the boats are bigger, weigh more, and the weight of the motor is in the back.

Bottom line, just go enjoy it.

BKH

[jonfo]

We used to run our 89 2001 with just one full sac in the back weighing about 550lbs and this gave it a decent wake. We would completely remove the rear seat to do this. A few years later we went to two full sacs each weighing about 550lbs, one on each side of the engine, this made the wake awesome. At this time we also got a lower pitched ACME prop to handle the weight better. Later we just got 1200lbs of lead bars and placed them around in the boat in front and back so we didnt have to step over the bags. the lead is better if you dont care about trailering or a boat lift, the water is nice because you can drain it, but its a hassle to move around the boat when the sac(s) are full. if you go the water route get the new fly high sacs that dont have the cover around them, they are faster and easier to fill and empty.

Another thing, after about 1200lbs and 3 or 4 people in the boat you will reach a point of diminishing returns for the wake size. Above that the boat will have a harder time getting out of the hole and you will almost bury the nose when you come to a stop. We found the 1200 and up to 4 people to be a good all around amount for this particular boat. Hope this helps. -Jon

[83sn2001]

We use one sac in the rear in front of the rear seat and one sac in front under the bow about half full. I would start with the one in the rear and use weight in the front to balance the boat and let your boys decide how big they want the wake. This set up at about 21 mph has a good shape for me but then I'm 43 and out of shape. The key is to move the weight around to satisfy the rider.

[surroundsound64]

We use one sac in the rear in front of the rear seat and one sac in front under the bow about half full. I would start with the one in the rear and use weight in the front to balance the boat and let your boys decide how big they want the wake. This set up at about 21 mph has a good shape for me but then I'm 43 and out of shape. The key is to move the weight around to satisfy the rider.

That's why I like to get 4 or 5 people in the boat when it's my turn... I can motion them around to get the wake good and even. And big!