[steve8650]

I just bought a Honda Aquatrax F12x. I am planning do some watersports behind it - sometimes a single person tube and sometimes a wakeboard.

What length rope should I plan to use for pulling a tube?
What length rope for wakeboarding?

I have some concern about having the rope to long for safety (visibility) but do not want it to be too close to the PWC either.

Your advice / suggestions are appreciated.

 

[mcw5_05]

If you go to any boat store most of them sell ropes for each of the sports you are trying to do behind your ski. I have bought all my ski ropes from dicks sporting goods, as I ski, wakeboard, kneeboard, tube as well. I would recommend for wakeboarding a good handle with grip as you will need, and obrien is a very reputable name around water sports. Hope this helps

 

[steve8650]

Do you use the full 60 feet of tube rope when tubing and 70 or so feet when wakeboarding? It seems like you would be very far behind the jet ski. Is there any advantages to shortening the rope any? If so by how much?

 

[Ernest T]

Do you use the full 60 feet of tube rope when tubing and 70 or so feet when wakeboarding? It seems like you would be very far behind the jet ski. Is there any advantages to shortening the rope any? If so by how much?

I use a Sportsstuff Booster ball for towing my tube behind the ski which keeps the rope out of the wake and it has the rope attached, so I think it is 60 feet for the tube.

For an experienced wake boarder you may find you have to shorten the rope to get them in the wake. For my son I run it at around 40-50 feet (my guess), for my daughter it is longer. It also depends on the wake your ski is putting out, whether you are alone on the ski or have a spotter (extra weight), etc.. You will have to play with it to find what works best.

 

[thulman]

Booster ball

How do you like your booster ball? I have been considering a Sportsstuff Booster Ball but we hadn't made our decision yet. Do you feel that it makes a difference in the smoothness of the ride? But does it take too much of the bounce away? Just curious whether its worth the addition. How long have you been using your booster ball and do you prefer to run with it most of the time? Thanks.

 

[Ernest T]

The ball works well to keep the rope out of the wake. So far my riders have noted significantly less spray in their faces, which was their biggest complaint. I think it does soften the ride some, but there is still plenty of bounce. It also seems to reduce the tendency for the tube to submerge when I slow down and start. Behind the ski there is a smoothing of that "jerking" sensation that you get as the tube catches in the waves. I can't tell much difference in the smoothness when I pull it behind my boat. I've been using the ball for about 1 month so far. I just leave it attached to the tube and fold the ball the rope and tube all up together.

It does add the additional hassle of something else to blow up and then deflate at the end of the day. These photos were actually taken when I was using it behind my boat, but it works the same behind the ski. I'm pulling it from the stern cleats on the boat with a "Y" harness just like I do on the ski. The rope comes with the ball (but you have to buy the "Y" harness separately), and the rope is heavy duty (it will handle a 4 man tube). I have noticed an occasional tendency for the ball to get locked in a trough outside of the wake after a turn, which pulls the tube to the right or left for a while..........thats a little annoying on the ski, but not a deal breaker.

 

[thulman]

Thanks Ernest. Good to know. I was hoping that the ball might be helpful in spray, that seems to be the biggest complaint of some of the riders so that would be nice to reduce (the spray and the complaints ). I just didn't want the bounce to be taken away. My thought was one more thing to inflate/deflate but I assume it doesn't take too much extra time so I'm not too worried about it. I think we are going to go for it. We have been going back and forth but I think it will be nice to have and good to know it can be used behind both the ski and the boat. Thanks for the information.