Help me clean up my wake on my RZ4

[auburntigegal]

So we're all fairly new to wakeboarding. Started early last year on my cousin's X-Star. The whole family fell in love with it and we had to get our own boat.
We ended up with the RZ4 mostly cause we found a dealer demo with 30 hours on it that would trade our Tahoe Q8i for a really decent price. We are absolutely thrilled with the boat! However, we don't have enough experience with the wakeboarding. I know this boat is huge and makes a huge wake. The wake is so far apart at 65-75 feet, plus we get lots of white wash, except in one spot on the left side (at about 50-60 feet it's clean), but on the right side we're getting white wash.
How do we make this cleaner?
We are all newbies so we are running about 19 mph. Much faster and we all bust it all the time. I can switch now from left foot forward to right foot forward and get some air jumping left foot forward (I make it about 3/4 of the way across).
Just looking for that clean wake!!

[Fiveflat]

You need to go faster.

You need to move people around in the boat. I was just at a wakeboard tournament this past weekend and I was literally shifting my weight left and right with the rider as little as a couple inches on the back seat to help clean up the wake since she was riding so slow.
Try a person in the bow and then another on the back seat and inch yourself toward the white wash until it cleans up.
If both sides are white wash, you need more speed.

[chpthril]

Thats a big boat to get a clean wake at 19MPH. For that speed and your skill level, 50-55ft line length is where you should be riding IMO. Use the TAPS to help clean up the wash, as well as moving some weight left/right or to the front. Other then that, upping the speed is the key.

[auburntigegal]

Does using the ballast help? If so, where? We have the pro ballast system - 600 on each rear and 400 each front.

[Fiveflat]

If you all are beginners, leave them empty and just use taps.

[auburntigegal]

Seems to have the cleanest wake with taps on 1, if I move the taps up, it seems to get worse. Guess we need to suck it up and go faster!

[chpthril]

Does using the ballast help? If so, where? We have the pro ballast system - 600 on each rear and 400 each front.

I would try adding a little up front, but I feel that if you are confortable at that slower speed, then just shorten the line to where you noticed it was clean. No right/wrong TAPS position. It will change with speed, weight and weight placement, so just keep expeirmenting with it till you get a feel for it.

[lohe]

Like others have said. Shorten the rope a bit I started really close at a slower speed once you get more comfatable you can lengthen it and increase the speed. Just try 21-22mph and see how it goes with riding and the white wash. I would not add to much weight yet until you guys get a little better feel for it try other taps settings and speeds

[auburntigegal]

Sounds great folks! We're off work Wednesday and Thursday! Can't wait - not many folks out, weather's looking perfect. Hoping for some glass!! Last Wednesday we went out at 7 am, come in for 45 minutes for lunch, then back out til 9pm!! We've got 115 hours on our boat already! Gonna dial that wake in! Thanks for the all the help!

[embo]

Sounds great folks! We're off work Wednesday and Thursday! Can't wait - not many folks out, weather's looking perfect. Hoping for some glass!! Last Wednesday we went out at 7 am, come in for 45 minutes for lunch, then back out til 9pm!! We've got 115 hours on our boat already! Gonna dial that wake in! Thanks for the all the help!

That's the boat I wanna be on. All day fun!!! We try to do the same!

[shawn74]

60'rope,full bow and even out passengers with largest center rear moving left to right little at a time,my rz4 is very sensitive to weight change and takes good balance for even wakes

[jmitchell]

All boats, sizes, weights, number of people, rope length, etc. are different from person to person but my experience has been to not pay as much attention to speed and taps as much as watch what the wake looks like. I would start with the shortest rope length possible (no extensions). Mine is 65'. From there adjust the speed somewhere between 19-22mph until the wake is cresting where the rider position is. You don't want the wake turning over at the rider position. Then lastly, adjust the taps to the desired wake height, but wouldn't recommend anything over Taps 4. Also, with adjusting the taps you may have to speed up slightly to keep the wake clean. To me its all about feel and appearance of the wake more than a specific setting until you get those settings dialed in finally. On our Z1, I ride at 21mph and Taps 4.

Just my two cents, I'm no expert by any means, but this thought process has worked wonders for many levels of riders on many types of boats.

[robert theisen]

If you go to facebook i have a video of a nice wake with no ballast in my RZ2.I'm on a 75' rope at 22.5 mph . If you shortened your rope to 60' you could slow down to 19 or 20 mph and taps no more than 4.Wakeboarding is more about body position and technique than speed and strength.Learnwake.com or the dvd THE BOOK are also helpful.Also to clean up side to side move weight to the side with the wash,if that doesn't clean it up just speed up 1/2 mph.

[Moki]

Yeah, like everybody has said, speed and balance are your friend. My wake cleans up at 20+, but don't let a little white wash get you down. It is still a great wake at slower speeds.

[auburntigegal]

Oh, we had fun today! Thanks for all the tips! We went a little faster. Added a little weight. Still had some wash but it was cleaner! How do you do a 180 switch? I can do it at 17 mph, but faster and I'm faceplanting!