I Need Tube Towing Tips

[markrvp]

I've had my Sea-Doo 05 RXP for a week now. I've pulled three different tubes behind it all with similar results. Here are the issues I'm having:

1.) The rope never comes completely out of the water - it always catches in the wake

2.) I'm having trouble getting the tube out of the wake. I'm turning to try and sling it out of the wake, but it just gets to the edge of the wake and sits there - if I'm in the tube and I lean out, then it will go out, but nobody I pull seems to be able to get out of the wake.

3.) The RXP won't level out under 22 mph - the stern is still lower than I want it (which is one reason why the rope can't clear the wake). I've read you shouldn't pull faster than 18-20 mph, but the RXP isn't really performing with it's butt stuck in the water. I've also tried trimming it to get the nose down, but that still doesn't work.

4.) The rope I'm using is an Airhead bungee rope for towing (pictured below). Is the bungee rope part of the problem?

Any tips are appreciated. The tubes I am pulling are a Big Bertha (4-person) and a Ske-Pal (1 person), both made by Sportstuff.

 

[timmyboy76]

To much rope??...Think'n if that rope is to break, being a bungee rope....Thats gonna hurt!

 

[StarfireMarDiv]

I am kinda new at this myself, but here are a few observations I made while towing a tube.

bungee rope was not a good idea. It made it harder to control the ski. Once I switched to a "normal" rope I had no problems slinging my room mate out of the wake and on several occasions, out of the tube. :hurray:

The rope never really stayed out of the water, it kinda bounced in and out.

My ski is a 2000 GTX, and I really have to get on the throttle to get on plane, then back off a bit to avoid going to fast. I just got the speedo working, and have not towed since the speedo was fixed, so I am not sure how fast I was towing.

 

[Magnolia00]

When first starting to tow try standing up and leaning forward until the ski catches a good amount of speed and your RPM's seem just about right for the speed you are going. We typically tow around 25-30 MPH and have had no problems, however we have never used one of those bungee ropes and we were actually looking into buying one of those, but am thinking twice about it now. Are you riding with a spotter on the back of the ski or just by yourself. If you have a spotter have them lean back a bit as well towards you until you catch a good amount of speed. Hope this helps.

 

[markrvp]

I've been thinking that the bungee rope is part of the problem - the fact that the rope is not always tight is keeping it from clearing the water better. I'll see if I can get a non-bungee rope and compare.

I'm going to be irritated if I wasted $40 on a rope that doesn't work right.

 

[kustomkarl]

Go borrow someones tow line...than see what it does.

Karl

 

[ROC 87]

I have found that a 50 ft rope is the correct lenth for my 3 person tube.