I am currently running an Acme 1235 and after adding a home made suction cup surf gate I am not able to get the boat up to surf speed with full ballast and crew. The boat is a rather obscure 1997 Bayliner Wake Challenger 2280 SS. It does have some nice features for such an old boat : 1 to 1.46 v-drive and tons of prop to hull clearance. It also has the Black Scorpion 5.7 fuel injected engine but I think they were only rated at 315 horsepower in 1997. I currently run 1000 of lead spread through the boat along with an 1100 lb surf sack in each rear locker (they probably only fill to 800 or 900 lbs) and a 350 lb sack under the port bench seat. We surf 90% of the time and wakeboard the other 10%. I am looking for advice about which prop would be the next logical lower pitch. The props I was looking at are the Acme 1615 (same diameter and cup as the current 1235 but 1/2" less pitch at 13.75) the Acme 2773 ( 15"x13"pitch with .105 cup) or the Acme 2923 ( 15.5x13pitch with .105 cup). I have never noticed the 1235 slipping or cavitating is there a reason to spend the $ on the larger 15 or 15.5" props? Any other props that you would recommend? Thanks in advance!
Thanks for the fast responses! So I have a vote for the 1873 (14.5" dia 12 pitch .105 cup) and a vote for the 2315 (15" dia 12 pitch .105 cup). So you guys don't think a jump of 2.25" of pitch from my current 14.25 pitch is too extreme? I guess it would suck to spend the $ and not get much change from the 1235. The 1235 was close to getting the job done though. I just had to dump maybe a couple hundred pounds out of each side and move someone into the bow to get it planed out. Shawn why do you recommend the 2315 over the 2313 or the 2777 and 2419? Those all have the same diameter and pitch with different cups. Actually on the Acme chart the 2777 and 2419 have exactly the same specs... strange.
My cousin has had a ski challenger since 92 and I never knew a wake challenger existed. Does yours have an integrated swim platform like the ski challenger? I'd love to see a pic of your boat.
the 1235 ---> 2315 upgrade is a pretty standard jump. It is significant in the upgrade category. You will lose some top speed and your cruising rpms will go up, but it's well worth it for the holeshot.