The wierdest thing

Hey guys,
So here is my problem. I came to ride at wakestock this year and i didnt bring my own rope because two years prior i didnt have any problems without it. This year when it came for my turn to ride they asked me what length i ride at, two years prior they didnt ask they musta just guessed. So this year i wasnt sure, i looked over at my buddy who rides with me and he said on our boat i ride with the shortest length which i now checked is 60 ft at 23 mph behind a 03 Mastercraft x30, so i told the driver to put the rope at its shortest length -and as he was pulling the rope tight i was thinking this is pretty short wen i rode i didnt wanna waste any time checkin stuff so i cut out and the wake was massive and it seemed like i was awfully close to the bubbles right before the wake. When i cut in i hit the wake just after the bubbles literally i was right on top of it. So right there the wakes are so close together that i flew way out into the flats so after that i fell and asked them to lengthen the rope so they pulled me up again and the rope didnt seem that much longer and i was still over the bubbles i tried a back roll and landed on my face out in the flats. so i was bumed that i screwed up the run so badly and of course they wouldnt let me go again. wat i would like to know is what made that run different from my regular runs, and more importantly how i can prevent that from happening next year and having another 90 bux slide down the drain. i have been checking and the norm for ropes is that there are three extensions and including handle they go 60-65-70-75ft with 5 ft intervals so if i was riding the rope at the shortest it would be 60 ft with the handle. Although that is normally how i ride so it shouldnt have been a problem. could it be ballast that made me right over the bubbles because before this i rode without ballast at all? Is a malibu that different from a mastercraft? or was the driver going extremely fast cause i have read pro bios where they say they ride at 23 mph at rope length 80 ft i dont understand how that is possible because if i were riding at 80 ft at 23 i would be riding in the mush and not where the wake is crisp.

any ideas comments or help would be amazing

Buy. a. rope.

I ride at different lengths behind different boats. it all depends on the ballast, which will directly affect what my speed will be. sorry you lost out on the money, but it is only a contest. hopefully you met some cool people while you were there.

For starters measure the rope you usually ride at before going to the contest. That way you can say, pull me at 60' feet instead of saying, '...put the rope at its shortest length'. Some mainlines are only 40' and some are 70'.

Also some of the contests will have practice pulls the night before where you can work out some of the speed, wake, line issues before hitting the contest. If that is not possible, talk to other riders who have ridden behind that boat to get some idea on how wide the wake is and what length and speed to ride.

Hope you had fun at wakestock despite the falls.