Enough to pull skier?

[bh357]

I am restoring a mid 1970's Larson XL-5 runabout. The hull design looks identical to the early-mid 1970's Glasspar Catalina G-3 (when Larson owned Glasspar). The motor I have for this is a 1992 40hp Force. Is this enough power to pull up a skier or a wakeboarder? Also, what kind of top speed can I expect?<br /><br />Thanks

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: Enough to pull skier?

Welcome to the forum. What's the length of this boat and is it a semi-V, tri-hull or what. Seems like I recall it being a 15', but am not sure. My guess would be that you can pick up a small skier [100# or less], but it's going to be tough beyond that. Without knowing more details [boat, top motor rpm and prop pitch], it's hard to be more specific. My kids learned to ski behind a 14' skiff with a 25 HP motor, so almost anything is possible with the right setup.

 

[bh357]

Re: Enough to pull skier?

Thanks for the reply. It's 14 feet long and is a semi-vee hull. I don't remember the pitch of the prop, but I believe the motor was last used on a similar sized boat. I think the rpm range is 5000-6000 rpm. The boat weighs about700# minus motor.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Enough to pull skier?

bh357...I think it's going to be tough but something else to think about besides the boat and motor is the ski's themselves, the newer ones that are narrow and have a tunnel underneath do require more power to get up, if you can get a pair of the older style that are fairly long and wide and flat then you require less power to get up (something like an old fence board with a curve at one end)

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: Enough to pull skier?

I think you're going to be OK with that setup as long as you're not trying to pick up a 250#er. Good point on the type of ski's. If you have kids just learning, take a look at the "trainer" skis now available. They're shorter, wider and can be attached together with a bar so the kid dosn't have to fight to keep his legs from spreading apart. Much easier to get up on and a lot less discouraging for the kid. My guess on top speed [without a skier] is about 35 MPH.

 

[vegard]

Re: Enough to pull skier?

I think it should be absolutely fine. I learned to ski when I was a kid behind a 14' with a 9.9 hp. It struggled with adults, but it had no problem with kids. You should be absolutely fine.