Reccomended HP for Sking?

[karrick]

Is there a rule of thumb for a certain hp needed to water ski with the heaviest skier (drag in my case) being ~200lbs? I have a 60hp on a 17' alum Starcraft V-bottom fishing boat. Any thoughts? <br />Karrick

 

[walleyehed]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

200lbs. on 2 skis maybe....single...I don't think so without proping down a bit.<br />85hp on that would be more suited to skiing....but I'm at 3600ft elevation so it takes more power for us here to do the same job as at sea-level.....

 

[Lark40]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

I think that's minimally OK. 85 would be better.<br /><br />As a teenager, we used to ski with 18hp engines on 13 foot aluminum runabouts. That's 120 lbs on 2 wide skiis. <br /><br />Today, we weigh more and want more speed.

 

[steviecops]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

At last, my chance to contribute something to this site in return for all the good advice that I have been given.<br /><br />For water skiing, I would recommend at least 70 h.p. What you are looking for is not just top end speed. Sooner or later you will want to do deepwater starts on a mono ski, and 70 h.p is the absolute minimum that you will need, and thats to start with one foot in. For both feet in deepwater starts, you are looking at at least 85 - 90 h.p.<br /><br />Also, when you get the stage of wanting to slalom, you will be surprised at how easy it is to stop the boat in its tracks. This is why tournament ski boats usually have inboards of at least 260 h.p and have the ski pole mounted in the centre of the boat.<br /><br />If you are struggling with your 60 h.p engine, you could always use a drop ski. That is, you start on two ski's and drop one once you are up.<br /><br />Hope this helps.

 

[ED21]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

I agree with stevie, but since you have the boat why not try it. You should be easily able to get kids up. And once you get a little experience, I think a 200 pounder should be able to get up on 2 skis. <br />Your arms will only hurt for a few days, but it sure is fun.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

Providing you do not drown him first!<br /><br /> I do not know what type fishing you do? Whether you troll or bass fish or what, But I always tell people to power there boats to the max allowed on the tag! It generally is better for economy also as you do not need as much throttle to cruise at say 30-40 MPH! Its also advisable to have two props for those days that you are loaded to the max and intend to pull skiers! Just dopping a couple pitches will give you a lot better pulling power! Just remember to change it back when you go out alone!<br /><br />LubeDude

 

[sloopy]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

50... Go to your local lake and you will see any people sking with a fifty.

 

[karrick]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

Thanks for the responses all!<br /><br />My primary use for the boat would be bass/crappie fishing in freshwater lakes and resevoirs. I was thinking someday the fishing will get slow and I may want to drag some people around the lake. <br /> I graduated to this boat from a 12' john boat, so just having a gas engine is new to me. I don't plan on increasing the size just to ski. I bought the boat, trailer and engine for $550 and would like to keep from spending to much money.

 

[MrBill]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

Skiing, tubing and knee boarding is a lot of fun...and once you try it with your boat you'll be hooked. Moving down in prop pitch would provide extra torque for pulling skiers if you want to get a 200 pounder out of the water.<br /><br />My 165HP with a 19P prop pulls slalom skiers out of the water better than my neighbors 260HP with a 21P prop, but his boat is 2 feet longer and quite a bit heavier. Experiment....

 

[tylerin]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

Go to a wakeboard, easier pull. The good ole days of dropping a ski I think are gone, because if someone runs it over you're looking at a lawsuit. I ski, my kids and their friends wakeboard, and its much less strain on the motor w/ the wakeboard

 

[MrBill]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

Tylerin is correct about dropping one ski...I have never let anyone do that from my boat, and last year it became a no-no on my lake...it's very dangerous for other skiers and tubers, and does a lot of damage if run over by another boat. I got wide O'Brien parabolic combo skis for beginners to learn both single and double skiing. Turns out the wide ski gets big people out easily with a lot less drag than the narrow design...there's another option.

 

[cobra 3.0]

Re: Reccomended HP for Sking?

Also, consider putting on a hydrofoil like a Stingray. It brings the nose down much quicker and gives better stability in turns.