How big is too big for tow sports?

[KD4UPL]

The 20' open bow Larson I sold held 11 people. We would often have 8 to 11 while tubing, skiing, etc. I want a larger boat and have been looking at 23 to 25' boats. I haven't stepped up to 26' yet because one lake I go to might have a 25' length restriction. But, there are a lot of 26' boats out there and yacht certification would be nice because we often have lots of children on board. At what point (subjective I know) does a boat become too large for zipping around with wakeboards, skis, tubes, etc. We often get pretty crazy like pulling two tubes with one rider trying to knock the other off, etc. I don't want something so large it becomes difficult to maneuver for tow sports.
Anyone here do much towing with larger (25, 26, 27 foot) boats?

 

[tpenfield]

I tow a tube with my 33 footer. I think with wakeboarding or water skiing, 26-27 foot is about your limit. Bigger boats than that tend not to be able to get up out of the water quick enough without cavitating the props.

 

[Chris1956]

Water skiing will really stink with a larger boat, due to the wake it will throw. Tubes and boat wakes are OK for the older kids, not too good for the young ones..

 

[Scott Danforth]

We used to try to ski behind my 2nd cousins boat.... It was a 47' Tiara with twin 715hp Cummins. Yes, alcohol was involved. Would recommend something in the 24 foot range

 

[Old Ironmaker]

11 people on a 20 foot boat. I hope they all got along well. My 19 foot bow rider is crowded with 4. I have claustrophobia. If there are 4 people on an elevator I wait until the next one. I turned down a job because it was on the 32nd floor. 11 passengers? Wowza.

 

[thumpar]

My 20' Crownline is rated for 12 but the most I have had is 9 and it got crowded. I like 6 or less. It seems in the mid 20' range you don't gain a ton of room for people by going up a little. It seems to take more to notice a big change once you get to the 19-20' boats. After that you need to just to 25-26' to make the gain and after that is switching boat styles (not for watersports) or going up big (not the best for watersports) to see another big gain. I would stick with 25-26' for what you want or if you are able to get 2 boats. One in the 20' range and another more cruiser type or pontoon in the mid to high 20's. Then you can do both types of boating without compromising.

 

[rallyart]

A boat that weighs 4000 pounds starts to get unpleasant for water skiing, and much lighter is better. For tubing and wakeboarding it is really just how expensive you want the ride to be. It is not as fun for the driver when you are in a 26' boat, and it will eat a lot of fuel.
Perhaps you should look at a 23'-24' V-drive inboard. The space and seating capacity are very high and they are designed for tow sports so the wake is smooth and they get on plane easily, even heavily loaded. For example, a 24'6" Mastercraft has a load capacity of more than a ton and is rated for 15 people. A 23'5" Sanger is rated for 14 people. Three are many others. The 24'^ in Supra is rated for 18 people.

If your primary purpose is tow sports it is unquestionably better to have a boat designed for that. What you lose is some top speed and... well, that's it.

 

[Redrig]

What about a tritoon ? Those can get big and roomy and go quite fast.

I was shocked the first time I saw a pontoon going 40, I had no idea .....

 

[bashr52]

What about a tritoon ? Those can get big and roomy and go quite fast.

I was shocked the first time I saw a pontoon going 40, I had no idea .....

The marina I bought my boat at had a special going on some of that model year tritoons, as the new stuff was due in. I was casually walking around checking them out while they prepped my boat to tow home when I noticed one that had an LS mounted inboard, with the prop shaft coming out the back of the center toon. That was a shock , but I wanted to drive it so bad :lol:

 

[SkiDad]

i vote for a Hurricane Deck boat - with an outboard say 200 horse.

 

[jkust]

What about a tritoon ? Those can get big and roomy and go quite fast.

I was shocked the first time I saw a pontoon going 40, I had no idea .....

We are on a large lake and over the last 7 or so years, bowriders have been phased out by luxury pontoons and 300 and 600 HP tritoons and 6 figure tow sport boats for the people who have houses on the lake. Generally folks don't use their pontoons as trailer boats.
The problem with the toons is the wakes are terrible and the other issue is you need a lot of hp to push them to a decent clip for a general cruise meaning the cost can get pretty high. Lots of people have just traded in their fishing boat and their bowrider into a nice pontoon and one boatlift and just dealt with the downsides.

 

[frantically relaxing]

Water skiing will really stink with a larger boat, due to the wake it will throw. Tubes and boat wakes are OK for the older kids, not too good for the young ones..

Back in my youth I always wished for bigger wakes! Can't catch no air on puny wakes! In '81 I picked up my '73 Reinell, 24' hardtop cuddy with twin 318 V8's, that thing was a BALL to ski behind, LOTS of wake! Prop wash sucked, but could we catch the air! (one of these days I need to find some other pics of this boat!

Our beloved and missed Chap 260ssi, plenty big enough for a herd (8 adults in the bow, no problem), the 8.1 VolvoDP had plenty of poop, and check the wake in the second pic- it's really not that bad...

24'ers are good, but we really miss the Chap, that was just one fine boat

 

[KD4UPL]

Thanks for the input guys. 11 was crowded for sure, hence I want a larger boat. I've got kids and so do all my friends so if my family and another go out we're at 8 to 10 people easy. But, 4 to 6 of them are children, 50 pounds or less generally. The wife is insisting the new boat have a head. That knocks out a lot of 22' and 23' models. I should test drive a tritoon I guess but we trailer the boat everywhere and it doesn't seem too appealing to tow one of those. The dedicated tow boats tend to not have heads. I guess I just need to get out there and drive a 26' and see how well it handles figure 8s.
Thanks for the pics of the Chap 260. That looks like about what I'm thinking of. It's hard to find the big block. What would you think of that boat with a Mag 350?

 

[thumpar]

I don't think a 350 MAG will cut it in a 26' for what you want to do. A 496 with a Bravo 3 would be a good direction to head. Big blocks are not hard to find. I don't remember ever seeing a Crownline in that size without one and most of the 22'+ Crownlines I have seen have a big block in them.

 

[four winns 214]

What you are looking for is a deckboat. I have a 21' Four Winns 214. It carries a ton of people and has an enclosed head with a porta-pottie that works just fine and is easy to dump & clean. The powerplant is a 5.0L Volvo-Penta with duoprop. Loaded up with lots of people, it's underpowered. Really needs a 5.7L. Four Winns made a 23' and 26' version.

Another option is the Sea Ray Sundeck series. Nice boats and better fit & finish than my Four Winns. Much the same layout.

 

[airdvr1227]

A few years ago I was selling boats. I took a vid of a Benny tri-toon with a 150.

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWOxOw4R4pE

You could most definitely ski behind this. They have an I/O version with a 350 MAG. Of course for that kind of money you can take your choice of a bunch of good towsport rigs.

 

[hvymtl939]

I think any of the modern tow boats would suit your goals well. Mastercraft, Supra, Natique, etc.