Best size and combo for watersports

I had a 1997 Chris Craft 17' with a 4.3 that I used for tubing etc. Great boat. I had a 2000 Sea Ray 185 with a 4.3 mpi also a good boat. Now I have a 2005Caravelle 207 with a 5.0 mpi. The Caravelle has the most room by far and has great power for pulling but it fells larger and not as agile as the Chris Craft. The Sea Ray as expected was in the middle. The Caravelle is also thirsy compared to the Chris Craft. What would you guys consider the best size boat and engine for mainly tubing. The Caravell has advantages of being able to take more people and extra room. The Chris Craft could go all day pulling on half a tank of gas and could really handle. I can't decide which package is my favorite. I know each has their strong points. I had 3 tubes with 2 peopll on each behind each boat and they all handled it well with the Caravelle doing the best job. What combination would you consider best overall?

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

of course the carvelle is going to do the best job. more HP and Torque, not that much more weight. more room. more thristy, 2 more cylinders to feed, but more performance. you have to pay for what you get. if you have to worry about fuel, do don't belong out there.

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

I pull tubes all day with a 23 footer and 6.2 Merc Bravo 1 . . . I don't consider tubing power intensive at all. In fact, in my experience the only watersport activity that requires a lot of power is deepwater slalom skier starts. That is also the only application that requires a flat wake, so the most specialized.

So with that as my "givens" then the discussion becomes more about what else you want to do with the boat, not specifically the tubing . . . My .02.

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

QC said:

I pull tubes all day with a 23 footer and 6.2 Merc Bravo 1 . . . I don't consider tubing power intensive at all. In fact, in my experience the only watersport activity that requires a lot of power is deepwater slalom skier starts. That is also the only application that requires a flat wake, so the most specialized.

So with that as my "givens" then the discussion becomes more about what else you want to do with the boat, not specifically the tubing . . . My .02.

Click to expand...

Hey QC..do you have a tower on your boat? How do you feel about pulling up a deep water slalom from a tower? I grew up on a slalom before wakeboarding, so I naturally want to get that out from time to time, but wasn't sure about the added strain it puts on a tower. Not trying to hijack the thread, just thought it might add to the discussion and answer a question I had.

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

No, I don't have a tower, and I have wakeboarding kids so this is a constant discussion here. I think they look ugly, and thankfully so does my 21 YO son. We both like specialized boats for specialized applications. My boat's specialty is looking pretty and carting around the family to/from coves and hangout spots . . .

I think the answer is that it depends on the integrity of the mounting hardware and mounting point

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

You wouldn't want to ski while using the tower, wrong angle for the intended use. (may help slightly with getting out of the water, but doesn't help after that).

I would imagine we need to know how many people you normally take out when you boat. Me personally, with 4 or more I like a 20' boat or bigger. Sure they aren't as "agile" normally due to the size and weight, but the extra room is always worth it, especially with the bow-riders. I also wouldn't go with less than a V8, preferably the 5.7 or larger if you intend to get heavier slolam skiers out of the water in deep water starts. I'm 200-210 lbs and hate being dragged by a weak engine trying to get up on slolam, especially if there are several people weighing the boat down.

The 5.7 drinks more fuel, sure, but you won't have any issues with most skiers, and wakeboarding is always an option. Most of the time, being "agile" isn't really much of an issue for water sports as you aren't making sharp moves except maybe with tubes, and even then they should be fluid movements so as to not get slack in the rope. Wakeboarding and skiing usually involve long stretches in a straight line unless you are trying to double-up on your own wake.

My vote: 20-23ft. runabout with a 5.7 or better (7.4L would be my personal choice).

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

Well, gotta throw in another 2c.

The bigger boat is what I always strived for....and never could afford what I really wanted. So the Caravelle gets an attaboy there. (By the way I had an 18' trihull bowrider with a 125 Johnny '72 version and on a company outing one time we got 5 skiers up. It would regularly pop a dual slalom up with the rest of the family and goodies in the boat (mom-pop-4 kids)

The bigger engine gets better fuel economy with a cut back throttle which you can't get from underpowered rigs. So that's a TBD

The bigger engine pops the slalom (pair) outta da hole in minimum time meaning that the gas guzzling is limited....another TBD

If you want manueverability, drag a jetski behind you!!!!!!

Only thing I would suggest with the limited information that I have received is to prop to your requirements. Proping accordingly means less strain on the engine which is mpg which is what you are concerned about.

There are several prop experts on here that given your "wanna do's" can put you right into what you need and you can pay for the prop with the gained mpg, not counting the mental attitude with the performance.

On the tower. Never had one, but the son had one on a Proline 180 with a 150 Merc. Only comment I have on that is that it puts the tow rope up and out of the water which could be an advantage to trick skiers. Obviously it puts additional strain on the tow boat to get on plane since the strain is elevated and is just the opposite of what you need to get the bow down and onto plane. Course if you have one of the inboard ski boats, where the engine is amidship, this is not a problem and you can bet this is what the tower was designed for....but that's my 2c.

Personally I always used the transom yoke and I could hold my own on a Sunday's afternoon.....even at 40 and 250#.

HTH

Mark

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

Thanks guys, we normally have 5 or 6 people. When we invite friends we have up to 10, which is max for the Caravelle and it handles it well. When we have 5 which is the size of our family the boat seems huge. I don't think I would want to go back to a smaller boat but 5 people on the 185 seemed like a perfect fit. Also the 5.0 mpi on the Carevelle seems perfect for the boat. Planes almost immediately and tops at 53mph.

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

QC said:

No, I don't have a tower, and I have wakeboarding kids so this is a constant discussion here. I think they look ugly, and thankfully so does my 21 YO son. We both like specialized boats for specialized applications. My boat's specialty is looking pretty and carting around the family to/from coves and hangout spots . . .

I think the answer is that it depends on the integrity of the mounting hardware and mounting point

Click to expand...

Yea, Wakeboarding is what we do 95% of the time as well..I'm the only one that can slalom and I only do it once in a while..but like another poster said, when wakeboarding you want the rope up high, but not when you are slaloming..never thought about that.

I was running a 5.7 merc with a 21p 3blade aluminum prop..but Santa brought me a solas Amita 4 Blade 19p. He found a good deal on Iboats The former prop pulled me up fine, deep water slaloming with 3 adults and 4 kids in the boat. I go about 6' and 180. The 4 blade should hold better and be a good prop for what we do.

Re: Best size and combo for watersports

I have had 8 people in my 20' runabout one time. It was absolutley rediculous and I wouldn't do it again unless I had no other choice. My boat is rated for 10 person max, but usually weight is the bigger issue before you reach the occupancy limit. To me, I think a 20' or bigger is a necessity for a family of 5 to keep from tripping all over each other when doing things like docking and anchoring.

Put that tube in the back and you lose a seat or two unless you deflate it every time. Ice chests, towel bags, gear, etc. all take up room that is short supply just for a day or weekend at the lake. We normally remove one of the rear seats and use that space for the cooler and wedge the tube between the engine cover and the back-to-back seats. I suppose if you have a swim platform, it makes a good tube-holder while underway.

Just keep in mind that you will want that bigger boat when you start adding gear/people into it. It's not always 3 or people and a pair of skis on board.