Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

I have a 1999 16 ft alum boat. It is a fishing boat, but has the full windshield, steering, and a 1999 75 hp merc outboard. The boat with two full grown men will run 36 mph. Thankyou

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

You'd drag them through the water, you'd might get a young kid 60-70lbs up but thats about it.

I HIGHLY advise you to not even try it.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

Your only chance might be a dock start, but even then, the ride would'nt be enjoyable for the rider and every time the rider will carve, you will lose all your forward momentum!

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

It should be plenty to pull a tube ??

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

It should be plenty for a skier, right? Does a wake board take that much more power? It's not like he'll add 1000 lb. ballast and make a big wake.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

Tube yeah, skier and wake-boarder no.

There is more drag pulling a skier up than a wake-boarder, even worse with a slalom skier.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

Just try it and find out. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. I wouldn't NOT do it just because people here say no. What's the worst that could happen?

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

IF the rider has good technique, it will be fine to get him up.

Now, how the rest of the ride goes will be based around your ability to apply throttle properly to hold a constant speed when he cuts.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

You might get a better idea from this thread - http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=345579.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

I disagree completely with the majority of these responses (except Kyle f, who knows what he's talking about), based on my own life experience of skiing behind a very similar boat.

At about 180 pounds, I was able to get up out of deep water starts on a SLALOM ski behind a 1986 16 foot Aluminum Crestliner fishing boat (full windshield/steering/open bow style) equipped with a 70 HP Yamaha motor that topped out about 35 to 38 mph. Sounds probably very similar to what you are proposing wakeboarding behind. It dragged me quite a while, but it got me up. Anyone who knows how to ski understands that deep water slalom starts are the type of starts that need the most HP.

On 2 skis, I popped up absolutely no problem. And even Dad could get up behind it on 2 skis when he weighed probably close to 275 pounds (he dragged a whole lot though). This is the boat I learned to ski behind as a kid, and then continued to ski behind into early adulthood.

The prop made all the diff. We had a 15 pitch prop we put on for skiing, especially after I was doing deepwater slalom starts. Switched to a 17 for normal usage, and the 17 would do fine if I was on 2 skis, but it was VERY slow to get me up a slalom.

I never tried that boat on a wakeboard (wakeboarding pretty much didn't exist back then) But I wakeboard now. And I can assure you that the wakeboard is the item that needs the LEAST amount of HP to get out of the water on. It might might not even need full throttle, and certainly won't need any prop change.

It's all about surface area. The less surface area you have (slalom), the harder it is to get the ski on plane. But the more surface area you have (wakeboard), the less HP you need to get out of the water.

If you get someone know knows how to get up on a wakeboard, they will quickly prove to you that your boat will work just fine to learn behind...and then the driver will have ALL the fun. On a boat that small, a good wakeboarder cutting hard should be more capable of steering the boat just as much as the driver himself!!!!

It will be a blast. Do it.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

Yeah, I'd bet money a 16ft aluminum boat being pushed by a 75hp outboard will get a boarder out of the water. The first boat I wakeboarded behind was a 19ft fiberglass boat with a 100HP Johnson outboard. I imagine they both have about the same pulling power given the weight difference.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

I agree,

Back in the day we used a 16' Broom with a 50hp mariner. Grown men skied, knee boarded, and wakeboarded behind it. Full steam ahead I say...

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

I agree...... the only way to find out is to try. Very much dependent on the skiers ability. Some can't ski behind my 330hp boat. My son-in-law got up behind our 20ft pontoon with a little 25hp outboard.. laughing, mind you he was still about ankle deep, but he had a blast and had something to brag about all summer.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

Your set up will work FINE for skiing or wakeboarding. It won't throw a big wake for boarding, but it will likely have a nice flat wake which is what you want for skiing.

I'm guessing you have a 17" pitch prop on for that speed and that should work great for pulling. Have a fun summer!

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

I once saw a tv show where a guy got up on plane behind a friggin rowboat! With ski's....it was on mythbusters.

Yeah ou should be fine. I get up on my board behind my brothers bass tracker with a merc 30hp fourstroke...his top is only 26-27...lol. just do it and be careful. Oh yeah...good tip for worry warts..put the rope through a piece of 1"or larger pvc pipe.At least 6' long. that way when he falls, the rope wont fly back and get caught up in the prop..have actually seen it happen...bad day.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

Yes it should pull up anybody under 200lbs. I wakeboard behind my dads 70hp Chrysler Fury and it pops me out easily (i weigh 163lbs). The boat tops out around 30mph with just me in it.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

I agree that this will work.......get a ski pylon and it will make it even easier

They make some tall ones that strap to the front and back with a connection around 4-5 feet above the deck of the boat and these will pull just about ANYONE out of the water. They're great for first timers and they keep from pulling the stern of the boat around when they cut since they are closer to center.

They will cost you around $300 but it is an investment of a lifetime of fun. Do NOT use a tube with a pylon.........pull them from the transom!

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

I owned a 1979 Sylvan 16' with a 55hp Johnson back in the early 80's and we ski'd all the time on it. Slolum and twin skis.
I would ruitinely tow my brother in law who went almost 230 pounds.
And had a 2nd person in the boat as a spotter.

I felt the boat was under powered and we did this at full throttle all the time.

But it worked.

Re: Is this motor enough to pull a wake boarder ?

I guarantee you I could get up behind that boat. Probably even yank the boat around sideways if I wanted.

If you need full throttle on a 300 hp boat to get up a wakeboard...well...