Bowrider vs. Old Ski Comp style

Im almost finished fixing up my bass boat to sell it and i am going to purchase the next boat to mainly use for kneeboarding and cruising.

What Im wondering is which of these boats will make a better wake for kneeboarding?

Im going to put a tower on whichever one and probably add ballast Im just wondering which of these will make the best wake?

And a wakeboard boat is way out of my pricerange.

And the boats im looking at are 18 ft bowriders or early 90s competition ski boats. Usually around 20ft.

Re: Bowrider vs. Old Ski Comp style

Either would be fine for kneeboarding. What else are you planning on using the boat for? The ski boat is definitely nicer to ski behind and has better equipment storage, the bowrider will usually have more people space. You'll find more options for balasting the ski boat.

One of the down sides to a comp ski boat compared to a similiar sized bowrider is that it is pretty easy to put a wave over the front in rough water. When we were at the lake of the ozarks last year I had to "plow" a road with my bayliner for my father inlaws Malibu Reflex when we were in rough water in the main channel heading to the dam.

Re: Bowrider vs. Old Ski Comp style

Im really just going to use it for kneeboarding probably 80% of the time.

Does anybodu here know much fuel the older V8 ski boats consume? compared to a 3.0 in/outboard?

I have a bass boat now because i love fishing but Ive really gotten into kneeboarding and ive improved now to the point where the only thing holdong me back is the size of my wake.

Re: Bowrider vs. Old Ski Comp style

rrkyle said:

Im really just going to use it for kneeboarding probably 80% of the time.

Does anybodu here know much fuel the older V8 ski boats consume? compared to a 3.0 in/outboard?

I have a bass boat now because i love fishing but Ive really gotten into kneeboarding and ive improved now to the point where the only thing holdong me back is the size of my wake.

Click to expand...

My father in-laws Malibu goes through about double the fuel mine does. His is a 2003? Malibu Response with a fuel injected 350 in it. Mine is a 3.0L.

Both boats are roughly the same length, the malibu weighs more.

At cruising speed I suspect that his uses less fuel than mine, but for waterskiing/wakeboarding/etc his comsumes a lot more when you hit the gas to start out. So when you have people who are up and down a lot you really notice it on the fuel guage.

An older carburated ski boat is likely going to use more gas.

That being said, I'd buy the boat based on what you use it for - gas is probabally the cheapest thing about boat ownership. My main reason for sticking with the I/O Bowrider as opposed to a ski boat is my runabout is more multipurpose and seats more people comfortably than a center engine inboard.

Re: Bowrider vs. Old Ski Comp style

Just for grins, this picture should show you what I mean about how they handle the waves.

The ski boat nose slopes down and when the boat is running it sits about the same as it floats. The runabout sits with the nose up off the water much more and that is even more pronounced when the boat is underway. They are both 19-20 ft boats.



If you go to a newer style ski boat like the Malibu in my picture, they sometimes have "The Wedge" system which is a plate that drops down and creates a pretty good wake. My father in-laws boat has that plate and requires no balast

Re: Bowrider vs. Old Ski Comp style

Ok. Well the ski boats in price range are early 90s competiton boats so i wont have a wedge and they will be carbureted.

I do love the style of the ski boats but I like the idea of the extra seats in a bowrider cause more friends means more wake.

I was really just unsure if both of these mad a good wake.

Right now it looks like Ill be happy with either and Ill go with whatever i can get the best deal on. Thanks for the advice Jeep!