Boat Purchase - right size engine

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Trinity4L

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Need some advice. Looking to purchase a ski boat, 27' to 29' to be used on the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. Have been looking at used boats from 2000 and newer. What is the best engine and power package to get the job done.
 
ABatt2006

ABatt2006

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

What kind of skiing? Slalom (the great lost art), wake boarding, tubing, etc? That has a lot to do with what direction you should go in.
 
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giericd

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

27'-29' thats not a ski boat, thats a small cigarette boat!
 
tpenfield

tpenfield

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

twin 350 Magnum's or 454's (maybe 383's)

Take a look at a Formula 292 if you can

Also Formula 280 SS or Cobalt 293
 
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mortymolly

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

With the size boat your looking for and the motors you would need to push it, your going to rip someones arms off skiing behind..get a ski boat.... and save on emergency room copays
 
Tahorover

Tahorover

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004...34495?pt=Power_Motorboats&hash=item45ffaae9df
CC Launch 25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-YMvn-M-kg
Launch 28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mNcXKGG5RQ&feature=related

_1540.jpg
 
S

sschefer

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

With that boat a 502 would be appropriate. Twin 502's would make manuevering a lot easier and would be my choice.
 
southkogs

southkogs

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

Welcome aboard Trinity!

Trinity4L said:
Looking to purchase a ski boat, 27' to 29' to be used on the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
Click to expand...

If you're saying "ski boat" as in, "I'd like something fun and fast that we can ski behind occasionally," then don't worry about the size. If you're saying "ski boat" as in, "I've got a real interest in watersports and want to find a boat to ski behind," then 27' to 29' might be a little big. Most true ski boats hit that 20' - 24' range. They're designed to toss a specific size wake and create a good "table" to ski on. 27' to 29' are designed for comfort and speed, and many of them cut BIG holes in water that a skier would spend a lot of time jumping over.

Maybe help us know which direction you're looking.
 
Philster

Philster

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

Trinity4L said:
Need some advice. Looking to purchase a ski boat, 27' to 29' to be used on the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. Have been looking at used boats from 2000 and newer. What is the best engine and power package to get the job done.
Click to expand...

For skiing behind a 29' boat, there is no best package in reality. Technically, someone could muster up a 'best' suggestion, but it'd be akin to someone suggesting the best kind of van to drag race with on weekends. Ski boats tend to be smaller, because too big a boat takes too long to plane and/or planes at such a high speed that skiing becomes impractical.

For performance powerboating (not to be confused with ski boating), at 27' you could get by with one 496 (8.1L) MAG H.O. engine or 502 (8.2L) MAG H.O. engine with Bravo 1 drive from Mercruiser. That'll get you 55-60 MPH.

Over 27' and you are looking at twin engines, and 5.7 Liters is probably enough in twins at 27-28', but 29'-30' or more and you're onto to twin big blocks, the variety of which I have already mentioned.
 
greenbush future

greenbush future

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

Skiing behind a boat that big will be interesting to say the least, not aware of any ski boats that are made that size specifically for skiing. Because you would most likely need twin big blocks to power it, can you imaging the gas bill with that kind of rig? Not to mention the wake a boat that big will throw out. I would consider down sizing to 21 feet with a single V-8, that will pull more than one skier and only cost a small fortune to run all day. With twins you will really consume some fuel, for what it's worth.
Was there a specific reason you are thinking about going that big for a ski boat?
 
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hog88

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

I've got a Monterey 264 (27') powered by a Merc 350 mag with the bravo 3. It has plenty of power to pull my 200lbs butt out of the water, granted it isn't worth a dang wakeboarding but does just fine skiing. For a 5000 to 6000 lbs boat don't go under a 350 and the bravo 3, you might loose just a little on your hole shot and top end from a 496 but you also will save on the gas.
 
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gtochris

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

hog88 said:
I've got a Monterey 264 (27') powered by a Merc 350 mag with the bravo 3. It has plenty of power to pull my 200lbs butt out of the water, granted it isn't worth a dang wakeboarding but does just fine skiing. For a 5000 to 6000 lbs boat don't go under a 350 and the bravo 3, you might loose just a little on your hole shot and top end from a 496 but you also will save on the gas.
Click to expand...

I would think you have the opposite problem since wakeboarding doesnt require speed out of the hole and relies upon large "wake"? I would think crossing the wake on a 27' boat like yours would be Treacherous!

I think the term "ski boat" gets thrown around alot, I certainly wouldnt want to waterski behind something that large, NOTHING like a 18-20ft center engine dedicated ski boat for that sport!
 
R

rallyart

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

The simple answer is: bigger. I've never seen anyone complain about a boat with too big an engine or too big a garage. Count on those two things as just needing to be bigger.
 
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H20Rat

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

gtochris said:
I would think you have the opposite problem since wakeboarding doesnt require speed out of the hole and relies upon large "wake"? I would think crossing the wake on a 27' boat like yours would be Treacherous!

I think the term "ski boat" gets thrown around alot, I certainly wouldnt want to waterski behind something that large, NOTHING like a 18-20ft center engine dedicated ski boat for that sport!
Click to expand...


Was thinking the same... Any boat that you can ski behind will be fine for rec wakeboarding. The opposite is NOT true, there are boats that a slalom skier simply would never be able to get up behind where a wakeboarder will be able to.

I'm guessing the previous poster must be starting on 2 skis? A deep water slalom start takes A LOT of get-up-and-go from the boat, a single merc 350 for 6000 pounds of boat isn't much.
 
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haulnazz15

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

I have a feeling that the OP isn't going to be slolam skiing behing this rig, at least any more often than an occassional run. There isn't anything out there (as far as runabouts are concerned( over 22' that I know of that would be comparable to a 19-20' direct-drive ski boat. The lighter/smaller the boat (in general) the less wake it will produce making it better for skiing. I'm sure wakeboarders could get up behind a 30'+ cabin cruiser and the wakes would be just fine. While I do like the look of the Cobalt/Sea Ray/Regal/Crownline/etc runabouts in the 27-29' range, I just can't see that being useful unless you consistently make weekend runs to the lake with 8-10 people at a time. That's a lot of boat with nowhere to hide from the sun (aside from the bimini).
 
H

hog88

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

gtochris said:
I would think you have the opposite problem since wakeboarding doesnt require speed out of the hole and relies upon large "wake"? I would think crossing the wake on a 27' boat like yours would be Treacherous!

I think the term "ski boat" gets thrown around alot, I certainly wouldnt want to waterski behind something that large, NOTHING like a 18-20ft center engine dedicated ski boat for that sport!
Click to expand...

If I added a tower, then yes my 264 would do fine pulling a wakeboard but without a tower the tow point is too low. In reality once it's on plane which dosn't take long, the wake isn't that big. Like I said it jerks me out of the water without problem. Also I'm not running slalom courses either, just a recreational skier.
 
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H20Rat

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

hog88 said:
If I added a tower, then yes my 264 would do fine pulling a wakeboard but without a tower the tow point is too low. In reality once it's on plane which dosn't take long, the wake isn't that big. Like I said it jerks me out of the water without problem. Also I'm not running slalom courses either, just a recreational skier.
Click to expand...


You can tow a rec wakeboarder without a tower... Towers make it slightly easier for a beginner to get up, but beyond that, they don't do much until you are good enough to do inverts. (I've wakeboarded for 15+ years, most of which was without a tower!)
 
DaNinja

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

Trinity4L said:
Looking to purchase a ski boat, 27' to 29' to be used on the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
Click to expand...

We have a house on LOTO. I think I understand the mixed requirements of the OP.
While you want something that is "skiable", you also want something for the conditions of the lake.
One that is do-able for both will definitely be a compromise of both.

We have a 24' deckboat there which does okay for basic watersports, but I wouldn't do any serious slalom behind it.
The Starcraft is also on the small side and the wrong hull for the lake which gets very rough on the weekends.

The OP needs to better define what is the more important for them on LOTO.

Skiing? Go Master Craft and know your waters and limitations.
Size? Go 27-29' V-Hull (I like Fountain) and know that tubing may be the extent of your real water sports.

Our 24' Deckboat (it came with the house) compromises both.
 
B

Bamaman1

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Re: Boat Purchase - right size engine

Get online to see if you can find a good used SeaRay 28' Pachanga. The factory wouldn't deliver them unless they'd run 60 mph. There are other 28' Cigarette type boats out there, preferably with single 454 engines--or larger.

We have a bunch of 37' offshore racing boats on our lake. These boats are not terribly fast, as they're not stripped out, lightweight racing boats. They mainly for show, with their big, thirsty twin engines. To neighbors that live on the lake, their loud unmuffled engines are nuisances. I just wouldn't want to feed $200-250 fuel per engine hour for twin motors when running at higher speeds.

The 28' boats would perform great on Lake of the Ozarks--a very wavy place on a Summer weekend.
 
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