3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

[tawood]

I have a 19' Bayliner with the 3.0L 135hp 4 banger, and the stock 21P prop....
I've been waterskiing my whole life (past 30 years), but I've never been what I would consider an expert at it. I started skiing as a kid behind my dad's 17' boston whaler with a 40hp outboard, and have skiied behind lots of boats, from jet boats, inboard ski boats, and even jet skis. Funny thing is, I've never notice a difference in any boat as far as getting up is concerned (I've noticed a HUGE difference as far as once I'm up and skiing though, btw). For me, getting up has NEVER been a problem behind anything, even doing water slalom starts (one leg in, one out and dragged along side until I'm up). I think I'm average sized too, at 5'9" 185 lbs.
Anyway, yesterday my wife and I took our friends Dan and Jen out on the lake, and they decided they wanted to try waterskiing. Dan tried first....over and over I would have him get ready; when the rope was tight and he yelled, "hit it", I would floor it, and after a second or two he would be down. When he got tired, his wife (who is a bigger gal and weighs about the 200lbs he does) tried, and it was the same thing.
During a short break, they both mentioned that the rope seemed to be getting ripped out of their hands, and also, that it felt like the rope was going to break. Jen then said, "I think I could get up, if it just wasn't for how hard the rope is pulling."
That got me thinking, and I told Jen to try one more time. This time, when she yelled she was ready, I just SLOWLY advanced the throttle to about halfway, and BAM, she got right up. After a few turns around the lake, it was Dave's turn again, and trying the same thing, he too got right up.
This seems to go against much of the (ridiculus) advice I see here about how you need TONS of V8 power to pull skiiers....
Sooooo, my advice to the new skiiers here would be: If you skiier can't get up and you're jamming that throttle, try advancing that throttle slow no matter what hp you have....
Tim

 

[saxrulez]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

Sooooo, my advice to the new skiiers here would be: If you skiier can't get up and you're jamming that throttle, try advancing that throttle slow no matter what hp you have....
Tim

I know what you're saying. Many people here like to have a LOT more power than necessary to pull a skier up. It does come in handy if you're pulling up a really big guy on a slalom, but I have more than enough power to get anyone up on skis or a wakeboard at 50-75% throttle. 100% would have them faceplanting.

The other reason people always want more is so that they can pull up a big guy on a slalom with 7 people in the boat. This is never an issue for me, because if I have 7 people in the boat, usually at least 3 are small kids

 

[John Bussom]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

What you say makes a lot of sense, it is not fun getting jerked out of the skis!

1st time I ever tried to ski they told me just hold on to the handle and it will be a piece of cake, well just as I got up the clutch slipped on the motor, yep, I held on till the tips were out of the water and the clutch took hold, damm good thing I just finished jump school and was in good shape!

 

[convergent]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

As the boat driver, you have to be in contact with (see) the skier or have a tight dialog with a spotter, as you are pulling up a skier. How much throttle you need to give them is going to vary based on what you see them doing. My assumption is that you and they are holding your skis at very different angles and that's causing the problem. If you are basically sitting on the ski and have your knees bent as far as you can putting the ski almost parallel with the water, and they are not bent very far, putting the ski more perpendicular to the water, then they are not going to get up and it will feel like too much force on them... eventually losing the rope. I would guess that you would pop up at the same throttle you were giving them, albeit a little slower. WOT is not really the correct technique for every boat and every skier. You have to see where they are in the progression.

We just bought some Obrien skis that came with a training DVD on all the different water sports. Their instructions for pulling up a skier do not say to go WOT, but rather to move the throttle forward slowly and steadily, and to watch where the skier is.

 

[Groton-Seadog]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

I skied as a kids, 3 years ago I got a boat with a 4.3L and I tried for 2 years o get up on ski's and could not. I would tell the wife to hit and she would WOT it. I could not get up and could not figure it out. I learn 2 tricks after drinking a lot of water 1 ) ease into the gas 2) while sitting in the water put the rope through the center of your skis,knees to the chest and your arms around your knees. Popped right up everytime.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

The rope pulling out of their hands isn't necessarily indicitive that the WOT power of the 3.0L was too much. You have to take into acount their form/positioning and also simply their grip strength. I've gone out and done 2-3 deep water slolam runs and tubing, then tried to get up on a wakeboard and couldn't. It wasn't because the boat was pulling any harder at WOT, it was that I simply didn't have any grip strength left in my forearms.

That being said, every skier must be treated differently from the driver's perspective. Some people pop right up from a direct-to-WOT, others prefer a gradual increase in speed.

Also, the benefit for the low-end grunt of a V8 isn't so much the WOT performance in the first second of the pull, it's the linear power that makes it seem like there isn't even a 220lbs slolam skier being pulled up.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

Sounds like their technique sucks and they are plowing water with their body. I ski behind my 3.0L 195 and as long as there is no slack, dumping the throttle doesn't have any chance of yanking the rope out of someones hands.

 

[Bayliner175xt]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

Howdi, like the other people are saying it sounds like their technique is not right, as a driver I thought WOT was the way to go, but after trying different styles of acceleration I found there are a few ways to pull out a skier, we have a Bayliner 175 with 3.0L and it pulls a skier out very easy at about 75% and a slalom skier takes a little more. Listen to your observer, once you work it out fun days ahead. good luck.

 

[dazk14]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

Another small tip is to back off the throttle once they are up. What I mean is once their skis are on plane, don't go too fast.

Give them a chance to settle in and find their balance. Many will still be tugging the rope and the total effect can be minimized by a little drag from a just planing ski.

This is very important when there's some chop as the faster you go, the more quickly the waves try to throw them off balance, without enough recovery time.

 

[SeanT]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

The rope pulling out of their hands isn't necessarily indicitive that the WOT power of the 3.0L was too much. You have to take into acount their form/positioning and also simply their grip strength. I've gone out and done 2-3 deep water slolam runs and tubing, then tried to get up on a wakeboard and couldn't. It wasn't because the boat was pulling any harder at WOT, it was that I simply didn't have any grip strength left in my forearms.

That being said, every skier must be treated differently from the driver's perspective. Some people pop right up from a direct-to-WOT, others prefer a gradual increase in speed.

Also, the benefit for the low-end grunt of a V8 isn't so much the WOT performance in the first second of the pull, it's the linear power that makes it seem like there isn't even a 220lbs slolam skier being pulled up.

Quoted for truth. I whole heartedly agree.

Also, with a V8 adjusting throttle for turns, etc is much easier. I don't have such fanciness as perfect pass yet.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

A skier is only as good as the boat driver.
My 2 cents.

 

[45Auto]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

This seems to go against much of the (ridiculus) advice I see here about how you need TONS of V8 power to pull skiiers....

You don't need tons of power to pull skiers, just like you don't need more than 20-30 horsepower in your car. However, you'll only find a couple of cars with less than 100 HP. That's because there would be no difference in fuel economy and the lower HP engine could not be built cheap enough to make a significant price difference to the new car buyer. With a recreational toy like a boat, the cheaper 4 cylinder pulls more buyers into the market. But as long as there's no difference in cost, the extra power of a V6 or V8 never hurts under any conditions. You'll also find that an aggressive skier can cut hard enough to require that "ridiculus" (SP) power to hold an even speed.

As you said, many people ski behind outboards of 25-50HP. Depends on how serious you are about your skiing. Try to find a serious ski boat (Ski Nautique, Moomba, whatever) with less than a V8 in it. There's a reason they don't come with 3.0's in them.

 

[tawood]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

Since when is a v6 or v8 the same price as a 4...now that IS ridiculous! (Hit the o key that time)

 

[45Auto]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

Since when is a v6 or v8 the same price as a 4...now that IS ridiculous!

They're not on NEW boats, which is exactly why the the 3.0L is there. They provide adequate power at a significantly lower price than the V6's or V8's, which allows the manufacturer and dealer to sell more boats, thus making more money.

Once the boats are in the used boat market, my experience has been that some careful shopping will allow you to find the same boat with a bigger engine for a lower price.

 

[SeanT]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

Same boat, bigger engine, lower price?

I've never seen that.

 

[45Auto]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

Same boat, bigger engine, lower price?

I've never seen that.

Welcome to the real world! Any kind of search on the internet will find you literally thousands of almost identical boats with every range of options you can think of. Check out some of the Craigslist search engines, or even Iboats itself. For example, there's over 500 Sea Ray bowriders between 17' and 22' here on Iboats. That's just a single brand on a single website. Some of them are good deals, some aren't. Up to you to decide for yourself.

http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/marin...rice_low=&price_high=&city=&dist=&zip=&date=0

 

[joe_nj]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

When I was a kid boating on my friend's MFG, I couldn't get up on the skis at full throttle - I must have tried 20 times over 2 years. Finally, I asked the driver to pull me up slowly and as I got a feel for the skis and the rope, I got right up.

Last summer, my daughter tried skiing for the first time with rented skis. I kept steadily accelerating and she kept falling. After about 10 attempts, someone told me I was doing it all wrong and I had to go WOT. When I did, she got right up almost every time.

This week, I started shopping for skis but I'm thinking maybe it would not be good for the boat. I'm thinking that going WOT over and over again has to be tremendous wear and tear on the engine and will shorten its life or at least require a rebuild before long. Any experience with this?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

This week, I started shopping for skis but I'm thinking maybe it would not be good for the boat. I'm thinking that going WOT over and over again has to be tremendous wear and tear on the engine and will shorten its life or at least require a rebuild before long. Any experience with this?

I suppose there is some additional wear, but the boat if properly maintained should be OK with it. It would be really sad if a child who wants to get off their butt and actually do something other than tube was denied that opportunity.

 

[joe_nj]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

I saw the sticky with lots of ski tips for newbies and most say WOT is not necessary.

When the kids are in the tube, I work harder to flip them out then they do to stay in. With skis, they would be doing most of the work and getting some good exercise.

 

[tawood]

Re: 3.0L...too powerfull to ski???

They're not on NEW boats, which is exactly why the the 3.0L is there. They provide adequate power at a significantly lower price than the V6's or V8's, which allows the manufacturer and dealer to sell more boats, thus making more money.

Once the boats are in the used boat market, my experience has been that some careful shopping will allow you to find the same boat with a bigger engine for a lower price.

Welcome to the real world! Any kind of search on the internet will find you literally thousands of almost identical boats with every range of options you can think of. Check out some of the Craigslist search engines, or even Iboats itself. For example, there's over 500 Sea Ray bowriders between 17' and 22' here on Iboats. That's just a single brand on a single website. Some of them are good deals, some aren't. Up to you to decide for yourself.

So NOW the v8's are depreciating MORE than the 4's????? Now I have heard it all!!!

The lengths some guys will go to validate their purchase just shocks me....if you want a big motor, by all means, go for it...if you want to convice you spouse that you HAVE to have a v8 to ski or to boat for what ever reason, then throw whatever b.s. you want at her...but if you're going to do it to me, please tell me first so I can put my skirt on. It makes it sooooo much easier for you to blow the sunshine up my behind!