Best "low effort" towable?

[ratdude747]

Last season I tried tubing with my boat... and well, for me (and my wife) things didn't go well.

We started with an old SportsStuff 4-person donut that came with the boat (and despite being 12+ years old, still worked great). While it was fine for some teenage guests (who were fit athletes) and thier mom (who still was in decent shape), my wife and I got whooped by it due to a lack of core strength (butt fell in tube, then waves against the cover beat our butts up badly). On a later outing near the end of the tubing season, we then tried a "biscuit" type tube (SportsStuff Hamburger, found at a local liquidation store)... my wife didn't have the strength to hang on, and I didn't dare try it.

My thinking is that for the upcoming season, a seat-type towable will work better. The problem is that I'm a large guy (350lb) and most seat-type towables rated for my weight (or close enough to such) assume two people are riding, which puts the handles in awkward position if I'm riding solo. I'd prefer a tube that would tolerate such, since there have been outings with only three people (and Indiana law doesn't allow mirror spotting, not to mention my boat doesn't have provisions for such a mirror).

Speaking of the boat itself, it has plenty of brunt to pull things (using a transom-loop bridle); 188 HP (stock, might be around 200 in current form) with a 4-bladed lower-pitched prop. Other than there not being a ton of space for the inflatable itself when not being towed...


(One of my guests hanging on to the 4-person donut on one last season's outings)
... the boat isn't a limitation. Clearly tube management is an issue with current towables, so such is a separate issue.

Any suggestions on towables to try next season? I had a blast other than my sore butt!

 

[FunInDuhSun]

510# capacity, no personal experience.
Found it on Tractor Supply.

 

[briangcc]

I have something similar to this...

Max 3 Person Towable

Share an exhilarating inflatable ride with friends on this WOW Max three-person towable. Front and rear tow points provide different riding positions for versatility and fun. The couch-style position lets passengers sit with straightened legs while leaning on the secure backrest and holding onto...

wowsports.com

 

[cyclops222]

At 350 pounds. You must be centered in the tow tube.

 

[ChooChooSnakeMan]

A Super Mabel will handle 510 lbs (rated) and will probably handle a bit more than that but I didn't say it. I purchased a Super Mabel last year and our grandkids love it. The Super Mabel is for 1 to 3 riders and the handles are set up so that a single person could ride in the middle and be fine. It is a very comfortable ride but if pulled aggressively with tight turns it can get exciting. I pull it with a 380 hp 26 1/2' bowrider and I will say that when I have (3) people on it and I'm in a steep low speed turn the drag is pretty big. It takes a lot of horsepower. Straight line towing with gentle curves require much less power. We love the Super Mabel but the drawback is that it is a really big tube. It takes up all the room across the swim platform on my boat and my boat is fairly wide. Another issue is that it is so big and heavy that to inflate it on the boat and be able to handle it to get to all the inflation points is kind of a pain. For this upcoming boating season I'm going to try to pre-inflate it at home, strap it in the back of my truck, take it to the boat storage place (I trailer the boat about 5 miles to the lake) and strap it on the back of the boat. I'm not sure how that will work but that's the plan. I'm tempted to purchase the Big Mabel which is for 1 or 2 riders because it is lighter, easier to handle in the boat, and will give us room on the swim platform to get on and off the boat without having to step on / over a tube. One drawback to the Big Mabel is it is rated for only 340 lbs. Good luck.