Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

[gilbugs]

I have a Sea Ray Seville Mid Cabin 21ft with a 3.7L Mercruiser and was wondering if anyone has the same or a similar boat and pulls a skier? The boat is slow out of the hole but once it planes out runs about 32 mph at top speed. I have not attempted to pull anyone with it yet and was planning on trying this coming weekend. Any thoughts

DG

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

I'm sure you could, but that's a lot of boat for a 3.7L. I would put any ballast/passengers in the bow or as far forward as you can to help the boat plane out. If the skier is light or at least experienced, they can drag in the water longer until they have enough speed to stand up.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

Maybe, it depends on what you consider skiing. Wake is going to suck for any kind of skiing, but if you mean on 2 skiis then you should be able to - if you mean one ski then there is pretty much no way if your top is only 32 you have to be going flat out for a reasonable slalom speed.

 

[gilbugs]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

Thanks for the responses and that is what I was afraid of. I was thinking two skiis for now just to see how the boat pulls. I will let you know how we make out.

DG

 

[Ithica DB]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

Speed out of the hole is reative to size of skiier and compatance level. I can get up with two skis behind a 25Hp boat. My boat is is 190hp 18' but I lose alot because the front comes up till plane.
The higher you hook the better it will be.

 

[QC]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

The boat is slow out of the hole

I think your answer is right there. Maybe prop down?

 

[rallyart]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

I have an 18' Grew with the 470 and have pulled many a skier out on a single ski. My top speed is 41.
It is a lot of work to get up on a single ski behind my boat but putting on a foil to cut out the bow rise was a huge improvement in the time to get up. Still a lot of work. Your boat is quite a bit heavier. Pulling up a wakeboarder or someone on two skis is not a big problem. I run a 21" pitch 4 blade prop. I've run a 1i7" aluminum on it and that helps but not as much as finding a way to get rid of bow rise did. My engine could seriously overrev with the 17 on it. Again, your hull will be different.
Keep what weight you have forward. Don't run with the tank full. Try starting at a faster idle before you 'hit it' if the skier is experienced and they are on a slalom ski.

 

[gilbugs]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

Rallyart and QC,

Thanks for the suggestions. My boat has hydraulic trim tabs that helps a great deal with the bow rise especially when taking off. I am still learning to fine tune the adjustments as they are tempermental. I don't know if there will be too much slalom skiing done but I do need to take a look at the prop and see if that will help.

DG

 

[gilbugs]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

Ithica DB,

It has been a while but I used to be able to hang on for a while to let a boat get up enough speed to pull me up on a slalom ski so I know what you mean about a skiier's competence level.

DG

 

[gilbugs]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

We ran this boat this past weekend and pulled a tube with two adults with absolutely no problem. I attempted to ski with two skiis and felt like the boat had plenty of power but I was rusty and never did get up on the skiis. The wife was driving the boat and became frustrated so I gave it for this outing after a couple of attempts.

 

[gilbugs]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

I have an Update: I was able to ski on two skiis without any problem behind my boat. Once I knock the rust off I believe I will be able slalom if I have enough patience. On tow skiis, I popped right out of the water!

 

[89mercruiser]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

Great you got up on. I tried water skiing behind our boat. 17ft arrowglass with a 3.0 mercruiser. We run a 17p prop and my dad has 15.5 for it also which is currently on the boat. With the 15.5 it will overrev easily.

 

[gilbugs]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

Yeah, I was happy. We had the grandson up for a few seconds, he is just too impatient and pulls himself ahead of the boat and then topples over when the rope goes a little slack. To hear him tell it he stayed up for an hour:>)

 

[Skidaddle]

Re: Does my Merc 470 3.7L 170 HP have enough power to pull a skier?

Maybe try starting on 2 and dropping one once u get the boat up to speed. Enjoy!