How to tow multiple skiiers?

[ianrgordon4898]

Hey all. I am vacationing on the finger lakes and want to tow multiple skiiers behind my Tahoe Q4 135 hp 3.0 l mercruiser alpha one. Is that enough power? Also, how do you do it? No wakeboard tower, but eye hook. Should I do dock start? How to tie ropes on? Thanks!

 

[jkust]

Re: How to tow multiple skiiers?

Sure it is plenty of power for deepwater starting a couple of skiers on two skis. They many not jump out of the water but we grew up pulling multiple with a lot less power with no issues. Hook the ropes on the ski eye and have at it. The loops should be on the tow ropes already. The hard part is dealing with when one falls and one doesn't and using what we called the hot pick up where the boat never actually stops to pick up the fallen skier. Things go a lot faster when you never stop and circle.

 

[skibrain]

Re: How to tow multiple skiiers?

We tow multiple skiers off the transom eyes to get the pull closer to the waterline. Either split the ropes between the two eyes or we use the heavy duty harness/bridle typically reserved for pulling the big tubes. Attache that to the transom eyes and then all the tow ropes come off that - just a lot of connections to make in one spot.

We've always done deep water starts. If you have a two or three experienced skiers I'd go for the doc start. To minimize drag we have either put skiers in shortie wetsuits or TAPED swim trunk legs with duct tape. It is best if ropes are the same length.

Have fun!

Line management. Lots of prep to get six ropes the same length, round up skis and get everything sorted out and ready to go. Six cousins behind 115 outboard followed by a July 4 tour of the lake.

5 cousins plus three adults a few years later. 150 outboard.

 

[likalar]

Re: How to tow multiple skiiers?

Great shots!

 

[skibrain]

Re: How to tow multiple skiiers?

Thanks. It can be a bit of a mess if (OK, when) everyone doesn't make it out of the water the first time.

 

[gjmsd]

Re: How to tow multiple skiiers?

We always did deep water starts with slalom skis for two of us and a merc 115 and 16' boat. We also like the ropes to be different lengths so we could cross but someone told me this isn't legal anymore (don't know for sure but to old to do what I did in my 20s).

Best advice is if one falls, continue pulling the other in a circle to drop them near the first. It's a real pain when you have two skiers down far apart.

Good luck, it is a lot of fun.

 

[Ithica DB]

Re: How to tow multiple skiiers?

This was pulled with twin 150 but has been pulled with single 200 You can do anything if the skiers can handle it.


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[skibrain]

Re: How to tow multiple skiiers?

Nice photo. I like the tow rope setup - looks like it took a while to get that rigged to the correct lengths.
Lots of dry-land practice!

 

[l008com]

Re: How to tow multiple skiiers?

We did multiples back in the day on a 15 footer with 90 HP. All the neighbors pooled their ski ropes and skiis. I think we all started on two skiis and dropped one, rather than starting on two. And I think we just put half the ropes on one hook, and half on the other. I think we did at least 3 skiiers, if not 4. It's hilarious and fun but its not something you're going to want to do very often. Its kind of a waste of ski time since you can't really do anything when you have other people standing right next to you.