Just sold my boat, now looking for another.............

[DYLBOSS]

So, I started my boating world about 4 years ago with a '96 21' Rinker 212 Captiva Cuddy. Loved the boat, and it served my wife and I very well over the years. Learned a ton of info thanks to this forum, and had a lot of great experiences.

We just bought a seasonal campsite on a lake in ME that only allows a maximum of 18ft boats. Time to downgrade.

I came across an interesting deal for a 1994 Marada that looks pretty clean. It only has a 115HP Merc in it, which was a little concerning to me. I've only ever seen 3.0 135HP Mercs in these smaller boats. I'm wondering if that will be enough HP to do some good wakeboarding/tubing/skiing? Seems like very little HP for a 2500 lb boat. I also don't have any experience with Marada, and where they are out of business I get a little anxious.

Thoughts?

 

[DYLBOSS]

Re: Just sold my boat, now looking for another.............

So, I started my boating world about 4 years ago with a '96 21' Rinker 212 Captiva Cuddy. Loved the boat, and it served my wife and I very well over the years. Learned a ton of info thanks to this forum, and had a lot of great experiences.

We just bought a seasonal campsite on a lake in ME that only allows a maximum of 18ft boats. Time to downgrade.

I came across an interesting deal for a 1994 Marada that looks pretty clean. It only has a 115HP Merc in it, which was a little concerning to me. I've only ever seen 3.0 135HP Mercs in these smaller boats. I'm wondering if that will be enough HP to do some good wakeboarding/tubing/skiing? Seems like very little HP for a 2500 lb boat. I also don't have any experience with Marada, and where they are out of business I get a little anxious.

Thoughts?

Bump...... Anyone??

 

[Mason78]

Re: Just sold my boat, now looking for another.............

I'm not familiar with Marada, but I have been on a number of boats with the 3.0. IMO it is under powered for anything other than cruising, even on a 18' boat.
I would look for something with at least the 4.3.

Have you considered something with an outboard? I have seen 18' bowriders with 115-150hp outboards. The power to weight ratio is more favorable with an outboard. You may get better performance with the same horse power.

 

[dan02gt]

Re: Just sold my boat, now looking for another.............

I can't speak to the exact model you're looking at but one of my co-workers has a Bayliner 185 with the 135HP 3.0. It weighs ~2300 lbs and he has no problem pulling a tube. I have never seen anyone ski or wakeboard behind it but I don't see why it couldn't do it.

 

[airshot]

Re: Just sold my boat, now looking for another.............

Due to the way they are positioned on the rear of the boat, an OB will perform better than an equal hp I/O. I am an I/o fan myself but primarily for the fuel economy, however a 115 OB will perform as good or better than a 135hp I/O on the same boat. If you plan on running constantly at wot, then you need a 2stroke ob, 4 stroke engines do not like running at wot for long periods of time as it will shorten there life considerably.

 

[Mason78]

Re: Just sold my boat, now looking for another.............

I have never seen anyone ski or wakeboard behind it but I don't see why it couldn't do it.

My family spends a good deal of time skiing. The problem is getting out of the hole quickly enough. I'm not saying it will not work, but it will be difficult for beginners and frustrating for experienced skiers.

 

[dan02gt]

Re: Just sold my boat, now looking for another.............

My family spends a good deal of time skiing. The problem is getting out of the hole quickly enough. I'm not saying it will not work, but it will be difficult for beginners and frustrating for experienced skiers.

Throw a 17 or 19 pitch High-5 prop on it and it will get them out the water.

Another option would be a bass boat based fish and ski. You can get them with 150 HP outboards. The Stratos 486fs with a Mercury Optimax 150 Pro XS (about 170hp) would be a good example. Prop it right and no problems pulling a skier and run 45-50 on the top end.

 

[DYLBOSS]

Re: Just sold my boat, now looking for another.............

Throw a 17 or 19 pitch High-5 prop on it and it will get them out the water.

Another option would be a bass boat based fish and ski. You can get them with 150 HP outboards. The Stratos 486fs with a Mercury Optimax 150 Pro XS (about 170hp) would be a good example. Prop it right and no problems pulling a skier and run 45-50 on the top end.

Thanks for the reply all. Helpful info.