slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

[iskiglass]

Hi, I have a good boat for skiing but a new neighbor moved in with a really nice waverunner. With a high output 260 Horse power it will obviously drag me for a slalom ride.

But I am wondering how it will handle a good slalom skiier etc if he is a good driver to compensate for the pull. I am not talking about going through a course but just hoping to get a good set of turns.

Anyone try this with any success? Advice?

 

[Silverbullet555]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

It will pull the skill around. The ski has no skegs, no outdrive, nothing in the water to really keep it tracking.

Not saying it will be unacceptable, but it will pull it during a good cut.

 

[skibrain]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

I've done a fair amount of slalom skiing (and a barefoot run!) behind a late 90's SeaDoo XP. I dunno these were around 110 or 120 hp I think, and not known as a stable towing PWC by any means. Popped me right up and had plenty of pulling power. Yes I could make it absolutely miserable for the driver by pulling hard when really wide. Keeping the skiing fairly "narrow" it was a lot of fun. Very flat foamy wake that was easy to ski through. I thought it was like skiing on a big bungee cord - very easy on the body. As you load the ski rope, the PWC slows, but accelerates back up to speed quicker than a boat. I suppose we skied faster to compensate (37 mph?) and the speed was bouncing down to 31-32 for a 34 avg.

I liked it better than a bunch of I/Os I've tried to ski behind.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

Well, while holding speed (especially through turns) will be a chore and holding a truly straight track is almost impossible with a skier pulling hard on the rope, it's still fun and very doable. The high-HP of what I assume is a Kawasaki 260X will be a benefit to quicker throttle responses for speed changes. However, as a skier, it becomes a little disconcerting when you pull hard on the line and can feel the jetski pull WITH you, lol. In any case, the wake is easy to cut through and makes for good fun.

 

[iskiglass]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

Great. That is pretty much what I expected to hear. Sounds like if you stay narrow and do quick turns it should be fun! I grew up skiing on underpowered boats I could practically steer around the lake... I look forward to trying
it. My new neighbor is a merchant marine and just shipped off for a couple months so it will have to be in the spring, unless we have a really warm spell during the winter. I have a wetsuit and will report back if I remember to.

I believe it is the Kawasaki 260X. I rode it and it gets up to the legal limit of 72MPH very quickly!!! Very cool.

 

[skibrain]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

Could probably pull three slalom skiers up with that Kaw.
With the old XP it was NO FUN to DRIVE while pulling a skier.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

I believe it is the Kawasaki 260X. I rode it and it gets up to the legal limit of 72MPH very quickly!!! Very cool.

If you like that, Kawasaki has a 300X out now (yes, it's got 300HP). That ought to help pull your arms out of their sockets if the need arrises.

 

[skibrain]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

hmm, so a 300X @ 1018.7 lb weighs just about the same as my last ski boat (725 lb hull with 340 lb outboard).

 

[oldjeep]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

I've skied behind our Seadoo RXP a couple times 215 HP which is 80hp more than my boat . Has no trouble getting me out of the water and keeping speed, but you can really feel the back end getting dragged around when you cut.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: slalom behind a 260 HP PWC? Will a good cut steer the waverunner?

hmm, so a 300X @ 1018.7 lb weighs just about the same as my last ski boat (725 lb hull with 340 lb outboard).

Probably pretty close, only less surface area to create drag and better weight balance.