Wake Board vs Ski boat

[hibbert6]

It's been awhile since I bought a boat, and since then I've seen a proliferation of Wakeboard boats. (Apparently they're good at creating a big wake?) As my wife and I waterski, and we have a 9 year old son who will probably want to wakeboard, I'm curious about whether or not a "wakeboard boat" is decent for waterskiing, too? We're not competetive skiers, but we do like slalom skiing and rooster tails!

So, I guess what I'm asking is, if I found a good used wakeboard boat, would it likely be good for skiing, too? (I'm not talking Malibu or Tige, here. They're waaaay out of my price range!

Dave

 

[lrdchaos]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Most runabouts work grood for both, sometimes you have to work with weight placement in the boat to find where your boat makes the largest waves.

 

[dcg9381]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Modern skiiers (and wakeboarders) are spoiled.. Gone are the days of waiting for the boat to hit plane so it can pull you out of the water... An inboard board boat produces enough lift at the propeller to really get the boat and skiier up quickly.

The main difference between the two boats purposes is the size of the wake. Wakeboarders want a big wake, a true skiier wants a small wake. There are various ways to get the wake you want - but the most obvious is weight. Wake board boats can be great ski boats if they can dump ballast.. And inboard ski boats can be good wake boats with the help of ballast tanks or add-ins like a "fat sack".

Runabouts can do both, but they can't compete with the ability to get hit plane off idle and tug a ton-o-skiier out of the water.

If you're going to use a runabout as a do-everything boat, I'd get one with a V8 - that way you can use ballast / trim if you need it, carry passengers, and still haul a skier without issue.

 

[OhWellcraft]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

There are subtle differences in hull design but not enough for most to notice. Usually the difference is a tower and ballast(weight) for wake boats. Ski boats generally dont have ballast or a tower rather a pylon thats lower but pulls from the middle of the boat. As stated above an I/O runabout with a v-8 may be the best all around you could have a tower put on it and maybe some fat sacks if needed for bigger wakes. I am a avid slalom skier and have been for years right now Im using a 20' cuddy(more for the 2 small kids) it has a 235 hp outboard on it its nice to ski behind cause when trimmed up the wake is quite small and it's plenty powerful to pull out. Plus when I pull wakeboarders once they are up I have people sit in back and work with the trim and can get a pretty big wake out of it. Good luck which ever way you go....

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

a good bow rider or deckboat, can serve dual purpose, with the correct load placement, and use of the trim on the motor. wakeboarding move passengers to the stern, skiing move some to the bow. i love my deck boat.

 

[CaptChris]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Take a MasterCraft X9, that you have a great wake for slalom, fill the tanks and you have a great wake for boarding, plus it has an open bow, so great for family trips.

This boat you can find used for a great price, engine is strong, and not drinking to much, check it out you will love them

Chris Mol

 

[convergent]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

T I am a avid slalom skier and have been for years right now Im using a 20' cuddy(more for the 2 small kids) it has a 235 hp outboard on it its nice to ski behind cause when trimmed up the wake is quite small and it's plenty powerful to pull out. Plus when I pull wakeboarders once they are up I have people sit in back and work with the trim and can get a pretty big wake out of it. Good luck which ever way you go....

I have a 20' Fish and Ski with a 200HP Mercury outboard and we have been doing both slalom skiing and wakeboarding with the pylon. I think my one daughter is reaching the point wakeboarding where we might get a taller pylon for that, but I wouldn't want to ski from a tower, and for tubing we go to the transom hooks and a harness. I pull two of my kids slalom skiing together without any difficulty. We used to watch a ski team up in NY regularly and they actually used an outboard boat when they were pulling the big numbers of skiers at the same time... not sure why as I've never had an inboard. They also had an inboard they used in the show, but not for the big pulls. I think it depends a bit on how far you want to go with each sport. I see boats of all shapes and sizes on the lake pulling wakeboarders and I see them doing tricks, big air, etc. There is a video floating around her somewhere of a guy doing amazing wakeboarding tricks behind an old tri-hull runabout, so its not required to have a massive $60K wakeboard boat to make it happen. Our boat's wake seems to be fine for slalom skiing at the recreation level that I'm at, and by shortening the rope and slowing down, my one daughter can almost jump completely across the wake on a wakeboard.

It seems to me that wakeboarding is the "fad" right now. My kids have learned to slalom ski recreationally this summer and love it. They both can wakeboard too, but more often than not they pick up the ski first when its their turn. When their friends come with us, they always say they want to wakeboard, but it seems to take longer for most people to get stable on that vs. throwing on a pair of combos and I could have them up in 2 or 3 tugs and they can ski after that. I don't push it, but it just seems like they all gravitate towards wakeboarding nearly every time because it looks cool to them I guess.

 

[SeanT]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Wakeboarding is only a fad if you think fads last 20 years or longer. (25 years if you include skurfing, etc).

Having said that, I think learning to ski is important, but not vital. I learned to wakeboard before I learned to ski. In fact, it helped.

Also, I've seen the video you are referring to and that guy was doing super tight flips off that small wake. He was EXTREMELY skillful and not many people can do that. Also, kids on wakeboards want to fly through the air. It's fun, even if the big loopy jumps aren't terribly exciting to watch, it sure feels like you're flying.

At the end of the day though, I think a runabout will do fine. It might also help you decide that you want a specific kind of boat for the activities you end up doing.

 

[convergent]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

I didn't mean that wakeboarding was new, or was going to go away when I said it was a "fad". Probably a poor choice of words on my part, and hopefully I didn't offend any wakeboarders. I just meant that a lot of younger people are not learning how to ski these days and going solely with wakeboarding instead. I think the same is true in winter sports on the slopes with snowboarding vs. skiing. I am trying to encourage my kids to learn all of them. In some cases, going back and forth helped them learn quicker I think.

 

[SeanT]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Understood.

My uncle made (made!) my cousins learn how to slalom first before they were allowed to strap on a wakeboard. My uncles and dad have skiied slalom their entire lives.

Myself and my brothers are unusually big so all we ever did was kneeboard. I just started wakeboarding last year. When we were younger we couldn't pull ourselves up on skiis and gave up early.

 

[skibrain]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

The original post was dated February 2008.
Maybe Dave made a decision by now, or maybe he's just waiting out the fad.

 

[SeanT]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Bah - it's tough to see that when newbies come in and dredge up old threads like that.

 

[sethjon]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Modern skiiers (and wakeboarders) are spoiled.. Gone are the days of waiting for the boat to hit plane so it can pull you out of the water... An inboard board boat produces enough lift at the propeller to really get the boat and skiier up quickly.

The main difference between the two boats purposes is the size of the wake. Wakeboarders want a big wake, a true skiier wants a small wake. There are various ways to get the wake you want - but the most obvious is weight. Wake board boats can be great ski boats if they can dump ballast.. And inboard ski boats can be good wake boats with the help of ballast tanks or add-ins like a "fat sack".

Runabouts can do both, but they can't compete with the ability to get hit plane off idle and tug a ton-o-skiier out of the water.

If you're going to use a runabout as a do-everything boat, I'd get one with a V8 - that way you can use ballast / trim if you need it, carry passengers, and still haul a skier without issue.

I agree up til the end. My son just bought aboat and I told him the same thing but he wanted to save money and got a 4.3. Last weekend he pulled me skiing and it was fine with 4 in the boat. It surprised me.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

The original post was dated February 2008.
Maybe Dave made a decision by now, or maybe he's just waiting out the fad.

Some old threads just refuse to die.

 

[sethjon]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

It's been awhile since I bought a boat, and since then I've seen a proliferation of Wakeboard boats. (Apparently they're good at creating a big wake?) As my wife and I waterski, and we have a 9 year old son who will probably want to wakeboard, I'm curious about whether or not a "wakeboard boat" is decent for waterskiing, too? We're not competetive skiers, but we do like slalom skiing and rooster tails!

So, I guess what I'm asking is, if I found a good used wakeboard boat, would it likely be good for skiing, too? (I'm not talking Malibu or Tige, here. They're waaaay out of my price range!

Dave

I do both and unless you're an expert nobody could tell the difference.

 

[hibbert6]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

The original post was dated February 2008.
Maybe Dave made a decision by now, or maybe he's just waiting out the fad.

No, I'm still looking - but ready to buy! It's a weird feeling - cash in hand, not a lot of boats for sale (at least not late model boats) and it's winter, (almost) so no hurry.

It will probably be an outboard, 18-19', "runabout" bow rider. I'd love a deck boat but they're rare here in Northern California. I check Craigslist far too frequently and I'm ready to jump when the right boat comes along!

Dave

 

[Liledgy]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Dave, to me the best boat for the money is a stars and stripes mastercraft. They offer so much more value than any other boat to fit your needs. Plenty of power, 10,000 of them out there, RELIABLE, easy to work on, plenty of cheap parts available, etc.. Your not gonna find a easier boat to drive, trailer or load. If you decide to upgrade selling it will be no problem.
Of course I'm biased I've owned them for well over 25 years. They still turn heads. By far the best boat for the money!

 

[Gromulin]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

No, I'm still looking - but ready to buy! It's a weird feeling - cash in hand, not a lot of boats for sale (at least not late model boats) and it's winter, (almost) so no hurry.

It will probably be an outboard, 18-19', "runabout" bow rider. I'd love a deck boat but they're rare here in Northern California. I check Craigslist far too frequently and I'm ready to jump when the right boat comes along!

Dave

I feel your pain! I spent 3 months on CL looking for the "right" boat. Tons of underpowered 18' bowriders, but nothing big enough for a family. I've got 2 kids, and it will always be the 4 of us, and probably at LEAST 2 more. Once you get past 4 people and gear, you need something in the 20' range (or larger) with a V8, unless you want to be tripping over each other all day.

I finally found mine using this site called "craiglook"...I think they changed their name since, but if you google it you'll probably find it.

Here's why it's cool: It takes in RSS feeds from all the CL's within a given area, lets you set search parameters (like manufacturer, price range, or other keywords) and then sends you a summary email every morning with everything new that matches. Save a heck of a lot of time searching different CL areas. I'm in Sacramento area, so in a 120 mile radius I got all the Bay area, Stockton, Chico and Reno feeds.

Do your homework, have cash IN HAND and be ready to be quick...the good deals go fast. I missed 3 boats because I was the second or third caller. Divorce sales (hate to say it...) are usually the best deals.

 

[larry1167]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

I would suggest looking at a Sanger TX. You can get one for about 5K or less. I have one and it's a great all around boat. It's a V8 I/O and is very powerful, yet efficient due to it's low freeboard and ability to trim. Slalom wake is great and when you want to wakeboard you adjust the trim and it will throw a nice wake. These boats are also very fun to drive. They fly for a competition ski boat... 55mph+.

Look for one with the L shaped seating configuration. It seats 6-8 pretty easily. The only thing you will have to give up is the open bow which may be a deal killer.

 

[hibbert6]

Re: Wake Board vs Ski boat

Dave, to me the best boat for the money is a stars and stripes mastercraft. They offer so much more value than any other boat to fit your needs. Plenty of power, 10,000 of them out there, RELIABLE, easy to work on, plenty of cheap parts available, etc.. !

I have 2 concerns :

1. I've been told by some that the competition ski boats - Mastercraft, Centurian, Sanger - don't make good "family" boats...that they're a bit too specialized, with the engine in the middle, center pull for the rope, etc. Opinions, please?

2. Here in California these boats command about 50% more for a 10 year old boat than an equivilent Crownline, Reinell, Seaswirl, etc.. Worth it? Convince me, please!

Dave