On Wednesday, June 25, 2003 at 10:53:15 AM UTC-4, The Weasel wrote:

Hi guys, I have a question for some of you seasoned water-skiers. I am looking to buy a boat for some casual water-skiing...may look at an older boat...what is the minimum h.p. I need to be able to tow a skier (say, a 200 pound man)? Can I get by with a 50? or do I need at least a 60 or 70? I know that there are many variables involved, weight of skier, age of motor, hull design, etc. But your thoughts would be appreciated.

Another question, do you need more h.p. for slalom skiing? Or is it pretty much the same requirements as 2 skis.

Thanks for your help.

When I was in my early 20's and weighed about 130 lbs, I was pulled around behind a 15' runabout. There were two in the boat. The boat would struggle to get me out of the hole, but had little problem if I started from a sitting position on the dock.
Later on when I was in my late 20's, I bought a 16' Aluminum Starcraft with a 50hp Johnson motor. This boat could not lift a person over 200 lbs. out of the water. That is, until I purchased a new prop with a smaller pitch. After installing the new prop,
I could pull a 210 lb man out of the water. While a smaller pitch provided the power for pulling, it slowed the boats overall speed.

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On Wednesday, June 25, 2003 at 10:53:15 AM UTC-4, The Weasel wrote:

Hi guys, I have a question for some of you seasoned water-skiers. I am looking to buy a boat for some casual water-skiing...may look at an older boat...what is the minimum h.p. I need to be able to tow a skier (say, a 200 pound man)? Can I get by with a 50? or do I need at least a 60 or 70? I know that there are many variables involved, weight of skier, age of motor, hull design, etc. But your thoughts would be appreciated.

Another question, do you need more h.p. for slalom skiing? Or is it pretty much the same requirements as 2 skis.

Thanks for your help.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, June 25, 2003 at 10:53:15 AM UTC-4, The Weasel wrote:

Hi guys, I have a question for some of you seasoned water-skiers. I am looking to buy a boat for some casual water-skiing...may look at an older boat...what is the minimum h.p. I need to be able to tow a skier (say, a 200 pound man)? Can I get by with a 50? or do I need at least a 60 or 70? I know that there are many variables involved, weight of skier, age of motor, hull design, etc. But your thoughts would be appreciated.

Another question, do you need more h.p. for slalom skiing? Or is it pretty much the same requirements as 2 skis.

Thanks for your help.

Hi Weasel I have skied and boated for years. You could use a 70 hp and ski just fine.

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Hi guys im looking to buy a boat. Im 230 lbs and want to deep water start on Salomon ski. How much hp do i need to pop out of the water quickly?

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First of all, there are a lot of variables. But let's take a light 16' - 17' multi-chine v-hull. Shallow draft. Flat ride. No foam core like in a whaler or McKee. They're heavy. Assume you have a helmsman and a spotter, to be legal. You now have 3 adults
to move through the water. Call it 500 pounds to err on the heavy side. Go with a lighter 2-stroke instead of the heavier 4-stroke. The two stroke has more punch out of the pocket, too. Now think about skis. Trick skis, boards, concave slalom. Once you'
re up, it'no biggie, but getting up on a slalom start in a concave ski is a lot of drag. Hardest for the boat and motor. Taking that into consideration, ideal situation, I say 70 hp on the low end, 90 hp to be safe. You can get up and ski behind 50 or 60
hp, but it's no fun. You start cutting, and you'll find yourself sinking. What happens with the lower hp ob is that it has a small propeller, and as soon as you load it up, it loses its bite. That's the real problem. Like trying to pull a 50' triple axle
trailer with a pickup truck. You're fine on the straightaway, but wait until you get to a hill.

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