Boat/engine size advice

ICJBRIX · 03 July 2018, 05:44

Hello all
I’m looking for advice and recommendations.
We live in west wales and are looking for a rib that will accommodate 2-6 people, mainly 2, occasionally 2 up plus 3 dogs
Easy to launch and recover
What engine/boat size would you recommend for towing a skier, knee board, wake etc weighing 15 stone.
Many thanks
Ian

simonl · 03 July 2018, 06:46

It's the 15 stone skier that will heavily influence engine size. Mono skiing or pair?

beamishken · 03 July 2018, 09:01

Mono skiing minimum 40hp on a light boat say 3.8- 4m ish if pairs then 30hp will do but more is always better
Obviously very cozy with 6 people in that size of boat even if you can find one rated to 6 bodies

simonl · 03 July 2018, 09:34

I would struggle to enjoy skiing behind anything under 70Hp. You can mitigate lack of power by doing wonky starts or dry starts & changing skiing technique, but it requires more skill at each end of the rope. I have a 16ft ski boat with 150Hp 2 stroke, which is probably at the top end of power to weight ratios. Get 4 big blokes in it with a deep water mono start then I wouldn't want to go much smaller.

beamishken · 03 July 2018, 10:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonl

I would struggle to enjoy skiing behind anything under 70Hp. You can mitigate lack of power by doing wonky starts or dry starts & changing skiing technique, but it requires more skill at each end of the rope. I have a 16ft ski boat with 150Hp 2 stroke, which is probably at the top end of power to weight ratios. Get 4 big blokes in it with a deep water mono start then I wouldn't want to go much smaller.

As I said 40 as a minimum. But i dissagree that you cant enjoy skiing behind smaler engines. we have a 3.8m rib with a 40 yam and I can deepwater start cleanly every time and I come up with both feet in the binders which gives the boat more to do. My daughter wakeboards behind it too with no problem.
We spent years skiing behind 13-17ft ski boats with 50 - 85hp we could lift 3 skiers on combos with an 85 yamaha also used to go two up when teaching a newbie to talk them through the technique.
Many people happily ski with low power outfits
My bag is slalom skiing so I prefer a flat wake so always turf the lard arses out the boat.
Go back 30- 40 years to when skiing was in its hay day and where we used to ski if you had a 50 or 60hp you had a big engine
The trick is if you want to run a small engine you need a small boat maxed out on hp
We also have a 7.4m delta with 240hp but if its an afternoon playing with the toys we take the little boat

simonl · 03 July 2018, 11:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by beamishken

As I said 40 as a minimum. But i dissagree that you cant enjoy skiing behind smaler engines. we have a 3.8m rib with a 40 yam and I can deepwater start cleanly every time and I come up with both feet in the binders which gives the boat more to do. My daughter wakeboards behind it too with no problem.
We spent years skiing behind 13-17ft ski boats with 50 - 85hp we could lift 3 skiers on combos with an 85 yamaha also used to go two up when teaching a newbie to talk them through the technique.
Many people happily ski with low power outfits
My bag is slalom skiing so I prefer a flat wake so always turf the lard arses out the boat.
Go back 30- 40 years to when skiing was in its hay day and where we used to ski if you had a 50 or 60hp you had a big engine
The trick is if you want to run a small engine you need a small boat maxed out on hp
We also have a 7.4m delta with 240hp but if its an afternoon playing with the toys we take the little boat

Don't really disagree with any of that. I'm just over 15 stone & could probably get up behind your rig too. I have little doubt I could also apply bad technique in the start & make it fail miserably in pulling me up. If your rig could tow me at 32mph I would enjoy skiing behind it, but I wouldn't recommend it as a sensible ski boat, from the skier's perspective or the driver's as I'd expect to be pulling it all over the place. If the OP asked for the smallest boat possible for skiing then I'd agree with your suggestion.
I should add that I have very little experience in skiing behind ribs though. In non-rib terms, I would suggest a min of 15ft & 70 hp. Over the years I think everyone I know with a smaller boat who has enjoyed skiing has got frustrated & moved up to this minimum level. How this translates in the rib world though I'm keen to understand.

beamishken · 03 July 2018, 11:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonl

Don't really disagree with any of that. I'm just over 15 stone & could probably get up behind your rig too. I have little doubt I could also apply bad technique in the start & make it fail miserably in pulling me up. If your rig could tow me at 32mph I would enjoy skiing behind it, but I wouldn't recommend it as a sensible ski boat, from the skier's perspective or the driver's as I'd expect to be pulling it all over the place. If the OP asked for the smallest boat possible for skiing then I'd agree with your suggestion.
I should add that I have very little experience in skiing behind ribs though. In non-rib terms, I would suggest a min of 15ft & 70 hp. Over the years I think everyone I know with a smaller boat who has enjoyed skiing has got frustrated & moved up to this minimum level. How this translates in the rib world though I'm keen to understand.

As I said i was qouting minimum hp and sizes and my origional post did say more is better. Realy need the op to come back with his thoughts.
Im 13 stone and happily ski at 28-30 as my comfortable speed for recreation your at the upper end of speed range, 34 being the max competition speed. I also used to enjoy trix which is done at 15mph,
Yes i can drag the boat around and inevitably everyone goes larger with their boats. Often cost, storage and towing capacity dictate what people buy as a first boat the op also asked for easy handling which suggests smaller.
I always say you get more smiles per £ from a small boat than you do with a large boat
The important thing is to get out and enjoy being on the water in what you can manage and afford

ICJBRIX · 07 July 2018, 05:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by simonl

It's the 15 stone skier that will heavily influence engine size. Mono skiing or pair?

Hi Simon
Mono skiing

jonp · 07 July 2018, 06:08

For pulling skiers out of the water it's far less important about top end speed and more important for quick acceleration. A small engine propped correctly should be quite capable of getting the big fella up and out, four blades also help for quicker thrust and towing. It's not that difficult to have two different pitch props for different occasions, I use a prop lock which is a much quicker way of swapping props than messing with stainless split pins etc. A prop lock is also worth having if you think some thieves might knock off your prop.

As for boat size, there simply isn't much room in most small ribs, even my 550 pro is greatly lacking in space even though I can legally carry 12 people. Personaly I wouldn't look at anything under 4.7m for what you are asking of it.

Last Tango · 07 July 2018, 07:13

Back in my "Dateline, Fletcher, Glastron" days, 5mtr (we used to call it 16ft) around 70hp was pretty much the norm. My 13" Dell Quay with it's 40hp would pull a skier but I'm pretty confident it wouldn't deep-start a mono. The 15ft Fletcher Stratos dory with a 75hp would.
For "combo" you have to look at 15hp just for the skier so if you take the minimum to get the boat planing you'd have to add 15hp for the skier..I'd guess twice that for a Mono.

Regards ease of launching. "Hand balling" anything with even with a 40hp across a beach ain't going to be fun so if you're slip launching with a car, size doesn't make much difference it's 90% down to trailer setup. (and having a plan)

beamishken · 07 July 2018, 12:39

Think a bit more info from the op would help with narrowing down a reccomendation.
Budget ,storage facilities, launch sites, no of people around to assist with launching, tow car and driving licence entitlement will all have an influence on what is best

ICJBRIX · 08 July 2018, 08:04

Thanks for the advice, how much chain and warp would I require for 5 meter rib anchoring close to shore?
Thanks in advance

pilotwillie · 08 July 2018, 10:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by ICJBRIX

Thanks for the advice, how much chain and warp would I require for 5 meter rib anchoring close to shore?

Thanks in advance

Sounds like you maybe could / should do some basic web searching and reading first. As simple as anchoring is, there are a fair few variables involved which would change the advice given.