View Full Version : Minimum H.P. for skiing?
PaFisherman.
05-27-2001, 07:40 PM
I have a 16 foot fiberglass boat. I am looking into getting a bigger motor for it. I am just wondering what would be the lowest H.P. engine that could successfully pull a water skiier? The most my boat can handle is an 85 H.P. How would that pull a water skiier?
Fin Addict
05-27-2001, 08:52 PM
Depends on the weight of the boat and what you have in it. I have skied behind a 14' basic aluminum w/ a 30 HP. Can get up on a single ski behind my 50 now, so I'd say 85 HP would be plenty.
Fritz
05-29-2001, 06:21 PM
Genreal rule of thumb is to try to max out horsepower or be at least over 80% of the max HP rating for your boat.
Good luck,
Fritz
We have skied behind a 15-16 foot fiberglass boat with 85 hp (old rating, so probably more like 75hp) Force engine, and it skied just fine for anybody about kid sized to 200 pounds.
If the skier is getting real good and cuts like crazy, they will be able to slow the boat some.
Try to find a 2 stoke that uses the new HP rating system that maxes your rating and you'll be fine!
Good luck!
Box
When you mention 16ft fiberglass, I'm sort of assuming an older 70's open-bow tri-hull runabout like a Chrysler or Glastron.
I had one of those (a 16' Chrysler) with a 50HP -- if your skier was experienced (and not too big) I could get them up, but you really need about 75HP (85HP if you can find one) for that style of boat.
Hans
We used to ski behind a 14' boat with a 25hp Mariner :-)
Best Regards,
FJH
I learned how to ski behind a 1957 or 1958-- 16H.P. mercury.At the time I weighed 90# wet.