Slalom wakes comparison

The boat is purpose built for skiing. It is as light as possible with no frills. The motor is a carb Johnson 150 which weighs 370 pounds. It is the later model 60 degree "eagle" motor which has as much power and thrust as the pylon can handle. It uses a wedge for maximum trim range. There is nothing on the boat that is not needed for skiing.

The pylon is as low as possible and further forward than the stock outboard pylon for better tracking. I also use custom propellers for maximum slow speed stability, thrust, and minimum bow lift.

My motor is also modified for better throttle response and speed control.

jim

 

I like your thinking. Mass is the enemy of performance in most cases.
Sorry I wasn't clear. What kind of skiing?

36 mph shortline slalom?
Free skiing slalom?
42 mph footing?
Lower speed tricking?
Swivel? (I read on here someone talking about constant 16 mph - I assume that is a swivel thing)

 

Most of my towing is for my daughter swivel skiing. I have never pulled a heavy aggressive short line slalom skier or a barefooter, although I have pulled recreational slalom skiers. The boat is perfectly able to pull barefooters and there are members here that have pulled multifooters with an 18.

It would be interesting to see if it could be set up for short line slalom. The boat has a 6 ft beam so it could be an issue. The key to it is to get the tow point into the proper relationship with the hydrodynamic center of pressure for roll control. The bottom line is that the only way you are going to know is to ski behind one. I will say that compared to the rest of the Dyne line the 18 is a bonafide hotrod.

There is a member here that has adapted perfect pass to a push for power outboard. I think he is a slalom skier but I don't remember who he is. You might do a search for perfect pass and find him.

jim

 

I find recrecational freeskiing long-line (75') is less of an issue for me even when towing from my pylon (set up to clear my V4 Johnson 120). But when at 22 or 28 off, I am coming up much higher on the boat. When I am way wide, I am free of the boat and not loading the line, but as I hook up and accelerate, it is at enough of an angle so that it creates a lot of sideways leverage with the pylon. and really rocks. Dropping down to tow 6" above water line with a bridal off the transom eyes fixes that, but it is sort of a hassle for rope management.

The transom wedges are an elegant solution (simple, inexpensive) With additional tuck, I can hold a nice bow-level plane at 14 mph or so. Sort of unusual for a V-hull.

Again, thanks for your input. I'll report back if I get over to do a test drive/ski the 17.6.

 

Doesn't the stern hook up pull the stern around?

I had an 18 foot Ebbtide Campione outboard that would plane like that too.

jim

 

Well, it's an 1100# boat so, yes to some extent. And the speed dips up and down between about 37 + and 34 - so the overall experience is sort of a soft pull. Much easier on the body than a 3,000# inboard running perfect pass.

 

If you go ski behind the 17.6 I would suggest that you tie the rope as low as possible on the pylon to give the boat every chance to do the job. If that does not work, I would try a 20 Dyne with a 200 big block or 225 or bigger. If you go with a Merc, it should be fairly easy to adapt a perfect pass to it since the Merc pulls for power like an inboard.

jim

 

Just my $0.02:

Don't buy a hydrodyne outboard or i/o for slalom courses....they are not a good combination, period. We started out with my 1975 18' i/o and have since moved on to a 2004 natique, a 2000 malibu lxi, and a 2007 mastercraft in the circle of friends (all equiped with perfect pass) and these hulls will run circles around my boat for course skiing.

The skier will always win (yank the boat and driver around) with the combination of stern drives and rear mounted pylons. Ther is something wrong when the driver is always correcting the steerage to get back to the centerline of the coarse and it is amplified two fold with outboards and i/o's. My i/o is great for open water training sets but thats about it.

I have the same hull as Jim with an i/o, low profile pylon (mounted foward over the tracking fin) and its a SOB to hold in a slalom course with an aggressive slalom skier. An outboard with a lighter motor configuration on the transom would be sheer hell on a driver trying to keep it in the course and would break friendships with those skiing, guarenteed.

If you wand to have optimum performance in the course, the inboards serve you best....if you are looking to open water ski and do some boating, buy an open bow with an inboard, i/o, or out board with the wake characteristics that serve your line length.

Cheers!

Kevin

 

I hear you. So do you still do any free skiing behind your boat? or is it collecting cob webs because no one (you included? )wants to slalom with/behind you given the alternatives?

If skiing the course, am with any of my ski network that includes. 4 Malibus LX or LXi and an MC197. I am somewhere between selling my boat - which I may do this summer, and upgrading to something that is more satisfying/unique to own myself without having $20-45K in an inboard.

While I have kids around ( ages 14,16, 20) I'd like to have something that works for pulling them (or invitiing their friends to have sometimes 4 in the boat and one in the water) and still something I can enjoy free skiing behind.