Boating and Boats
We bought an 18' Bayliner this summer, we have a jeep and did not want to get a big truck so boat size and weight was limited to the towing capacity of our jeep, max tow 3,500lbs.
Boat has a 115hp outboard, we ski behind it the wife can get up on a slalom ski no problem. I weight 185 and its a struggle, currently running a 16p 3 blade at Lake Powell 3,600' ABSL and I hit close to max rpm's with that prop. I can run wide open 5800rpm @ 38mph max rpm is 6000.
Considering a 15p 4 blade prop for better acceleration to get me up quicker and easier, not to concerned about losing a little top end speed.
Thoughts?
Talk to a reputable boat shop.
I replaced my old 3 blade with a new 3 blade, same pitch. The old blade was worn down 1/2 inch. What a difference.
I was considering changing to a 4 blade, but found lots of opinions online. So I played it safe and stuck with what I had.
Good Luck, and get back to us with how it worked for you.
Laker
Yep I did the online calculator the 15p x 4 blade is an option recommendation is to go down 1-2 pitches. . Just looking for some real world in-put if anyone has done this on a ski boat with a slightly under powered motor and if they got better performance for launch. From what I read on-line I will lose 2-4 mph on the top end which is fine.
Considering a 15p 4 blade prop for better acceleration to get me up quicker and easier, not to concerned about losing a little top end speed.Thoughts?
It may not be the prop, it may be in your technique. Do you try to come up with both feet in the ski? It sounds to me like this is what you are doing. If you drop your back foot out of the ski before take off and let it(your whole leg) drag in the water next to the ski, it acts like additional planing surface to reduce the effort needed to pull you up. Once the ski starts to plane and comes onto the surface, straighten your forward leg while dragging your back leg as you stand and get your foot on the ski. It does not need to go directly to the back binder immediately if you can't quite hit it. Just get it on the ski first. Then you can scoot it forward into the rear binder, and off you go. This will work if the ski has a rear binder that is open in the back and not a boot type. I have gotten up using this technique behind a 45HP O/B with a 13 3/4 x 15 prop on it when I weighed close to 200 Lbs. Also having a ski that is matched to your size and weight helps too. I was using a 67" slalom from a pair and could get up with some effort, but later I bought a 69" that was slightly wider, and it made a BIG difference in the ease of getting up on it. Even the guy running the boat for me said he could tell a difference in how the motor pulled when I was coming up on the new ski VS. the other one.
If you have a problem keeping the ski in line with the boat while coming up, with one foot out of the ski with a single handle rope, use a double handle one and put a bridle of each handle on either side of the ski while coming up. this keeps the ski in line with the tow rope and the tip of the ski will come out of it as it starts to plane. If you don't like to use a double handle rope, there are some made with a feature that you use to lock them together. You butt the ends together, give it a 1/4 twist and they are now a single handle with a 4 line bridle. Try these suggestions before spending 600+ dollars on a new prop.
Do you carry a spare prop with you? If not, I suggest you get one and carry the tools needed to change it. You never know when you may strike something below the surface and ding a blade or worse. This can cause excessive vibrations leading to bearing failure and other high dollar repairs to be needed. Or you may end up needing to be towed in to prevent that(inconveniencing someone else in the process) Week ends last longer when you carry a spare prop.
Hey thanks for the ski tips! So far I get up on two and drop one. We got big skis to learn on rated for a person who weighs 270... The closest I have gotten is with one foot in the way you described, have had some trouble keeping the ski straight, have a deep V tow rope. Need to get better at keeping the ski tight in the V.
Hard to see in the video but naked accept for the life jacket
Just got a 4 blade 17P will see if that and these tips plus practice will get me up!
May may a trip to Mead this winter otherwise water skiing is done here for the year, switching to Snow Skiing and figuring out how I am going to get a nude ski run in!
https://www.truenudists.com/group/ski-snowboard-nudists
Keep in mind, as the pitch number increases the holeshot performance decreases and top speed increases. So to get better acceleration from a standing start you need to go DOWN in pitch numbers, not up. You said you were running a 16 3 blade and it was struggling with you. Now you have a 17 4 blade. I think in your application you would have been better going with a 14 3 or 4 blade. Do you actually understand what the pitch numbers indicate? If not let me know and I will explain it to you and how it works.
What brand of outboard do you have on the Bayliner?
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