can i wakeboard with my boat?

[mylespe]

hey,
i am the proud 17 year old owner of a Fletcher Arrowsprint 13ft speedboat. I have spent a year and ridiculous amounts of my money rebuilding her into a carbon/aluminium/fibreglass mean machine (i havent been able to buy cds even....beer just about fits the budget tho [what age laws?]). i digress sorry

i have a two-stroke 25hp Mariner and she got up to 43.5k/h (GPS) on the Thames...slightly breaking the 8k/h speedlimit. She is a deep-V - do a search on google there are loadsa pictures of her sisters!

Question is will wakeboarding/skiing be feasible once i get (damm expensive) a ski pole on the boat? I can get more top end speed by taking the battery, amp, subs (no really!) and better hole-shot and planing by getting a decent prop and trim tabs. but with a different prop i will just lose the top end speed - 27 mph is my current max on flat water which from what i hear is a slow wakeboarding speed. then i gotta take into acount drag of a boarder slow you down by how much? then wake slow you right down. i need a 40!!! anyone up for a whip round

what speed do i need? what kinda height should thte line be? i just want to know if this boat will work with watersports before i buy any boards etc.

she is rated up to a 40hp and i know skiing is possible with that on. deal is she is a ski not a wakeboarding boat - will wake be ok but i figure wakeboards are easier to pop up,

christ so many questions - sorry im ridiculously proud of my boat. better than the car i coulda had.....

myles

[mylespe]

um sorry not boasting just proud ops:

after reading some of the posts found that the boat when not on dead flat water and with the drag of some plonker in the water (!) may not be fast enough, and the wake will not be enough.

am i gonna be ringoing all my life?!

myles

[DBJTS]

If you had boarded before and hadn't eaten all the pie's you might get up behind it, but even then it wouldn't be a thrilling ride.

If you haven't boarded before or have eaten all the pie's forget it.
Speed wise you want to be looking around 18-22mph, you want a prop with more grunt to pull you up rather than top end speed.

If I were you I'd be looking to trade my engine in for something a bit bigger rather than spending money on a pole that isnt really suited to you're boat.

But congrats on buying you're first boat at seventeen stick with it.

[mylespe]

hey,
bought the boat for fifty quid, rebuilt it myself - the engine i bought seperately and since she will mostly be used puttering (kinda) up and down the thames where i live a 25 is best suited as regards economy and also it was a good engine for the price etc.

i will upgrade but that will be years away - would be nice to have an alternator and get rid of some of the bloody batteries needed!

yeah thats the thing a low pitch prop will get goin faster but i will lose the top end speed of which i dont have enough anyway.

i have never boarded....

is skiing any more likely - i am not buying a pole or anything until i have bought a lot more stuff higher on the list (trailer still needs loadsa work, trim tabs, windshield needs fixing the list goes on)

thanks man

[DBJTS]

You will get up on a board easier than with ski's because of the greater surface area.

If you could get some tuiton I'm sure that once you had the technique you could board behind it (pies not withstanding) it will just take longer to pull you up than a bigger engine would.

Whatever the outcome I'm sure you'll have loads of laughs trying :lol:

[mylespe]

i am an athelete in prime physical condition...kinda!

my girlfriends dad has a rather flash mastercraft will start going out with them and get some experience - have done a one day of cable boardin but never got further than just kneeboards and that was bad enough!

come to thinka bout it would kneeboarding work?

would ringos be worthwile as well

thanks for all this help mate