Water skiing and tubing?

Question

My boat is a 16' tri hull bass boat more or less. If i put a large enough motor on the back, can i take people out tubing or skiing behind it? Being a tri hull and a bass boat n' all I just dont know if it is safe, and if so what is the minimum size motor i need. Thanks.

Answer 1

My Dad Had a 16" tri-hull with a 115 Evinrude on it......we skied two at a time behind it with no problems

Answer 2

we used to wakeboard behind a little flatbottom boat with 25 hp motor on the back, when the ski boat was broke.

you shouldn't have a problem.

Answer 3

You shouldn't have a problem pulling tubes or skiers with the boat, heck, I have seen people tubing behing a pontoon boat on the lake we go to.  I would check the placard on your boat for the maximum hp rating for the hull and DO NOT exceed that.  Since tubing is usually a lower speed and not really having to "pop" anybody out of the water you do not need a huge motor.  If you will be skiing a lot with the boat, the more power the better, especially if you are slalom skiing and having a lower pitch prop to get a good hole shot out of the water would be best.  If using it for both then go middle of the road on power and a multipurpose prop or keep a couple and change them out depending on use.

Answer 4

The problem with skiing and tubing behind a fishing boat is that there are no walls to keep people in when making turns.

For a 16' with 3 on the boat and one on skis, 40-50 HP engine should be sufficient, if the engine has a standard pitch prop. If it has a speed prop, it will probably need to be changed.

Be certain that everyone on the boat has a place to sit, secured to the boat! Make certain that someone watches the tow and can tell the person steering the boat what is happening.

Regards,

Dan