23 ssbxp tri toon draft and water ski questions

[Pizza man]

The weather in the Northeast has been horrible to start the season. We have been lucky enough to take it out 4 times. Being new to boating I get a little nervous at 3’ of water. Can anyone tell me the true draft of our model? Is 2’ of water ok as long as the motor is trimmed up?

To make this post a little longer... We purchased some water skis this week and hope to use them once the water gets above the toasty 58 degrees currently. We have a Yamaha 200 HP, curious at what rpm we should be skiing at? Start at wide open and back off a little once the skier is comfortably up out of the water? Appreciate any input.

 

[Tomc]

So I don’t have RPM for you, just due to conditions affecting RPM and speed but my general rule of thumb for skiers with 2 skis is 22 to 25 MPH, for teenagers to young adults with low to moderate skills ability. Mid/High teens MPH for younger. Slalom/single ski about 30.

Some go faster, some will go slower, but these speeds have worked for us well and no one complains about too fast or too slow (and I’ve never pulled a highly skilled skier, just those wanting to have fun).

On the draft for your model, I’ll defer to those that have a similar model boat. I suspect the more you get out there the more you’ll get comfortable with somewhat higher chop as you learn to navigate it.

 

[DaveyJ]

Sorry, don’t pull skiers but on your draft concerns, my suggestion is to measure from the bottom of your transducer to the bottom of your skeg when trimmed all the way down and set the offset on your depth finder. That way you always know the depth below the skeg and don’t have to do math.

 

[BigKahuna]

Tomc hit it on the nail. 22-25mph is ideal skiing speed for our family. If my wife or kids want to go faster or slower they flash the thumbs up or down. Once your skiier is safely directly behind your boat take any slack out of the ski rope. When the skiier is ready they'll yell "Hit it"! Push your throttle all the way down and when the skiier is out of the water and on plane back off on the throttle to that comfortable 22-25 mph and maintain that speed. Instruct your skiier when they fall/let go to raise 1 ski high in the air to let other boats in the area see them while you are on your way back to pick them up......Make sure your motor is trimmed all the way down when you ski. ...

 

[Tomc]

Tomc hit it on the nail. ...

Agree with the steps BigKahuna had to offer, but my reaction is to my lame nickname. I am convinced I need to change it to a much cooler name. If there is a way, I’ll figure it out. What was I thinking?

 

[CapKaz]

Pizza Man
I would like to add another thought on towing skiers. The thing about our boats is they don’t have to get up on plane, so they accelerate very quickly from a dead stop. My experience with our first pontoon that had a 90 hp merc did require full throttle application when pulling an adult. The lighter kids didn’t require full throttle to start. Now that we have the Tritoon with a 150 hp Yamaha. Full throttle starts generally will result in the rope handle being pulled out of the skiers hands. I have had to learn to be more careful with the initial throttle application. If I pull multiple skiers full throttle may be needed depending on the skiers weights. It will take practice and each skier will require a little different technique. I have found that 26 mph up to 30 mph for slalom skiers. It depends on the skiers ability and type of ski being used. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Dunn]

I have a 24 SSPXP 2017 so I don't know if Im the same or a foot longer and they just changed the name. I have the 200 yamaha and the SPS hull. at 3k RPMs IM doing about 22-23ish MPH depending on load. at 4k RPM I do 32-34MPH at 4200 RPM where I cruise most the time it runs about 36mph. WOT about 5800 RPM it will turn 41-44 mph.

I float in about 16 inches of water with the motor trimmed up. With the transducer mounted on the rear of the port toon Is its reading 2.5 feet of water I have no fear of taking off and hitting bottom.

 

[DaveyJ]

Sorry, don’t pull skiers but on your draft concerns, my suggestion is to measure from the bottom of your transducer to the bottom of your skeg when trimmed all the way down and set the offset on your depth finder. That way you always know the depth below the skeg and don’t have to do math.

Nothing like editing your own post 3 times cuz your brain isn’t functioning....... I’m sure anyone who read my post originally when I said keel was thinking I was a moron.