Boat Restrictions on Man-Made Ski Lake

[mt17085]

I am in the processing of developing CC&R’s for a man-made, ski lake that is still on the drawing board. How should I describe “allowed” boats? I need to be accommodating to other water sports without compromising safety and without doing damage to the shorelines and infrastructure of the lake.

Lake will be 7 ft. deep, 220 ft. wide and 2300 ft. long with turn islands. Shoreline slope will be 12:1 on sides and 6:1 on ends.

“AWSA Approved Towboats Only” would make it real easy but would be too restrictive.

I would really appreciate input from those with experience and time around man-made lakes.

Looking forward to your feedback!

 

[Golfguy]

This is our verbiage. It is a complex issue, our lake does not have a protected shore line so as the wakes get larger the shore becomes eroded.

 

Wake & Boat Restrictions

 

Only approved boats shall be used. Approved boats include AWSA approved three event tournament boats and other boats approved by 3 of the 4 officers of the corporation from time to time. Such list shall be made available to all owners. However, the officers cannot approve for use any rear engine boats that exceed 21'2" in length or that have a beam greater than 91".

Each owner or guest shall operate any watercraft in a responsible manner so as to minimize the size and magnitude of wakes in order to avoid property damage and shoreline erosion.

 

Only AWSA three event tournament boats are permitted to use wake enhancements. Under no circumstances can wake enhancements of any type exceed 500 pounds any boat that is not an AWSA three event tournament boat or a boat using a wake enhancement shall operate above idle speed only between the slalom course boat guides and the peninsula and the islands. [Lake 1 drivers will safely avoid the jump.].

I'm sure you can do better than this. It was obviously written by a commette.

[rodltg2]

Tournament " style " inboard waterski or wakeboard boats only. Boats must not exceed 21.5ft bow to stern. No wake enhancing devices allowed.

 

 

or something like that

[Edbrazil]

Just wondering: is there a plan to have a jump ramp on this lake, either initially or eventually?

If so, it's too narrow, at least in the immediate jump ramp area.

[lathompson]

Recommend against turn islands. We have a turn island on lake 1 (trick/jump lake), and it's somewhat of a maintenance issue. I know of lakes that started out with turn islands and then were modified to remove them.

[mt17085]

Thanks for the responses so far. And thanks for sharing verbiage on your lakes. I know there are lakes out there that allow larger boats. Would love to hear from you as well. Also, would appreciate more specifics of "trouble" and shore "erosion". Do the shore lines wash away into the lake bottom or do they shelf? What type of maintenance is required and how often? With AWSA approved towboats only, is the shoreline maintenance eliminated? Regarding width of lake - 220 ft. is as wide as we can go - don't have the property - so no jump ramp. I'll start a new discussion on turn islands - would love feedback on that subject. Thanks! Keep the feedback coming.

[ForrestGump]

At your depth and width, larger boats will cause shelfing at the water line, especially if you allow ballasted down wakeboard boats.

[Fine409]

Is there a list of the previously AWSA accepted towboats? I can only find the current 2013 list searching around online.

[Kelvin]

https://www.usawaterski.org/pages/divisions/3event/AWSAApprovedTowboatHistory.pdf

 

 

[DW]

The verbiage on wake enhancements appears to target amount of ballast, don't forget devices such as the wedge and perhaps any "new" item that may come along, such as the new surf gate setups.

[Wolfeie]

At Ski West Village we ammended our rules and regulations and had to take out ASWA approved because not many boats are. We researched size and weight of currect boats

and put in guidelines that used the Natique 200 as a limit as far as weight. We also put in

ballast and or wake enhancement rules not to to exceed the USCG capacity plate on the boat.

We had previously out prohibited V-drives but have made concessions on the smaller V-drives

with board of director approval.

[lakeaustinskier]

Be sure to include rules about noise restrictions and hours of operation. At Aquaplex we prohibit any boat operation before 7 a.m. Muffler noise is a touchy subject since most people think some brands of boats are louder than others...............

[The_MS]

Make sure you specify that Water skiing takes priority over all other water activities. We had some home owners that wanted to have days and times set aside for swimming and jumping on the Rave tramp.

[Joeprunc]

Off topic...I just learned that my boat was not AWSA approved.

[Stevie Boy]

Have you thought about making it a club, with one brand new boat, and one for backup, safer with one boat on the lake, should be able to get enough revenue, to get a new boat every two years, or have I missed the concept here ?

 

[JDM]

We went to the extreme and limited it to ASWA inboards and excluded wakeboard specific inboards or anything intended to increase wake size. This was done for shoreline erosion and because we wanted to create a wonderful slalom experience. Does this minimize your market , absolutely. Does it provide the lake experience that we wanted, absolutely. Even without larger wakes, our shores take a beating and it is a constant effort to keep them up. We wrapped the shores and that has helped tremendously, but you still have to maintain constantly. Can't imagine if we had larger wakes what the maintenance would be.

 

Also, remember that CC&R's can be amended if something doesn't work and experience is the best way to understand how to draft them so be prepared to amend after a year or so if it doesn't work. Also, stick to them unless you amend them!!!

 

Another thing that I would consider that we didn't is related to inspecting boats that get put on the lake. With the zebra muscle issues that a lot of public lakes have been having it is important to be able to inspect all boats that come onto your lake (especially if they get used at other lakes) and that you have the ability to require a boat to dry out long enough to eliminate those types of hazards before it is put into the lake if there is any doubt. If something like the zebra muscle were to invade a small man made lake it could have disastrous consequences.

[crashman]

we have zebra mussels at our ski lake which is a gravel pit and they're not too much of a problem. They actually clear the water up quite a bit which fishermen don't like but for us it's kind of nice. The only downside I've noticed is we have to wear gloves when pulling up the course boom arms because they cut the snot out of your hands but they don't seem to like the sandy areas so they're not a problem at the beach. I always thought if I built my own lake I might put some in there on purpose. They're in nearly every public lake around here and the only people who seem to mind are the fisherman.

[LeonL]

I thoughts they clogged up cooling systems, among other problems.

[mt17085]

I'm surprised at the width restriction on Golfguy's lake of 91 inches. Many of the USA Water Ski approved boats are over 91 inches wide. 91 inches would leave out a lot of boats - perhaps that is the intent. For example the Nautique 200 has a beam of 95 inches. That said, the boat path buoys are nominally 90.5 inches apart. How do the wider boats work? I guess the bigger boats' wake "pushes" the buoys to the side???? How wide can you go before you start running over them????

[Ed_Obermeier]

That said, the boat path buoys are nominally 90.5 inches apart. How do the wider boats work? I guess the bigger boats' wake "pushes" the buoys to the side????

 

Yep.

[LeonL]

@scotchipman, yes boat beam measurements are at the widest point, ie rub rail.

@mt17085, that 90.5 inches is center of buoy to center of buoy.

[BraceMaker]

@leonL - zebra mussels tend to thrive in murkish waters that have a good amount of nutrient for them to consume as they filter the water.

 

This can be both good and bad - Most ski lakes are dyed for the purpose of keeping the amount of light hitting the bottom down - if your lake is super clean/clear usually you won't see the mats of zebra mussels - same thing with boats, in cleanish waters they don't really blanket your dock, lift, hull.

 

The same cannot be said for boats that float in murky rivers - which will often get fouled

[Bobbyroy]

Man-made lakes are water impoundments and water accumulated in reservoirs that do not occur naturally in the landscape.

[Kelvin]

If you are going to put restrictions based on boat measurements (i.e. length, width, weight, etc), be specific about how to do the measurements.

[ral]

Club boats rock! Never understood why having US$ 1 million+ in rapidly depreciating capital sitting in docks, when only one boat can be operated at any given time, unless you are doing head to head tournaments, where you would require 2...

[vtjc]

One issue with requiring AWSA is that not all configurations of a hull/motor combination are submitted for testing these days. So technically a recent model MC 190/197 with the base 310hp Indmar wasn’t AWSA approved. However, this list seems to just go by hull: https://www.usawaterski.org/pages/divisions/3event/AWSAApprovedTowboatHistory.pdf

[boarditup]

Specify direct or V-drive boats with a permanent factory engineered and installed pylon mount forward of the motor. Exclude boats with more than one built-in ballast tank. Exclude add-on ballast in excess of 500-lbs. Outboard boats with factory engineered and installed tracking fins may be allowed.

 

That eliminates most wakeboard boats, stern drives, outboards. You still could get a 200 Maristar without a ballast system, but that won't create lake erosion issues.

 

From a lake design perspective, there is a way to shape the sand to prevent erosion issues. It is very difficult to do and it takes computerized GPS equipment mounted on the dozer to work, but it can be done.

[DW]

To avoid the width concern, boat weight limitation might be a useable variable along with the ballast restriction. Assuming the objective is to ensure minimal wake vessels occupy the slips.

[GAJ0004]

If it says AWSA approved towboats only, does that restrict it to current model boats, or ones approved at the time of manufacture?

[Jdubs]

We had to rock our shoreline because restrictions on wake boats did not go far enough. This cost us upwards of 50 thousand for only two large wake boats causing most all of the damage.

 

Here is my suggestion

 

1) only allow AWSA approved towboats.

2) No wake enhancements - ie Ballast, surf gate, Malibu wedge, Fat Sac, etc.

3) 21 foot boat or shorter

4) weight restriction - Maybe - Tuff one since approved ski boat have increased in weight as of late

 

 

Good luck

[Jody_Seal]

it is easy! No towers! inboard boats under 20.5 feet approved or current approved AWSA towboats.

 

 

 

It's the tower thing aint it ???

[BRY]

I live on an East coast lake and own a lot on a west coast lake. My suggestions:

 

1) only allow current or previous AWSA 3-event approved towboats. AWSA approved wakeboard and approved recreational boats explicitly excluded.

https://www.usawaterski.org/pages/divisions/3event/AWSAApprovedTowboatHistory.pdf

2) No wake enhancements not approved by AWSA for 3-event, i.e. surf gate, wedges, Fat Sac, etc.

3) No ballast over 150lbs allowed. Boats with internal tanks over 150 lbs explicitly excluded, even if empty.

4) No towers or tow points higher than original slalom tow pylon.

5) No more persons or weight (of persons and/or gear)e allowed in boat than specified on manufacturers capacity plate.

 

This keeps you out of issues with different sizes and weights of boats now and to come. The Gekko GTR22 is 21'7", over 21.5' long, boats with integrated platforms measure long. Essentially putting faith that AWSA boats approved for record slalom tournaments will have reasonably small wakes going forward. These do allow for small weight(s) to be added for balancing, i.e. MC's MTS ballast system, CC's Hydrogate which could be countered by some as "ballast" and "wake enhancements" (which they kind of are). #5 help prevent using "people ballast" by packing the boat to the gunnels with bodies (unsafe, illegal but seen it done, works pretty good to get a big roller).

 

[skierjp]

Talk to someone at Palm Bay in Florida. In the beginning they panicked when the lots were not selling fast enough and they let 1 or 2 wakeboard boats in. Worst desision ever. These boats destroyed the shore line. I believe the wakeboard boat owners have since moved out. I agree with Jody on the towers,also no internal or portable ballast or wake plate that is engineered for wake boarding. You could go as far as ruling out no wakeboard! I believe Ski Paradise in Florida has the no wakeboard rule.

[Skoot1123]

What about folks that want to barefoot off the fly-high tower? Don't leave the barefooters out!!

[Kelvin]

No towers? What about the trickers learning flips off the tower?

[Chef23]

I like the no wake enhancement and limit the length and you could probably limit the width to 96" and under.

[thompjs]

Malibu TXi only?

[mt17085]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback! Here is what our draft looks like:

 

"In order to minimize shoreline erosion and maintenance and for the safety of those using the Lake(s), Boats must be approved AWSA or USA waterski 3 event towboats or meet the following: (a) the maximum boat length allowed on the Lake shall be 21’6” as measured from bow to stern; (b) Inboard only, i.e. direct drive or v- drive design; © Maximum Beam not to exceed 98”; and (d) Maximum built in or artificial ballast utilized on the lake shall not exceed 500 pounds. The Association reserves the right to adopt and modify Rules regarding the size, type and use of boats within the Project."

 

And yes, we will allow towers and wake-boarding, just not the big wakeboard boats.

 

Mike

[DW]

@mt17085: good work, could there be some confusion on length relative to inclusion or not of platform. Just remember in legal disputes the obvious may not always apply.

[BRY]

Your allowing Mastercraft X2, X20 and X10 with your draft. All fine boats but all throw big wakes without ballast. Bet there are other boats from other mfgs too. If I were a wake boarder with those rules I would get one of these:

X10

Length of Boat..............................21’3”

Width Amidship.............................98”

Boat Weight...............approx 4400 lbs.

Fuel Capacity.......................50 gallons

Maximum Capacity ...........................14 people or 1,956 lbs.

 

21' hull, 4400 lbs dry, add 50 gal gas and 10+ or so of my friends, pump in best guess of 500lbs in the tank (good luck enforcing or measuring) and some bitch'in wakes. If someone buys in with one of these and you try to change rules later, good luck and the lawyers just smile.

 

Sizes just don't work, the X2 is 20' x 96", again designed to throw a wake even without lots of ballast. Gotta go after type of boat or build your docks high so they don't get washed every pass.

[masachan]

Mike,

 

I like your accommodation of a bit larger sized boats and reasonable ballast limits. As a potential buyer, if the limitations were too strict, it would significantly affect my decision to be part of the development. Many of us enjoy the various activities of waterskiing, and have multiple boats to enjoy each aspect, and would like to have the capacity to accomplish these pursuits where we choose to live.

 

Now that it looks reasonable, I just have to make it economically feasible with the Boss...

[Dacon62]

Wouldn't you want to allow up to 200 pounds ballast as I think the MC and CP both are available with a 180lb. passenger ballast to even out the wakes if driving solo?