Who has been your youngest driver?

[SkiKolb]

My youngest driver was yesterday. I was super pumped that my 12 year old son Curtis was able to pull me at 34mph, 35 off the tow rope while I free skied at a beautiful lake in NC where our family yearly vacations. He did an awesome job! I think by the end of the season he could be ready for the course! Gotta love when the whole fam is involved with our sport. The wife is excited too because now she is off the hook to drive! Attached is a little video we made of the event.">vimeo.com/99410556

[Chef23]

My son who is 15 is starting to drive in the course. Free skiing he is fine and tricking is fine but he still isn't as straight as he needs to be in the course. He is getting better now.

[crashman]

That will be a neat day when my oldest can mow the lawn and drive the ski boat

[Bruce_Butterfield]

I think my daughter was 11 when she started driving for me. At first just 28s and 32s. Within a year or so I was running 35s and 38s behind her:)

 

She did spend a good bit of time behind the wheel driving tricks and then slalom for my wife before she drove for me. As with most other things, it's very important to start easy and build up to driving the course, especially for stronger skiers and shorter lines.

[nzwaterski]

My 13 year old towed me in the course at 32 mph with my usual ski buddy odserving. She seemed to drive ok considering. She has to learnsometime might as well be with me on the end of the rope. Soon she will be towing me on shortlines

[MattP]

Free skiing my brother at 12ish

Course my brother at 16

[Wish]

Just this yr. Daughter had just turned 15. We have short set ups with spin ins so a very good job IMHO. She pulled me at 27mph 28 off on a wide ride ski. Even shortened to 32. Hoping for more rides this summer. So cool to see.

[gregy]

I was the designated driver pretty young. I was definitely better than the half drunk adults in the boat. Just freeskiing. Not sure how good I actually was but I thought I was a great driver. If you ever watch the Jeff Rogers video 43@43 his kid is driving for him into 43off.

[MattP]

@gregy I think it was his son.

[Chef23]

I was. 14 or 15 when I learned to drive the course back in the days before perfect pass. I remember having guys hang over the side with the stopwatch.

[gregy]

@MattP‌ Wonder how many 41off pass Jeff's son has driven? Probably more than most good drivers will ever see.

[MattP]

@JohnCox‌ would know more than me but last I heard he dropped to 34 at 39?

[MAD11]

My daughter started driving me at 14 I think. I'm not that easy to drive for. She is pretty darn good now. The shocking one was she started driving Jimmy S. in jump at 13. I come home, he is double cutting behind her and hitting the ramp. We didn't even know she was driving yet. Not sure your supposed to get a former world record holder as your first jumper, but take what you get I guess. He thinks she is by far one of the top jump drivers in our area. Pretty funny, although that may hurt a few feelings.

[Edbrazil]

 

Back in the back when at age 11 or so, we were driving for each other on a small

lake in NH. The family next door had a wooden inboard, a Garwood, which is now a

classic. Although, we used his smaller boat with a 25hp. Still enough to get us up on

shoe skis. Likely both of us under 100 lbs. And probably back before things like

observers and flotation were required. Don't ever recall seeing any Marine Patrol

on the lake in those days.

 

My own boat wasn't quite suited for skiing: 2.5hp Elgin on a 12' Chris Craft kit boat.

But, it had "Bail-A-Matic" !

[ALPJr]

My friends and I started driving for each other when we were 12, 13 with a 13' Boston Whaler and a 20hp Johnson on a pair of Cypress Gardens Bronco Combos. Later my daughter and son have pulled me at around 14, 15 years old.

[Tim Vaio]

My boys have been driving slalom and trick since they were 11 .... My oldest is now 18 and has a 3 event driver rating. He pulled me in a tournament yesterday ...... Made me feel quite old!

[Donski]

My daughter was 13 when she first started pulling me through the course. Don't tell the association.

[mlange]

Son was 11 when pulling me while free skiing.

 

I still think it's somewhat comical that while a lot of people on the water looked at me like I was an irresponsible dad for allowing an 11 year old to drive for me he was probably a better and safer driver than 80% of the yahoos that have no freakin' clue out there.

[gator1]

14 and 12. Before PP, the 12 yr old was a brutal throttle man. Always a good time, but always a on the hot side.

 

Neither of my boys has wrecked (or even dented) a car, which is a statistical anomaly. So, I'm wondering if tournament boats, 4 wheelers, go carts and jet skis (calm down, we sold them long ago) are a good amelioration of 16 yr old testosterone levels?

 

Any of you guys seen a trend with your early boat drivers linked to safe car driving?

[Jordan]

My kids have driven for me each at around 12 years old. They each were thrilled to have the opportunity and learned drive quite well.

 

Up here in Ontario, we now have boat driver licensing and the regulations preclude anyone under 16 years old from driving over 40hp.

 

It's such a joke because my kids and my waterskiing friend's kids are far better drivers that the middle aged Weekend Wally drivers in their I/Os

[gsm_peter]

What are the normal laws for driving boats in USA ?

 

In Sweden any one may drive any small boat.

The definition of small is max 4m wide AND max 12 m long.

So a 3,99 x 25 m boat is still small.

On the other hand one must operate the boat safely.

If not the can take the boat.

[Kelvin]

Depends on the state. In Texas you can drive at 13 if you have passed a driver safety program. Otherwise , it's 17.

[skosney]

I think I had my brother pulling me at 10or 11 ... at first I told him to just bring into the course at 37 MPH and let it ride. On his own he started developing a sweet slalom feed. I also had him holding a stop watch to make sure the times were good. It was just the two of us sometimes skiing on our course across from Crescent Bar. Probably not the smartest idea, but is was the 80's and I've never been much of a "handle popper". Good Times!!!

[GAJ0004]

In the 1990's I taught a 12 year old to drive the slalom course, manually. A 1994 Ski Nautique is a pretty easy boat to drive which helped..

[AKShortline]

Son 10. Daughter 12. Both in the course right after some practice runs. Daughter just turned 16, I think it has definetely helped her to drive boats, wheelers, etc as someone stated above. Son is now 13 and drives very well. Nautique makes it easy.

[eleeski]

@AKShortline‌ Carter got his first driving behind my MC. Your outburst at one of my ridiculous turns made him think I had fallen and he turned around to get me mid pass (I would have run it!). The youngsters need quality guidance from the boat crew. And a bunch of cushions so they can see. Still, I skied well behind him.

We miss you now that you have become Zonies.

Eric

[east tx skier]

Started working in earnest with our 8 year old last month. First season at the helm without being on either mom or dad's lap. He's not ready for riders yet, but he is in training. My wife was pulling her dad on slalom (free skiing) when she was nine. Different era.

[eddie_roberts_jr]

I was 8 years old when I started driving our 14' Mansfield Custom Clipper for my dad free skiing.

It was a wood runabout with a 4 cylinder 40 hp Merc. Cable steering, pull start and would do an honest 37 MPH at about 7,300 RPM with the motor jacked up to the 4th notch and a 9 year old at the wheel. I had to have an adult in the boat, usually my mom with white knuckles, until I learned to ski which was next year. I still had to have a couple of boat cushions to see over the quarter deck.

[j_rodgers]

My son, Austin was 10 when he started pulling 39s for me. I agree, I think it does help with driving cars. motorcycles, jet skis too! He has just turned 19 & almost finished is pilot's license. I've flown with him several times now & he has some of the smoothest landings...yes, I am a proud dad!

[rockdog]

That's pretty amazing Jeff. You've done a good job with the young fella!

[Flyboy]

My daughter was 13. 15 to 22 off. At age 10 she was doing all my radio work in my airplane. Her young voice really threw the controllers off.

[Shortenit]

A big concern with someone very young and presumably small driving is if they are the only person in the boat and there is an accident/bad fall/unconscious skier are they capable of getting him/her out if the water and to medical attention? We are facing that issue on our lake now. An occurrence like that, even without a tragic outcome and our course would likely be gone.

[rawly]

My neighbor at the lake @Donski‌ recently informed me that unlicensed drivers (Auto drivers license)are not insured under his policy. That was interesting to hear.

[webbdawg99]

Someone mentioned a state's laws. I'm curious about this as it's become a point of discussion at my site. According to my states DNR page, you must be 16 to operate a vessel over 16 feet in length in the state. However, we are a private ski community with 2 private lakes, a gated entry, and are not open to the public. And according to that definition, we are not "waters of the state". So is the correct assumption that the age restriction does not apply to us? The regulation does not say that it only applies to "waters of the state". The regulation simply says "within the state". Anyone familiar with DNR legislation. My assumption here is that we are not required to abide by this regation. Anyone know or have any insight?

[mlange]

In Wisconsin you can drive a boat at 11 with an adult in the boat. You can get your card at 13.

[Mateo_Vargas]

My 1 year old Grandson should be ready soon.

[davemac]

Can't wait til next year so my daughter can pull me. Need to be 16 w/ boater's license in N.H. I've been grooming her for the job for some time.

Nothing worse than being on vacation at the lake, staring at glass... w/ no driver.

[ntx]

@webbdawg99‌ as a private site are you not running sanctioned practice. I am not sure how usawaterski insurance would feel about it. What is the min age for a trained driver thru usawaterski. My guess is that it is 16. Any injury my guess would not be covered.

[teammalibu]

Josh Harris pulled me at Cedar Ridge saturday with his new Mastercraft and did a fine job, he will be a great driver with all the practice he will get there. I think he is 12 years old!!