Boat driving

[jpo7943]

what is the proper acceleration for pulling a slalom skier for deep water start?

[Horton]

@jpo7943 I am not sure there is a good way to answer your question. I have some sarcastic answers but that will not help.

 

If you can give some more info I am sure someone will give you a good answer.

[Jordan]

First ....ask the skier. There are die hard guys who want all that you have and others who want it gentle to protect an injury or bad back etc.

 

Having said that. ...to me the best pull is in the middle, nice progressive pull up,l going from a smooth engagement to a firm finish.

 

Plus, do the little things...get the boat straight, pause with a little shot of reverse just before the line comes tight. It sucks to be jerked under water just before starting. ..for weaker skiers they may lose their balance all together.

 

I like to tell my skier to tell me to put it "in gear" and then tell me to hit it.

 

[Marco]

Soft drag for a second or two then firmly apply throttle. Don't slam it down, ease it down over the course of a few seconds. The horsepower of your boat will have an effect on what is the best way to get someone up. The above advice is for a fuel injected inboard with at least 325 horsepower

[oldjeep]

Depends on the person. My father inlaw is a smaller sized guy and likes a nice slow pull up. I prefer that the driver dump the throttle.

[ToddL]

It's all about making the skier happy. Put their needs first, ask for input, adjust to their needs. Do that and you will always get better.

 

That said, there are some basics that really help get you a good start:

1. Always approach the skier on the driver side of the boat at a safe, but conversationally close distance. Popping in and out of idle can allow the boat to gently move at approximately half idle speed.

2. Always be mindful of the rope. Don't go so fast around the skier that you are sliding the rope along them too fast. Make sure they aren't in any danger of being/getting tangled. Try to keep the rope clear of the back of the boat and flip it up so as to not let it get hung on the corner of the platform.

3. Stay near the skier at first while he/she rests after a pass.

4. When lining up before the deep water start, don't go all the way to the point where the rope is tight. Keep some slack in it so as to not be jolting the skier or dragging him/her before it is time to go.

5. When the skier signals that he/she is ready, then slowly and gently take up the slack. Make note of the boat's movement - is your steering wheel (thus, rudder) lined up straight? If not adjust now while at idle. Again, popping in and out of idle can allow you to creep along at half idle speed.

6. Once you have the steering wheel straight and the line with no slack, confirm with the skier that "here we go"

7. Put the boat into gear, then take off. Don't just hammer the throttle from neutral.

8. When applying throttle, do so smoothly and progressively. For skiers who want a fast pull up, just sweep through the progressive throttle a bit faster and the opposite for slower pull ups. Always use a progressive, sweeping motion on the throttle.

9. Watch the skier via the mirror. Study if they appear to be coming up smoothly, too slowly or too fast.

10. As the skier's hips are clearing the water, you can start to adjust the throttle to settle into the desired speed. Listen to the engine while/pitch. Start to be aware of the pitch of the RPMs which are associated with the target speed, so that you can eventually settle in by ear alone.

11. Finally, at the other end of the lake, ask for feedback and adjust per that feedback.

 

Some other tips:

Not all small skiers want a slow pull up and not all large skiers want hard, full throttle. Ask if you don't know.

There are many really large skiers who need to first develop some speed down in the water before you can really push the throttle and pull them hard up. So, they may want to be dragged at idle, then slower initial throttle sweeping into a progressive motion where you move the throttle faster in the second part of the progressive motion.

There are some really small skiers who got spoiled to "popping" up out of the water fast with their hair dry. They may like a faster progressive throttle.

 

Generally, kids and lighter skiers simply mean your total sweep distance on the throttle will be less. In other words, you may only need 1/4 throttle sweep for them to get fully on top of the water. Consequently, larger skiers may require that you end up at full throttle at the end of your progressive sweep motion. That's why you look in the mirror as you are sweeping the throttle progressively to see if you've done enough of a sweep and can hold there for a sec before setting the final speed for the pass.

 

Smooth, progressive, aware, ask, improve.

[Skihack]

I like to pull those with a rear toe piece. Have them stand in foot deep water on their back foot holding the ski up with their front leg just atop the water. You need roughly 10 foot of slack left then full throttle wide open. Should do just fine.

[oldjeep]

10 foot of slack and full throttle? With what, a 50hp outboard? Couple feet is more than enough with a standard 5.7 even in my heavy vtx. I don't think we used more than 5 ft behind my 3.0l bayliner.

 

In any event, when you do that trick it is the skiers responsibility to say go when they think the slack is right for them.

[BrennanKMN]

Any slack in the line sounds like a recipe for injury if you ask me.

If you need slack to get out you either need better technique or more power IMO.

 

I was fortunate enough to learn to get out of the water behind a low power I/O so as I got bigger and behind more powerful boats it was a cakewalk.

 

Personally @ToddL nailed it. Every driver should read that and follow it.

[oldjeep]

The slack we are talking about is for a hop start. One foot in ski and one on the bottom of the lake, typically knee deep or less. Or just hop off the dock. You hop just as the rope goes tight. Slack with a deep water start would be a problem.

[Skihack]

that was sarcasm. However, that's the way it was done in the 50's and 60's with small outboard motors. With a new tournament boat , you could do a hop start with a tight line with a good driver. I have even skipped off the dock with the newer boats. Really, a smooth, progressive pull out of the water going up to speed smoothly is the best way to pull a skier up.

[ToddL]

Pulling up a skier with an underpowered boat is a whole different can of worms.

 

The smallest boat I ever got up behind was a 14' bass boat with a 60 HP outboard. They had all passengers near the front of the boat to force it on plane sooner. I was on my Kidder with double wraps. I stayed down in the water tucked into a ball for at least 5 breaths while the boat struggled to pull me along. I then tried to stand just a little and could actually feel the boat's speed dropping, so I tucked back down. Eventually, it was fast enough to get on top. It was a hoot! I think the top speed was maybe 30 mph. Each cut across the wake, it felt like I pulled it down to 26. Needless to say, we were having fun as weekend walleys on a campout with family and uncle so and so's "boat." Made some lemon-aide out of lemons that day.

 

Seriously, I heard someone suggest having the skier at 90 degrees from the boat's path (like a cable park start). They said it allows the boat to get some speed/torque before the load of the skier builds. I cannot recommend this due to zero personal experience with it. Maybe someone who has tried that can weigh in with pros/cons.

 

If you have a sufficiently powered boat, the original post above by me should serve you well.

[Cayman2]

Yep. Get the little outboard up on plane circling the skier, then straighten her out and off you go. Used to be fun going up to MN and pulling my cousin's boat all over the lake. 30 hp and I was 145.

[Chef23]

@ToddL gave a great summary for technique around the skier and for pulling them out of the water. The progressive throttle is key and watching the skier in the mirror to see how they come up and make adjustments for the next pass. When I am pulling a skier I have never driven I always ask before the next pass if the pullup was good for them.

[ALPJr]

Learned behind a 13' Whaler with a 20hp Johnson. Moved up to a 14 MFG with a 60 'rude. Then had a few Glastrons. Had a Jetflight 143 with a 50 Johnson, to get the bigger boys up I had to sit backwards on the bow between the dual windshields and drive and the spotter was up in front of me. Was a blast!

[SailorDave17]

It really depends on the person on the ski. Forgive me if I'm out of line, it sounds like the driver and the skier are both inexperienced, please exercise caution and see if there are some experts that could go out with you.

[jimbrake]

I had a guy that I had never skied behind before ask me if wanted "an airplane start or a roll start". I still to this day don't know how to answer that. I think I said something like "yes, please".

[Steveo]

Great post @ToddL ! Should be required reading for new drivers/skiers. I am showing it to my girlfriend for a refresher.

[Cayman2]

@steveo: good plan. Please wear a gopro and post the video.

[Steveo]

@Cayman2 haha! naw she's pretty chill she'll appreciate it.

[Cayman2]

If true=put a ring on it.

[yardsale]

For whom does it matter? The skier, ask them.

[GAJ0004]

Driving depends on who you are pulling. With a smaller skier, be gentle with the throttle, but quick. With a bigger skier I start out slow for a second, once the boat is above idle I hammer the throttle, and back off quickly as I get to the desired speed. It is an old habit from driving manually for so many years. With Perfect Pass on my boat I have to throttle up like I am driving manually until the system kicks in. Not as simple as driving ZeroOff, but still pretty easy.

[rockdog]

Is this thread still going? Not to be rude, but if you have to ask the question I think there's a lot of work to do...

[MarkM]

Wait for the skier to yell "hit it!"

Then slam the throttle like a boss.

[ToddL]

@Steveo when you put a ring on it, you can buy this:

http://teespring.com/i-love-my-wife-boat-driver

http://vangogh.teespring.com/shirt_pic/1717665/1663448/2/576/756x9999/front.png