But what's the slalom wake like?

[Nando]

Saw this and had to post: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1963-volga-70/. Sadly, no video of the slalom wake. Why do I want this?

[wilecoyote]

You want this because it is AWESOME. Thanks for posting, it made my morning. I've always thought that if we really wanted an awesome slalom/jump boat it would be a hydrofoil, sucks for trick though.

[bigskieridaho]

@Nando Dude that thing is so sweet!!! I love stuff that’s unique.

[Keith_Menard]

If it was the armed version to take car of lake lice and surf boats I would be in

[usaski1]

Hey big 3! Will the 2020's all have foils on their hulls! Trippy!

[eleeski]

ZO Russian skier?

[wilecoyote]

I have actually given this a lot of thought for a long time, and where I think for ski boats this becomes a problem (aside from the inherent issues with hydrofoils) is getting the beast on and off a trailer.

[BraceMaker]

@wilecoyote not to mention the draft of a meter, wonder how much that back end drops when you floor it, probably lose props around the turn island.

[Nando]

I imagine the tracking would be pretty putrid with so little area in the water, so not a design basis for a competitive ski boat. Maybe wrong about that, but that's my take. It'd be fun on a big body of water, though. I just thought it looked like a blast in kind of a '60s or'70s way...

[skiinxs]

I always thought a trimable wing (foil) at the bottom of the front tracking fin would be a great thing to play with on an inboard. Trim to raise for low fuel go-fast runs to remote courses, trim neutral for no effect for skiing. Trim down for added drag, maybe improved tracking, maybe experiment with what it does to the wake or speed swing in the course. Would be easy to do, pin a pivot to the front on the fin, vertical outboard motor trim ram mounted vertical with 0-ring on ram or rod where it goes through the bottom of the boat.

[skialex]

Does the front looks like the new Nautique or is it the beer talking? :)

[lpskier]

That is an exquisite boat. Beautifully done. I hope my wife doesn’t see it. She’s a sucker for unique boats.

[wilecoyote]

Current bid 19K. If I could have it for that I'd be mighty tempted, but I'm sure it's worth at least twice that.

 

As for how it would track, I would imagine actually better than or at least equal to the same conventional boat with tracking fins.

 

@skiinxs that's pretty much what I was thinking, except you would have a fixed foil where the front tracking fin is and a smaller trim-able wing behind the rudder. Then it just flies like an airplane. The other thing to consider is that we only ski in at max 6' chop, so it only barely needs to clear the surface for max effect, it doesn't need to sit high. If I had the time, I'd love to retrofit my old Supra and give it a try.

[mwetskier]

i think you guys may be missing an important consideration -the back half and stern of an inboard is a critical component in producing a flat wake. without something to flatten out the rooster tail from the propeller its going to feel like you're skiing over a concrete curb when you cross it.

 

and if you had a trimable wing on the front foil you would want to use it to pull the bow *down* to flatten the wake, which is why putting a little extra weight in the bow can improve the slalom wake by spreading the boat's mass over a broader surface area. if you had a foil system that lifted the entire hull out of the water I think you would end up hating the resulting wake and rooster tail. as always, just imo.

[DynaSkiPete]

An outboard has a smaller wake than an inboard typically because less of the boat's wetted hull rides in the water. An inboard is considered a semi planning hull typically. An outboard is a planning hull. One of the problems with an outboard holding speed can be the boat going on and off plane. With no hull in the water there would only be the prop wash to cross.

[skiinxs]

@mwetskier Nope, not missing anything. I am not suggesting trying to make a tournament ski boat get up on foils and fly, although that is a concept that may be fun, just wouldn't be a good ski boat. Re-read what I wrote above. The foil trimming up would be only to play go-fast to get to a remote ski location faster, not to use while skiing, (although the barefooters may like it). My concept would mimic the ability of an outboard or I/O to trim up and achieve some bow lift to reduce wetted surface and corresponding drag for increased speed and/or decreased fuel consumption. I think it would actually be pretty easy to do, but there would certainly be some sensitivity to side-to-side weight balance when the bow is lifted slightly and carrying the weight on the fin. I also mentioned that running the wing neutral shouldn't affect the boat while trimming down may have some interesting effects on the wake, tracking, turning, and speed holding. It may take some kind of computerized controls to avoid raising too much and cavitating, which would immediately cause it to lose most if its lift, but heck, maybe not. It would be a fun science experiment:)

[DynaSkiPete]

OK I guess I did not understand your intention. You'd likely have a lot of drag I would think until the bulk of the hull is out of the water. With a couple hundred thousand you could try your ideas.

[eleeski]

@mwetskier The prop wash can be modified separately from the hull.

Made a significant difference in the MC wake. They didn't need to make the new Prostar...

 

Eric

 

[wilecoyote]

HOLY CRAP it sold for 20K! I think I'm gonna cry.