mimium water depth with current boats

[Horton]

I have always heard 18 in is the hard minimum depth. Is that right?

[Dacon62]

Draft on a Prostar is 22” as stated on the MC site. I would imagine that when coming up to speed from idle the bow rises and the stern drops slightly which would increase the needed minimum depth. Don’t know for sure but I wouldn’t feel safe in less than 30” of water if I had to bring the boat up to speed from idle. If just moving at idle 24”.

Bravery to test the limits depends on the type of material (Rock vs mud) that is on the bottom.

[chrislandy]

I was told mid 80's Mastercrafts were about 18" including starting, running I know you could run a rainbow MC in just over a foot of water once running (in silty riverbed as I found out).

 

Given that the newer boats are larger than before and I would expect to have a deeper draft. Are you asking about slow speed manoeuvring depth?

[LoopSki]

get your hands on a Boice Jet, those will skoot on a wet lawn!

[Jody_Seal]

I use the 48" rule. If it is not at least 4 feet deep it can be catastrophic to both human and boat!

 

When I swing moor, a minimum of 4 feet.

I Try not to idle around in less then 3 feet.

 

[LoopSki]

im assuming he is asking for the ski lake project. not skiable depth

[Ski_Dad]

i agree with Jody. 4 feet or I'm not comfortable taking off. My boat say 18" but I've measured it and it's more like 24" - I'm guessing the 18" is when you are on plane.

[Horton]

let's just say there's an object in the water I'm going to have to completely remove before I run a boat this weekend.

[ToddF]

4 feet wow, our entrance is between 20-30 inches depending on river level. 30+ mph goes through easy, idle no way when low, it drags.

[oldjeep]

So when you guys are crashing in 20-30 inches of water, how does that work? I've hit the bottom in 4-5 ft of water. Being able to stand on the bottom and breath air means the water is too shallow

[Horton]

@oldjeep we are talking about purebred slalom boats.

[oldjeep]

@horton I'm talking about my human body crashing in the water from behind a purebred slalom boat. My VTX has a 22" draft - same as your prostar ;)

[LoopSki]

@oldjeep in that case ski lakes aren't for you!

 

 

 

 

[jjackkrash]

We had a jump ramp in a cow pond in Corning, CA, way back when, and IIRC the landing area was right at knee deep in places (with a mud bottom). We kept the boat on plane and never throttled back in that area and never ruined a prop that I recall, but it was dicey and the prop wash looked pretty muddy on that end of the lake.

[BraceMaker]

@oldjeep interesting - I've never managed to hit the bottom, on the lake we usually ski the ~200' out from obstacles usually has you over about 4-6' of water. Usually when you drop towards shore you're in about waist to chest deep water. Clearly too shallow for a steep entry dive. But common depth people would dock dive off at a shallow angle.

 

The relatively flat trajectory of a waterski crash has always seemed to keep you on the surface. Board sports I would wonder. Anyone ever get hurt shallow water trick skiing?

[jercrane]

we did some testing on a 197 a few years ago and determined that you could safely throttle out of just under 3 feet with a Prostar 197. SN 200 is roughly the same but we never restested.

 

https://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/18563/depth-data-prostar-197

[oldjeep]

@BraceMaker - OTF can put you into the bottom, although I havn't had one in a few years now. The flat trajectory crashes are the ones that seem to break the ribs

[Horton]

@oldjeep The question was not how deep is it to ski on. The question was how much clearance is needed for the boat. The answer seems to be about 22" and no I'm sure as hell not going to ski in 2 ft of water

[oldjeep]

Ah - well given that the mfg list 22" as the max draft. I'm going to assume that is with the weight that they claim the boats weigh. Given that they are typically hundreds of lbs under reality and don't include fuel, fluids or a driver, I'd make sure you have a couple extra inches.

[Horton]

out of curiosity is anybody know what the clearance (draft) was on a 196?

[oldjeep]

Advertised draft in the specs is 22"

 

[Horton]

makes me wonder there the old 18" story comes from

[oldjeep]

Malibu before 2005 had a 16" draft posted on the sportster. I'd have to find the old brochure for the lxi

[oldjeep]

Looks like pre 2005 LXI was advertised at 16" and the SSLXI was 18"

[keithh2oskier]

Imagine trying to get up in 22" of water. Even with a soft bottom, you would be looking at a fin depth adjustment

[Jody_Seal]

Some of you still live in the dark ages!

Seen a top elite level tricker get stuck head first at regionals in paducah one year.

[ReallyGottaSki]

I believe it.

WhenI was 16,went out the front and speared the wake hands/head first, needed to pull both forearms out of the soft bottom in order to float up.

That was 4' of water

[Nando]

We had a course that was on a sandbar, sheltered between two areas of reeds. The middle of the course varied between about 24” and 30” and the bottom was very sandy. We eventually had a trough about 18” deeper in the boat path where the prop wash had blown out the sand. Never hit bottom, but the sand polished my prop and rudder so they were very shiny. Then we had three years of drought...

 

In ‘87, the pro tour championship was on a lake that was very shallow on the shore side. The lake had an outlet with a valve that someone had opened Saturday night. After a panicked half hour of tightening the buoys with Ed B., he told me, “get your ski, we’ve got to see if it’s safe to ski”, which I knew meant I was expendable and the tour skiers were not- he didn’t want any of them to get hurt. I ran a couple of passes and noticed KLP was watching intently. He asked me what it felt like around the two shallowest balls and I said I could definitely feel the tail being affected by the shallowness. He said he could see the tail rise up as the ski went into ground effects- he used tha aeronautical term and it seemed apt.

[A_B]

If your boat is on a lift, just measure from the waterline to the bottom of the rudder or prop. Then add 12” or so.

 

The draft spec on recent SN’s is about 22”. That could be sitting still but normal loading in the water. Heck a prop is 12”-13” with 2-3” clearance to the bottom. Bottom of hull to waterline is around 10”. That doesn’t account for nose rise on takeoff.

 

Draft is typically the minimum to safely navigate which means at idle. At speed it’s less and takeoff it’s more.

 

 

 

[John Brooks]

Perfect @A_B , we can keep the wakeboard boats off the ski lakes with a shallow pond.

[A_B]

A guy I know who worked in the boating industry confirmed that the draft of the boat is just sitting in the water or idling and not taking off.

[skiinxs]

The bottom of the fins may be a little deeper then the prop/rudder.

[BraceMaker]

@skiinxs - agreed I've been on a sand bar in super clear water with ski boats and looked under for curiosity.

 

The "belly" of ski boats is pretty deep under the drivers seats and pylon. At idle these sit really low

 

 

 

Because of the angle of the propshaft, and the shape of the rear of the hull ski boats don't squat down when they take off nearly like V-Drives and outboards.

 

The Rudder is pretty low as well.

 

[A_B]

I personally would not start a boat up to plane in less than 36” of water especially if the bottom is hard clay.

 

We bent 1/2” diameter screw in anchors in our lake trying to tap into our clay bottom. Two dumb skiers 35 years ago in 18’ of water holding our breath and torquing on a pipe stuck through the eye. That wasn’t the smartest thing I ever did. 18’ is a long way up after you exert physical force!

 

@Jody_Seal i also saw a trick skier catch an edge on a reverse and he came up with a head full of river muck. We were in 5-6’ of water. Thank God he didn’t find a rock or water soaked log with his head.

 

I know I have gotten yanked OTF and dove head first in the water and have no idea how deep I went but know I was under for a while when trying to figure out which way was up.

 

IMO your flirting with disaster under 5-6 foot of water. And the skis don’t sit in the water when it’s shallow. Grand Rapids Pro Tour skiers kept blowing the tails out in 2-3 feet of water on one buoy that was very close to shore.

[liquid d]

Use the long and shallow setting on your fin!

[MISkier]

@A_B, where in Grand Rapids was there a shallow buoy (2-3 feet)? I’m familiar with a lot of sites here and the only one with a buoy in less than 4 feet that I can recall is Buddy’s Pond in the Bass River Recreation Area. And, I don’t recall any Pro stops there.

 

If you are thinking of the old Waterski Paradise (G&L Training Center), that is near Charlotte, about 15-20 miles Southwest of Lansing.

[A_B]

Yes it was GL. They held the pro tour there. I believe they moved the course over a little from where it normally sit. Grimditch did the color and said that the shallow water buoy was being a problem for all the skiers and at 38 off it really became apparent.