There is not much wind recently.
I have been considering alternative activity on the water and want to learn water ski, or wake board ( whichever is easier )
What is minimum requirement for outboard motor to be able to pull a water skier ?

I have 18 Hp Tohatsu and light inflatable boat ( or my catamaran which could go up to 30 km/h with this motor and 2-3 people on board). If that setup will be able to pull a skier ?

Surfboard should be fine. We used to call it "skurfing". Rider starts lying down, goes to knees then feet. We used to do it behind a 6hp, 1 60kg kid riding, one kid in tinny. Illegal, no observer, but never got in trouble..

swoosh said..

Nope. Wakeboards are easier to tow than a ski, but you wont be able to tow either with only 18hp. Not a full grown adult anyway.

What about kite board ? Still need more then 18 hp to get planning ? Anyway if that even possible to use this board when towing even with bigger motor ? Or that is acually the same type of board as for wakeboarding ?

I bought one kiting complete set and want to learn one day...

I have just a crazy idea buy maybe somebody did try it ....windsurfing board and saw of mast 2m + boom as usual.
Now rope attached say 20-50 cm on the mast above ground ....may work but not safe when crash and pull over....so need instant , safe release mechanism for the towing rope....

ah marco, you have some ordinary ideas.
The windsurfer idea sux. learn how to ski and you may understand why.
18 hp is enough to ride a kiteboard if you're not fat and you know what you are doing, but a surfboard will be more fun.
You can actually have a ball with a surfboard and just a really thick rope to hang on to (rather than a ski handle). old windsurfers also ok - take of the fin and ride finless.

smoother the water the better. wave board will be hell fun, you just need to use the rails to carve but then you can loose the tail when you want for a skateboard style feel and also spin around backwards. i have done all forms of skiing for very long time, and i think some of the best fun is just out behind a lightly powered tinny like you have on an old winsurfer or something. there's something about the tinny - the pull is quite forgiving, but also you can stack it heaps and its no big drama to spin aound and get going again or even just stop while you are still holding onto the rope and go again, the economy, the whole ease of everything and the social side that's really good. If you stack it lots with a big boat it gets tiresome turning around, coming off the plane, taking off again. lots of fuel getting wasted, lots of wake being generated. tinny will go all day on one tank, can jump straight out and back in again, go exploring along a beach or something as you go (we have sheltered beaches in qld). enjoy

Yes I was going to say, you should be able to pull a wake board. An 18hp will pull you out. Just revise the technique and don't fight the boat. I've had a 40hp tinnie pull me out on an advanced slalom ski. Just adjust the angle of the board to ensure lift is created. Surfboard will pull out easy on 20hp. I've barefooted on thongs behind 40hp by sitting on a surfboard first, then when the tinnie was nearly flat out, stood up on thongs. What I'm saying is, adjust the angle and anything will pull out. Try dry starts with slack in the rope. Try dry starts with the boat starting closer to 90 degrees (or as much as necessary) angle away from you instead of dead straight. That way, the boat gathers speed then pulls. I mean, have the boat drive parallel to the beach and if you do it right the boat will pull you with more momentum than a stopped start. Try making a disc out of bunnings ply wood. Try using cheap skim boards from bcf. They all can be pulled out with bugger all horsepower and I am 85kg.

Agree with everyone above, stick with the tinny and surfboard. We used to skurf in Townsville all the time in choppy water up to 30cm chop, any rougher than that used to be painful for the skurfer.