Waterskiiing a reality?

[Bobby T.-26X #4767]

don't forget to add the Suzuki 140hp (405#) to the mix.
we have a couple on this board who swear by this monster.
"she's a sweet ride"

[Richard O'Brien]

You might add the Mercury two-stroke Optimax 90 at 375 lbs. My dealer swears by this technology. It burns cleaner than comparable 4-strokes, and uses bio-degradable oil. Mercury has High altitude Jets, and I see a lot of them on the water here. I'm pretty sure my 60 bigfoot could pull a bunch of skiers, just not all above the surface, but the Optimax series starts at 75hp, 375 lbs. thats a lot of weight if you largely like the sailing aspect of Macs.

[Richard O'Brien]

Ellen , where do you boat? Is it the Blue Mesa reservoir? Do they have a marina there, or ramps, and on which end? That would be a beautiful place to sail, but it never occurred to me that it was available. Incidentally, you'll be very pleased with the work from the Anchorage. It took me a season to really appreciate the effort they put into commissioning a boat. Craig is an excellent tuner, no loose forestays from him, and the rest of their crew also.

[Ellen Bailey]

Starting to get excited, don't have a delivery date yet, but it's in process.

For Richard O'Brien - We usually boat at Ridgway Reservoir, but the marina operator hasn't opened yet this year and the park doesn't know when they will open, and they would let you park in the lot for over 1 day. So we have our old boat (81 Mac 25M) up at Blue Mesa at Elk Creek Marina. There is a ramp & marina there as well as a restaurant that makes great Long Island Iced Tea! There are no long term berths available though, and a long waiting list for one. Elk Creek is in the midddle of the res. There is a ramp at the west end of the res. too Lake Fork Marina, but not sure about the facilities there.

A few other questions, if you can help...

As I said before we want a motor with power for skiing/boarding that will compensate for altitude. We go from 8000' asl at Blue Mesa or Ridgway to 3000' asl at Lake Powell or Lake Mead.

Any comments on Evinrude 90 ETEC vs Mercury Optimax 90? I read on another thread that there were some problems with getting Mercury bigfoot throttle control to the console. Would there be the same problem with Merc Optimax 90? Any other pros/cons?

Then, there is the question of insurance. Any problems getting insurance on boats when using ob that are higher HP than what MacGregor 26M is rated for which I believe is 50 HP?

Does higher than 50 HP void the mfgrs warranty?

Is transom modification needed on the new 26M for 90 HP OB? for 50/60 HP OB?

Has Moe posted the boat speed chart that You Yours requested?

Thanks oodles for the input

[RandyMoon]

Just from a sailing newbie with a throbbing and fiery 90 horse Tohatsu....

I came from the big V8 ski boat world with loud grunts of "Arrh! Arrh! Arrh!" I could pull a pyramid of skiers up and put on a SeaWorld ski show.

Luckily, I grew up intellectually WAY beyond the Neanderthal mentality of needing to drive up and down the lake making throbbing noises and waves to irritate the fishermen and sailboat people. Well OK, it was kinda fun. Unfortunately the job of irritating sailors and fishermen has been adequately assumed by jet ski Neanderthals. I wish I had a 50mm mounted on the deck.

However, I think that anyone with a throbbing 90 on the back of a Mac is going to be disappointed if they think a 90 is going to produce anything more than skiing in a straight line behind the Mac on two skis. The Admiral and I have not skied yet, but I would not have high expectations for fancy skiing. The punch is not there.

[Ellen Bailey]

Hey Randy, I certainly don't expect to get the performance of a "ski boat" with my new 26M. But there are times when there's no wind and it would be nice to do something fun. But the waterskiing capability was one of the features that attracted us to the new 26M and I'm am wanting to know if that is just "advertising" or if in fact is is true. If true, can you do it with a 50/60 HP or does it take a 90HP to get up? And the high elevation where we live makes it seem rather dubious. Ellen

[RandyMoon]

Kansas is unfortunately at 1300 feet above sea level. I wish I was in the Rockies. And my feelings will be hurt if the weenies on this board start making Kansas jokes. I'm a Florida boy by DNA. I'll cry and wimper if there are Land of Oz jokes posted here.

Please don't get me wrong. A 90 will get you up and going and the other sailboats will drool. I guess I was trying to say my personal adjustment was that it is not like a 300 horse boat and I was underimpressed because of that. Will it get you up and skiing, you betcha. I was always someone who liked to ski 30-40 mph. So that was an adjustment for me with a Mac. Could my aging molding body be able to handle 40 mph. No way (I am re-living fading memories of the past). I would have transplantable body parts scattered across the lake @ 40. Would I want to go 40 mph in a MAC? No way.

Get a MAC, get lots of horsepower and you will be happy. I am not complaining. Just don't try bare-footing. You will clean your sinuses out.

[mtc]

but one can get up with a 50?

[Richard O'Brien]

Thanks for the detailed information on Blue Mesa Ellen. I hope by the end of summer to get down there. Regarding the Mercury Optimax: I have had two engines on my M. first a 70 hp yamaha which i hooked up using a B-184 Uflex control, well documented in the "Mods " section. That motor had a bad cylinder, and the cost of repair (unless I do it myself )was higher than my current motor , a Mercury 60 bigfoot. The mechanic I bought the motor from told me The b-184 did not have a long enough "throw" to completely shift the Merc. I attempted to install Mercury controls, but was disappointed in how they looked and or fit. I went ahead and measured the travel of the b-184, and it seemed to be fine, allowing more than adequate travel. I re-installed my b-184 with special Teleflex Mercury adapters on 13 ft. TF Xtreme cables. I am very pleased with the results, and haven't talked to the mechanic since? The b-184 UFLEX control with TFXtreme cables can be used with many motors. Hope this helps. Regards Richard O'Brien

[Casey]

Ellen

You might try contacting the Anchorage. They are a dealer that is out of Thornton, Col. (north of Denver) and at the time of my purchase in 1997 had done a lot of work with prop selection, jetting size to get the max performance of a 50hp on a Mac at elevation and would probably know about the skiing ability at elevation.

http://www.marina42.net/cgi-bin/p/m42p- ... -anchorage

[DLT]

Well, we ain't doing no skiing, but my 40hp will pull two tubes loaded with three kids just fine...

In my mind, the mac just ain't a ski boat... Where do you store the skis? But, a tube (or two or three) are easy to deflate and tuck under a seat...

[Ellen Bailey]

We ended up getting a Mercury 4 stroke 90 HP. The top speed was 23 MPH (at 6000 feet above sea level) and it took a while to get there. It worked very well for wakeboarding and kneeboarding, but I didn't try to slalom becasue I wouldn't want to drag that long in a cold mountain lake. Next summer I'll try to get up on two skiis and drop one to slalom, and will let you know the outcome.

[captin5317]

2005 M26 with Evinrude 50 EFI. Got her up to 20MPH at 4500 ft elevation. My son is 200lb Middle linebacker had a good time wake boarding. No way a single shi though.
Bruce