Small plywood ski boat?

what about a 115 hp on a 14 foot boat !!

 

For you the better choice, sure!

 

Thanks for the additional discussion. Some valuable points, I have never owned a ski boat sized motor, so the info on weights is useful, I would consider a second hand 2 stroke if there was a good deal out there. There are lots of deals guess, I just don't know how to rate them. The kids in question are all under 100 pounds and unlikely to get much larger, though I supose a very small ski boat would be silly. One thing that hasn't come up is any newer plans, surprised there is nothing out there.

What about something like this:

http://parker-marine.com/descfish.htm

Normally these boats have a poliing platform on the back that could maybe be used for skiing This would be more of a dual use thing, with me liking fly fishing.

 

One thing that hasn't come up is any newer plans, surprised there is nothing out there

Just find the hull you want and check the deck layout of where everything is to balance the boat and do your own thing !! Its usually just decks and layouts that change with time , Hulls are much the same from year to year. The only part that really important is from the chine down to the keel , The rest is for show and to keep the water out .

 

google Boat plans you will find lots.. I am no a fan of revived 1950 designs .construction is so old fashioned ..of course you could use Carene and Freeship and design your own in 10 min for a stitch and glue...

 

Basic ski boat

Here is a suggestion for a proven design, http://www.jamescraftboats.com/
I had a 14' Hornet with an old 40 Johnson (2 stroke) it did just fine for pulling skiers. It was fast enough to be fun but not scary.

 

wow theres some neat looking boats in that collection !! I love the Barracuda !! thats me !!

 

Its amazing how either perceptions or facts change with time. In our ignorance that it was not possible and poverty which did not allow any better, I and my friends learned to ski behind my little 12' runabout with a 10hp Wizard for power, no gear shift and no neutral. The Wizard would certainly not jerk anyone out of the water and required the the skier do their part in getting themselves and the boat on top of the water. Once up, we could run at 23mph or so. The light boat and bridle hitch did allow the skier to pull the boat around a bit but that was part of the fun. Of course, in the early 1950's the largest outboard readily available was a 25hp. We did have one advantage though. Maybe some of you know or can remember what it was.

 

you only weighed 80 lb. soaking wet?

 

No one was anywhere near as concerned about breaking their necks or getting sued as now.

 

Here is some solid proof there has been little change in designs:

http://www.svensons.com/boat/?f=SkiBoats/Stingaree/BBH_Aug62_Stingaree_A.jpg

Frankly I like the idea of fins!

Normally I would just design it myself, but I really don't know enough about motor boats. Canoes or sailboats, is my line.

I guess my googling isn't all that great either. What there are a lot of as far as stitch and glue boats is concerned, is skiffs, and other boats with "ski" in them, but not actually ski boats.

 

Whatever you decide on boat and powerplant in the size range you are contemplating plan on having two propellers. The propeller you would normally put on a boat of this type to optimize hull performance won't work well pulling skiers. You can quickly change props back and forth between the normal and a smaller prop to pull skiers.

 

Ah yes, the good old days....

That Wizard 10 hp was really a Mercury Super 10 that Western Auto sold, it had 18 hp but was rated as a 10 because in Florida at that time (and other states and places too probably) you could have up to 10 hp on a boat and you didn't have to license it. People wanted more power, but didn't want to have to get a license and pay a sticker fee each year, so the Mercury's (and the Wizards too) were pretty popular. I had a KH7 Hurricane Super Cruiser that had a gearshift on it, but that was only made for one year. Even though Mercury came out with the Mark 20 and later the Mark 25, People still wanted Super 10's because you didn't have to go through the hassle of licensing them. That was true even into the mid 1960's when I was a kid messing with hydroplanes.

 

That's exactly why you want 40 hp or more. Then you don't have to dink around with changing props, the boat will pull the skier right out with a prop that has enough pitch to go as fast as you need to go. If you under power the boat you need to have more pitch to pull skiers and then you have to start changing props. It's more trouble than it's worth, and that's just another reason you want more power. Fiver or ten more horsepower in a used engine costs almost nothing.

 

Far be it from me to support Apex's theories ,but here in the UK diesel cars have become very popular in the last few years .Many owners are now having problems with the engines ,because they are not being worked hard enough . For example.,EGR valve cokes up and seizes ,turbo overheats ,this destroys the turbo seals ,engine runs on its own sump oil until it self destructs. Could be avoided if the engine was worked harder.