On Wed, 18 Oct 2006 23:03:02 GMT, "Woods" wrote:

Hi, I'm looking at purchasing an 18 ft ski boat along the lines of a
Sea-Ray, Four Winns, Maxum I'm not sure on which make yet but I can't
decide on which engine size.

The boat is for recreational use such as light duty water skiing and
wakeboarding of mostly kids with a few adults onboard.
I'm hearing various stories that the 3.0 inboard is underpowered and that I
should stay away from it. Some people I talk to say that that engine on an
18ft boat won't be able to even pull a 100 lb kid out of the water. Of
course these are people with the 4.3 liter engines. Is there anyone out
there that can tell me what kind of performance I could expect with a 3.0
liter inboard, can I pull a water skier out of the water?

Thanks in Advance for any input.

I have a 1995 19' cuddy cabin with the 3.0. It has adequate speed and
can pull my two grandkids on the tube as fast as they want to go with
4 adults in the boat. I can't even complain about the take off.
However, I do feel that it requires the engine to run a bit faster to
get to that plane point than I like and it seems that either I am
plowing just below plane or going on plane and going too fast. It is
very difficult to find that sweet spot for cruising. My nephew and two
sisters each have open bows between 18 and 20 feet all with the 4.3
engines. There seems to not be the same issues. Is it the engine or is
it the boat, I can't say. For pure basic power I think the 3.0 is
fine, but for the control of a better power band I think the 4.3 would
make me happier.

Dave Hall