I've owned 7 Whalers over the last thirty-five years (two 13s, three
17s, a 19, and a 21), for whatever that's worth ...

Comments:

1) You can't stand up in a 15, you can in a 17. If you're going
anywhere that there's any wave action, I'd much rather drive standing
than sitting.

2) A 13 is marginal for skiing -- people can get up, but the boat's so
light that if you go wide, the boat moves sideways. I suspect a 15
would be barely acceptable, but not great. A 17, with 100hp, is at
the lower edge for good skiers.

3) Unless you put a prop with more pitch on, you can't have a boat
that is both a good ski boat and not too fast -- you need around 30mph
for skiing, but a motor that tops out at 30 with a normal prop won't
get novices out of the water cleanly.

4) The 17 will be more stable and generally safer, but faster and
heavier -- less likely to get in trouble, but if you do, it'll make a
bigger hole in your wallet.

5) There's only one 15' Sport (which is what you'd want) on
Yachtworld.com -- there are many 17' Montauks.

5) Brunswick recently bought Whaler. This is not necessarily bad --
Brunswick makes Hatteras, which is a good brand, but also makes
others....

6) Some of the original Whaler people and philosophy are at Edgewater,
which you might look at...


Jim Woodward
www.mvfintry.com
(Fintry is not a ski boat, but may well end up with a 17' Montauk
tender)


JohnH wrote in message . ..
On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 15:14:46 GMT, Harlan Lachman
wrote:

As a long time sailor, my first powerboat was a Boston Whaler 13.
Although I was too old and the pounding hurt my back (and especially my
older wife's back), I found it a really safe, easy to use craft that
inspired confidence and was great for water skiing, moving around, and
fishing. It disappeared when my older son went off to college after
shoing no interest in the boat.

My younger son will eventually get his first boat, hates sailing, loves
powerboating and I am thinking of a 15' Whaler. A bunch of questions:

How large an engine is big enough to take friends (even large ones)
water skiing or wakeboarding but not too powerful to over power the
boat or encourage needless speeding?

Is a four stroke too heavy for this boat (hp versus weight)?

How much should I expect to pay for a used one in good condition?

TIA,

Harlan
I had a 15' Whaler with a 70 hp Johnson. It ran great. As I recall, the 70hp was
the max allowed for that size boat. That should be enough to get a skier up. It
was pretty fast, I'd guess over 40mph, maybe closer to 50, but I didn't have a
speedo on it. Great boat, lots of fun. Would probably still have it if Army
hadn't needed me overseas and wouldn't ship or store the boat.

Good luck!
John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD