boat width for running a course on a private lake

[trayson]

so there's a private lake that's within a 4 hour drive of home that has weekday rental rates that seem crazy reasonable. it's 2250 feet long and 5 to 10' deep. they do have a "no wake enhancing devices" rule that I can certainly understand.

as far as the type of boats they allow, they wanted inboard tournament style boats and when I asked for clarification about whether my 23' XLV would be okay, I got this response:


The boat guides for the course center section are 6'9" spacings. Doubt your boat can pass through them.

Any thoughts on this? Honestly, I would be interested in renting the lake because it would be straight up FUN to have a private lake for a few days. I love to slalom ski, although I only really freeski and I'm not into carving buoys. And I think it'd still be fun to wakeboard, even if it was with no ballast.

But I'm not sure about the whole 6'9 thing. I've run my boat through the course at a lake in central OR and it didn't seem to be too wide for the buoys.

Of course I know the lake was DESIGNED for running a course in a DD, but I'm still wondering if I could have fun with it on my Vdrive, or if they're going to say it's not really feasible.

[jmvotto]

Yeah that won't fit the xlv is 8 ft 6 inches wide.
Most course me are 7.5 ft. For the boat guides

[trayson]

Yeah that won't fit the xlv is 8 ft 6 inches wide.
Most course me are 7.5 ft. For the boat guides

I wonder how wide they were at the course I ran my boat though before... of course, maybe I was just knocking guides with my hull without knowing it?

[BensonWdby]

Probably - but you should have heard that. One thing that can happen is the pressure in front of the boat can sometimes spread the guides naturally.
Honestly I am surprised that V-drive survived the experience - I would have expected the slalom gods to burst it into flames before you hit the entry gates...

[sandm]

I would have expected the slalom gods to burst it into flames before you hit the entry gates...

now that's funny right there.....

there's a course at the upper end of the river. I typically stay away as I know they want good water. always a lot of fun to watch a good skiier doing a run..

[kaneboats]

If you are not going to run the course you will be bored in about 30 min. and wishing you were back on your river.

[trayson]

If you are not going to run the course you will be bored in about 30 min. and wishing you were back on your river.

Yeah, perfectly smooth water all day long with the lake all to myself?

Gosh, I can't think of anything I'd do with myself on that... :rolleyes:

[Pound]

I think the bored comment relates to this.... at 2250' assume 50' each end for turn around... even at moderate wakeboarding speeds, you'd reach the other end in just about a minute. and at slalom speeds, around 45 secs or less. I think you'd feel like your turning around constantly. At 5-10' depths, and no wake enhancing ballast, not likely to be surfing. If you were into running the course and only the course, it would be fun as hell tho. What's the width of the lake?

[sandm]

assume 50' each end for turn around...

talk about a power turn :)

[trayson]

I think the bored comment relates to this.... at 2250' assume 50' each end for turn around... even at moderate wakeboarding speeds, you'd reach the other end in just about a minute. and at slalom speeds, around 45 secs or less. I think you'd feel like your turning around constantly. At 5-10' depths, and no wake enhancing ballast, not likely to be surfing. If you were into running the course and only the course, it would be fun as hell tho. What's the width of the lake?

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[moombadaze]

beautiful place for sure, but you wont have nearly the fun you think with what on that lake would be considered a barge. Big boat=big lake. Trust me on that one, my lake is 4 times as big as that, and its to small for a LSV let alone a XLV

[jmvotto]

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trade your xlv for the week for a dd and have a blast skiing the course.

[trayson]

beautiful place for sure, but you wont have nearly the fun you think with what on that lake would be considered a barge. Big boat=big lake. Trust me on that one, my lake is 4 times as big as that, and its to small for a LSV let alone a XLV


trade your xlv for the week for a dd and have a blast skiing the course.

Might be smarter to coordinate with a couple other skiers that have access to a decent DD. Plus, then I wouldn't have to trailer my boat 4 hours to do something it wasn't really intended to do. haha!

If we pull it off, I definitely see some wicked opportunity for some drone pics/video!!!!!

[sandm]

looking at that lake, 2 wakeboard passes and you would have nothing but chop for a while..
for a 4hr tow and spending the cash to rent, I'd rather spend the cash on a missed day at work and go to a less crowded local big lake for the day.

[gregski]

I used to ski and wake board a course length of water. It is pretty fun to wake board because you do a quick P-turn, cut through your own wake and then it's glass for the length. It does feel like you are turning around a lot for just a few good jumps each pass but it was worth it for the nice water. I'd rather have a longer stretch of water... I'd also like a pot a gold.

[iwaterskihard]

I'd be very surprised if they even let you launch your boat on that site. Our lakes are tournament boats only no exceptions. Lakes are designed to handle the wakes tossed out by 3 event boats only. Shorelines are not designed to handle the bigger wakes crashing into them thus damaging the shore line. Also the ends of the lakes are wider and set up to drop a skier at the end of each pass. Once rested the skier is then picked up, you go around the island to set the boat up for the next pass through the gates and boat path for the skier.

My daughter and her friends do wake board for fun but they get the same wake she does when she is skiing as no ballast is allowed either. The buoys will bug you too and most certainly you will catch sh*t if you damage some while having your wake board fun.

All that said yes private flat water is nice but if you're used to running 1 - 3 mile wake board runs across lakes or up rivers you will get bored and very quickly.

As someone stated earlier - get a group of guys and get a tournament boat and go ski your ass*s off and truly experience amazing skiing! :)

[trayson]

Yeah, all that makes sense. it would be better to team up with someone that has a tournament boat anyway and save me the hassle of towing my beast 4 hours anyway.