New ProStar Owner

[MrsJMT]

Am an owner of a new 2004 ProStar 209 and was told that I would not have to give the boat full throttle to get a skier up on slalom, but have not been able to get them up without full throttle. Usually there are three people (including driver) in the boat, no ballast bags, engine is MCX, prop is 12.5 X 12. Is this the norm? JimT

[Stritt]

Depends on skier size and ability. I'm 210 6'1 and my wife used all throttle out of the hole then quickly backe off once I was up. Boat was a 03 209 with MCX. I ski a 68" ski, less surface area of the ski and I will dig a little more. Seems normal to me. Now if you have to continue at full throttle after the skier is up, then you have a problem. My .02.

[DanC]

I have the same answer.

I own an '03 209 with and MCX and absolutely must give full throttle at the correct instant in the start sequence.

[east tx skier]

Without offering specifics on your boat/engine combo, from a general watersports pulling skier up prospective, it depends on the skier. In my experience, it is easier to pull larger skiers out of the hole by not burying the throttle.

With significantly less horsepower than the MCX (see my signature), I can get my 225 lb brother in law up on slalom with a very gentle accelleration.

Again, I'm supposing the answers given above have more to do with the boat engine combination. I've gotta say, I'm surprised that that's the case with a 350 horsepower engine. Is it because the 209 weighs so much more than my boat?

[DanC]

Doug, absolutely agree, the larger the skier the more you need to use a gentle beginning to the start. Water is sticky stuff and it is hard for people with more surface area (I am not fat just big boned) to break free. One must get the water moving with the skier before trying to break free of it.

I certainly don't hammer the throttle. I use a gentle beginning to get the water moving with the ski, smooth acceleration to 3/4s until I see ~1/2 the ski out of the water, full throttle until the ski is on plane and then quickly back off.

'03 Prostar 209, MCX, stock prop (don't remeber what it is)

209 = ~2800 lbs 190 = ~2600 lbs only about a 10% difference so I think it has more to do with the prop and the powerband characteristics of the engine.

[east tx skier]

Sounds pretty close to how we pull, too. But for some reason, we don't get to full throttle pulling up. It might just be the way we drive. It's strange, but on my boat, full throttle is around 7:30 or 8 o'clock, rather than flat at 9 o'clock. Probably a mental thing thinking I don't need to go past 9.

I remember reading that the 310 hp TBI engines had a little more low end torque than the higher hp engines. You don't need anything approaching full throttle on my father in law's 98 PS 205 with the 308 hp TBI engine.

[DanC]

It would be really fun to see powerband charts for our boats like you can see in the motocross magazines for dirt bikes.

[east tx skier]

No doubt. Without telling me, a less experienced driver in the 98 with the TBI yanked me up full throttle once. Litterally almost pulled my arms out of the socket. Not a bad way to get up, but I like to be warned.

[MrsJMT]

Thanks for the suggestions; we're taking the boat to Tablerock this month for a week and will experiment to see what works best. Can't wait! JimT