2013 SS188OB & towables

JPM

Hello,

Can't seem to find straight forward reasoning on this and hoping the forum may help.

I have a SS188OB w/ Yam115 all 2013...great boating experience being new to boat ownership.

I have two young children and just purchased an Airhead G-Force towable for up to 3 ppl.  My question is were to attach the rope?  transom hardware with a Y harness or just to the ski pole?

From reading the one post I found on the topic, it seems some people have bent there ski pole using towables???   

Crazy reasoning....it seems to me putting a 200-250lbs person on skis pulling out of the water to plane would have a much greater force than my two little ones combined weight of maybe 100lbs on a floating air-mattress.

If anyone can shed some light on this it would be greatly appreciated and Thank You for taking the time to read my question.

BigDaddyNJ

I would use the ski pole for the simple reason of more maneuverability with the attachment in front of the motor. Can't see why the ski pole would bend............Using a "Y" harness behind the motor, will make your boat slide around turns

Capt_Steve

JPM...I would tend to agree with Big Daddy...young children at moderate speeds should be find with a ski eye attachment point.

Ernest_T

With little kids the ski pole is OK, but be sure the tube is pumped up completely.  Under inflated tubes will submarine, and I have seen a couple of bent ski poles as a result..........even with little kids when the tube goes under it puts a whole lot of force on the pole.  If the tube submarines, it doesn't matter how much weight you have on he tube, it will bend the pole.

I use a "Y" harness and tow from the stern eyes, but I'm towing a Big Mable tube with older kids.  Biggest problem with this setup is the rope hits the water and the riders have water in the face.  I got a "Booster" ball that solved this problem.

cjjjdeck

I second the "Booster Ball" improvement!  Great product.

Capt_Steve

Definitely...I'd forgotten about the Booster Ball...it really does help.

nquirk

JPM, let me jump in here as I've seen this first hand on two different Hurricane boats (including my own when I didn't know better).  In both situations the ski pole bent or was damaged.

Once you've pulled a 250lb skier out of the water, the drag is fairly minimal.  However, with the drag against the front of a tube (particularly not fully inflated and submarines) you're talking 1000s of lbs of drag on it.  ErnestT is bang on and I use the same configuration.

I suggest you consider the Y harness with the booster ball. 

Lastly, you'll notice a little sticker from the manufacturer on the ski pole instructing you that its for skiers/wakeboarders and never use for pulling inflatables.

 

I'm sure most would agree.  The most important thing you have is those 2 little ones on the tube so make it fun and enjoyable and don't risk it.

 

 

JPM

Thanks to all of you for the words of wisdom.  

Our first tubing run was the towable and rope on the ski pole.  While harnessing up I took notice to the ski pole caution sticker "not recommended for towing inflatables" something like or there about.  Kind of hard to reverse the operation after airing up the towable and then lastly rigging the rope and reading that...too funny.  Telling my little ones, no go was not going to happen.  We took it slow and never really got to plane.  However, I did immediately see the submarine effect on turns...and I'd back off the throttle then resume.  With all that education I purchased the Y-cable &  booster ball which included the ropes.  Our second attempt was a much better all around experience with  absolutely zero submarine on turns and less spray from the rope slapping the water.

All in all, I was mostly trying to avoid yet more equipment to by maintain and deal with...but the transom Y-cable hookup, and booster ball set-up are we want to be on the fun and safety scale.

Once again I thank you all for taking time to read and respond.  -Cheers to you!   

FlyingV5

I have succesfully towed two 140# passengers on a tube. Then I read the warning sticker, and got a Y-harness. Tow bar is excellent for single skier, wakeboard, etc. but the huge frontal area of the inflatable can apply a sudden shock load like being tied to a stump when it dives in. The tow bar is not designed for that. A Y-harness is for the heavy tows.

CaptainChris

"I'm in the same boat," to use a tired cliche. We had been using our ski pole for tubing this summer, until I noticed stress cracks in the gel coat around the points where the ski pole bar mounts to the boat. I can mark this one up to naivete and my boat being sans warning sticker. Disappointing, but as long as they don't spread, it isn't the end of the world. Only using the Y-harness attachment from now on! 

1pointofview

what is the y harness you guys speak of

nquirk

@1pointofview.

 

Here is the product  http://www.airhead.com/p/heavy-duty-tow-harness

It attaches to stern eyes (that you'd strap down when trailoring) then has a self centering pulley that you connect the boat end of the rope to.

 

1pointofview

so I would connect both clips to the pole on the boat and then connect the towable to the clip?  Looks simple but I guess I am not sure what the benifit is?  does the ski pole have connection problem?  Does it help with drag or something? thanks

1pointofview

ahhh, I get it now. So on the stern of the boat there are the 2 connections on both sides of the engine.  You clip onto the back of the boat and it is why I also keep seeing about getting the ball "thingy" to help keep down spray and keep the rope up.  Makes sense and I like that much better than the ski pole! brilliant.

nquirk

@1pointofview, exactly.  There Y harness has a pulley so it centers itself as you turn and the booster ball keep the rope from dragging creating spray and also slack in the line.  If you get slack and then pull hard it snaps the tube/riders and isn't comfortable.