Slalom skiing behind a 22' Scarab?
 

Looking for some input here. On the hunt for a boat, and one of 3 we're interested in is a '96 Scarab 22 with a 454 and Bravo 1. We're avid slalom skiers and the boat will be used as a general purpose runabout on a large inland lake that gets a 1-2' chop by mid-morning and often has whitecaps by mid-day. I know this boat would be the best of the three where rough water and handling is concerned, I'm just curious what it's like to slalom behind one. Not looking for tournament ski boat styles wakes, but also don't like the idea of a huge wake common to a lot of stern drives. With a performance based hull like this, can you trim out the boat at 30 mph such that it gives you a reasonable wake to slalom behind? I'm assuming we could prop it for great holeshot and acceleration at the expense of top end. Any other concerns on one of these for how we want to use it?

Thanks in advance.

That was my first "new" boat back in '94. I think it would be a great boat for that. I had a ton of fun with it. Handles great. I'm not a skier so I can't comment on the wake but I think it would work great. Good luck

I think it would be fine, we are in the same position, pretty much the same size boat, probably a bit heavier. We slalom mostly, bring it to 30+ trim it out, and ski a short line. I usually ski a 45 or 50 foot line so the wake is pretty flat and only a few feet wide and you can also slow it down and go wakeboarding. Of course it is not going to be tournament style, but it will do the job.

I had a 96 22' with 454/Bravo a few years ago...you may be lookign at my old boat as I here its for sale. Anyway, the wake is definitely not huge. I don't see any problem with slalom skiing behind it. We had 3 blade Mirage 23P and 25P props. The 23 got on plane a lot faster than the 25, but banged the rev limiter on the big end.

How are these things climbing onto plane? I'm not used to this heavy of a runabout, but was assuming I could prop down enough to get a strong launch out of the hole and still hit 50-55 mph for top end at WOT? Feasible to get all that as well as a somewhat efficient cruising speed somewhere around 35mph?

my boat is 3500lbs loaded, with a 5L 260hp. we spin a 19p 4 blade, and it works pretty well. it is not the fastest, but if you are a descent skier, hold your breath and hold on, it will get you up.

With the 23P planing was pretty good(25 took quite a bit longer). Still hit 60 MPH+ with the 23 bumping the limiter. I believe our cruise speed was 38 MPH according to the speedo.

I had a 1996 22 scarab and had a blast with it. I slalomed skied on it often. The wake is not bad at all . Actually I thought it was much better than my friends older Ski Nautique. I also had the 454 and it is a little heavy in the stern and getting on plane. Especially if you have people in the back seat. Tabs would help that problem. I was running a 25P Mirage Plus prop.

My 48-yr old shoulders won't hack that anymore. I'll gladly give up 10 mph on top if I can get a good hole-shot.

I like the sounds of that. I was hoping this style of hull wouldn't be too bad.


Does installation of a hydrofoil (Stingray, etc...) seem to help the Scarab in that regard? Did wonders on a 19' sterndrive runabout...

I used a Hydofoil on a 20' Baja I owned and it does work well for skiing. I don't think I would put it on the Scarab though. I think you would be better trying a 4 blade prop in the 22 to 24 pitch range. That would get you out of the hole , and the boat will handle better all around. It will probably be a little slower though , low 60's
Mine ran 68 to 70 GPS with the 7.4LX EFI/MPI 330 hp. Later dropped in a 502 MPI and it ran 72-74 GPS. Same 25 pitch labbed Mirage Plus prop. I tried lots of props. The boat handled so much better in 1 1/2 to 2 ft chop with the 4 blade.

Perfect. 4 blade prop was already on the top of my list as step 1 (had similar results on another boat) and a hydrofoil as a possible step 2 if necessary. The hydrofoil seemed to do wonders at creating some additional lift at the stern, but also made the boat a little too sensitive to subtle trim adjustments.

I don't have any experience with a 4 blade, but I believe if you search this forum you will find some info about them NOT working well on the 22 Scarab.

The 4 blade worked well on mine. Handled much better and came out of the hole easier. Just slower on the top end on flat water. Think it ran faster in rough water because you had so much more control . It was an unbelievable difference.

A 22' with a big block is heavy in the back. I skied with mine but it was just ok. The more people you had in the boat the harder it was getting out of the hole. With the 25" Mirage it wasn't good out of the hole but it was the fastest. The best prop for skiing I found was a 22" 4 blade bravo. It was much better out of the hole and the boat worked much better but you could go over 5k rpm, to high for a 7.4L. I then put 110S K planes on it. I don't think they really helped much for skiing. The 22" Bravo was money better spent. I think a hot small block would work better. I was going to change the exhaust to try to make it lighter but never got to it. Doug

I agree, a hot small block would work great. I rafted up with another 22 scarab once that had a small block in it. Mine sat at least 3" lower in the water at the stern.

Funny you should mention that... Boat I'm looking at lost it's engine, so I'd have to do re-build anyway. I do happen to have a 400 sbc (built for a jet boat I'm working on) just sitting and waiting for a home. Should top out between 475 and 500 hp, so it might find its way into the Scarab while the jet boat project drags on...

I have a 96 22' with 454 mag efi which is the best combo for this hall.
Speed-------- 25 3 blade mirge with 3/8 trim
Watersking-- 23 3 blade mirage with 1/8 trim
Bare footing- 23
knee board-- 23
wakeboard-- 23 or 25
pulling 8 tubes 21 ( watch for rev limiter though)