Help. whats the best Flat water Ski for 17K or less

G

GMINT3R

Location
Mildura
Hello all, i've been riding stand ups for years now, i've had a superjet 701 and an sxr 800.
its time to upgrade while i'm still fit enough.

All my riding is done on flat water as i live miles from the ocean.

Will a 2014 XFS Rickter with a 900cc DASA motor be enough for flat water air time?
appreciate any help as there are very few people in my area who know about them.
Thank you
 
M

mikesx

I owned a 14 XFS Carbon Look hull ( basically a fiber glass hull w/visual carbon surface layer) and it was heeeeaaavvvvyyy!!! Bare hull and hood was 130#’s. Ironically would’ve made a great surf hull.
 
Quinc

Quinc

Buy a Superjet
Location
California
There all shat.

Lots of info and opinions here on skis:

What do you look for in a hull?

Hey everyone! I’m sure most of y’all know me. I’ve been doing some composite work lately and have found a lot of passion into it. I started to do some testing on layups and different designs. I was wondering if I were to design a hull what would you guys want to see? What makes a hull for you...
www.x-h2o.com
 
M

mikesx

GMINT3R said:
so not recommended? if so do you have any recommendations? thanks
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If flat water air time = learning your first flips, go with fiberglass. If you've got unlimited funds.....carbon. You can flop fiberglass all day, easy to repair. Carbon, not so much. And when you're beginning, you're flopping. My short list would be a BOB , Phantom , or a RIP in fiberglass w/900cc, 17k or less. That's keeping in mind you still have to add a pump/prop/trim to that motor/hull.
 
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Yami-Rider

Yami-Rider

TigerCraft FV-PRO
Location
Texoma
KMN said:
Don't buy any Rickter freestyle hull prior to 15 XFS. You see the older hulls change hands a lot, as they figure out its not a very good hull.
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Couldnt agree more.

If your wanting to do flat water 900 10mil or bigger with make it easier to learn to flip.
 
97superjet

97superjet

Location
Minnesota
After just building a carbon superfreak titan I can tell you that if you have 17k, buy a pre built boat. Little things add up quick, forgot this, want to replace that "as long as I'm there"...I would do it again because I liked the outcome and the process of the build...also fixed a bunch of things but moral of the story...just find a used RTR boat for 17k or cheaper, nice thing about skis right now is superjets are going up in price but aftermarket is going down a bit so you can get a nice comp level ski for not much money...case in point there is a carbon revolver close to me with a 1200 xscream in it for 17?....that thing will flip right off the trailer.
 
Sparkplug

Sparkplug

Location
Red Bluff CA
Carbon is not for newbs. Its for people that like to tell people about their carbon hulls. No one but a pro is being held back by 15, 20. Or even 50 pounds extra on a ski. Especially a guy who doesn't even know what hull to get. There is far more drawbacks to carbon than benefits.

Wildest ski ive ever seen was a guy on a eme. In Russia or Poland. Like 7 years ago. Going absolutely nuts. He did like 10 10 ft back flips in a row. It's a red one, in like a pond or small river. Maybe I can find it.

Grain of salt

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 
Quinc

Quinc

Buy a Superjet
Location
California
Sparkplug said:
Carbon is not for newbs. Its for people that like to tell people about their carbon hulls. No one but a pro is being held back by 15, 20. Or even 50 pounds extra on a ski. Especially a guy who doesn't even know what hull to get. There is far more drawbacks to carbon than benefits.

Wildest ski ive ever seen was a guy on a eme. In Russia or Poland. Like 7 years ago. Going absolutely nuts. He did like 10 10 ft back flips in a row. It's a red one, in like a pond or small river. Maybe I can find it.

Grain of salt

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
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Ant Burgees! Probably the only person that could take the title from Stone.
 
DylanS

DylanS

Gorilla Smasher
Location
Lebanon Pa
97superjet said:
After just building a carbon superfreak titan I can tell you that if you have 17k, buy a pre built boat. Little things add up quick, forgot this, want to replace that "as long as I'm there"...I would do it again because I liked the outcome and the process of the build...also fixed a bunch of things but moral of the story...just find a used RTR boat for 17k or cheaper, nice thing about skis right now is superjets are going up in price but aftermarket is going down a bit so you can get a nice comp level ski for not much money...case in point there is a carbon revolver close to me with a 1200 xscream in it for 17?....that thing will flip right off the trailer.
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Absolutely agree, if the one you’re buying RTR is clean.
Personally I think the difference between a 120lb hull and a 50lb hull is impressive, a light hull makes a little motor feel mean.
A well setup 900 in any flatwater hull is more than capable of doing what you need, the question is how hard do you want to work for it and how high do you want to go??
I wouldn’t spend 17k on a RTR ski unless it was carbon and packing a 1200 with todays flooded market.
For 17k you can get ahold of some very very nice skis with some very big motors..
 
97superjet

97superjet

Location
Minnesota
Sparkplug said:
Carbon is not for newbs. Its for people that like to tell people about their carbon hulls. No one but a pro is being held back by 15, 20. Or even 50 pounds extra on a ski. Especially a guy who doesn't even know what hull to get. There is far more drawbacks to carbon than benefits.

Wildest ski ive ever seen was a guy on a eme. In Russia or Poland. Like 7 years ago. Going absolutely nuts. He did like 10 10 ft back flips in a row. It's a red one, in like a pond or small river. Maybe I can find it.

Grain of salt

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
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I have to disagree with that, someone once told me buy once, cry once... I’ve learned that lesson a few times on turbo car builds and that’s why I went carbon vs fiberglass so I hopefully don’t have to upgrade in the future, I already have a fairly light hull... my superfreak has been pancaked a bunch of times and held up well, so it should be ready to be pancaked a lot more by me. In the end I would rather have a really good hull out the gate vs a heavy fiberglass one... I’m not talking about a Lee stone comp only hull thats 40 lbs carbon, that would be dumb for a newbie but a lot of people have strong carbon hulls that you can gain a little weight advantage and not have to upgrade down the road...
 
Sparkplug

Sparkplug

Location
Red Bluff CA
97superjet said:
I have to disagree with that, someone once told me buy once, cry once... I’ve learned that lesson a few times on turbo car builds and that’s why I went carbon vs fiberglass so I hopefully don’t have to upgrade in the future, I already have a fairly light hull... my superfreak has been pancaked a bunch of times and held up well, so it should be ready to be pancaked a lot more by me. In the end I would rather have a really good hull out the gate vs a heavy fiberglass one... I’m not talking about a Lee stone comp only hull thats 40 lbs carbon, that would be dumb for a newbie but a lot of people have strong carbon hulls that you can gain a little weight advantage and not have to upgrade down the road...
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Carbon corrodes. We will see how these carbon hulls and their inserts hold up in 10 years. My guess isn't too well. It also conducts electricity and people bot familiar with skis and wrenching on them can cause fires and melt down fairly easily.

Carbon is stronger. And lighter. Till it breaks. Then it is a nightmare and your wallet is gonna be the only thing light.

If I had the cash. I'd ride Carbon hulls. But I don't. So I ride fiberglass

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 
Yami-Rider

Yami-Rider

TigerCraft FV-PRO
Location
Texoma
I'd take a heavy layup carbon hull over a glass hull any day. My experience at my skill level(definitely not pro), was a game changer loosing 60 lbs, was blow away by how much easier flatwater and boat wake tricks were.

Carbon hulls can't handle the abuse like a glass hull, so it is better to learn/back flop a glass hull vs a carbon.

Insert corrosion isnt an issue if your hull has brass inserts or if you never ride in salt. Imo a surf beater should be glass anyways.
 
orangefinger

orangefinger

Location
Reno,NV
Buy a good hull, one that u can grow on with different engine sizes and pumps....we went thru the complete and now " unnecessary " discovery process starting with self built to cheap aftermarket to better....and so on.....times have changed, >> proof-en products available

A good light hull with a 760 can be amazing fun and a good starting point, if u can gobble anything up with a 900 even better .... 1200 too much for beginner
But ! you should really invest most time to test ride different hulls if you can .... it will be time consuming but there are significant differences with hulls and
your riding style, body weight, ability ....etc.
 
fastgtfairlane

fastgtfairlane

Location
Charlotte, NC
Also worth mentioning that every ski even another ski of the same hull will be different. Both friends of mine have the new tigercraft v3 both with 701s one with. 144 mag the other, a oem 155. They ride totally different. The way the ski accelerates is different. One is a 61/62t jm ported engine with the 155 pump the other is a 62t lpw shredder with the 144 mag. Everything from ride plate length to pole length to pump choice will affect how the ski handles and rides.
 
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