Skiing behind a Pirata

[5akman]

Just sold the Ski Brendella Spectrum open bow and am looking for something that throws a bigger wake to keep our 3 teenage boys content. I've put an offer in on a Pirata. Appears to have tons of room and the reviews for wakeboarding and surfing look great. My wife's concern however, is the wake at skiing speeds, say 25-27 mph for her. She is a solid open water skier but is NOT into jumping the wakes, running the course or getting the elbow in the water. Is the wake ok at these speeds with no ballast on board at the time? Also, is the cockpit size the same on the Pirata/Saltare? I know the Saltare has the open bow but was wondering if you compared the cockpit size (say between the dash and rear storage locker), are they the same? Reason being, I'd love to convert the Pirata to an open bow which I've already done on two prior inboards. Or, does anyone have a line on an inexpensive/project Sunsport or Saltare for sale on the west coast?

[Jetlink]

There a project saltare that was mentioned within the past week or so, lemme see if I can find the thread when I get home.

Here's the link. Might be a little bit of a drive but might be worth checking out so as to not have to fabricate an open bow and wreck a good pirata top cap.

https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?10859-Bringing-an-87-Saltare-back-to-life/page3

[crystal waters]

budget for used Saltare or Sunsport?

[5akman]

Only what I got out of the Brendella, 6500.00

[haugy]

To answer your questions:

Yes, from cockpit back the two boats (pirata/saltare) are twins. BUT, in order to convert one, you'd need to take the entire top cap from a Saltare. Which isn't really hard, but don't just think you need things from the cockpit forward. That whole area, bow to cockpit, cockpit to rear locker are one giant piece on the inside. But yes, you could do it. You would need to run some wiring in different places (nav lights, speakers, etc). In essence, that would be a cool conversion as you would also be able to fix things in process.

As for the wake, I can run my Saltare with full fuel at about 30mph and the wake is small. Still there, but small. And that's with the wakeplate more up than down. If I trimmed it down, I bet I could still make that wake very minimalistic. It wont be like a Comp or small Brendalla, but it won't be anything large like you'd expect from a wakeboard boat.

I think you'll be very pleased. If you don't want to go that big, and do want to keep a good ski wake, a Mariah is perfect for that. But not very workable for wakeboarding. (compared to a Salt)

[5akman]

What transmission and ratio did the 454 have behind it?

[ruby23m]

Velvet 1:1

[5akman]

and what is the rotation? LH or RH? What is standard auto engine?

[sybrmike]

LH for both (when viewed from the rear)

[Jetlink]

Or, counterclockwise rotation in forward when viewed from behind...if my memory serves me correctly.

[5akman]

Ok, thanks guys. My boat is in transit at this moment from SoCal to NorCal so I can't check this out myself right now. The suspense is killing me! :)