Greetings Hydrodyners! I've been a member of the Sarasota Ski-A-Rees for two years now and have seen my children get involved in show skiing. It was time to get involved with a tow boat for our new junior team and I choose the dyne18. Before I talk about my boat, it may interest board members to know that the privately-owned boats that participate in our ski club have shifted from mastercrafts back to dynes because of terrible experiences members have had with maintaining those vessels in a saltwater environment. We currently utilize dyne18's, a twin dyne20 (300's), and a twin dyna-ski participating. The club to our South, Southern Extreme in Estero, Florida, utilizes a twin dyne20, and three dyne18's (all i/o conversions). You can find pictures of most of these by finding the club's facebook page by seaching [ ski-a-rees ] with hyphens. The regular webpage is dated and doesn't have these new dyne pics. I purchased this 1969 Hydrodyne18 from a gentleman in Maryland via craigslist. I did have some pictures of two refits that had taken place but it remains to be seen how far they will take me. The former owner had taken great care in the cosmetic properties of the boat as evidenced by the wonderful awgrip paint job and interior work. The motor is a 1987 Yamaha 2 stroke 150 hp in good working order. The first thing I did was to install a fuel tank in the bow as the boat behaved like a cork on the water with no weight forward. The 30 gallon tank was a difficult install but helped tremendously with the boat's performance. The next big task was to install a 3 1/2 u shaped alluminum bar across the back of the virgin transom to take out the lip. That worked wonderfully. Installed new gauges, oil tank, fittings, and was ready to go skiing. The boat has answered well to the task to pulling skiers. It is very happy up to around 30 mph and can pull 3 skiers from the pylon easily. As I become accustomed to this boat, I have learned that the more I know about the design and construction, the more I can help it to perform. That being said, I love this boat. I would appreciate some help from someone who knows how a 60's boat differs from a 70's boat. For example, my boat does not have a fin, so it relies much more on the chines in the turns. It rolls! How is the floor built in the 60's era boat? I know how it was rebuilt 10 years ago? Is there a better way? Thanks, Stan Ross Sarasota, Florida
Hi Stan, and welcome to Hydrodyners Before I get into the differences, let me just say that you have a very nice looking boat. It will pitch-up and roll less if you lower the tow pylon so that the rope just clears the motor while under way. A rope guard over or behind the motor will keep it out of the motor. However many people do not use the guard. The low speed roll exists in the boats with the fin also. It is a characteristic of the soft (round) chine design. The fin does help with tracking which is not as much of an issue in show skiing as it is in slalom. The fin also helps reduce the roll at higher speeds. The sixties boats were built with a double layer of balsa sandwiched between three glass layers. There is the outer hull, the inner layer and one in between the two layers of balsa. This makes a very stout hull. There was no floor originally. I would not recommend drilling any mounting holes for a fin on your boat. Since the balsa grain runs for and aft in the boat, any water that gets in can migrate. This is the Achilles heel of this design. The internal hull must be well sealed to keep water out and I would not drill any holes or put any fasteners in it. The seventies boats had a single layer hull with end grain balsa. ie, the grain runs up and down so any water that gets in has a really tough time going any where. Inside the hull are a set of stringers and a flat plywood floor covered with glass. This is a rugged design and this method is used on the new boats. If a sixties boat becomes water logged and needs to be re-cored, it could be converted to the single layer end grain. You could add the stringers and the floor also. The Cosby's claim that the stringers are there only to support the floor. My boat is comfortable at 55, and probably would be ok a little higher. It tops out at about 47 with the ski prop on it. I run a 17 pitch factory aluminum prop with the cup removed which makes it behave sort of like a 15. Cup removal reduces the pitch-up and reduces the turbulence in the wake. My daughter is a swivel skier. I also run a wedge to increase engine "tuck" which enables it to run flatter at swivel speed. My boat is also a converted I/O. edit: I should also add that new 18's are available. I would like to see some pictures of the converted I/O's. jim
Stan, Your comment about teams transitioning back to dynes is right on. The price of inboards is crazy AND the boats are so big now that it takes 400 hp just to push them. That 400 hp has to eat and the new outboards are so much more fuel efficient. We've never been an inboard team as there is no local dealer. Beautiful boat you have there. If you want to pull heavier stuff I would suggest getting a heavier pylon and as Jim said shortening it. Can I ask where you got the fuel tank?
The only major complaint that I have heard about outboard ski boats is the lack of precision rpm control at low speeds. Swivel skiers are particularly sensitive to this. There is a fix for this and they can be made to respond like electric motors with a little backyard engineering. I have discussed this at length on this forum and I am willing to go through it all again with anyone that is interested. jim :good:
Is that the President admiring your Dyne from inside the garage? Whoever it is looks pleased.... Scott
Too funny! That is definitely the president. He should look pleased, because it is a very nice looking boat.
