Re: Ah, the 3.0L standard engine
I do a ton of wake boarding and learned how to ride behind a 18.5 ft seay ray with a 3.0 liter. I even put extra ballast in the boat as my riding progressed, it had enough power....barley if you propped it way down . You can do it, bit if they are going to get serious spend the $$ for a V6. The little 3.0 sip gas and are good little motors but really do lack the horsepower for serious water sports. Lots of people buy the 3.0 motor in their 1st boat and if they are serious and boating lifestyle is for them they upgrade when they get 2 foot itis. If you are sure you are going to keep boat for a while go V6, since you are not 1st time buyer. My2 cents.
One last thing is Volvo Penta is far superior drive to MC alpha for water sports so I would go that route too.
my two cents, i currently own a near mint 96 four winns with only 44 hours, however, i have had issues with my powerplant, but when it's run fine, its pulled skiers easily with an 18 pitch prop 4 blade. however, as nice of a little motor as it is, i'd never buy another 3.0, i need more guts, a minimum of 4.3 is what i recomend, and i also would highly recomend getting a fuel injected engine, easier starting, more power, smoother, etc. also after owning a outboard powered boat and an IO powered boat, i definately am going back to outboards, especially a fuel injected two stroke. i've had 10 times more issues with the IO, too much crap to deal with.
