...well, everyone with a direct drive towboat actually. All my boats have always been I/O's, but I've finally made the decision to pick up a proper towboat for the sport that I've grown to love. <BR>Anyway, I went and put a deposit on a '99 Moomba on Saturday. On the test drive, while the boat was in reverse, I noticed it pulled to the right. The dealer said all inboards do this while in reverse. Is this true, or is the dealer blowing smoke? I haven't paid him for the boat yet, so please respond as I would really like to know the truth on this.

all inboard ski boats pull one way or another based upon the props rotation. You can actually back an inboard straight back, by "pulsing" the throttle, just giving it a little juice every few seconds then back to neutral. I think most inboards back to the right, except Correct Craft, which goes left. I have found that once you learn to park an inboard it is actually much simpler than a conventional stern drive, my 2 cents anyway.

Tim is right on. This is normal. You'll get used to it, and it actually makes docking easier if you approach at an angle with the dock on your right.

Mike, not to give you a hard time, but who is that in your profile pic? You do 911s, but you've never driven an inboard?

No no, that's not me. I took that pic last year at Wakestock. I just thought it was a killer pic. I don't do 911s Doc, I do 180s. Haha!

Oh, and I shouldn't forget. Thanks a lot Tim and Doc for responding. That's a real ease on my mind. I pick it up on Wednesday. I'm so excited!

Alright, not to keep writing in on my own thread, but here is a picture of the ride. What do you guys think of the Moomba's anyway?? <BR> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/181186.jpg" alt="">

The newer Moombas in the past few years are very high quality, manufactured by Skier's Choice, who bought the company several years back. I'm not familiar with your year, but if it was built after Skier's Choice took over production, I imagine that would be a good thing. Even if it wasn't it still might be fine, I just don't know that much about the older ones.

As long as you enjoy your boat, you can afford the payments, and it doesn't need to spend too much time in the repair shop, that's all that really matters!

they ALL go one way or the other..you will learn how to get out of the slip after a few tries...

From what i know, V drives pull to the right and direct drives pull to the left......But that doesn't mean they do.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/crazy.gif" border=0>

Not true Jeremy. Tim was right on the first post. V-drives and direct drives have the same gear outside the boat so the engine orientation and transmission have no bearing. <BR> <BR>Left hand props will pull to the right, and right hand props will pull to the left. <BR> <BR>Pretty much all mfr's except Correct Craft (Nautiques) use LH. <BR> <BR>Correct Craft uses RH both for safety and to better balance the boat, as I've been told. <BR>Safety because the boat will reverse away from the skier/boarder when you pull around the person in the water (assuming always keeping the rider on the driver's side as would be the preferred safe method). <BR>Balance because of the torsional force that would counterbalance the weight of the driver in the boat. (yes that's what a CC rep used to tell me over and over) <BR> <BR>I only add the info re: CC vs. all other boats since it always seems to come up in discussions like these (e.g. "Ok so WHY is CC different?"). <BR> <BR>While LH may be easier for many to dock, I think it's just a matter of KNOWING how your boat will behave at low speeds. I've driven lots of I/Os and both RH and LH inboards. I/Os by design have better low speed maneuverability. When I dock a LH inboard, for example, I give less power swinging into the dock on the driver side because I know the reverse throttle will pull the boat into the dock the last few inches. On a RH boat you would typically give extra momentum to the dock and use the reverse throttle to slow and stop that momentum. I think LH is certainly easier to learn inboard docking, especially when coming from an I/O. In my experience, most guys that make the jump from an I/O to an inboard go through a short period of cursing the inboard when they first try to dock the inboard (but then they acknowledge it's a small price to pay for the wake it throws...)

The sante goes to the left when you put in reverse.

oops... <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/181311.jpg" alt="">

LOL nice pic. I've need a pic like that for myself on several occasions. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

you need a tower

I have a tower

We love our '98 Moomba LS - you will find that with a fat seat in the back and a fat sack in the bow snugged right up with the pylon that the wake is kickin'. Enjoy your new ride!

i have a 99 moomba and we've loved it since the day we got it. it throws a good wake with good shape with our fat sac in the back and 2-3 people up front. the wakes' not as big as the wakeboard boats i've ridden behind which is a given but we've gotten it pretty close some times. also without weight it's been great for slalom skiing and barefooting. the reverse to the right is normal and actually helps for when docking or other things. have fun with it it looks good.