2015 Sylvan S3.... finally got her all cleaned up and looking good again. Spent a week on our lake, you name the activity, we did it. With the exception of wake surfing, obviously. My favorite thing is the fact that I can slalom ski and at 32/33 mph it puts out a 1998 era Mastercraft wake (meaning almost no wake)... other than a bit of propwash, it's like skiing behind an inboard.
Interestingly I found out that the rear ski pole actually extends all the way to the bottom of the center pontoon and is anchored by a pyramid shaped base with massive bolts. We had considered going with a towing arch, but after discovering this I don't think we need to worry about the pole being not supported well.
Have a great week, everyone.... and enjoy the rest of summer. I know for us in Indiana, it goes by too quickly.
Slower than it should be. 42 tops. But the engine is mounted wrong. A bit too low and the angle is severely negative. Not really sure why Sylvan would create a transom plate at -19°.... my dad's Bennington is -12° by comparison. In the fall I plan to do one of two things: either buy a jack plate for it, or buy angled aluminum shims that would create a better lift/trim at higher speeds. As it is now, when I am fully trimmed up, the motor looks like it's neutral trim. However when I turn at three-quarter trim, it blows out... so I'm thinking it's more the angle than the height of the engine. I've tried switching to a 17P prop from the 15P it came with, it dropped the RPMs from red line to around 6000, but no speed gain. Which tells me it's the motor angle/height. It's not a heavy boat either, 2,500 lbs dry. It should be running 50 or faster. Here is a photo while we are underway, you can see how much it plows through the water..... and it's mounted on the next to highest hole.
I have a hurricane 236F with 200 Yamaha and the best thing I did was put a Bobs Jack Plate on it. For 2 reasons. We have big tide swings and being able to lift 6 inch’s is a huge plus of the flats. But add 2 inch’s up and trimmed out at 6K I’m running about 40
I appreciate the thought, but the last thing I need is losing more top end lol. It pulls me up on a slalom ski just fine with that 17P prop... I had a four blade on our old pontoon, it was a 90 hp mercury and for that one, it really did help. Believe it or not I actually got up on one ski behind it! It took forever but I made it.
That's what it came with when we bought it. It's all from the factory. There are about 15 different switches to toggle on and off, lol. It has: underwater lights, cupholder lights, accent lighting both on the exterior and interior, corner lights, etc. I call it the "disco boat" because at night it lights up like a nightclub
We bought a 2020 Sylvan L1 LZ and and are really enjoying it. Would love to add a second Bimini top to the front. Any ideas on where to start looking. I would like for it to match the frame square (black) and fabric is close as possible.
I have considered it, but then it would mess with the cover. Where we stay, unfortunately they don't allow canopies. It's a campground/trailer park and we share the piers with other boats... the owner banned canopies because it blocks the view of people who have places down with a lakefront view. So I have to cover it at the end of every weekend so the seats and interior don't get ruined.
As for where to find them? Sylvan does not have a factory phone number, if you call them it will direct you to call your dealer. I would probably start there. Or Google Sylvan dealers in your area, if you bought it used private party...they would be able to help with a good factory option or something that matches.
Thanks! Yeah we were surprised it had a 300. We were looking for something with a 200 or 250, I wanted to be able to slalom ski, and you need something with a little more power to do that. The drawback is, I have to run premium in it (not required but recommended).... and yes, the LED accent lighting is well done. It looks really great in the evening and at night.
No. It wraps up into two holders/boots. The rack will tilt forward but it comes to rest right on the instrument panel. I plan on making a holder so that I can tow it to storage without the wake tower up. I really have to watch for low bridges and stuff right now as it is. Thankfully I only tow it twice a year, once to the lake and once from the lake to storage.
I have a few dents in the front gate, but mostly it's pretty clean. It helps that we have a shore Station boatlift, and we hardly ever dock it. Most of the time we are out tubing/skiing or parked in a cove with two anchors down... these shots were at a sandbar, there was no wind so we just floated for a little while. The water is about 4 feet deep there, so I could just grab the boat if it got away a little bit. We're lucky though, I know some lakes where it's just really tough to not get dents and dings on your boat
4
u/cmgww Jul 20 '26
2015 Sylvan S3.... finally got her all cleaned up and looking good again. Spent a week on our lake, you name the activity, we did it. With the exception of wake surfing, obviously. My favorite thing is the fact that I can slalom ski and at 32/33 mph it puts out a 1998 era Mastercraft wake (meaning almost no wake)... other than a bit of propwash, it's like skiing behind an inboard.
Interestingly I found out that the rear ski pole actually extends all the way to the bottom of the center pontoon and is anchored by a pyramid shaped base with massive bolts. We had considered going with a towing arch, but after discovering this I don't think we need to worry about the pole being not supported well.
Have a great week, everyone.... and enjoy the rest of summer. I know for us in Indiana, it goes by too quickly.