Slingshot mothership vs boss hoss

[Capt Nemo]

Hello all,
I'm a new member and this is my first post. I've been lurking here since I bought my 2018 sx190 back in June and have found the information here very beneficial. I have no real watersport experience other than skiing and knee boarding a couple times. I have a CBC 5.8 sushi that we played on in the ocean a few times and thought I would give it a go behind the boat. I got up on the first try and was able to get a very little slack in the rope after a few tries with 450 pounds of human ballast in the starboard rear corner. This short ocean board has a thick rail with lots of full length rocker so it's not ideal for wakesurfing. It's just doesn't have the speed, I don't think, to go ropeless. I am planning to add the 650 fatsac to the rear swim deck.
I've been looking at several different boards and kinda narrowed it to the slingshot mothership, boss hoss and the old standby hyperlite landlock. There's not a lot of reviews on the first two and not a lot on the landlock behind a 19' Yamaha. Anybody have experience with these boards on our small wakes? I'm 5'11 and 180#, my two sil's weigh 225 and 255 and have never done any watersports. @J-RAD any ideas? I may be leaning towards the 5'6 mothership as it seems the boss hoss may be limited in it's maneuverability and don't want to get too bored once we get the hang of it. Is the mothership good for beginners? We could get the basics on the sushi and then move over to the mothership when we are ready to advance some. Thoughts?
Also couldn't one just put some water in the ski locker without a sac for forward ballast? I could start filling it with a five gallon bucket and mark several fill lines corresponding to different weight and then use the fatsac pump to fill and remove as required. Anybody tried that?
Thanks

 

[Capt Nemo]

Here's the sushi

 

[DonnyC]

@J-RAD is your guy for options. I have the Hyperlite Shim and just bought the Slingshot Coaster from J-RAD. The Coaster just arrived so haven't tried it yet.

I would NOT recommend filling the ski locker with water. Several good sac options available.

Thanks,
Donny

 

[Tlcaffall]

I have tried the Landlock although not behind my boat. I have a 5'6" hyperlite broadcast and a 5'4" Slingshot coaster. I can go rope less with the slingshot but not the hyperlite broadcast. I weigh 190lbs and only have about 480 of ballast on the rear decks, but probably another 600lbs of people and gear in the boat. You should be able to go rope less no problem with the bosshoss as its just and extra large coaster. Not sure about the mothership. Good luck have fun. I would be careful with a board that is too long. The pocket on these boats is so small, my kids have a hard time not burying the front of the board....

 

[Tlcaffall]

DonnyC what are your concerns about water in the ski locker?

 

[Capt Nemo]

I ended up ordering the last 5'3 coaster from j-rad. It should be here Tuesday. He felt that the boss hoss would be a little loose under my 180 pounds. I think the coaster will fit in the pocket better as well.
I also wondered about using the ski locker for ballast with no bag. I thought I saw a couple people used it on here.

 

[Tlcaffall]

I was surprised how much more push I got from the coaster compared to the broadcast. Especially since they are almost the same size....

 

[DonnyC]

DonnyC what are your concerns about water in the ski locker?

Just the unintended consequence of water sloshing where you don't want it. Pretty sure there are several ballast bag options that would fit in the ski locker. Just my opinion.

 

[Capt Nemo]

I can't wait to try it out. Is it easy to get up on for a beginner?

 

[J-RAD]

I can't wait to try it out. Is it easy to get up on for a beginner?

It's should prove easy for beginners. If they struggle to get up on the Coaster, my bet is they'd struggle on any board. Some riders just take a bit more coaching & practice to get their sea legs under them.

 

[Capt Nemo]

Still looking for anyone that has tried a slingshot mothership. That might be my next board.

 

[gallobg]

I've been using the Slingshot Coaster 5'3" for two seasons now behind an AR195. I've tried some others but this seems to be the best board for me and my guests. It is easy to get up and very stable with all 3 fins attached.

This summer I also got Hyperlite Landlock for guests who were new to surfing, since I thought it would make life easier for them since it is huge 5'9" and buoyant. But honestly many struggled to get up on that board with my boat, so I would switch them to the Coaster and they could pop up much faster. Everyone liked the Coaster.

Also - highly recommend @J-RAD for surf gear, he's the best!

 

[Capt Nemo]

Thanks for that gallobg, I seriously considered the landlock. How heavy is the heaviest surfer that uses your coaster? I have a 225 lb son in law that got up briefly and 255 lb son in law that has tried my sushi only three times but hasn't gotten up yet. I know they need more practice but maybe the coaster will be easier. X2 on j-rad, he was very helpful but didn't have any input on the mothership other than he also wants to try one. I was looking at the volume of the mothership, it's huge, the 5'6 is 35l, the 5'2 is 30l. By comparison the the boss hoss is 20l and the 5'3 coaster is 15l. Does the volume affect speed for staying in the wake or just better for heavier riders or ? J-RAD ?

 

[Capt Nemo]

@4michael do you still have your mothership? Can you give a short review?

 

[gallobg]

Thanks for that gallobg, I seriously considered the landlock. How heavy is the heaviest surfer that uses your coaster? I have a 225 lb son in law that got up briefly and 255 lb son in law that has tried my sushi only three times but hasn't gotten up yet. I know they need more practice but maybe the coaster will be easier. X2 on j-rad, he was very helpful but didn't have any input on the mothership other than he also wants to try one. I was looking at the volume of the mothership, it's huge, the 5'6 is 35l, the 5'2 is 30l. By comparison the the boss hoss is 20l and the 5'3 coaster is 15l. Does the volume affect speed for staying in the wake or just better for heavier riders or ? J-RAD ?

I'm 185lbs and I believe the heaviest we've had is about 220lbs. Seemed to handle it fine.

For me, the Coaster has been plenty fast enough behind the 19' boat. It is also more nimble than the Landlock board, which is super stable when you get up on it but really just wants to go in straight line. This stability is what supposedly makes it good for first time riders, but for me I found it boring. By comparison, the Coaster with all 3 fins is very stable but can break loose if you want to move around in the pocket. If you want it looser, just take off some fins.

 

[AlvinV]

I have a Landlock and am able to go ropeless with it behind my AR190 with or without the surf package. I am 6'1" and 200lbs

 

[Capt Nemo]

Alvinv, with no ballast? How many people? I got a little slack in the rope occasionally with 250# of human ballast in the corner behind the helm using my ocean short board but no where near ropeless. My coaster should be here today and I hope I can try it out before spring. What speed were you going. I think my wake looks best at 11mph on the speedometer, 10 on the gps. Any pictures of your wake?

 

[AlvinV]

I usually run at about ~10.5 to 10.7. We need some ballast without the yamaha wakebooster, but I have run ropeless with as little as 300 lbs on the upper swim deck and 3-400lbs of human ballast (including driver) in the boat. Ive only been successful with that setup on the Landlock. The pocket is not huge, but it is ridable. Just be sure to keep your weight forward and on your toes.

I will have to get with my wife on the pictures. Im sure she has plenty.

 

[J-RAD]

Thanks for the positive reviews guys!

It seems dealers really like to offer the Landlock as a solution for beginners and boats with small waves. I've heard many reviews similar to @gallobg on its ride quality being a bit stale. It does the job for many at allowing then to ride ropeless, but it lacks maneuverability. It may offer more on a larger wave where there's room to carve. I think there's many alternatives that are equal in speed and offer a more progressive ride, the Coaster is one.

The Coaster's max weight rating is really going to be limited by the wave and it's push. Personally, the max weight I've had on it is 265lbs when riding tandem with my oldest son. We could go ropeless together and play around behind my AR240. It helps that I'm putting out a pretty decent wave with 2,250lb of ballast and Wake Wedge. It was likely our combined limit for the wave and board, but a single rider could improve on that. There's some awkwardness in maneuverability that creates some limitations with 2 riders on the board.

By comparison, I did the same thing with my middle child (son) on the Boss Hoss this season. Our combined weight was about 250lbs. The extra size and volume of the Boss Hoss made it EASY. We definitely had more push and it was more forgiving as we played around on the wave. The Boss Hoss is made for the 250lb plus range.

To answer the question on to answer @Capt Nemo's question, "Does the volume affect speed for staying in the wake or just better for heavier riders? The answer is yes, it does create a more buoyant board and will keep it riding more on the surface. However, in the case of the Boss Hoss, it is to much board for a lighter weight rider. At ~200lbs myself, it felt very loose difficult to manage. As a rider with some experience, I could ride it and have a good time messing around, but I wouldn't recommend it for a rider in my range. We just don't weigh enough to get the edges to bite. It was fantastic with my boy on board with me, the added weight made it feel very planted, comparable to the Coaster.

The Mothership is a bit of a different animal, it relies more in the large rear fin for handling where as the Boss Hoss utilizes more of the rail for bite. It's higher volume should be a benefit. I'm anxious to try it for myself.

 

[J-RAD]

Here's a video of a ride on the Coaster for comparison of its maneuverability.