I'm considering getting a bowrider, and the neice and nephew are just
getting interested in Wakeboarding. Is it realistic to expect to get decent
wakeboarding performance with a 20 or 22 foot bowrider (with a tower)? I
know the people really into watersports get specialized skiboats, but my old
body won't put up with the pounding.

I'm considering the upper-range to midrange bowriders, i.e .Chapparel,
Cobalt, Four Winns, etc.

Do any of them specifically stand out for sports (actually, for
wakeboarding, as nobody in the family seems interested in skiing).

Thanks,

Matthew.

Wakeboard and ski boats are unique animals, with very different
characteristics from runabouts. I don't believe the wakeboard boats have
the same problem with pounding that you would see with a ski boat, but that
is based upon watching them from a distance. They seem to be much heaver,
w/o the flat bottom of the old MasterCraft ski boats.

I would suggest you also post this in rec.sport.waterski.


..
"Matthew" wrote in message
...
I'm considering getting a bowrider, and the neice and nephew are just
getting interested in Wakeboarding. Is it realistic to expect to get
decent
wakeboarding performance with a 20 or 22 foot bowrider (with a tower)? I
know the people really into watersports get specialized skiboats, but my
old
body won't put up with the pounding.

I'm considering the upper-range to midrange bowriders, i.e .Chapparel,
Cobalt, Four Winns, etc.

Do any of them specifically stand out for sports (actually, for
wakeboarding, as nobody in the family seems interested in skiing).

Thanks,

Matthew.

Matthew wrote:

I'm considering getting a bowrider, and the neice and nephew are just
getting interested in Wakeboarding. Is it realistic to expect to get decent
wakeboarding performance with a 20 or 22 foot bowrider (with a tower)? I
know the people really into watersports get specialized skiboats, but my old
body won't put up with the pounding.

I'm considering the upper-range to midrange bowriders, i.e .Chapparel,
Cobalt, Four Winns, etc.

Do any of them specifically stand out for sports (actually, for
wakeboarding, as nobody in the family seems interested in skiing).

Thanks,

Matthew.

Check out the Cobalt 240 w/ wakeboard tower. That one's set up pretty
nice for the sport...

Rob

Any bowrider will be a compromise, providing space and comfort for the
family, but only a boat made for wakeboarding will make the wake required to
keep boarders happy.
We added a tower to my 19' bowrider and the family has fun, but they really
wish for a bigger wake.

"Matthew" wrote in message
...
I'm considering getting a bowrider, and the neice and nephew are just
getting interested in Wakeboarding. Is it realistic to expect to get
decent
wakeboarding performance with a 20 or 22 foot bowrider (with a tower)? I
know the people really into watersports get specialized skiboats, but my
old
body won't put up with the pounding.

I'm considering the upper-range to midrange bowriders, i.e .Chapparel,
Cobalt, Four Winns, etc.

Do any of them specifically stand out for sports (actually, for
wakeboarding, as nobody in the family seems interested in skiing).

Thanks,

Matthew.

They do make ballast bags and pumps to lower the freeboard on the boat
and increase wake, but I would be real cautious if considering this
route, as you can easily overload the boat, as well as cause stability
problems...
regards,
markvictor

I wouldn't spend money adding ballast bags to a bow rider.
I was going to do that to my bow rider until I realized that it was already
normally loaded to the maximum limit with people and a cooler and not
generating enough wake for the better boarders in the family. Adding the
ballast would have put me over the maximum weight for the boat - not a safe
thing to do.

"markvictor" wrote in message
ups.com...
They do make ballast bags and pumps to lower the freeboard on the boat
and increase wake, but I would be real cautious if considering this
route, as you can easily overload the boat, as well as cause stability
problems...
regards,
markvictor

On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 22:56:35 GMT, "Matthew"
wrote:

I'm considering getting a bowrider, and the neice and nephew are just
getting interested in Wakeboarding. Is it realistic to expect to get decent
wakeboarding performance with a 20 or 22 foot bowrider (with a tower)? I
know the people really into watersports get specialized skiboats, but my old
body won't put up with the pounding.

I'm considering the upper-range to midrange bowriders, i.e .Chapparel,
Cobalt, Four Winns, etc.

Do any of them specifically stand out for sports (actually, for
wakeboarding, as nobody in the family seems interested in skiing).

Thanks,

Matthew.

You might want to consider a dedicated tow boat. These true inboards
are designed to pull up skiers, and have unmatchable low-end grunt.

Almost all offer a Wake-Boarding model, complete with tower,
ballast/or/wedge.

Today's tow boats will have all the amenities of the above mentioned
makes, however, lack trimming capabilities as the prop is fixed. The
two drawbacks from this design, are a high wetted surface (so don't
get one of these if you want to go over 50mph), and lack of backing
control (however, you can learn to "manipulate" in reverse)

Some makes are Master-Craft, Correct Craft, Malibu, Moomba,
Ski-Supreme, and Centurion...to name a few.

Good luck.
__

"It's just about going fast...that's all..."

http://home.columbus.rr.com/ckg/