Why is the wrap around seating so beloved?

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking it at all, just curious.

I just bought a direct drive (friends and clients love to ski), and at first thought the seating was stupid...but now I don't know if I would want the wrap around seating.

First, my friends and I are all tall, and the ability for us to stretch WAY out is very cool. Second, the long space behind the drivers seat is really a requirement for all the crap that ends up on the boat...the bumpers, coolers, skis, you know...all the crap.

It just seems roomy. With wrap around seating, where do you put all of that.

The downside to the direct drive that I can see is that the people in the back seat are a mile away....no conversations with them while you are pulling.

Anyway, not trying to start a battle here, I just thought I would get some feedback on it. If I could switch my boat to the wrap around seating layout...I don't think that I would.

Thoughts?

Robert,
I used to think like you did. I have a little DD, and I love it. however, I was recently able to spend a day on a friends Calabria Pro V, with the wraparound seating, and dammmm. that was nice. way more room for everything. I felt like I was on a cruise ship. with four of us on it, we had more than enough room to lounge.

For me, all the crap goes in the rear storage lockers. I had the direct drive and with the stuff in the floor, fat sacs filled, you had to climb over everything to get to the front.

now, in the v-drive, 90% of my stuff, including sacs, is in the storage lockers. I still leave a small cooler in the bow walkthrough simply out of convenience.

V vs D drive is mainly a storage and hidden ballast thing. everything's all over the floor in a D if you run sacks.

among V's, though, i like wraparound layouts, but i really prefer the layout of my 96 VLX. it doesn't have the seating down the sides, so there's mucho floorspace, and i keep my 140 qt cooler along the side opposite the driver. if i just had one of those coolers with the padded top, it would be the perfect boat. ;)

i wouldn't switch my d drive to v if i could either. i'm also tall and don't like knocking knees and playing footsie. i prefer the room all day and if people want to talk we'll chill and people can sit where they want. i don't see the need for much discussion while people are riding.

i've never been in a v drive, including 24', where 4 people in the back didn't start feeling crowded (not including driver). 5 people and you're stepping on feet or getting people to move off the cooler cushion all day.

the ballast systems are nice though.

But if you put 3 across the back of a d drive and 2 on the observers seat, are they not knee to knee also? Any direct drive I have been in only had the seat in back abnd the observers seat, which also meant people had to move.

OWNERSHIP GOGGLES ALERT!

Just kidding. But, really, wakeboarding is a day long social sport -- social seating and superior storage are the reasons why vdrives are much better than ddrives for wakeboarding.

The removable table is an enabled option with a V-drive. Great when we spend all day on the boat; good place to make sandwiches or play cards when we are anchored in cove.

The malibu XTI has a table, and rear wrap around seating, but it seems so disconnected from the front of the boat.

The Tiges have pretty nice seating for direct drives, or it looks that way to me with the seat on the engine box.

one of my biggest reasons for switching was not having ballast bags on the floor anymore. Also, we do a lot of just hanging out and it is much more sociable with the V-Drive.... Both are great though!

If you have just a few people, you can lounge with your feet stretched out on the seats with wrap around seating. I have spent plenty of time in both and there is waaay more room in a v drive in terms of storage and for more people. With the ballast tanks under the floor in newer models, there is plenty of room for a lot of people and all there stuff in the rear lockers.

If you like to ski, this would be more of a reason to own a DD than the additional leg room from not having the extra seating.

A pic from a recent Houseboat trip showing the social aspect of the v drive


(Message edited by liveoz on June 16, 2005)

salty 87,
You can put 6-8 people in the back of my V and and no one is feeling crowed, plue plenty of room for coolers. you just have to watch out and not seclude your self from everybody

Keep in mind, most direct drives are under 20 feet in length and up until the last 10 years, most did not have an open bow. When people think of crowded dd boats, they are most likely thinking older SN and MC prostar 190's. No argument. Travis Moye's x-star had by far the best storage of any boat I have been on. Everything was away in a locker and there was a load of room. Gerry Nunn's Bu was good too, but we didn't have a crapload of gear in it either. We just had a lot of people. I am giving serious thought to trading into a Tige 20v to get that same feel.

Eric

The direct drive I had was an 88 Supra Mariah, about 21 foot with 98" beam. I compare that boat to my Tige 21V and it is night and day.

Wraparound seating is the perfect seating arrangement when you have a stripper pole mounted from floor to tower.

pics please, with strippers. and FWIW, i like playing footsie.