Who did the pickel fork bow first?

(absolutezero) · (absolutezero) **Join Date: Sep 2009** 09-10-2009, 9:21 AM

I noticed several manufacturers have the pickle fork bow. Who was the first to do it?

Think some of the other manufacturers will eventually offer them too?

(wake1823) · (wake1823) **Join Date: Dec 2005** 09-10-2009, 9:26 AM

been aroudn for a very long time , but as far as runabouts and ski boats...I believe it was cobalt.

(denverd1)

offshore cats and jet boats were first. Sanger had a pickle in the 70's....

(wakedoctor) · (wakedoctor) **Join Date: Dec 2004** 09-10-2009, 9:29 AM

Inboards brought in the pickle fork from the I/O market. Your guess as to who else will start producing them is as good as ours.

(deltawake) · (deltawake) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 09-10-2009, 9:43 AM

I think that MC bought the x-star hull design from Cobalt.

(denverd1)

Didn't MC's hull engineer come from Cobalt?

(dabell) · (dabell) **Join Date: Apr 2007** 09-10-2009, 9:53 AM

http://www.philkunzphotography.com/caboverhistory.html

(wake1823) · (wake1823) **Join Date: Dec 2005** 09-10-2009, 10:26 AM

Nacho...none of those had pickle fork open bows though.

(rio_sanger) · (rio_sanger) **Join Date: Apr 2007** 09-10-2009, 10:57 AM

Time to get the old Sanger pics out again for the youngsters...
these are '70s, Yellow one is a V-Drive, the other two are jets.

Upload

(rio_sanger) · (rio_sanger) **Join Date: Apr 2007** 09-10-2009, 11:00 AM

Now you know where Sanger got it's low freeboard heritage from!

(epic1) · (epic1) **Join Date: Oct 2006** 09-10-2009, 11:09 AM

back in the 70's my parents sunk a boat like that blue one jumping house boat wakes at Powell.

(chpthril) · (chpthril) **Join Date: Oct 2007** 09-10-2009, 11:14 AM

Here's an early 70's Glastron Tri-hull. Not quite the "Pickle Fork" we see today, but you can see where the concept came from.

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(absolutezero) · (absolutezero) **Join Date: Sep 2009** 09-10-2009, 11:14 AM

I guess I meant an open bow pickle fork design.

(trace) · (trace) **Join Date: Feb 2002** 09-10-2009, 11:29 AM

Those drag boats are tunnel hulls though, right? Not really the same concept.

'70's tri-hulls were closer to the picklefork that some inboards now use IMO. The goal of the trihull was the same - more room in front. But, they alleviated the characteristic tri-hull rough ride by having the wetted surface of a V-hull.

(tuneman) · (tuneman) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 09-10-2009, 11:47 AM

Pickle forks have been around forever.

Mastercraft was the first to bring it to the wakeboarding world.

(jimr) · (jimr) **Join Date: Sep 2001** 09-10-2009, 12:01 PM

How do you get those drag boats on/off the trailer? It looks like you would really have to sink the trailer deep to clear the fenders. I can see getting them off if you don't have any current but getting them back on seems like it would be a PITA, especially with no guide poles. Is there a trick to doing it?

(polarbill) · (polarbill) **Join Date: Jun 2003** 09-10-2009, 12:08 PM

Jim, I believe you are right. You have to sink the trailer pretty far to get the boat off or on.

(jhebert) · (jhebert) **Join Date: May 2007** 09-10-2009, 1:06 PM

those drag boats are hydroplanes, not tunnel boats
a tunnel boat has a tunnel running from front to back and packs air into it
A hydroplane traps air underneath its hull....wakeboats just use the pickelfork for looks, and more room i guess

(rio_sanger) · (rio_sanger) **Join Date: Apr 2007** 09-10-2009, 1:47 PM

Trace and Tige mike are correct, today's "picklefork" wake boats are really tri- hulls, which open up the bow with more width.

Tri-hulls took kind of a bad rap for being dorky family runabouts, when really they were very practical boats.
I'm sure in '04, MC didn't want their "new" idea to be associated with the old tri-hulls, so they called it a pickle fork, even though it is not truly one.

Yes Jim, the trailer fenders need to be well below the surface, to allow the boat to float over them.

(krbaugh) · (krbaugh) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 09-10-2009, 2:18 PM

Tri Hulls got the bad rep from an awful rough ride. Todays picle forks have the deck of a Tri hull but not the Hull of the Tri hull.

MC was the first to bring them to the Open Bow V drive market......I still think they are ugly no matter who builds them

(pavement_rider)

They should call them pickle bows. The bottoms of these PF Wake boats are a v-hull with a pickle bow sitting on top of it. MC,MB, Tige, Ski Supreme all making one now and in that order i believe

(882001) · (882001) **Join Date: Nov 2003** 09-10-2009, 3:14 PM

any pics of an open bow before mc? those tunnel hulls/ cats dont and cant have an open bow.

(rallyart) · (rallyart) **Join Date: Nov 2006** 09-10-2009, 4:05 PM

Cobalt 24 from 2003 Upload

(mvl) · (mvl) **Join Date: May 2004** 09-10-2009, 6:39 PM

the engineer Peter granata (sp. probably wrong there) I believe pitched the more recent updated idea to cobalt and MC around the same time. They both made a boat and it was in MC's that the idea took off. So to answer the original question as it relates to the open bow market....Cobalt and MC...however, in the inboard market...MC. Lots do a version of it now. they are still traditional v hulls...not tri hulls. all of the appearance is above the water. I pretty sure thats a decent summation of the story....but there's probably more to it..