wakeboarding with a barefoot boat?

I own a 1987 Marlin footer20 designed for barefoot skiing. It's a closed bow with a 200 HP Johnson outboard. It's a solid 65mph boat and handles awesome but the wake is virtually non-existant. The boat is in like new condition and has sentimental value so selling it for a wakeboard boat is out of the question. However, I would like to install a tower and use the boat for wakeboarding. The whole ballast idea sounds a little messy (the boat has alot of wood in the construction). Is there anything else I can install or attach to my boat, some sort of planes maybe, that would produce a useable wake? Also, if ballast is the only answer, does this usually produce a nice wake on a barefoot hull?

Thanks alot, Bill

I'm running a '98 Powerstar 200 w/ 200 Hp Merc. This is Mastercraft's Barefoot boat. I've added a Zero Flex Flyer Tower and Perfect Pass and one 500 lb ballast bag in the rear compartment. Get a lot of attention at the lake due to the set up, surely not due to my skill. So I guess I'm not the only one who think my boat looks good with the tower. Am planning on adding another 350 lbs of ballast in the ski compartment this summer. The wake so far on my boat I think I'd rate as good, it is very firm, as with most barefoot boats, so as I'm going 18 - 20 mph creates a very good ramp but is a little narrow between the wakes due to the narrow beam (86"). Have a tendancy to over shoot the landings, out in the flats. Don't know if this helps at all but I wouldn't trade my boat for anyother boat on the lake due to the fact I do quite a bit of skiing and the room in the boat. As you can tell I'd add the tower and the ballast system, it's worked for me atleast. Good Luck!

Hey SRF do you have any pictures of your boat online. I would like to see how the tower looks. I have a '93 Brendella Barefooter with a 200 hp Merc and it sees a lot of wakeboarding. I did not know that Perfect Pass works on an outboard. I checked out Perfect Pass' web site and no mention of outboards. Any info would be great. Thanks, Bob.

I'm running a 1995 SeaRay Ski Ray and it's respectable for wakeboarding.

With only a driver the wake is light but with about 6-8 people the wake gets rather fun so weight does work. I'm planning on adding sacks in the near future.

I've just added the new Monster Tower (ok, It's my product, shameless self promotion - GUILTY).

I dont know of any planes or foils that can suck the boat deeper into the water for a larger wake but that's a great idea.

I've come to the realization that the crafted wakes on the newer wakeboard boats are bigger than I will see behing my outboard - and that is where friends come in!

Bill
www.MonsterTower.com


(Message edited by monstertower on March 03, 2003)

Bill nice looking tower. When will it be available to the public. I checked out your website and it doesn't mention it. Would it fit on the Brendella Barefooter?

Robert,

Thanks so much for the compliment, which really should go to a bunch of people much smarter than I that have given their all for it over the last 6 months. It can adjust front to back from 36" to 60" and boat beam from 60" to 108" so really should fit any boat (OK, no pontoon boats or cabin crusiers). Love to see in on a Brendella Footer.

Moving adjustability to top hinges is the secret sauce and it looks like we have a solid patent on that coming as well. We have about 25 that will be here in about 3-4 weeks and 200 more about 4 weeks after that.

If you have'nt registered at our site please do. We will keep you posted each step of the way and are also giving away a bunch of nice toys, including a free tower!

Bill

Bob,

Tried to post the picture but keep running into the fact that my picture exceeds the size allowed. I'll try to work on that and upload it into my profile.

As far as the perfect pass system, I know they have one for outboard applications but are reluctant to go after that market due to some fool out there will try to put it on an underpowered boat and then blame the control system for not working right. Perfect Pass is working perfectly for me and in my application. Perfect pass has not developed the connectors to hook up to outboard applications but with a little imagination and work it isn't too hard to come up with what you need. I had to deal with Randy at Perfect Pass directly to get the system but it was worth every penny. To make the system work though I did make an adaptor to connect the servo motor to the throttle cable of the shift lever and the throttle itself. I also had to make a bracket to mount the servo motor inside the motor cover, you could use a longer cable and mount the servo motor in the boat if you wanted. If your handy with a drill press it's a pretty easy task. If you decide that you might be interested, I could send you a sketch and pictures of how I atleast adapted the system over to an outboard application. Good luck and let me know if you need more info.

Steve

Steve, i checked out your profile, nice boat. I am curious about how your boat handles while someone is wakeboarding. Can you tell any difference considering the fact that the rope is attached higher on the tower. Does that make the boat roll or lean when someone is pulling hard way outside the wake? Bill how does your Ski Ray handle with the new Monster Tower. These barefooters are not as heavy as an inboard.

Bob,
Your right about the effects on the boat with a wakeboarder pulling on the tower. When weighted down though the boat doesn't move around much but if your not using any ballast system, you'll notice quite a bit of lean. One advantage though is you can trim the motor up to help drive a larger wake and change its characteristics to fit the riders desires.

SRF,

I would love to have the info on your adaptation of perfect pass to an OB. I would appreciate it!!

I sent you a message, please feel free to email me!

Double up for that Perfect Pass info for an outboard, I'd really appreciate that also, I thought this was not an options for outboards!

Robert - You can definately tell the difference with a pull from a tower, but it's not scary or anything, just feel the pull more than with the lower ski pylon. With a ligher or realy narrow boat it would be a little more noticable still (my guess). Also for the tower availability I had no idea what to expect so only built 20 in this production run which will be here in about 10 more days and their already gone. Will have 200 more in about 5 weeks so were trying to get caught up. Really appreciate all the support and kind words - It keeps going this well I just might not have to keep looking for a real job

Bill