Outboards V Inboards.... Reason's

Well I may have found a ski boat in replacement for my fishing boat as a wakeboat. I'm sick of flogging the crap out of my dear fishing boat to get a decent wake, the hieght is not to bad but because the V isn't as sharp as most Glass boats the wake is more of ski jump rather than a kicker.

However the boat I'm looking at I can probly get cheap but she needs a good clean up.......... and it's an outboard. So..... I have no issues with dumping a boat to the gunwhales to get some wake, but what are the REAL reason's why the inboards put out a better wake? I think it has something to do with the fact that the water is getting displaced by the prop UNDER the boat and not BEHIND it, but i could and probably are wrong.

So bring on the physics and what not cause I'm ready to know.

Cheers

Inboards are better because they have more power when weighted. Inboards naturally have a lot of torque and horsepower because they have a direct drive shaft from the engine (no loss in power due to outdrives). They can handle more ballast than a outboard.

Hull design is the key. An outboard is designed to plane up so that it's almost running on just the prop. An inboard is designed to get up on plane fast but it keeps a lot of wetted area so the the hull moves through the water with more drag. The hull gets good economy at lower speeds considering the size and weight but has too much drag for speed compared to an outboard or sterndrive.
It's the smooth flow of water and the specifics of the hull shape that give a clean wake.

Less running gear in the water and no thru-prop exhaust gives the prop better bite, and makes for a cleaner wake. As said, the hull is designed not to plane out, so you sacrifice top speed and economy at higher speeds (as if those matter, and a 2 stroke outboard will have poor fuel economy too). There's also a learning curve to docking an inboard, but you pick it up pretty quickly. The only circumstances I'd consider an outboard would be if I ran in saltwater all the time. I/O's are a decent compromise, but I'd be willing to bet you haven't spent much time in / behind an inboard.

I've ridden a couple of times behind an inboard. So lets clear this up, to get and outboard to act 'more like' and inboard hull, you weight the front a bit more compared to an inboard, so you'd probly weigh the front and back evenly..... correct. Also I board 50% in salt water and 50% in fresh lol.