5 must-have features for your next wake sports boat

The advent of a number of new ways to enjoy the water has meant ski boats have had to adapt to a range of new activities such as wakeboarding and even surfing.

If you’re moving on from an old-world ski boat, these new features could be a little confusing. To make things a bit easier, here is the boatsales.com.au guide to the top five things your next wake sports boat should have.

Consistency is key out on the water, which is where a boat equipped with the on-water equivalent of a car’s cruise control can have a big effect on how you enjoy your day. 

Speed control makes use of GPS technology to ensure the boat maintains a consistent speed over the water.

Having a consistent pulling speed not only helps skiers and riders behind the boat, but it can also have a big effect on the size and shape of the wake being generated – important when thoughts start to travel towards wakeboarding and surfing.

These systems need to be highly accurate because even changes as small as 0.3km/h – about 0.2mph in ski-boat speak – can have a significant impact on a surf wave behind a boat.

Those big bits of scaffolding sticking up from a ski boat do a lot more than just improve the visual aesthetics. As it turns out, a tower on a watersports boat can have numerous benefits.

The biggest benefit of a tower is for the person being towed behind the boat.

First of all, when fitted with a tow point, the tower provides height for the tow rope. 

This extra height when compared with deck-level tow points gives a slight upward pull to the rider, which in turn makes getting up out of the water easier, increases jump heights for anyone attempting any tricks, and provides a softer landing.

Another big benefit is the extra storage options provided by a tower equipped with a board or ski rack. These racks can vary, as some use bungee cords to secure the board or ski, while others clamp down on the board or ski.

This has the benefit of providing plenty of easy-to-access storage outside the boat so that you’re not constantly shuffling people around the boat to gain access to underfloor or under-seat ski lockers.

Towers also make ideal frames on which to mount a bimini. The advantage here is that even with the bimini deployed, there is still plenty of standing headroom for anyone to move freely around the boat, yet still provide full sun protection.

Watersports biminis are usually highly customised, too, so that users can still access the top-mounted tow point, or even store spare ski ropes in special pockets.

Some boat brands even have extra storage options built on top of the tower. You can also hang speakers from them, or lights and some even come with a water-misting system to create a cool breeze on warm days.

The right amount of ballast, used to alter the size of the wake, can make or break a wake sports boat.

Ballast is usually a system of tanks and bladders that add weight to the boat, making it sit lower in the water and increasing its displacement. Add forward momentum, and the boat’s extra weight translates to a bigger wake.

However, some watersports boat brands also use wedge-shaped hydrofoils to pull the boat deeper into the water, creating what is called simulated ballast.

Even small amounts of weight can have a big impact on the size and shape of a wake flowing behind a boat. Jump in with an experienced wake surfer, for instance, and you’ll notice sandbags that can be moved around the boat to make small changes in weight distribution and get that perfect set.

Older ballast systems needed a solid knowledge of how much water to add to the boat, and where. However, modern systems have evolved to become so good at taking all the guesswork out of setting ballast that the driver can change from one form of water sport to another on the fly, or the rider behind the boat can control it using a wrist-worn controller.

Modern boats also use vertical gates to help shape wakes, giving very precise levels of control over the wave’s length and height.

In the old days, skippers had to physically list a boat to one side to create a suitable surf wave behind the vessel.

However, the use of surf system gates to control water flow behind the boat means that they can now sit almost flat while achieving the same, or better, result.

Once again, this is either activated at the push of a button or the selection of a running mode, with the boat’s electronic brains automatically working out all the adjustments to ballast and water flow.

Back in the old days, a ski boat’s engine was mounted in the middle of the boat, with a shaft running down to a propeller mounted under the back of the boat.

This took up a lot of space inside the boat, and also shifted the weight forward – not an ideal solution for water sports.

The advent of compact V-drives has allowed ski boat makers to move the engine down to the rear of the boat but leave the propeller in the same location as a traditional direct-drive set-up.

Moving the engine rearward has two benefits. The first is that it opens up more space in the boat’s cockpit, making it much better suited to creating a cockpit that excels as a social hub with everything from lounges to fridges and food preparation areas.

The second, less noticeable benefit is that the engine is further back on the boat, shifting the weight distribution aft. This in turn weighs down the back of the boat, which helps to create better-shaped wakes and waves for riders.