Boats
The most common difference between a regular runabout and a wakeboarding boat is the wakeboard tower, normally constructed of thick-walled stainless steel or aluminum tubing, which places the "pull point" about 2 metres (7 ft) off the water's surface. The high tow point makes it easier to jump and get air as the rope is not pulling downward as when it is attached to the low tow point used for skiing. Most modern wakeboarding boats also have a variable ballast system, which allows for water to be pumped into and out of ballast tanks from the surrounding water. Adding ballast increases displacement, and consequently enlarges the wake produced.
A significant portion of wakeboarding boats utilize V-drive propulsion. These boats have a regular inboard engine, but are turned 180° such that the transmission is in front of the engine, rather than behind, or "inline", which is a more common layout for inboard tournament ski boats. The prop shaft exits the transmission towards the rear of the boat, so that the prop is placed directly under the engine. When viewed from the side, such a layout appears as a "V" lying on its side. This layout allows for better weight distribution(with the engine farther aft), and places the prop farther forward, which reduces the danger of the spinning prop near the stern of the vessel, where riders enter and exit the water.
Read more about this topic: Wakeboarding
Famous quotes containing the word boats:
“The frowsy sponge boats keep coming in
with the obliging air of retrievers,”
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)
“You men have proved that PT boats have some value in this war. Washington wants you back in the States to build them up. Those are my orders.”
—Frank W. Wead (1895?–1947)
“Three miles long and two streets wide, the town curls around the bay ... a gaudy run with Mediterranean splashes of color, crowded steep-pitched roofs, fishing piers and fishing boats whose stench of mackerel and gasoline is as aphrodisiac to the sensuous nose as the clean bar-whisky smell of a nightclub where call girls congregate.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)