Wakeboard Tower for an 18?

In the last year or so my 15 year old grandson has taken liking to wakeboarding. Nick Storms (an awesome wakeboard instructor) lives across the street from me, and has been coaching him! Anybody have advice on how, or who one would see about a custom built wakeboard tower? Or is it asking for trouble?

 

Knowing that the upper deck structure on an 18 foot Dyne is quite thin, I can't see how you would be able
to attach a tower to it without tearing it out of the deck. Did you ever consider an adding a slip on boom over
your stock pylon to raise the tow rope ?

Bob

 

I agree the deck is quite thin. However, something similar has already been done at the factory. The picture is Daniel's boat as you know. I have no idea if, or how the deck was re-enforced.

jim

 

Mine had a similar setup and the deck was not re-inforced. There is core under the side mounting points.

 

Most tower installs on older boats need reinforcement under the deck to safely support a tower. Typically that consists of wood or composite glued to the underside of the deck where you'll mount, and glassed in if possible to tie it into the boat structure. The bigger you can make the reinforcement the better, and make sure you round off all the edges of the reinforcement to eliminate stress points to the maximum extent possible. On an old dyne, I would pretty much expect spider cracking in the gel or paint over time.

That being said, I don't think I'd tower up an old 18. I'd look for some extended pylon options instead. Most extended pylons are made to slip over an inboard pylon, and then run a strap to the front. On yours you could probably fab up a pipe sleeve to mount to the front of your pylon that an extended could slide into. Alternatively, they make some for non-inboards that will attach to the two rear corners and to the bow eye with straps. They're then either on a freestanding base on the floor or using a floor mounted flange.

 

Dean:

Good to hear from you. Wake board tower on a Hydrodyne seems like a bad idea from the beginning. Yes, ther are structural deficencies with the top deck, but these hulls were designed to get on a plane early and do not put up the wake desired for wake boarding (unless I am missing something). I'd rethink this and come up with another/better solution.

Kevin-

 

Dean - after looking at the last several posts there are some very valid points to consider.

1 - A Hydrodyne deck could work with the proper re-inforcement of structure.

2 - A Hydrodyne was designed to give a minimal wake for slalom, pyramids, and other show ski acts.

3 - A typical modern ski boat designed for wake boarding has a water tank in the bow that when filled lowers the bow to produce a large wake.

IMO using a Hydrodyne hull to produce wake is like trying to make an apple taste like an orange.

 

I use my 18 for wake boarding off the pylon and it is one of the lightest ones around, the motor weighs 370. I just trim it up a little to increase the wake.

My daughter and grandson love it. They use their 17.6 for wakeboarding too.

jim

 

It can be done but when the Dyne hulls were designed they were designed for minimal wake. If Dean is looking for a serious wake boat a Dyne is not the answer. If he is looking for some junior wakeboarding a Dyne would work just fine especially with an elevated pylon.

 

tj. you are spot on with my point. All boat hulls are designed with purpose.... which can be altered to a point.... but there is a limit of dimishing returns, even with the 18. Wake boarders want big dug out wakes behind the transom to get a lot of air and the HD 18 and 20 are not going to generate that experience. KTB