Wakeboarding: Wakeboard Towers

Wakeboard Towers

In recent years, wakeboard towers have become extremely commonplace in the sport and most all wakeboarding boats (and even some non-wake boats) now come equipped with a tower. Although wakeboarding is a relatively young sport, it hasn’t been that long since wakeboard towers did not exist, much less a wakeboard specific boat. Wakeboard towers will help your progression in wakeboarding because with riding behind one you can get a significant amount of more air, and what I like to call “loft” in your jumps. The reason you can get more air using a wakeboard tower than compared to not using one is that they allow you to be towed from a point of about 8 feet high. If a rider is being towed by a rope attached directly to the back of the boat, the tow point is going to be just above the water surface and lower than where the rider will be holding the wakeboard handle. This being said, as soon as the rider jumps, he is being pulled back down because of the low attachment of the rope. With wakeboard towers and a high tow point you are not immediately being pulled back down and can get more air and you also tend to be able to ‘float’ a little more giving you more time. Getting more air and having more time in the air is a big factor in learning and mastering wakeboard tricks. Wakeboard towers also make it convenient in that most are equipped with wakeboard racks that attach to the tower and allow all the wakeboards not being used to be stowed in the racks instead of laying around the boat.

Before wakeboard towers became so popular and dominated the market, there was the pylon. Wakeboard pylons are large poles, usually about 7 feet high, that are mounted to the floor of a boat, and have a place at the top where a rope can be attached. The wakeboard pylon was the earliest version of implementing a higher tow point in wakeboarding that would allow for more air and harder tricks. Wakeboard pylons are still around, and you still see the occasionally, but wakeboard towers have all but taken over. Wakeboard towers, because of the four points of attachment, do not flex nearly as much as a wakeboard pylon. This along with the fact that wakeboard towers aren’t as intrusive and can hold many wakeboards have increased their popularity through recent years. And one last thing – with the sleek designs wakeboard towers look really cool as well!