The right tow point—a water-ski pylon or a wakeboard tower—transforms your boat for watersports. With this addition, it’s not just about the experience in the boat; it’s about what you can do behind it.
For the first few decades after Ralph Samuelson invented water-skiing in summer 1922, skiers used a lifting ring near the stern of an inboard-powered boat to attach a tow rope. Since the late 1950s, competition ski boats have included a pylon placed just forward of their midship-mounted inboard engine. This pylon placement helps the driver maintain straight tracking of the ski boat, providing skiers with an optimal tow. Today’s boats have many choices, catering to whichever sport you’re pursuing.
Plethora of Tow Points
Most runabouts, pontoons, saltwater fishing boats, and even 40-plus-foot dayboats like those made by Axopar, Beneteau, and Wellcraft offer a dedicated tow-point option. Wakeboard towers, which originated in dedicated wakeboard boats in the late 1990s, are now a common option for bowriders and pontoons.
Sterndrive and sport-jet boats typically feature a center-mounted tow eye at the transom, while outboard-powered boats can use a V-shaped tow harness or the TurboSwing—a curved stainless-steel bar with a swiveling tow point that keeps the ski line clear of the propeller.
Some manufacturers, such as Sea Ray, Bayliner and Boston Whaler, offer tow pylons but recommend using a transom tow point because it offers the most strength for towing the added drag of a tube. The lower tow point is crucial for tubing to inhibit it from going airborne or flipping.
Read Next: Basic Rules of Tow Sports Etiquette
An Upward Tow
Low tow points are great for tubing but not for tow sports because they produce a downward pull, making it harder for skiers and boarders to maneuver. Pylons, TurboSwings, and towers provide upward pull, making it easier to start and perform tricks on wakeboards, kneeboards, and water skis. The higher the tow point, the better the lift—a must for sports such as wakeboarding.
The wakeboard tower provides a much higher tow point than a pylon, enabling wakeboard riders to gain more height and distance during wake jumps. This elevated pull also benefits water-skiers, kneeboard riders, and barefoot water-skiers by making in-water starts, slalom skiing, and performing tricks easier.
Not every boat can fit a tower, but some builders, including Sea Ray and Boston Whaler, incorporate tow points on hardtops. What about surfing? Some boats, such as the Regal 38 Surf, feature tow points not only at the traditional center location on the hardtop, but also on the starboard and port sides. This design allows water-skiers and wakeboarders to use the center tow point, while the side-mounted tow points make it easier for wakesurfers to get out of the water and manage the large wake created behind the boat.
