Installing a flight tower on a ski 196 - help

[vtjc]

Just don't put the tower so far back that it would interfere with skiing like this one:

http://onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=33559

[Quinner]

http://onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=33559

That is so awful, lol. Besides the mounting feet being too far back it looks like it is installed backwards, Monster brand maybe? What the heck were they thinking??

[DanielC]

I found a adequate picture of a 1998 Ski Nautique with a Correct Craft tower on it.

[jguanciale]

I have the same tower on my 2002. Despite spending most of the time slalom and trick skiing, that tower has made time on the water much more enjoyable because it safely frees up space. Skis are up out of the way on racks, friends that would like to try wakeboarding are welcome because the rope is suspended above the rear seat, you can carry more skis for the rest of the group and place them in the storage area without cluttering the cockpit. I haven't noticed any change in the slalom wake and no, the wakeboarding wake is not optimal but with the extra weight and the ability to place the extra passengers in the back seat, it's perfect for the novice boarder.

[DanielC]

I have skied and boarded behind the 1998 Ski Nautique I pictured. In my mind, my 1997 ski Nautique does have a slightly better slalom wake, but I try to plan my skiing behind my boat with the back seat removed, the gas tank less than half full, and driver and observer who are girls that commonly climb to the third tier on our show ski team.

Because of the narrow beam of a Ski Nautique, it is sensitive to side to side wake distribution. when wake boarding, tell your passengers to move to the side with more white water on the wake. A Ski Nautique responds well to smaller amounts of weight, because of the narrow beam. However, above 22 or so miles per hour, the ski boat pedigree starts to show and the wake does flatten out a lot, even with a lot of weight.

The tower does get a lot of stuff off the floor. The main storage location is under the bow, and to access it, you have to lift up the front passenger seat, and if the boat is full, you have to move stuff on the floor, so the two front passengers can move, so you can open the seat, well you get the idea. You can put two wakeboards beside the engine, behind the driver. two more wakeboards would go on the passenger side, and you have blocked the ability to walk from the front to the rear of the boat.

On my boat, I use a "Ten Foot Pole" when I want to wakeboard. But it does not store wakeboards easily.

I will agree, towers just look wrong on a pure ski boat, but they are so handy.

[swc5150]

The mini tower MC has for the 197 is good concept for a ski boat, and doesn't look too out of place. The ski racks are great, and it doubles as a bimini mount. It doesn't get the rope all that high for boarding I'm guessing, but it's better than just the pylon. The 196 spider tower, in comparison, was not the best effort CC put forth, IMHO.

[DanielC]

CC should of included matching helmets for any Ski Nautique sold with the Spyder tower.

[swc5150]

LOL, no doubt!! That's the downfall of MC's mini as well.

[bigsurf73]

Take a look at the Nautique FCT3 tower for your 196. I have seen a few of these installed on some older ski boats and they look great.

[east tx skier]

My local dealer had a spyder tower for a while (and probably still does) if anyone is interested. CC only offered it for a year. I'm sure the headaches are epic, but if you have to have a tower, that's the one I would pick. You'd learn quickly to duck I presume.

[Whitetail15]

here is mine and love it. call wayne at nd

[High altitude]

Has there been any difference to your ski wake since you added the tower? I was thinking of adding a new dimension or monster tower this winter. Thanks. -Marc

[Quinner]

Not sure which boat you have, any added weight will have a negative effect on the 206 wake quite a bit. Would imagine a tower would equate to adding another observer.

[swc5150]

I've heard a tower on a 196 affects -15 to -22 the most, but also have an affect through shortline. There's an aeronautical engineer on another forum that actually analyzed the forces a tower produces on a SN. It's great... He even tested with and without boards on the racks, and whether the boards were stored upside down or not. I hope this isn't taken the wrong way by anyone, but I'm guessing someone putting a tower on a 196 isn't completely invested in the slalom wake anyway? It's geeks like me who weight the nose and ski with a 1/4 tank of fuel

[High altitude]

"Completely invested" is a hard term to judge. I live on a private lake with a ski course. Out of the 3 boats that share the lake, I'm the only person who likes to run the course. With that said, my family and the other two families like to surf. I want my 99 SN to do both. Am I willing to accept a little bit of a downgrade on the ski wake to make it a bit easier to surf? Sure... but I still want a good ski wake. When I can afford it, I will move to a 200 Sport as I think that is the best compromise boat out there right now. -Marc