Flight Control Tower on SN 196?

[Kurpski]

I just purchased a new 2005 SN 196 at the end of last season, traded in a 1984 SN 2001. I love the new boat and am in complete withdrawl waiting for the weather to warm in NE. Im beginning to think I should have bought Air 216 for wakeboard/ski capabilities but was wondering if anyone has experience with fitting Flight Control Tower to SN 196.

I do not need space of open bow but would like tower for some wakeboarding. Another though it to get extended pylon, does anyone have pros or cons to the extended pylon or FC tower?.

Lastly, I am just wasting my time, will the SN 196 have a decent wake if balasts are used for intermedieate wakeboarding?

[darrel409]

RE: Flight Control Tower on SN 196?

FCT on 95 196. I have never tried to sack out an '05 but I would be confident in saying its not gonna be close to the wake your 84, 2001 had.

[Rick]

RE: Flight Control Tower on SN 196?

It breaks my heart to see all these beautiful SN's go to the Dark Side :evil: Oh well, at least your not going to BU Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

[SprintCar39]

196 with a tower

Here is a pic of one of my boats with a tower. We live on a lake that had a length limit of 19-6 so this was the best wakeboard boat. I would put a 600# fat sac in the trunk to help with the wake. It did the job as best it could.

[SprintCar39]

and another one I had

[surroundsound64]

RE: 196 with a tower

Some might, and probably will disagree, and that's fine... but one guy I talked to who used to sell stuff of the sort (pylons and towers as well as other boat accessories) told me to steer away from the pylons because of the pressure put on your floor when pulling on the pole from the side like, when you're outside the wake.

The poles have the rope that goes through the nose, but nothing for side support. The regular ski pole can take the pressure just fine, but when you multiply that by a few feet it really gets to be a lot. He said he saw a lot of boats with cracked floor boards because of it.

Again, that's not from my personal experience, but something you might wanna run across your mind before you make up your mind.

[AbunDiga909]

RE: 196 with a tower

Maybe cat1168 can chip in here, he has an '05 196 w/ FCT...

[Rick]

RE: 196 with a tower

My understanding of the poles ( And I do have one for some of my sons friends) is that you are not supposed to board more than 15 degrees from the centerline in either direction. Beyond that and the force is on the pylon and no longer on the guy line to the front of the boat. if you are going to predominately wakeboard I think a tower is what you want. It also helps with storage as a pole with racks can be hard to walk around when full.

[Hollywood]

More 196s with towers. If you plan on doing a significant amount of boarding I'd go with a FCT.

[cat1168]

I have a 05 ski with a tower. I got it to get the slalom skis out of the boat.
I know I went to the dark side but it does work great (great 2 thousand dollar stretch bar).
CC flight clips are ONLY for wakeboards you will have to go after-market for Slalom ski clips.
If you barefoot the tower works great and teaching people to get out of the water on skis (up pull) works great.
I just ordered a Tower Bimini so I will let you know how it looks.

[jeepn]

i hope the mentions of people turning to the darkside when the put the tower on is not referring to wakeboarding. Not everybody puts on a tower to wakeboard, as cat1168 says, the tower is great for barefooting also.

[Hollywood]

the tower is great for barefooting also.

Very true, but I wouldn't spend $2k on one for mainly barefooting. Side pull and storage isn't an issue with footing, I'll stick with the ext. pylon.

[bkhallpass]

Hollywood, I'm not a footer, but I've got a Buddy who competes in regional
and National events in the BF Slalom. He's about 250-260 lbs, goes pretty close
to 50 mph and he can really jerk around the high poles when footin'. So, he's in
process of having a tower installed for rigidity. Just a data point. BKH

[Quinner]

I have a tower on my 05' 206 and love it. The tower Bimini is really nice, the flight clips get boards and skis off the floor (I put ski's in my flight clips all the time including my slalom, works fine for me). I pull everything except slalom from the tower, Always foot from the tower. While pulling from tower your passengers can also sit in the back seat.

IMO the only negatives w/tower are cover takes far longer to put on, my bimini needs to be taken down to drop tower, tower may need to drop if you have a lift/canopy, clearance getting boat in garage even when folded.

Good Luck.

[CEASTWEB]

cat1168 - hey chad you should post some pics of yours