positioning a wakeboard tower question

[HOTUB]

hey everybody,

what is the standard postioning of a wakeboard tower ( how far foward or backward is the standard mounting points) i see some boats mounted way in the front and some in the middle and in the back. so what the hell. i just want i to be strong and look great.
please help..

peace
hotub

[Dave.Mishchenko]

Part of the positioning will come down to where you think it will look the best. If you have settled on a specific brand and have purchased it, you might want to look at the manufacturer's website for same images, or assemble the tower and have it hang from a tree, in the garage so you can move the position of the tower around your boat to see what you'll like.

You may also want to examine possible mount points for wiring, hull curvature, etc to see where you can't mount it. On my last boat the front mounts were placed were the boat was reinforced for a tower (you'll still want to add additional backing even for a reinforced point) and the rear mounts were on top of the gunnel. In my case I was trying to maximize the height of the tower. You'll also want to consider how the tower will fold and interact with other boat components like the wind sheild or a bimini.

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Depends if you have a forward arching tower or aft facing tower. Most of the time they ate installed to flow with the windshield lines and so there are no obstructions behind where you plan on drilling. Measure twice, drill once

[geneseo1911]

Every tower I've seen in real life (which is admittedly only a dozen or so) is set up with the tow point approximately in between the driver & front passenger seats.

I've seen ones on the interwebs that were placed near the rear of the boat. I don't care for that look, and more importantly, I would think that might affect the handling characteristics. A big guy on a wakeboard can pull a boat around a little; I'd rather have that pull centered.