Admit it, every time you see one of those hot new wakeboard boats on the lake cruise by, you experience the greenest of the seven deadly sins: envy. Although you love your boat and go wakeboarding whenever you can get four of your friends to sit in the stern, you would give anything to have one of those ultra-trick boats of your very own. Well, even if you don't have $40,000 or so lying around, you can still make your dream come true by modifying your own boat. It's not that hard to do, it's not that expensive, and it'll result in a boat that can help those of you truly interested in wakeboarding to hone your skills so that you're able to bring them to a much higher level than can be accomplished using just the factory tow points with which your boat comes equipped.

Let's start with what is definitely the most complicated modification ' adding a wakeboard tower to a boat. Towers evolved out of extended pylons about a decade ago and have since become de rigueur for anyone who's into wakeboarding (and some disciplines of water skiing).

Adding A Tower

Generally speaking, towers are made of marine aluminum with stainless- fasteners, though many combine stainless-steel legs with marine aluminum framing. Most towers are easily removable (for storage), and most of them also serve as a mounting point for sound system speakers as well as racks for board transport.

Towers can be had for base prices running between $1,000 and $2,500, depending on which of the dozen or so manufacturers you opt for. Some are custom designed for specific boats and come in a rainbow of different powder-coated colors, while others will be generic and may come only in one or two colors. Regardless, adding a tower to your existing boat is an option you should consider if you're interested in enjoying wakeboarding, but not yet ready to make the leap to buying a tournament wakeboard boat.
If you're handy (and have TIG welding skills), you can make your own tower (see 'Resources' sidebar), but an easier way to go is to purchase a ready-made/ready-to-install unit. There are some things you'll need to know before going this route, however.

'One of the primary concerns is the thickness of the fiberglass in the hull where the bases are going to be attached,' says Rene Swor, vice president of marketing and sales for Big Air Pylons, an after-market tower manufacturer. 'If it's less than 3/8 inches thick you'll have to top it back it up and spread the load over a wider surface area.'

Backing up can be done with aluminum plate, more fiberglass or, conceivably, wood glassed in place. The object is to thicken as wide an area around the mount as possible.

As for measuring for your tower, a rule of thumb is that the distance fore and aft between the legs should be between 42 and 48 inches. 'It seems like everyone goes between 45 and 47 inches based on aesthetics,' says Swor. You'll also need to measure the width of your boat in two places ' forward and aft. 'Exactly where you mount the tower is best determined by where you can access under the gunwales,' says Swor. This is where the backing supplied with the tower has to go. In most cases, the backing is aluminum plate.

Another key characteristic to look for is the type of mount. Swor says it's mandatory that you use a swivel mount. Aside from allowing mounting on flat or vertical surfaces (Big Air's towers also come with rubber gaskets to handle mounting on spots with some curvature), the swivel mounts also transmit the flexing of the tower to the tower frame, not to the boat hull. 'Everyone has pretty much figured that out by now,' says Swor, 'but the first thing we did when we were in R&D (research and development) on the towers was to insure hull integrity.'

Most of the aftermarket racks have powder-coated finishes and come in virtually every color in the rainbow. Big Air also offers a brushed satin finish similar to that found on windshield frames. 'Clean it after you install it, put a coat of wax on, and you're ready for salt water,' Swor says.

Completing the Package

Another accessory you may want to complete the watersports package is a weight bag ' a big bladder of water you secure in the back of your boat to make it squat and kick up a bigger wake. Water weighs in around 8-plus-pounds a gallon, and the more you get, the deeper you'll ride. These go for anywhere between $125 and $175, depending on size, and you'll probably need a pump to fill and empty it; that'll cost around $50 to $80.

If you want to increase your engine's pulling power, you may also want to lower your prop's pitch, but this will come at a price, namely a lower top speed and slightly poorer fuel economy. Check your engine manual to see what range the rpm should be in at wide-open throttle (WOT), and make sure any prop change you do follows your engine's power parameters. The easiest and fastest way to blow an engine is to put on a prop that allows it to over-rev at WOT. Another way to get some more power out of your prop is to change to a stainless-steel prop for better out-of-the-hole performance, because it doesn't flex like an aluminum one. Stainless-steel props will cost about three to four times more than aluminum props.

You can also pop for a big rearview mirror ($25 to $110), and it's probably not a bad idea to change your aft cleats to pop up cleats. These will cost you from $40 to $60 a pop. Outboarders may want to add a hoop-like frame over the engine to prevent rope hang ups. If you've got a cage, wakeboard racks, and maybe a couple of monster spotlights for hanging out at night, it'll definitely dress things up a bit. And, dude, you gotta have tunes! Like the sound systems in automobiles, you can spend as much as you want on a sound system. Waterproof speakers on the tow cages, etc., etc. The sky's the limit price-wise on this particular option. Having pre-wired the tower with these modifications in mind makes the add-on much easier, though Big Air's Swor says that wiring lights and speakers, 'isn't rocket science.'