So after seeing the video posted on my recent trolling motor thread about thrusters, I was wondering what else could be put in these $100,000+ boats to make them worth the money. IMO non of these new boats are worth what they are selling them these days, but I wanted to hear from you guys on what could be added to make them more of a good deal. I'd love the thrusters in the video below. That little bit of extra help in strong water currents or to move the bow over a couple inches to get on the trailer would be awesome.
The question I ask... Has the cost of labor and materials justified the price increases? Have they affected the automobile industry in the same manner? I think not!
I have a 24MXZ and it is no problem. The hop to a inboard takes a little practice. You need trust across the rudder to steer and backing to the left is all about momentum created by your last forward move.
Id pay extra not to have them. Flagship boats already have enough gadgets.
Have your rope built into the tower with a winch. Press a button and your rope reels out to your desired length, press another and it reels your rider into the boat and hides away into the tower.
Have the prop retract into the hull for beaching.
Back to the thrusters idea the pump could be ran off of a PTO or belt on the engine instead of a power hungry electric motor. If you wanted to retract the prop, you could then use the thrusters for low speed movement.
Nice concept but to large of hardware to get it done. The amount of thrust on tgat X35 is overkill. Why have just 2 big thrusters to move the bow when you can just barely put the boat in forward/reverse to walk the bow over? I think if you're going to do thrusters just put 2 small ones on each side and then you can truly spin the boat in place or move the boat sideways completely and not just adjust the bow.
Or just design the nose of the hull to have a traditional bow thruster in it.
Have it in a place that doesn't effect the wake yet is still in the water at idle speed.
So after seeing the video posted on my recent trolling motor thread about thrusters, I was wondering what else could be put in these $100,000+ boats to make them worth the money. IMO non of these new boats are worth what they are selling them these days, but I wanted to hear from you guys on what could be added to make them more of a good deal. I'd love the thrusters in the video below. That little bit of extra help in strong water currents or to move the bow over a couple inches to get on the trailer would be awesome.
Engineer that thruster pump as supply for ballast system and don't forget to integrate into dashboard software.
I for one have no wake boat and cant wakeboard but if I did I think I would spend some time behind the wheel and learn how to drive an inboard. It looks like a lot of equipment taking up a lot of valuable storage space and some big holes in the hull. This problem just doesn't warrant such a drastic solution?
Just learn to drive your boat. This ranks as one of the silliest discussions in WW history. Bow thrusters on a 23ft boat!? Honestly guys, crap like this is why boats are 100K in the first place.
Skip bow thrusters. We need a good pod drive. Weight is not an issue for most wake boats. Top speed should be higher. Surfing would be easyier.
Okay, it will sit higher on the trailer and have a bit more draft but it's new tech and we all need that. (...says the guy with the D-drive and wood stringer boat)
Exactly what I was thinking....add some more stuff and increase the price and maintenance issues. With today's electronic throttles and steering you could do the same thing with a bow thruster.
I watch big boats pretty much park themselves in tight slips with current and wind by use of joystick. Not so sure I want a pod drive on my 22 footer.
Personally, I'm happy with perfect pass and volume control. If it gets any more automatic I may start drinking to keep it interesting.
what about when you trailer your boat, the propshaft connects with a drive train on the trailer and you can just drive your boat home?
^^^ this could be done
the boat would have to be closed cooling... coolant cooled by lake water when the boats on the lake... coolant cooled by air when on the trailer
however if you had the money to afford doing this you would probably drive the boat to your lake home on the lake
I just don't understand what anyone thinks it would achieve. Back to the left? Parallel parking? Even the biggest wakeboard boats can easily be moved around by hand at the dock. Cabin cruisers and boats with 6ft of freeboard make sense because you can't easily reach over and pull yourself over or push away from a low dock. If you can't back to the left or parallel park, what makes you think you could handle another set of controls?
I don't think it would achieve much and I have no idea what its application would be.
Driving my boat onto the trailer is simple. That's like throwing a dart.
Pulling up to the fuel dock with flare is easy too. That's like sitting in an office chair that swivels and rolls ... and ... sending the chair with a kickoff to roll backwards while swiveling in the meantime to end up facing forwards.
Making the hard 90 degree turn in the close confines of the marina to dock my boat in the slip is like ... throwing a curve ball ... except ... a curve which has a near 90 degree arc. I cheat on the arc is much I can, but the lane from which I have to make the turn is tight. Once I start that 'slow' arc ('fast' would be reckless), I have little control over the steering. Just like a $20 million dollar a year major league pitcher has no more control over the arc of his pitch after the ball leaves his fingertips, I have precious few options on steering the boat once I send it on its arc ... other than to abort.
And there are plenty of days a $20 million dollar a year major league pitcher can't get his curve ball across the plate ... no matter how earnest he wish he could.
Last edited by john211; 02-06-2015 at 7:40 AM.
Reason: sp
Looks like a lot of you totally missed the point in this post. I wanted to see what technologies you would like to see added to these expensive ass boats to make them more worth the price. The thrusters were just an example, but since thats what everyones stuck on IMO I LOVE the idea. I'm not sure what boats you guys are driving but my 02 Supra SSV can be a little bit of a bitch in a busy marina with wind, chop, and bimini top at 1 MPH compaired to my old i/o bayliner which took zero effort to weave in and out of traffic on a windy day. Now if the water's glass then its a whole different story, but unfortunately that is pretty rare here.
I'll tell you what would make these boats worth it is if everything worked right out of the factory. As with the auto industry, the consumer is doing all the R and D and having to have the boat sit in a shop for weeks on end while the tech with little experience with all the new electrical systems is sitting scratching his head. Or better yet, on the phone for hours with the company trying to explain over the phone the problems and how to fix them. Then the consumer has to fight tooth and nail over the warranty issues with the dealer cause their losing shop money right and left with all the issues!
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