The Ideal Barefoot Boat

This section is sure to get a lot of comments! What is the ideal barefoot boat?

This is a tough question and probably ends up being personal preference in most cases. I own an inboard tournament ski boat. Since it's an inboard (and doesn't have one of the newer high output engines), it's a little slow on the top end for one foots. However, it's very stable with a boom on the side and the wake is fairly easy to cross and the curls are pretty easy to foot in. And it's no slouch out of the hole!

Most (all?) barefoot tournaments are pulled by outboard barefoot boats (200HP). Outboards have the advantage of higher speeds (60+) and very low, easy to cross wakes. Most outboard barefoot boats have a 5 bladed, stainless steel prop which is very quick out of the hole and produces minimal turbulence in the wakes' table (the flat part between the curls) making wake crossings a cinch.

The wake on an outboard is quite different from the wake on an inboard but basically, they're both very low and easy to cross.

I haven't covered all of the finer points but as I mentioned in the beginning, it's most likely your own personal preference. (I'm going to stick with my inboard because, I do like to run the course now and then!).