Water sports towing vessel and method

#The present invention generally relates to towing of a performer by a vessel, and more particularly to enhancing performance of the performer using a water sport implement while maintaining stability of the vessel.

#Wakeboarding has become one of the fastest growing sports in the world. In the sport of wakeboarding, there is an ever increasing need for the tow boat to create a larger wake to ride. Unlike waterskiing, the performer on a wakeboard is looking for as large a wake as possible. Further, by anchoring the tow line at a high elevation above the boat deck, the greater the ability of the performer to lift higher into the air, whether with a ski or wakeboard.

#Tow rope pylons are known in the art, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,577 to Jennings and U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,597 to Paxton. A typical skiing and wakeboarding pylon has a height of approximately three feet to eight above the floor of the boat. Pylon heights have increased to accommodate the ever increasing height of jumps across the wake by wakeboarders. The extended pylons run a cable from the top of the pylon to the bow of the boat as a guy wire. This wire interferes with movement inside the boat. Further, these extended height pylons have not satisfied wakeboarders with their performance. They do give the performer the ability to get bigger air on the jumps, but the extended pylons flex too much when the performer cuts away or to the wake. During these cuts, the boat heels to a point of instability for the boat and a hazard for all concerned. The guy wire provides support when the skier is pulling straight back, but offers less support when the skier is pulling from the side.

#Embodiments of the invention are described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vessel and performer in accordance with the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the vessel of FIG. 1 with rear ballast tanks illustrated;

#The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited by the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Referring now initially to FIGS. 1-3, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is herein described, by way of example, by a water sports system 10 for improving aerial characteristics of a performance by a performer 12 using a water sports implement such as a wakeboard 14. The system 10 comprises a vessel 16 behind which the performer 12 is to be towed. The vessel 16 includes a bow 18, a stern 20, and an operator station 22 between opposing starboard and port sides 24, 26. A towing structure referred herein as a vertical support unit 100 is fitted to the vessel 16. The vertical support unit 100, as will be further described later in this section, includes an upper portion 102 at a height above the level of the operator station 22 and is adapted for securing a tow rope 28 thereto. The tow rope 28 is attached to the upper portion 102 of the vertical support unit 100 for towing the performer 12, as illustrated again with reference to FIG. 1. The system 10 further includes a ballast assembly 200 which includes starboard and port ballast tanks 202, 204 fitted onboard and only aft, preferably within only the stern 20, extending from the transom toward amidships of the vessel 16, unlike typical ballast systems which fully extend bow to stern. Alternate embodiments include a single ballast tank. An extractor 206 is fitted to the hull of the vessel 16 and is in fluid communication with the body of water 30 within which the vessel operates for forcing water 208 into the ballast tanks 204, 202 and weighting down the aft portion of the vessel 16, thus lowering the vessel and controlling a wake 32 created by the vessel.

#It is to be noted that various sized vessels will have varying length ballast tanks for extending the tank from the transom area to toward amidships to provide a desirable wake. Simply weighting down the vessel stern only proximate the transom leads to excess plowing of the vessel and an undesirable wake. Further, displacement boats having ballast from stern to bow, typically do not permit planing, desirable in a sports towing vessel. As a result, a certain amount of planing is to be maintained. By extending the ballast tank as herein described, an effective vessel performance and wake is achieved. Without deviating from the invention, alternate embodiments are now herein described.

#With regard to the vertical support unit 100, reference being made again to FIG. 2, the vertical support unit comprises a first relatively rigid vertical support structure 104 fitted to the starboard side 24 of the vessel 16, a second relatively rigid vertical support structure 106 fitted to the port side 26, and a generally horizontal bridging portion 108 extending between upper extremities of the first and second vertically extending support structures at a desired height above the level of the operator station 22. In a preferred embodiment, the vertical support unit 100 forms a skeletal frame, as illustrated again with reference to FIG. 2, which has a forward relatively rigid U-shaped support structure 110 and an aft relatively rigid U-shaped support structure 112, both fitted across the beam of the vessel 16. Longitudinally extending rigid bars 114 are attached between the forward and aft U-shaped structures. In a preferred embodiment, the bars are generally horizontal and parallel to the floor 34 of the vessel 16, as illustrated with reference again to FIG. 2, by way of example. Such a frame transfers forces generated by towing the performer to the gunwales, by way of example, and provides a rigid anchoring of the tow rope to the vessel for improving over typical single tow bar devices referred to earlier in this specification. For convenience in shipping, the bridging portion 108 is separable from the vertical support structures 104, 106 at connections 116. In general, the preferred embodiment is made from generally rigid aluminum tubing with elements of the unit 100 welded to each other to form a generally rigid skeletal frame.