Game Changing Avalon & Tahoe Mfg. WakeSurf Pontoon Wins NMMA Innovation Award

Published: Tuesday, March 10, 2020

There was tremendous excitement at this year’s Minneapolis Boat Show in late January as Avalon & Tahoe Mfg., a vertically integrated builder of luxury pontoon boats, introduced a world-first wakesurf pontoon boat called Waketoon Surf Series.

As pontoon boat sales have grown exponentially and wakesurf boats have gained in popularity, families who desire the benefits of both have been faced with the choice of buying two expensive boats or choosing between (a) the characteristics of a pontoon boat, including a comfortable ride at all speeds, high speed capability, great wave handling, and room for the whole family, or (b) a dedicated wakesurf boat that can create the waves that wakesurfers desire, but lacks the room and versatility to be the all-around family cruising boat. Recognizing the need for a new choice, Avalon and Tahoe created
the Waketoon Surf Series Pontoon boat, which combines the most sought-after benefits of a high performance pontoon boat with the increasingly popular wakesurf design into one exciting combination watercraft.

Although the boat is inspired by wakesurfing, the creation was driven by a desire to encourage a new experience that involves the entire family; they call it “waketooning.” This means the family on board enjoys the comfortable, smooth, superfast ride of a performance pontoon while the surfer enjoys the great push only this ballast free waketoon provides.

“This isn’t just the introduction of a never-before-seen type of pontoon. We see it as the emergence of a totally new type of sport—called waketooning—where generations can come together to enjoy water sports and wakesurfing on the stern of a powerful pontoon,” said Jim Wolf, President of Avalon and Tahoe Manufacturing. “Additionally, this revolutionary design would not have been possible without the partnership of Volvo Penta and integration of their innovative engineering solutions.”

Distinctive Capability

Only waketooning provides the exciting capability of simultaneous surfing, allowing two surfers on two different wakes! This is another first for the wakesurf industry, let alone for a true pontoon boat. Due to the typical wake boat surf systems and configurations (involving gates or plates), fiberglass monohull wake boats can only provide a one-surfer solution, surfing one side at a time and, if you want to switch sides while surfing, you need to readjust the boat settings (surf left or surf right). With the Avalon innovative design, there is no switching required; if you want to surf the other side, just cross the wake. There are no settings to change or adjust.

Now, two surfers can create new tandem tricks or compete for the best moves. Waketooning lets the family be the judge of who has the gnarliest performance.

How It Works

Avalon and Tahoe Mfg. have developed and engineered a pontoon wake surf chassis, which has resulted in multiple patent-pending pontoon surf system solutions. The Waketoon system includes the Volvo Forward drive propulsion system, combined with a newly developed, innovative pontoon design and contoured wake plates.

The rocker and contoured pontoons create a Coanda effect, which directs the primary water flow towards the highly contoured wake plates. This innovative bottom design, combined with the trim angle—benefits provided by the Volvo Forward drive—creates a completely new wake characteristic. This new dynamic flow has enabled the pontoon boat to create surf-able wake patterns for two surfers at once. This setup is clearly distinct and further sets itself apart from monohulls by offering a true high-performance triple pontoon chassis.

The system is also remarkably innovative in that it creates a surfable wave without the need for any type of ballast system. This eliminates the annoying fill and drain cycles required for all other wake boats, and the need for thousands of pounds of ballast, the weight of which can inhibit normal handling characteristics such as quick turnaround time to pick up surfers. Typical wake boat systems can take 10 minutes or longer to fill and drain, making a trip across the lake a long task. Due to the long fill and drain cycles, other wake surf boat owners were sacrificing their touring capability and leaving their tanks full.

With the Waketoon Surf Series, the trim angle provided when set in “surf mode” pulls the platform forward and down, creating its own downforce and eliminating any need for ballast. With no ballast, the Waketoon converts from surfing to touring in under five seconds; just set trim to cruise and you’re off to the next adventure.

No ballast system also means eliminating multiple pumps, hoses, and large hard and/or soft bags, reclaiming valuable storage space and further encouraging enjoyably long days on the water.

Cool Equipment

Waketoon is equipped with a full touchscreen dash with Bluetooth stereo, and integrates one-touch control to engage the surf system of choice. With a single touch, the system automatically presets the speed, trim, and drive angle to the default setting or each setting can be customized and saved, if preferred. The touchscreen dash also includes two camera screens, one of which displays the included rear camera!

On the outside, the Waketoon continues to impress. The sleek looking, custom fiberglass and aluminum walls are combined with RGB lights found throughout the interior, along the exterior, and underwater at the stern. The included wake tower is the latest available, contains RGB lights in the tower, and provides quick up and down travel.

The furnishings are laid out in a similar fashion to today’s most popular wake boat designs, however, the Waketoon’s interior is made using Avalon and Tahoe Mfg’s unique matrix 50 Vinyl. Because Avalon and Tahoe have their own furniture factory, this allows them the ability to make amazing custom furniture themselves, heightening the overall look.

At the Minneapolis Boat Show

When launched in January, the incredible consumer feedback was immediate. Many said this would solve family controversies over which type of boat to buy, and those with the means to even consider purchasing two boats were instead relieved they wouldn’t have to spend tens of thousands more. Still others expressed excitement about the Waketoon’s super sporty look, both inside and out.
This game changer will likely soon be seen on a lake near you. Get yours today by visiting www.avalonpontoons.com.

About Avalon and Tahoe Mfg.

Avalon and Tahoe Mfg. offers two brands, Avalon Pontoons and Tahoe Pontoons. In business since 1972 and based in Alma, Michigan, Avalon and Tahoe Mfg. together represent one of the largest pontoon boat manufacturers in the world, measured not only in sales, but in actual facility size, too. Currently third largest in the world in unit sales of pontoon boats, the production facility boasts over 287,000 square feet of production and shipping space.