CLOSE
Sign up to get news on contests, pro events, new products and special offers.
WATERSKI MagazineIt's no secret that today's skiers expect more from a tow boat than ever before. They want lots of storage capacity, tons of elbow room, seating for a half-dozen friends, and a smooth ride through chop – all without sacrificing skiing performance.
Obviously, the boat of yesterday isn't going to satisfy the skier of today. It was this realization that drove Tigi founder Charlie Pigeon to reinvent the inboard. Say goodbye to the tournament-only ski boat and say hello to the Precision Watersports Towboat.
How, exactly, do you expand the horizons of a highly specialized type of boat without losing all the special qualities that made it popular? Tigi started by tossing away the old rule that says inboards shall always ride low in the water and should not alter the shape of the wake or the running angle of the boat. Enter the TAPS system and the era of the customized wake.
The next step in updating the inboard was to create more interior room. Tigi's design team accomplished this by widening rather than lengthening its new models. The result is a new generation of center-engine inboards like the 2100i.
From a distance, it looks like a traditional competition craft, but a closer examination reveals an unprecedented amount of interior room for an inboard of this length. If the day called for nothing more than a sightseeing cruise, the 2100i would still be a good choice, since the TAPS system could be adjusted for open-water comfort and the various lockers could hold a station wagon worth of sundries.
But water-sports is 2100i's true game, and its full potential becomes apparent only after someone gets wet and grabs a tow rope. Ready for a try at the slalom course? Set TAPS at 1 and the boat flattens out to deliver tournament-class skiing wakes.
Dial TAPS up to a 5 or 6 and Junior can learn his butter slides on medium-size boarding wakes. Then, when it's time for the big-air hot shots to show their stuff, set TAPS all the way to 10 to raise the bow 24 degrees and push the wakes to the max.
Today's boat-buying decisions are all about versatility, and in a time when water-sports enthusiasts are demanding more than ever, the Tigi 2100i remains one of the most versatile tow boats on the water.
