forward” idea. Stowage is
located below a hatch forward
of the helm. A bucket helm seat
is standard. Other seating areas
that flank the tall motor box
and the helm console are little
more than vinyl-covered pads
resting on a flat fiberglass
surface. Removable backrests
slip in and out of pockets in
the deck so passengers can face
fore or aft. There’s no stowage
below the seats because that
space is utilized for 1,200
pounds of ballast, which is
pumped into port and
starboard compartments
surrounded by the fiberglass
stringers and the deck. A similar
pad tops the motor box, which
seems quite high off the sole
because the cockpit is so deep —
29 inches amidships.
Rated for eight passengers,
the WT-1 can really carry five
or six people comfortably. Ben
points out that a smaller group
is usually more fun — there’s
less crew waiting for a turn
behind the boat.
It was a bright fall day on
the Tennessee River when I
got my first chance to slide
behind the wheel of the WT-1.
Facing me was the screen of
a tablet computer Ben had
secured in a Ram Mount on
top of the console. The WT-1 is
equipped with a single engine
monitoring instrument — an
analog tachometer with a small
screen that scrolls through
fuel use, boat speed and oil
pressure — installed on the left
side of the dash. That info is
also transmitted via Bluetooth
to an owner-supplied tablet
or smartphone. The same
Bluetooth digital device can
also supply music to a 32-inch
Wet Sounds sound bar mounted
on the tower — there’s no full
audio system. The tablet can
also serve other functions, for
example, displaying the view
of a GoPro camera on the boat.
The WT-1 does have a steering
wheel and a throttle lever, so I
was not completely disoriented.
The WT-1 sample I drove
was hull No. 1, really a
prototype put together in time
for a trade show. In fact, a week
after my ride, that WT-1 was
dismantled so its hull could
be fine-tuned and re-digitized
to create the final production
tooling. That being said, the
entire premise of the boat
seemed to be on the mark. Its
350 hp Crusader Challenger
V-8 engine popped us right
on plane, geared and propped
just right to enable accurate
incremental speed adjustments
at wake velocity. The wake
looked sporty to me — certainly
bigger and more defined than
the wake behind any sterndrive
runabout. A bigger inboard tow
boat is obviously going to make
a taller wake, but the WT-1 hull
plowed more water than you’d
expect from an 18-foot hull —
which is exactly the point.
The interior of the
WT-1 echoes the voice of
the customer; Ben says
that the Lawrence Tech
project put a low priority on
accommodations, especially if
they drove up the cost of the
boat. The wake comes first,
followed by adequate power
and an affordable price. That
passengers are relegated to
padded slots between the
high inwales and motor box
apparently does not matter. The
design allows the entire deck to
be formed as a single piece in
a simple mold, with the helm
console and the hatch over the
stowage compartment being
the only two “small parts.” The
WT-1 and its trailer weigh less
than 4,000 pounds, falling
within the towing capacity of
midsize vehicles.
The WT-1 is a perfect
expression of the Heyday
Inboard mission: It delivers
an affordable and capable tool
for the wake-sports experience
— and a boat in tune with the
lifestyle of its intended owner.
The WT-1 is absolutely not
daddy’s tow boat, but it might
be all the boat the millennial
generation needs.TBOATINGCertified Test ResultsXLOA: 17'11" XBeam: 8'0" XDraft (max): 2'7" XDisplacement (approx.): 3,150 lb.
XTransom Deadrise: 7 degrees XFuel Capacity: 35 gal. XMax Horsepower: 350
XAvailable Power: Single 350 hp Crusader Challenger gasoline inboard
Price: $39,995(with test power)SPEED EFFICIENCY OPERATION
rpm knots mph gph^ naut. mpg stat. mpg range range n. mi. s. mi. angle levelsound
1000 4.34 5.00 1.30 3.34 3.85 105 121 3 64
1500 6.08 7.00 2.40 2.53 2.92 80 92 5 66
2000 6.78 7.80 3.80 1.78 2.05 56 65 8 73
2500 8.08 9.30 6.10 1.32 1.52 42 48 12 80
3000 19.99 23.00 6.50 3.07 3.54 97 111 4 79
3500 23.72 27.30 8.00 2.97 3.41 93 107 3 84
4000 27.11 31.20 11.40 2.38 2.74 75 86 2 87
4500 30.07 34.60 15.70 1.92 2.20 60 69 1 88
5000 32.33 37.20 21.10 1.53 1.76 48 56 1 93
5100 0.00 37.60 22.90 0.00 1.64 0 52 1 94
MOST ECONOMICAL CRUISING SPEEDHEYDAY INBOARDS WT-1
HOW WE TESTED
ENGINE: Single 350 hp Crusader Challenger 5.7-liter V-8 gasoline inboard DRIVE/
PROP: PEG PowerPlus V-drive/OJ 13" x 12.5" 4-blade GEAR RATIO: 1:1 FUEL LOAD:
35 gal. CREW WEIGHT: 380 lb.BOATINGMAG.COM JUNE 2016 77