The Pontoon Boat Evolution

When did pontoon boats – once considered the ugly ducklings of the boating world with their shoebox shape, aluminum tubes, and metal picket-fence – begin to look so sharp on the water? Pontoons have evolved into the equivalent of a marine SUV, fully capable of hard charging tow sports, a day of fishing, or just carving up the water with upwards of 1,000 horses of power.

There’s a reason why pontoon boats are perennially one of the top selling types of boat, with about 50,000 new pontoon boats sold annually and more than a million registered nationally. “Pontoon boats have become an alternative to a fiberglass deck boat,” says Wally Ross, director of product development for Godfrey and Hurricane. “You can do so much on a pontoon boat, and with more people than on a fiberglass monohull boat.”

Bang for the buck

Pontoon boats were the original “value” boat on the market because of both the simple hull and lower cost of building materials. Round aluminum tubes secured to a rectangular plywood deck by an integrated aluminum superstructure costs less and is quicker to build than a molded fiberglass hull. With the bottom of the boat costing considerably less, there’s more budget room to accessorize the top half of a pontoon boat.

Ross says he’s noticed a trend of consumers comparison-shopping pontoon boats against fiberglass monohull boats over the last 10 years, about when pontoon boatbuilders started accessorizing pontoon decks more like their fiberglass counterparts.

For one example of comparison shopping, let’s look at Godfrey pontoon boats vs. Hurricane deck boats. Both brands are owned by Polaris, better known for off-road vehicles and snowmobiles but with a marine division that also includes Bennington pontoons. A base-level 25-foot Hurricane SunDeck 2486 deck boat powered by a 200-hp outboard, compared with the starting price for a 25-foot Godfrey Sweetwater 2486 entry-level pontoon with the same engine reveals the deck boat tops $90,000 while the pontoon boat comes in at about $60,000. Downgrade to a 50-hp outboard and the Sweetwater 2486 can be yours for a get-on-the-water price of about $46,000.

Performance

After decades in the slow lane, pontoon boat manufacturers started adding serious horsepower to pontoon boats in the early 2000s. But the level of refinement (“fit and finish”), infusion of sophisticated technologies, and holistic approach to pontoon boat design since then has resulted in a new species of boats – the performance pontoon boat.

“We’re a lot more dialed in on tube performance today,” says Ross. “Wake surfing is the only watersports activity our pontoons can’t deliver, but our [top-end] XP model can pull four slalom skiers, and even our smallest pontoon, the 15-foot Mighty G with a 50-hp outboard, can tow a skier.” Single outboard pontoon boats still dominate the market, but twin-engine boats are a growing segment.

While twin or triple tubes can’t beat a fiberglass monohull for nimble handling, the lighter pontoon hulls sit higher in the water. Keels welded to the bottom of each pontoon improve tracking in the turns. Elliptically shaped tubes with tapered nose cones and welded-on lifting strakes help lift the pontoon hull onto a plane. Each of the literally dozens of pontoon boat manufacturers have their own twist on strakes, but they’re all designed to get the tubes up on plane, which they do surprisingly fast. Add 150 hp or more and today’s pontoon boats can bank into turns, making for tighter maneuvering at speed while delivering an exhilarating but comfortable ride.

The angle, height, shape, and position of the lifting strakes influence lift and drag that vary along the speed profile for a boat,” explains Brian Athmer, president of Harris Boats. “The lifting strakes on our proprietary RPM Technology hull are designed to optimize for speed, handling, fuel economy, acceleration, spray mitigation, noise, vibration, and on-water comfort.”

The addition of a third pontoon under the centerline, along with a lot more horsepower, is what elevates performance and stability beyond pontoons of years past. The third tube adds buoyancy, and distributes weight more evenly, enabling more passengers and more horsepower. Higher-riding tritoons also turn tighter and handle choppy water better than twin-tube boats.

Manitou’s proprietary V-Toon technology distinguishes itself by setting the center tube lower than the outer tubes to simulate a standard V-shaped hull, while Godfrey integrates larger 6-inch strakes the builder says provide up to 50% more lift than competitors’ smaller strakes.

Comfort

The “lawn furniture” screwed into the deck of old-school pontoons has been replaced by contoured, ergonomic, and adjustable lounge seating with softer marine-grade vinyls better engineered to withstand UV rays and moisture. Bennington even offers heated and cooled captain/co-captain chairs as an option – a pontoon industry first.

Manufacturers today incorporate vibration-deadening components such as Barletta’s VIP Vibration Isolation Pad between the hulls and cross members for softer riding. The wide-base stability of pontoon boats, both while running and at idle, is a key advantage over monohulls. It’s much easier to step on or off a pontoon boat, and their one-level design makes them wheelchair-accessible.

Newer helm consoles are more ergonomically designed and offer more legroom for the skipper. Higher end models add to the living-room-on-the-water feel with head/shower combos, entertainment bars, and extended decks fore and aft. “The party is in the back,” says James Heintz, director of product strategy for BRP, of the new Manitou Max Deck option that adds 4 feet of aft deck.

Luxury

The new kid on the block is the luxury pontoon category, which is turning heads at boat shows and on the water. The traditional all-right-angles pontoon lines are giving way to a new aesthetic of swept back profiles with wraparound windshields, forward-leaning carbon-fiber tow arches, or rugged electric bimini tops that open and close on the fly. And the metal picket fence siding is replaced with … fiberglass?

“Harris is the leader in integrating sculpted fiberglass components in our pontoon boats, both on the interiors and exteriors,” says Athmer, noting the builder opened an in-house fiberglass production facility at its Indiana plant.

With luxury comes technology. The options on luxury models mirror those of monohulls – joystick steering, GPS position holding, electronic steering, RGB lighting, and digital dashboards. There’s not a toggle switch to be found on Bennington’s new Vivid UX digital dash system, now standard across most of its models. The simple, intuitive touchscreen-control system provides vital engine data while underway, then automatically switches at idle to Float mode, which displays battery levels, water depth, air and water temperature, and whatever music is on. It’s a dash designed to not overwhelm the driver with information.

Speaking of tunes, pontoons at this level are designed in consultation with the partner audio system. “We moved our speakers off the deck to produce better, cleaner sound,” explains Ross.

The emerging luxury pontoon class typically sports twin high-horsepower outboards and can easily top 50 mph and track and turn much like fiberglass monohull sportyachts. But all those bells and whistles come at a cost, so expect starting prices in the $200,000 to $400,000 range. Who’s buying these niche boats? “Luxury buyers, generally 30 to 65 years of age, with multiple outdoor hobbies such as motorcycles and snowmobiles,” says Ross.

Variety and versatility

Pontoon manufacturers say their mid-level models make up the bulk of sales. Visit a pontoon boat website and you’ll notice three tiers of models, essentially Value (under $50,000), Mid-Level (+/-$100,000), and Luxury, or (for some manufacturers) Sport. Within each pricing tier are usually several models, each with layout options impossible to offer in a monohull. Fishing models add livewells and feature open bows, sport models add removable tow pilings or fixed arches, while cruising models may have extended bimini tops or more cushioned space for napping.

No other boat type on the market offers the range of options among brands, layouts, performance, and pricing as today’s pontoon boats. “There really is a pontoon boat for every budget,” says Ross.