2015 Sea-Doo WAKE 155 Review

The PWC designed for tow sports

Wakeboarding and wake skating, heck even just basic waterskiing, are cool. They’re activities that can be enjoyed by the whole family, but the catch is you have to have a decent tow boat to do them. Sea-Doo hopes to entice some of those “tow types” with an alternative that’s less expensive, burns less fuel, and is far easier to tow – a personal watercraft.

Like the Sea-Doo WAKE 155.

Triple WAKE Threat

WAKE models are essentially tricked out versions of existing craft, in this case the GTI 155. What makes the WAKE different are several features specific to towing.

Sea-Doo’s WAKE models are the only PWC designed specifically for tow sports.

One of the most useful is the addition of a Ski mode to the existing Touring and Sport acceleration profiles. Anyone who’s ever attempted to ski or ride behind a PWC knows the craft have one big weakness – a human hand on the throttle can be far too twitchy, accelerating too much one minute and letting that speed drop the next. Speed control takes a lot of that surging feeling out of the equation by allowing the driver to lock in the rider’s preferred speed, and then simply concentrate on driving. Go into a corner and the electronic brain will pick up the power to maintain speed. Exit that corner and that brain will likewise let off so that you’re not suddenly going Mach 1.

COMPARISON: Read our review of the 2013 Sea-Doo GTI Limited 155

The Ski mode portion of that speed control allows the driver to tailor the rate of acceleration. The driver can input one of five Ski mode acceleration profiles. Use a strong, hard acceleration to pop a slalom skier from a deepwater start. Back off to a gentler acceleration for kids, or for water toys with greater surface areas like wakeboards and wake skates.

An extended tow pylon gives the spotter something to hold onto and keeps the tow rope out of the water.

Other WAKE features are handy add-ons. An extended tow pylon can be raised to position the towrope up and out of the jet wash so that it’s not constantly getting caught in the white water. This position will provide a more consistent pull for the rider behind. That same pylon also features a pair of grab handles for the rear-facing spotter to help the spotter feel more confident and secure in their position. Angled chocks at the back of the footwells further add to the spotter’s security. When you’re not skiing and riding, retract the pylon down and out of the way.

The other handy WAKE feature is a gunwale-mounted board rack. It slips easily on and off the craft, so you can remove it when not in use. But when you do need to haul a board along for the ride, secure it in the rack so that it’s out of the footwells, not in anyone’s way, and not ready to take a bite out of your ankles. Simple bungees effectively secure a board when the latter is slid into position. Just don’t make any crazy turns with a board and rack loaded, as it can catch the water. Still, I’ve gotten mildly crazy with a board secure without much problem.

A board rack makes it simple to carry a wakeboard anywhere.

Familiar GTI Feel

Beyond the WAKE trimmings, however, this is still the aforementioned GTI 155. That means you get a confident, yet still slightly playful hull, with a shallower 16-degree deadrise. It can carve, it can handle rough water, and it’s never intimidating to even the most novice enthusiast. Electric trim can fine tune the ride for acceleration or speed, or accommodate for the added weight of a spotter and rider. Fit and finish are strong, with a stylish design that looks more upscale than its price tag would suggest.

COMPARISON: Read our review of the 2015 Yamaha VXR

The non-supercharged 1,494cc Rotax engine gets up over 55 mph in good conditions and has the power to haul your buddies out of the water, but it’s also economical. You can get a decent amount of fun out of one tank of gas, and the power delivery is also smoother than a supercharged engine, a benefit for tow sports.

Features include Sea-Doo’s Intelligent Brake and Reverse, which offers up precise low-speed, Forward/Neutral/Reverse control around tight areas like the launch ramp. It also functions as a brake underway, dropping a reverse bucket/spoiler combo to redirect pump thrust to decelerate the craft, then backing it up with reverse thrust to complete the stopping power. Other notable features include a flip-down boarding step to get those skiers and riders back aboard, wide-angle mirrors to more easily keep tabs on those skiers/riders in your wake, and a WAKE-exclusive color way that’s a little more bold and aggressive in both colors and graphics.

New for 2015 is a ball-and-socket style, radio-frequency Digitally Encoded Security System (D.E.S.S.) Learning Key lanyard. Use it to make sure your craft doesn’t go on any unauthorized rides…or to make sure it sticks around should you join your “towee” in an unexpected spill.