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Pennsylvania requires a competent observer on board in addition to the operator when towing anyone. All towed persons must wear Coast Guard-approved life jackets (inflatable PFDs not allowed). Towing is only permitted during daylight hours. Tow ropes must be between 20 and 80 feet long. Teak surfing (riding swim platforms while underway) is illegal.
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Pennsylvania law requires at least one competent observer on the tow boat in addition to the operator. This means a minimum of three people are involved in any towed water sports activity: the boat operator, the observer, and the person being towed.
A competent observer is defined as someone who can assess when the person being towed is in trouble, knows and understands standard waterskiing hand signals, and is capable of helping the towed person.
The observer’s sole job is to watch the person being towed. The boat operator should focus on steering and navigation while the observer communicates the skier’s or tuber’s status.
Every person being towed behind a boat — whether on water skis, a tube, a wakeboard, a kneeboard, or any other device — must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
Inflatable PFDs are specifically prohibited for towed activities. The impact from a fall at speed could prevent an inflatable PFD from deploying properly. Only inherently buoyant PFDs (Type I, II, or III) are acceptable.
The tow rope connecting the boat to the person being towed must be at least 20 feet long and no more than 80 feet long. This rule applies to standard towed water sports including water skiing, tubing, and wakeboarding.
Exceptions exist for wake surfing, kite surfing, and parasailing, which may use different rope lengths according to the specific activity’s requirements.
All towed water sports are prohibited between sunset and sunrise. There are no exceptions to this rule. This is consistent with the PWC daylight-only restriction and exists for the same safety reason — visibility is critical when someone is in the water behind a boat.
A personal watercraft can be used to tow a water skier or tuber in Pennsylvania, but only if the PWC is rated and designed to carry at least three people: the operator, the observer, and the towed person when they reboard.
Most two-seat PWCs do not meet this requirement. Check your PWC’s capacity plate before attempting to tow anyone.
For full PWC rules, see our Pennsylvania jet ski license guide.
While towing, operators must comply with all standard Pennsylvania speed and no-wake zone rules. The 100-foot shoreline no-wake rule applies to the entire tow setup, including the person being towed.
Operators should maintain a safe distance from other boats, docks, swimmers, and obstacles. Jumping the wake of another vessel within 100 feet while towing is reckless operation and can result in a citation.
The following signals are part of the boating safety course curriculum and should be known by operators, observers, and towed persons:
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