The above describes an ideal wake, where the bodys means of propulsion has no other effect on the water. In practice the wave pattern between the V-shaped wavefronts is usually mixed with the effects of propeller backwash and eddying behind the boats (usually square-ended) stern.
The Kelvin angle is also derived for the case of deep water in which the fluid is not flowing in different speed or directions as a function of depth ("shear").  In cases where the water (or fluid) has shear, the results may be more complicated. Also, the deep water model neglects surface tension, which implies that the wave source is large compared to capillary length.