MrCord
Libra
HDF Silver Supporter
In need of a River Trip!
Irvine Ca
Posts: 2,179
APPD 0.31
Post Rank: 30
28' Magic H-Deck
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Posted: July 17 2006,2:51 pm |
Post # 30 |
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Quote (freddog @ July 17 2006,1:12 pm) | Here's my take on the tournament ski/wakeboard boats. I have a Nautique, old school style ski boat with no tower, closed bow. I always wanted one after owning a 27' Sleek and a 23' Sea Ray, and I rarely have more than four people on my boat anymore. After months of research I found that the Nautiques were hands down best, close second is the Mastercraft. Malibu has come a long way and Mobius is one of the up-and-comers. Mine, like I said before, is old school (not old) styling, pure ski boat, inboard power 351ci, 330hp. It tops out at 48, but gets there quick. Everyone warned me that the ride would be brutal, but its not. However, its definately not a rough water boat. Handling at speed is incredible. At 40 it turns on rails, or if I want to scare the crap out of someone, I can put it in a flat 180. At low speed, I could dock the Queen Mary easier. they're worse than a jet in reverse. Maintenance is easier than any power boat I've seen. I can change an impeller in 10 minutes, the oil and tranny fluid drain through hoses designed to run out through the drain in the hull, and everything is easily accessible. I have friends that have their oil changed at Walmart, its that easy. I see and drive alot of boats in my job and I would be willing to say that Correct Craft (Nautiques) are among the top 5 best built boats. They've been building boat for over 90 years and there's plenty of Nautiques and Mastercrafts on the water that are 40 years old and look like new. The new V-drives open up alot more room, but don't perform quite as well.
That being said and bragging aside, there's two reasons to buy a tournament style boat or roll bar boat as you call them:
You like the look, engineering, craftsmanship and handling and don't really care about top end, or...
You love to ski or wakeboard
For a more all-around family, cruising, sitting on the beach type boat that handles the rougher water better, get anything else. The Yamaha is impressive and well built, and reasonable in price. The only downside I've heard about them from our mechanics and others is that there are not as many mechanics trained to work on them and few marinas willing to...yet. You're somewhat restricted to the dealerships selling them, and I don't trust the ones in this area, I won't even let them work on my bike.
I love my ski boat, it's perfect for me and I'll keep it for a long time (although I'm working on a screaming deal on a Magic), but they're not for everyone. Make sure whatever you decide on you take it out for a full day first.
Good luck, hope this helps. |
Wow... Well written and thanks for the info
The natiques are a little out of my pricing range right now, but I do agree that they are very nice boats!
It will be a big shift for me from stomping on the gas pedal, to even using a hand throttle... But Im going to start testing them out and see... The only problem with Mobius so far is that they only have inland marine as their dealer... Maybe I will check out an az dealer and get one there if I like it...
Never Trust Anyone That Talks Too Fast.... They are hoping you miss something!
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