In the market for a new boat...need opinions

[Waternut]

I'm in the market for a mid-late 90's boat. I want it for a good ski wake but a lot of my friends wakeboard. I'm more concerned with getting a decent slalom wake with wakeboarding second but realistically, I would need an open bow.

 

Some boats in GA that I have an eye on are a 2000 Moomba Mobius, a 97 Moomba Outback, 94 Mastercraft Maristar. A 2000 Malibu Sportster LX is within driving distance but it'd be a weekend trip. The nicest looking boat is a 2003 Ski Centurion Sport but I don't think I can muster up the $15k that guy wants at this time.

[oldjeep]

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/boa/5078159635.html

 

Oops-closed bow

[oldjeep]

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/boa/5081453192.html

 

98 lx 12,500

[Kelvin]

Get a 98 or later Malibu response lx with a wedge.

[kurt]

@Kelvin is right on , for the money and what your looking for

[Waternut]

I'd be all over that if it was local. I feel like by the time I got it down here though, it might not be such a great deal.

[Waternut]

Would a sunsetter be comparable to a response? I do like the concept of the wedge and how quick it would be to switch between skiing and wakeboarding.

[oldjeep]

Hard to find what you want in your backyard. Lots of good boats up where we have winter.

[Bill22]

@Waternut if I could I would sell you my 2001 Response Lx with a wedge and I would upgrade to a TXi. But my accountant is not have any talk of a newer boat.

[gregy]

Early to mid 90 MC PROSTAR 205. Hard to beat.

[Waternut]

Found a 93 MC 205 about 3 hours away and I've been talking to the guy today. He's asking about $10k. Has high hours but looks like a clean boat. I've asked him for more pictures. Sound like a good deal?

[skihard]

You want a boat with a nice wake because you ski but your friends wakeboard? Get a boat with a wake YOU WANT! If your friends don't like it tell them to buy their own boat! LOL

 

This was just posted recently. Nice wake and a good boat too:

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/boa/5077697911.html

 

[escmanaze]

I found myself in a similar situation 3 years ago, except it wasn't my friends wakeboarding, it's me, I like to ride sideways sometimes also. I ended up with a 97 SNOB, but I was also looking at response LX as well. Both of those are step over open bow. If you require walk through open bow then you could look for a 92-95 PS205 or an Echelon LX instead of Response LX. Beyond that, I think you're going to really start making some pretty big compromises on your slalom wake (although your wakeboarding friends will love it).

 

Where you ski and it is your friends that wakeboard, I would be prone to be really selfish and get a really good ski boat first and foremost. As skier, I wouldn't touch a mobius with a 39.5 foot pole. I wouldn't get real excited about an outback or a maristar either. I would need somebody more knowledgeable than me to comment on the sportster LX.

 

If $15k is on the high side of your price range, then I think the best boat for you to look for is that 92-95 prostar. It is most likely to be the cheapest way to get into a boat with EFI, no wood, good slalom wake, and a walk through open bow. Echelon LXs are like leprechauns, they are really hard to find, and getting one with EFI is even tougher. If step over open bow is ok (seriously dude, just tell your boarding friends to shove it) then you could look to a SNOB like I got, or to a response LX and then get the wedge too. SNOB will be better for you as a skier, RLX with wedge will be better for your boarding friends.

[escmanaze]

Oh one more thing, you ask if a sunsetter is equivalent to a response. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ski behind a buddies sunsetter LX, I think it's a 95. His wake for skiing is HUGE compared to mine. I know my snob wake is better than a RLX wake, but my snob wake compared to his sunsetter wake is a giant difference. If you buy a sunsetter, you lose and your wakeboarding friends win.

[D3dude]

I have a good friend that has a VERY nice 94 power slot prostar for around $12K. This boat is in the Nashville area.

 

[Waternut]

@D3dude That sounds like a great boat. Can you post or PM me any details on it?

 

Don't worry guys, the slalom wake will come first in my book since that I what like doing the most. However, I do recognize that wakeboarders can drive a boat too and it's better to have a ski boat full of wakeboarders than no one to go with or a wakeboard boat that I can't ski behind. Occasionally I also do board sports so even I don't want something that totally sucks for board sports. I don't know if my friend had a 93 SNOB or a 93 sport nautique OB (I think it was the sport) but either way it was the worst wake I've ever skied on and there was only a driver in the boat.

 

The MC 205 is probably on the top of my list as an ideal boat but I want to keep my options open and not get something that I think will be a good crossover hull only to realize that it sucks for skiing.

[Texas6]

A 205 was my first boat. It gets the job done in slalom and with some weight throws a decent wakeboard wake. The wake for slalom isn't awesome, but it's manageable. I can say without hesitation that it is a smaller slalom wake than a mid-nineties sunsetter,,but noticeable chine spray and a bit hard

[D3dude]

I think I sent you a message

 

 

[mlange]

Malibu put two different hulls under the Sunsetter model. Up until 2001 it was the SV23 Wake hull. In 2002 they went to a SV23 Diamond hull. They dropped the "straight" Sunsetter after that.

 

So if what you're looking for is skiing first, wakeboarding second and you happen on a 2002 Sunsetter don't pass on considering it.

 

Mike

[gregy]

Some should jump on this one. 92 MC 205 with corvette motor

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/boa/5020876840.html

 

 

[foxriverat]

That sportster should have a great wake if the price is right. Same hull as response. Just Malibus budget boat. Cheaper interior, dash and what not.

[rodltg2]

Ski Brendella Spectrum can be had cheap if you can find one.

[escmanaze]

Make sure you don't confuse the TSC SNOB with a SNOB prior to TSC. It sounds like you rode a SNOB or sport that was prior to TSC and it is definitely a different world. For the SNOB, the TSC hull started in 97 and for the sport, it started in 98. The waterski wake will be significantly better for boats with the TSC hull.

 

Also, It is worth mentioning that my SNOB is only a couple hundred pounds from a very reasonable wakeboard wake. I have a 350 pound fat sac and I set that in the back and offset it to the passenger side a bit, and then even just with my wife driving, it is plenty big for anybody to have a good time who hasn't advanced beyond the perfection of wake to wake 360's. (That's about 99% of all boarders I have ever seen in my life.) Also, it is pretty simple to get the front to back loading correct so that you can have a correct shaped wake at a variety of speeds. With my 350 pound bag, I can get up to about 24 mph and still have it shaped well. Past that, I'll need to get more weight, but my wakeboarding isn't advanced past 24 mph anyway, so I'm not worried about it. Next time I fill up the sac and ride, I will try to get some pics so you can see what it looks like.

[escmanaze]

Here is a response LX in your neighborhood. It doesn't look perfectly maintained, but maybe that's ok at the right discount level. Ask a malibu expert, but I'm of the understanding that you can retrofit a wedge on to these. Put perfect pass on there for yourself as soon as possible, and then when you have more money, put a wedge on, and then when you have more money you can replace the pole with a tower.

 

http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Comp_Boat&postid=28792

[Waternut]

Yeah we ski behind a 99 or 00 SN closed bow and it's great for skiing. I never would've thought it could produce a decent wakeboard wake though. Would still need to be OB for me but good to know.

 

I've also had my eye on that Response since last year but I feel like that guy is asking a lot for that boat especially considering the vinyl is cracking and there is no front seat.

[escmanaze]

I was the same way when I was shopping. There was a guy locally with a response LX that I sat and watched forever. In the end it just had a few too many things wrong with it, so I ended up offering him much less than he wanted for it. I'm glad he didn't take it in the end as I would have saved a few dollars, but I think I would have gotten a boat that just hadn't been cared for well enough.

 

Hopefully I can make it out this Saturday and get enough good water to want to take the time to fill the bag and put up the pole.

[ALPJr]

That 92 PS 205 is a very nice boat for the money. I thought the LT1 was not an option until '93. Great motor. There's one in our every day skier. A '97 PS 190.

[TallSkinnyGuy]

@gregy -- That 205 ad is fishy. MC didn't use the LT1 engine until '93 (maybe the guy just doesn't know that actual year of his boat -- but if he is the original owner as stated you would think that he would). Also, he posted 90 hours in the form and then stated "under 200 hours" in the ad. Yes, I realize that 90 is less than 200, but you would think he would state the same hours in the ad as in the form. But then, an early '90s boat with under 200 hours is suspect regardless.

[ALPJr]

True @TallSkinnyGuy. Maybe to good to be true.

[thor_64]

If you haven't settled on something I will throw in my to cents. The first boat we owned was a 01 Sportster LX and then traded to a Sunsetter LXi (w/ Diamond hull). I have also been pulled by a Mastercraft 205 quite a bit, '06 SN 196, and had a little wakeboard time behind a ~96 Sport Nautique (I think this would be the same hull as that vintage SNOB, but I am not sure.) I am primarily slalom, some wakeboarding.

 

The Sportster was great for slalom, but will get pulled around some. I think some have 2 fins and some have 3 fins for tracking. It was pretty decent for wakeboard because with a smaller hull it will sink down nicely w/ a little weight. The downside is that having such low freeboard it will take on water pretty easy. If you are on public water you would definitely want to consider this. Nostalgia wise, I loved this boat and might look for one when the kids are old enough to not fall over the side.

 

The Sunsetter LXi is much better for slalom than the 205 or Nautique. Best big boat for slalom I have ever been behind. I knew this when I bought it as a friend had it before I did. You probably could get use to the wakes on the 205 or Sport Nautique but I found that coming from the Sunsetter LXi or '196 as the normal slalom pulls I found scaring myself on the 205 because it was enough larger/different and ended up only wakeboarding behind it.

 

[Waternut]

Well I settled on a 2000 Malibu Response LX with the Monsoon engine and pick it up next week. Needs a little cleaning up but in good shape otherwise. Really stoked to get it!

 

I feel like the bow seating will be a bit of a pain to get into and out of though.

[gregy]

I have 99 response. I kinda like the bow seating. Kids like it too. It leaves a lot more storage than a walk through.

[escmanaze]

Congrats, that will be a great boat for you. I'm in much the same shoes as you, and if I would have found the right RLX at the right price, I certainly would have purchased it as well.

 

And yes, you are right, the step over open bow is indeed a bit of a pain to get into, but as Gregy mentions, there are advantages to it as well. It's all a game of give and take and overall, I think you'll really like what you got.