Ski Nautique 2019

[BlueSki]

My wife is awesome driver, no backup assistance needed for her.

[JackQ]

How an inboard backs up is determined by the rotation of the shaft/prop. Nautique’s rotate in an opposite direction from Master Craft, Malibu.

 

I hope that some of you are not suggesting that a ski boat have a bow thruster or other “assist” for docking. This would add cost, design complication/compromises and maintenance.

 

Not to insult anyone, but I allways suggest that folks having challenges spend an afternoon learning how their boat backs up, how to compensate and practice backing up to a buoy then a dock to perfect their seamanship.

[dvskier]

+1 on practice, it's the only way to be familiar with your inboard.

[Wish]

Well, the boat for me wasnt a wow but rather a needs to grow on me when we saw it at Travers. Was the same with the MC at first which now I like..a lot. Someone at Travers saw it and said..quote...looks like SeaDeck threw up in it. Will admit found it to be a lot. But now watching the Masters web cast and seeing the SeaDeck up against some beige, taup and brown vinyl it looks great!!! I think the less white both hull and vinyl will make the SeaDek not so extreme.

[ScottScott]

One thing that struck me watching masters when showing the boat camera as trickers switched skies, noticed with all of the seadek on the transom, over the full curve of the top, the way the rope feeds out across it. I see that area of seadek wearing out pretty quick. Most boats may have seadek on the top, but the corners at least where the rope will rub the most are fiberglass.

[pgmoore]

Well this is a cool update! Looking forward to getting behind this boat at my home site!

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjfXJU8BcCK/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=8dtmkholdeqe

[Steve_CT]

Ugliest ski boat I have ever seen! 200 looks sooooo much better! I hope the skiability of the boat far exceeds its looks!

[Roger]

Got the chance to drive Becky Lathrope's new 2019 at the Palm Bay record this weekend. I had no issues with the new screen or controls. While Becky chose to set the rope lengths manually during her drive in the morning, I tried it both ways and I prefer the auto increment setting. Still have to pay attention in case of opt ups, etc. As far as driving, I thought the boat was equal to and even slightly better than the 200. Skier feedback varied with some noticing no difference, some saying the wake was better and some not liking it as much. The most common complaint was 28 off at 32 and 34 mph (14.25 at 52 and 55kph). I have not yet skied behind it, so can not offer an opinion one way or the other.

Performances seemed to be about the same between the two boats for a given skier.

The boat (a 6.2 is standard for promo boats this year) has stupendous power! Modulating the throttle pulling up skiers is a good idea... Gordon West was Chief Driver and changed out the 4 blade for a 3 blade for jump and said the boat was awesome for jump. We didn't use the boat for tricks this weekend, but it has an incredible amount of flexibility for the trickers. Instead of just an on/off lever for trick mode, it has 10 possible positions that can be chosen. On top of that, there is water ballast available in 25% increments. From what we could figure out in terms of water weight, 100% might be more suitable for Wake Board than tricking.

The new screen is large and informative, even shows the wait time counting down during line shortening. The view out the front for the driver is as good as anything out there. When you get yourself centered up in the course (helps to get input from whoever is monitoring the end course camera), you feel as though you're riding closer to the center of the course than in the 200. It's a different visual and I liked it.

Now to get some ski time behind it.

[eleeski]

OK, one tournament run (unfortunately not full passes) with a weak sore knee is nowhere near enough for a reasonable evaluation. But I did get to ski behind one. It's different.

 

The table wasn't very good. The hydrogate options might improve it. At 10 or full trick mode, I bounced a lot. I changed it to 8 for my toe pass. Still rough but maybe better. I didn't get through my toe pass - but I didn't behind the MC in the next round either. A skier problem, not the boat. Still, the new boats are a long way from the quality of the old American Skier table.

 

The wake was interesting. Very round but nice and steep. I think I used 25% ballast. More might be better - especially for flips and big tricks. It was quite nice both in to out and out to in. It will take some getting used to but the wake is an improvement.

 

Of course, this is all from about 30 seconds of exposure. It is different. There are lots of settings that do change things. Including the normal speed and rope length tuning. Trickers will need to get time behind the boat to figure things out - and it's quite different.

 

There aren't any boats available to ski behind out west. Go over 100 hours and the promo people are in penalty time. Hopefully Nautique will make boats available and give the promo people credit for the hours trickers will need to adapt to the boat.

 

Nice boat. But it's not the American Skier.

 

Eric

[dbutcher]

@Roger Finally, an unbiased, meaningful post on the new Ski Nautique - and from a Prostar owner. Thank you.

[skierjp]

@eleeski , incorrect on the 100 hours. That is for personal hours not tournament hours.

[skierjp]

@ eleeski, I think there are 3 or 4 new boats out west right now and 2 are in California. Greg Badal has one.

[Not_The_Pug]

@skierjp yes, Eric was mistaken about the total hours. We only have one 2019 Nautique on the West Coast currently and that is Greg's boat. We had it at our Bell Acqua tournament this weekend. I tricked behind it for the first time and really liked the wake, but I'm not as picky as @eleeski I'm currently waiting for mine to show up so we can play with all the trick settings. Hopefully in the next week.

[skierjp]

I wasn't really sure. I coordinate the South and East Promo Boats and Greg does the West. It's hard to keep up with sometimes

[eleeski]

@skierjp There are several trickers who are planning to go to Chile where we will get a new Nautique. So the trick friendly promo guy @Krlee will run up the personal hours on his boat getting us acclimated to the new boat. No other options for CA trickers. Not sure that's fair to Kevin.

 

I know at least one tournament that Kevin is scheduled for but not authorized by Nautique's schedule. Personal hours there. Not fair. To Kevin or the trickers.

 

Of course, Kevin doesn't have his boat yet.

 

The boat matters critically to trickers. We do need time to adapt to the boat. Especially for a high stakes tournament like Chile.

 

Eric

[aussiemc]

@eleeski I would also start looking into what settings you are going to be allowed to use at Chile. All the settings (Hydrogate and Ballast) in the boat don't comply with current IWWF Rules. There was conditions put on what could be used at LCQ & Masters. Trying all the settings is a great idea, but if you find something that works and then can't use it, that could be a lot of wasted time.

[LeonL]

There are so many things going on related to the new Ski Nautique. None of them will apply to me, most likely, but curiosity overwhelms me. Questions. 1. @eleeski said that @Krlee is scheduled for a tournament but it's "not authorized" by Nautique? 2. @skierjp said personal hours and tournament hours are considered differently toward a promo's alloted hours. How do you track that accurately? (I know you've an hour meter, but.). 3. @aussiemc mentions IWWF rules related to Hydrogate and settings. Haven't the new boats been running in conflict with AWSA rules that says the Hydrogate must be all the way either one direction or the other? What a mess! I'm a Nautique guy, but this whole scenario is just too weird. Due to Correct Craft's status it would appear that sanctioning bodies are looking the other way with regard to some rules. Thus, I wouldn't concern myself with the IWWF rule for trick if I were you guys.

[skierjp]

The new boat is awesome

[skierjp]

@eleeski not sure what you are saying when you say he is scheduled for a tournament but not Authorized by Nautique? He can only pull tournaments scheduled by Greg Badal and that will not go against his personal hours.

[skiinxs]

I concur!

 

[lukewright]

Skied behind the new nautique (8 hours on it) at a grassroots here in Texas this past weekend. Still out at 15' off in tournaments and from 30-34mph the wakes were stellar. Looked like the spray was reduced a fair bit closer up to the boat as well. PB'd behind it so they did something right. Interior of the boat looks amazing as well.

[eleeski]

There's a list of tournaments he has to pull. Those hours don't count. A class C midweek tricks only tournament is not on that list. But it's a fun tournament and the skiers are begging for his boat to be there again this year. Awesome exposure to a group that does buy a boat for the wake. Personal hours?

 

Kevin is a skilled tricker and very supportive of tricks. He's also a good friend to many trickers. His friendship and support of tricks will get abused by the trick community desperate to figure out the new boat. I wouldn't be surprised if he blows through his personal hours exposing his boat to the trick community. Perhaps he should get some extra hours for this effort.

 

@Krlee Sorry if I'm putting you in the spotlight. But the Nautique is an important boat for tricks. The new boat is very different and will take time for trickers to figure out. You might be our only hope in CA. I hope Nautique understands that.

 

And I hope he actually gets his boat. It's pretty late in the season to have no boat. One boat in California that is unavailable for practice is not right.

 

Eric

[BuoyChaser]

Come see the new 2019 Ski Nautique arriving in New Hampshire to host Nautique Swerving Weekend this Saturday, June 16th & Sunday, June 17th with Zack Worden #skinautique http://www.nautique.com/events/swervin-weekends

[skierjp]

@eleeski , Eric, get with Greg and explain the situation with Chile and see if he will approve it. I hope everything works out.

FYI try Hrdro Gate on 10 and 25% ballast.

If you have questions on Trick settings Matt Rini is the expert!

[Texas6]

I bought Badal’s last MC about two years ago; best boat I’ve ever owned. Off topic? Point is he takes good care of them, sets them up right, and punts with low hours

[JackQ]

Perspective from long time Correct Craft owner:

 

I skied at Lake38 for two of my four rounds. I typically don't even know what boat I am behind once I start skiing, MC, CC200, Malibu or my CC196, makes no difference.

 

The 2019 is different not sure better or worse but different. The 1st thing I noticed was the trough next to the wake (where I stay to be in the same place every time) before the gate, does not exist behind the boat and this was somewhat disconcerting. It is just froth and turbulence.

 

The wakes felt wider apart at 28,32,25,38 but not less pronounced than behind a 200. I need more time to say I like it more or less than a 200, but certainly not as good as the MC from my limited exposure.

[Jody_Seal]

And the Saga Continues!!

Have now spent some tournament seat time in the new Ski Nautique. Same boat, Ski Chaste and Lymanland.

 

The Trick ballast tank is pretty slick. At Lymanland we pretty much ran 25% for most skiers until Steve-O came to bat! 100% on the ballast and the IWSF allotted weight, he ripped off 6 flips in his first pass and was well on his way to a PB until his second pass Ski line O sent him to the showers. He liked the wakes as he has two hand passes. Heard others comment the the table was kinda rough but wake was great.

 

For jump we ran power factor 4 and most wanted the gate in slalom mode. Really did not have any heavy hitters in jump. Seemed to have enough power for the jumpers at Lymans.

 

Slalom feed back was mostly good however heard a few skiers claimed the boat felt soft and they went up on the ZO settings. Also some commented the 22-28 off at 32/34 bump was noticeable and really no different then the 200.

 

As driver the tweaker in slalom is a little to much to have to keep up with. Found myself pulling some kid who was on longer line with 39 off settings?!??

The boat is larger then it's predecessor and does require a bit more driver input at the wheel.

All in all the time I have had with the new hull has been positive and no real issues have arisen..

Pickos this weekend then the junior open the next .

[Not_The_Pug]

@skierjp and @eleeski I'm working with Greg to make sure the boat is at the tournaments it needs to be at so everyone can try it out. I have offered some of the skiers that I know are going to Chile some practice time so they can perform their at their best while traveling (to figure out settings). I try to support as many multi event tournaments as I can.

I think the trick wake was good. I went 10 on the hydro gate and 25% on the ballast for my hand pass and 0% for toes. I got the best score I have had in a long time first time behind the 2019 in tricks.

[Ilivetoski]

Was able to ski the boat Friday, Saturday, and today...

 

The boat skis just fine. IMO no better or worse than a 200. Wake was pretty much the same. The pull felt the same as the 2010 200 I ski behind weekly. The drivers said that the boat would rock side to side when I got to 32, and I don’t pull hard so that was interesting. From what I heard it tracked good. Still not a fan of how the boat looks but I’m happy to ski behind one. I use B3 on all the boats I’ve skied behind this year which is our 2012 carbon pro, a 2010 200 and a 1998 196 w Zbox, I used B3 on the Nautique and didn’t think I needed to change anything

[kc]

I just posted my first impressions of the new boat on the other thread about it not working great for slalom.

[Ilivetoski]

@scotchipman the boat is high off the water, and the pylon is pretty tall...

[LeonL]

It think the pylon is the same height in relation to the gunwales, just that the boat rides higher in the water. This increases the leverage at shorter lines. Also allows the boat to float a bit more than a 200.