Sport 200 V Opinions

[Justin]

I am really leaning toward the Sport 200 V drive and just wanted to ask the community and current / previous owners on their thoughts.

We slalom course ski first , surfing and wakeboard is secondary. Most of all need the room with 3 kids and wife.

Would the slalom wake be similar to older early 90's DD boats etc? 22-32 off?

Is the wave really surf able? Tried a ''suck'' gate and which one?

Any pictures or videos would be appreciated !

 

Hoping to try one soon as well...

[jayski]

A good friend of mine owns one, it's feasible for slalom and great for everything else. He's looking to sell it too. only 150hrs on it and a 2012 or 14, can't remember exactly

[Justin]

Thanks @jayski

I actually meant to post this on Planet Nautique but thought I would try here as well for more honest and ''brutal'' opinions lol.

Hope to get my first panda maybe...

[6balls]

The other to check out would be a Malibu VTX with the diamond hull...tho maybe not as good in the course for you...but likely better surf boat.

I toyed with these ideas for a while and those were the two boats on my radar screen.

[Wayne]

If you do all of your waterskiing above 32 MPH and keep the crew size/weight small both the Nautque Sport 200 V and the first generation Malibu VTX on the Diamond hull (or Sunscape 20 LSV) have respectable ski wakes. They are not quite the quality of a tournament qualified direct drive but above 32 MPH they can be quite serviceable in the course.

 

If you drop below 32 MPH like many people do when learning the slalom course, the “v-drive” configuration becomes apparent and the wakes get very big in comparison to a direct drive. Below 32 MPH these boats still have an ok open water wake for more casual skiing.

 

If you slalom ski at 32+ MPH it’s my opinion that you get a lot of additional capability for the compromise. The other catch is keep the weight in the boat down when slalom skiing. Thinking you can have 8 people in the boat since the pylon is behind the seating area and get reasonable wakes is not the case.

 

For surfing I would look into one of the suction cup type devices and you should use all of the factory ballast. Also look at bigger skim or hybrid type boards as the are a little more forgiving on smaller waves.

 

I looked at trading in my Response LXI on a Sport 200V or a Malibu VTX when the Nautique came out. We spend a lot of time doing in water comparisons with some very understanding sales people. In the end I kept my direct drive as slalom was WAY more important and the extra cost of jumping into a new boat didn’t make sense. We do occasionally surf on the Response here lately when we have non-skiing friends over. I did go with a tower (originally for barefooting), have the Malibu Wedge and added a suction cup type device. With the weight of a few extra people it’s enough to be entertaining and the learning curve is not as steep as skiing.

[sodbuster88]

200v and 200dd wakes at 34mph (both 2011 model years).

 

[jjackkrash]

Skiing aside, I still think v-drives (including the 200V and VTX) drive and handle like pigs compared to a good direct drive boat. Its just not the same when you move all that weight out of midship and park it over the stern.

[sodbuster88]

I bought one for the exact same reasons you are asking about. It worked fine, but my biggest complaint was for a family who slalomed first, I found the removable pylon a pain and there’s not a good place to store skis in the boat. Also, you can see the obvious differences in the slalom wakes in above pictures. It wake boards good but we did not use it for any knuckle dragging.

[BraceMaker]

@sodbuster88 in theory people like sun decks and lounge space. Ive always stored my back bench indoors and consider it a horrid waste of space. I dont want guests clambering over my interior and have personally biffed it overboard due to wakes climbing to the platform.

 

Obly real solution is for engine techs to eliminate the bulge in the rear and reduce the dog house.

[oldjeep]

Fwiw, actually skiing. 04 lxi and 2012 vtx 32@15off same wake. The vtx looks worse, but the froth isnt something you feel. I'd take either one over a MC 197 wtt

[HPskier1]

I just went from a sunsetter lxi to a 15 vtx with only 50hrs. I’ll say this it’s not as good as my lxi but I dialed it in and ski it through the course very doable and sufficient tracking. Above 30mph is best, 36 mph and it’s a good wake. Start the day with 1/4 tank of gas and the center pylon and you’ll have a pretty decent wake that’s easy to cut through (less equipment in the boat the better)back to the marina to fill up with gas and people... surf for the day end with 3/8 tank of gas for a late day set and then start it all over the next day. I’ve never burned so much gas during a summer. I’m betting it’s the same for a 200v or similar.

[slow]

My buddy owns a Nautique sport V. It’’s mediocre at everything according to him. He always wants to ski behind our ski Nautique and his kids wakeboard or surf behind another neighbors. He uses it a bit for tubing and lake cruises though. Says he could have bought a Colbalt to do that and had a better ride. We live on a pretty good sized lake.

[Justin]

@sodbuster88 Thanks the pic! That is helpful, I am not expecting it to be DD200 but hoping it compares to the pre TSC boats. That pic looks as good as my 95'.

[LoopSki]

Trust me it's not comparable to early dd nautiques. Wake is wide , rough and hard. Its not a slalom first boat. Also handles funny imho.

[LoopSki]

Get a new prostar with tower , add a ballast bag and suck gate . good to go

[BlueSki]

We ski tournaments with someone that has one that may be for sale. If you PM me I may be able to put you in contact with them.

[Fatroll]

Not a fan of the sport 200 for slalom at all especially if that is your first choice event. Wake became manageable at 28 and shorter. Slalom boats can be modified to board sports easier that V-drives to slalom. My SN 206 slaloms well and sacks up for wakeboard nicely.

[BrennanKMN]

@jjackkrash I agree.

 

I drove a 200V and then a 200 back to back at the factory. I didn't ski either. The 200V felt like a barge compared to the 200. It also looked like a barge compared to the 200 on the water, at least 8 inches more free board.

[The_MS]

Resale resale resale

[oldjeep]

@MS - you can't hardly find a 200V or pre-2016 VTX for sale. Resale on crossovers is pretty easy. My 2012 VTX would easily sell for as much or more than I paid for it 4 years ago.

[The_MS]

That Minnesota boat sat for a bit and went cheap

[Ilivetoski]

If it’s a V drive it’s not going to be a very good slalom boat, there’s no way around that. Read the handful of comments from people on this thread about the sport 200. I’ve been offered to ski a MC crossover, passed after looking at the wake. You are much better off with a TXI with a wedge and tower or a prostar with a tower than one of these

[Jmoski]

As a 30mph/15 off skier i’d rather ski behind any vintage DD ski boat as the 200v wake is disruptive to me in comparison to my 196.

 

On a side note - posting here was the right call. I don’t know how many slalom skiers/Nautique owners frequent PlanetNautique anymore, mostly surf/wakeboard boat and activity related posts on there these days.

 

See if you can get at test ski behind one at you preferred line length and speed.

[Justin]

I appreciate the comments! First off we need the room, and I've owned many DD Nautiques, 196, 206, 216 and all ski great but have no room inside. The wife is over climbing over skis and coolers around the motor..

As far as handling, we run on a public lake so not an issue, bigger freeboard is better.

Not expecting tournament wakes, but hoping it's manageable.

The few i've found for sale are gone very quickly at high prices.

We will be trying one next week and I will report back.

[Hallpass]

I've not skied the Sport 200V in a course. I have surfed behind it, stock ballast, and I'm about 240lbs, so I would guess that most folks could surf it. The ski pylon on the 200 is not behind the seats. It's a removable pylon that sits approximately the same spot it would sit in the direct drive version. Thus, I'm not sure you gain any space when skiing. Perhaps the rear storage is more space than the saddlebags on a standard 200. Not sure. FWIW.

 

[Chef23]

To address the space inside regarding skis put a tower with ski racks on whatever you get that will help address that issue. I am not sure what your budget is but a 2014 or newer Prostar has a lot of room in it compared to any older DD. I haven't seen the new TXI but I think the 2018 is 95" wide same as the Prostar which results in a ton more room.

[Justin]

I understand the pylon configuration

Its when we aren't skiing, i can remove it, put skis in lockers or racks and have more room.

 

[oldjeep]

@Justin Make sure you try out a diamond hull VTX as well. They are a little more plentiful and at the time I was purchasing my 2012 VTX I had several people tell me that they skied better than a 200V. Vtx will have only a pylon right behind the back seat until 2015? when they added an optional center pylon. The nice thing about the v-drive pylon is that it doesn't make half your seating useless.

 

There is no comparing the room/storage in a crossover v-drive to any dd built.

[sodbuster88]

@Justin you may be disappointed in the room of 200v. Look at it closely. I thought it was cramped in the seating area and the swivel board racks were great for denting your scalp in that small space if you had to swivel them in for some reason. We fit ok as a family of five, but there was little more room for others and their gear. We kept the boat for three years and went to the new ProStar. Have not looked back. Not trying to discourage you...I thought enough positively about the boat to buy it. But as a slalom first boat, hard to beat an open bow DD. Before that boat, I had a sport 216 with the TSC hull. It was actually a lighter boat with a narrower beam....did all things just as good as the 200v, but skied better.

[oldjeep]

A prostar is a better family boat than a v drive? How many flavors does that koolaid come in?

[sodbuster88]

@oldjeep ... it is for our family :)

[Chef23]

@oldjeep if your families priority is slalom a vdrive isn’t the best option. We all know you love the vdrives but there are some good options for family boats that are first rate slalom machines. There aren’t as many seating options but with a tower there is a lot of flexibility in the Prostar and there is no comparison on the slalom wake.

[6balls]

OK slight hijack but only cuz I think it's getting at the intent of the original post.

 

What is the best surfing open-bow family capable direct drive (that unweighted has a great slalom wake) without adding a ton of aftermarket sacks (some stock ballast, a wedge, a stick on wake shaper is ok as an add-on)?

[Ilivetoski]

We JUST got finished having this argument but with outboards... please don’t bring this back with V drives

[SSG223]

@Justin... We currently have a 2014 VTX, and you get exactly what you are buying, which is a compromise boat. It skis "ok" (32 mph and 28' off - with many thanks to others on this forum for the guidance!) and it surfs "ok", but doesn't do either all that well. We had a neighbor with the Nautique V200, and I'm convinced that the VTX surfs WAY better than the Nautique. He was more of a pure skier, and regretted selling his old Nautique, but like many of us, all the kids just want to surf.

 

Our lake gets tore up pretty bad, and the issue with the VTX is that the surf is relatively small vs the true surf boats, but even worse, the VTX "bobs" in the waves like a cork (vs plowing through like the big boats), so it isn't as practical for surfing when the water is rough. Sure, you get wet when it's hot, but you need calmer waters (not like skiing) for it to surf well. I suspect the 200V will be similar, but depending on your lake, that may not be an issue.

 

Regarding the VTX, note that with the wedge, it does seem to really go through the fuel. I've heard the Malibu's are far less fuel efficient vs the other brands, although I don't have the experience to confirm or deny that.

 

We are fortunate to live on our lake, and are actually going to two boats. Picking up a 2008 Nautique 196 this week, then stepping up to a bigger surf boat next year.

 

Hope that helps.

 

[PurdueSkier]

@justin I skied behind a 200V on our public course last summer. A friend had one for his family and was struggling in the course. Wanted me to try it. I only skied 34mph but expect slower speeds to be worse. At 15 and 22 off it was nearly unskiable in the course. Wake was big and rampy. Caused huge air during edge change. I struggled and couldn't imagine putting my wife or kids behind it if the goal was to ski a course or even aggressively edge thru the wakes. At 28 off it wasn't too bad. At 32 and 35 off I honestly couldn't tell the difference between it and a direct drive. Strangest part was sitting in the water behind it. It is huge. More difficult to maneuver at slow speeds as well just because it is a much bigger boat. If slalom was last on the priority list this might be a good option. If it is first I would say it is not a good option.

[HighAltitude]

If you think a 216 has a great wake, I think you might be very happy with a 200V. This forum is so heavily slanted towards direct drives I'm not sure you will hear any positives about the 200V. It's a great all around boat, but you have to accept it's limitations. Obviously, if you need really nice slow speed slalom wakes, you are not going to be happy. If you ski 34 mph, 28 off you will have a great slalom machine that you can surf on when you load up the friends.

[Tom351]

I course ski, wakeboard, and surf (after we are too tired from one of the first two) behind our 99 Sport Nautique.... a DD is the most versatile choice:

 

You can always add weight (within reason) to a direct drive to give it a similar weight distribution to a ballasted V-drive (for wake and surf)....you cannot alter a V-drive to have the lower weight and balanced distribution of a unweighted direct drive (for slalom). You just have to stomach the cramped interior of the DD and delaing with ballast bags, for me that is acceptable compromise to have a boat where the slalom course is at least a viable option. I do feel that "slalom capable" and "surf capable without a ton of sacks" are mutually exclusive- you either need to give up the slalom, or deal with sacks.

 

 

 

[Justin]

Thanks again guys! I expected the responses I got. Another DD isn't going to work for the family, and I know we will be compromising on all fronts.

With all due respect I read a lot of posts on here regarding complaints on current Direct Drive wakes, even the new Ski Nautique. So i'll take it with a grain of salt until I actually ski behind one. I am a 28 -32 off 34mph guy and my son is working his way through 30 mph.

I grew up with a 75' Nautique and then the family upgraded to a brand new one in 92', learned to ski the course behind the 75', that was a hard wake! I still ski behind that 92' and I score the same as behind our local clubs new 200 sooo....

I'll report back with an honest review.

[Chef23]

@Justin at 30 mph and 15 off the wake on a Vdrive is going to be rough for your son. If he can figure out how to run the course well behind that he will build good fundamentals but he could also wind up taking some hard falls and be gun shy which would impede his progress.

 

I had a conversation with Marcus Brown about what we learned to ski behind and he made a compelling case for a better wake speeding development of good fundamentals.

 

The vdrive will be more versatile and have more space for your stuff which for the family will be great. If you aren’t focused on course skiing or have access to another boat in the course (maybe trade course sets for surfing sessions) one of the boats you are talking about would obviously work. Happy wife is very important.

 

I am spoiled because we live right on the water and we don’t have to lug all our stuff in the boat. I would definitely look for a tower with racks to get skis and wakeboards off the floor.

 

 

[LoopSki]

After your dis appointed with the sport v. Take a serious look at a new prostar. With wakeboard racks on the tower. ski racks in the boat + the ski locker, all your gear will be out of the way. Remove one rear seat and got you a place for a cooler. It can fit 7 comfortably and handles public water really well.

[swc5150]

Adding to what @LoopSki said, my wife was originally interested a 200V until testing one. The interior is very cramped, and climbing over the rear hatch proved to be a bigger pita than walking around the dog house.

[LoopSki]

Back in 2014 I had high hopes for the sport 200 as well. I was debating between the 200 or the 200 V. Even the owner of the dealership said I would be unhappy with it as a slalom boat . I loved the whole layout of it , the look of it and the fact that I thought I could course ski / family use on public lake. After demoing it my interest level went from 10 to 0. Ended up not buying either one and switch focus on buying a home on the lake. Ended up with the Prostar 2017

[Justin]

@LoopSki We have been in the new Prostar a few times, ski's great!

Thats about it.

Not much of an upgrade for room or multi sport abilities than my 95'.

[B_S]

@Justin any reason you're looking at the Sport 200V instead of the GS20?

[Justin]

@B_S From everything I've seen and heard the slalom wake on the GS is terrible, much worse than the 200V.

But it has a much better surf and wake board wake.

[swc5150]

Here's a GS20 -15/34mph wake shot from PN. This is why the OP is not considering one I'm guessing?

 

[Bdecker]

@Justin - we had a sport 200 onsite for the past several years. 34 mph, -28 and in with a good driver it was ok. The people that complained most about it started slower and longer than 32/ -28. The owner could run -38 behind it, but eventually sold it for a 200 DD. We no longer have to race to the site to ensure we ski on one of the direct drives.

 

For what it is worth, both Sport 200’s I know of locally were sold because the owners found the compromise too great.