Help picking a first (and low cost) ski boat

[jerrychabot]

Lurker 1st poster. Been on "one ski" for years just just this year got into proper slalom turns. At the point where I think I could get through the course. Never skied a course. I've been behind a sea doo wake with a pylon as my boat is a big old bow rider. Seadoo does a good job for my level, honestly, but it's getting a lot cooler here in NH and my driver aka my wife is grumbling. I'm getting a wetsuit and want to keep skiing! I could also join the club here on Winnipesaukee and ski their course next year. I do have the money, I just don't want to spend much on this right now as 2nd kid headed to college next year. I've done a lot of research on the older boats from the 80s and so understand the wood stringer and floor issues. I'm good with motors and I'm pretty fussy about my stuff and if it's ratty looking I'm bound to spend the money to fix it, which can increase my total investment. I've found a few boats:

1. 89 MC prostar with "original" interior, but it's not ripped up. All glass!. 6k (seems cheap!)

2. 89 Centurion tru trac ii. New floor, owner said stringers were good, new interior, shiny gelcoat, trailer fresh painted, garage kept. Nice boat, looks great. Tru Trac ii hull sounds great. 6.5k (market price but boat looks GREAT)

3. 94 Echelon in "original" condition but looks fine. Would clean up with work. Has HEATER and HW shower. 9k (decent price)

4. 03 Malibu Sportster LX with perfect pass. Boat looks NEW. A bow rider which could open the door to just selling my '02 Ebbtide in the spring if we find it is OK on the water. But will it be colder for my wife in the fall and spring than closed bow? 12k (feels wicked cheap but still 2x the Centurion)

 

Leaning to the Echelon (heater, glass) or the Centurion (fiscal decision, wife likes the cost). Man the '03 though. But open bow feels cold. Appreciate any advice to get me off center here! Mech Eng so I do like to tinker on old stuff ... and I am a yankee so I am cheap, but value is value and at 49yo I want a boat I will be happy skiing behind (and my wife will want). Thanks!

[cruznski]

You have done a remarkable job finding boats, they are selling at high premiums now out here in CA. Can you test drive them?

 

[BlueSki]

Some open bows have a wind blocker available. No idea if one can be added for that one. You could add a heater pretty easily.

 

The Perfect Pass could be a marriage saver. If your wife is driving you, make her life easy and only get a boat with speed control. Especially if you start skiing the course with the local club. Happy wife, happy life.

[Killer]

Sportster for sure. It's a step over so you won't get much wind.

 

You can also put a snap on bow cover.

 

They are low slung so you need to be careful not to dip the nose!

[skihacker]

Sportster is a really nice LITTLE boat, one thought is it will suck in rough water, how big is your lake?

[DavidN]

The Sportster is a tiny boat with a very low freeboard. Consider that before buying.

The open bow shouldn’t be a concern when it comes to getting cold in the cabin, as it is not a walk through setup. So no wind blocker needed.

However - IMHO the crawl over OB was always a pretty useless feature, like a bathtub up front. Takes away from the anyway sparse storage in that boat (no trunk) and is not really suited for having people up front.

Echelon is a bit more boat with a decent slalom wake.

Would be my #1 off your list.

[MISkier]

The Malibu is double the price of the Centurion likely because it's 14 years newer. Try to drive and ski them all. It's much harder to add wake and driveability improvements than other work you may do on the boat.

 

+1 on putting a priority on speed control. I've added heater, hot water shower, and heated seat to my boat. It's quite easy to do and should not be the main attraction for the purchase.

 

The Sportster LX is a step-over open bow, if I recall. That is very similar to my Response LX. There is no issue with cold with the step over, as it is essentially closed when you close the windshield. Very warm. Add a heater and it's very, very comfortable.

 

A word of caution on bowrider inboards: it's very easy to dunk the nose on those boats, especially with people in the bow and/or rough water. You will need to drive and decelerate with that characteristic in mind.

 

[Killer]

I had a sportster on a big Lake. None of the other boats are materially bigger nor will handle materially better in rough water.

[UWSkier]

Go with the Echelon. Same hull as the Sportster. Sportster open bow on Winne is asking for a swamping.

[jerrychabot]

Great stuff! Looked closer and the LX and it's got a busted windshield panel which seems like an impossible to source repair. I added a ski controller to my sea doo mid summer and... Yah... Wow that was a huge difference. Set the launch set the speed and she just drives. She loves it until it's cold.... Which it is. Went out tonight water was 67 air was maybe 70 and that was actually a little cold!

 

The Centurion is so mint. Cosmetics I guess though. But at 6500 leaves room to add a perfect pass? But then I'm investing in a 6500 boat.

 

The Echelon does look nice and I found another one, fair bit nicer condition but 5 hours away. Still 9500. Still no speed control. But that feels like a keeper boat so add the PP?

[jerrychabot]

Also yah after looking at more LX online, that's never going to be more than a ski boat for us. None of these are, so I need to just put that to bed and assume there is no cost offset out there.

[Rpc29]

Is something like this too much? I'm biased because I own basically the same boat but this would be an awesome pickup.

 

https://www.onlyinboards.com/1995-Mastercraft-Prostar-190-for-sale-North-Hampton-New-Hampshire-115134.aspx

 

 

[Fast351]

FWIW, I've noticed used boat prices dropping like a rock now that summer is over (here in Minnesota). If you can hold out a bit longer the fun coupons you spend now will probably go a lot further in 4 weeks. Can't comment on the boats listed except the Malibu. Those ski pretty well...

[jerrychabot]

I saw that newer MC and I don't know why I'd jump up in price to get it? It doesn't have PP as I recall so it's just newer. I'm thinking I get 4-5 years out of this boat and then I'm into the used market of some really nice boats that are big money now (and my last kid graduates college)

[jerrychabot]

Prices started falling here this weekend. Several boats in my list went down in price today. Wetsuit comes Friday so I think I'll put a jacket on my wife and give it a week, see how that goes. But it goes cold here quick. We usually close up end of October andb open first weekend in May, water is usually 56 or so.

[hemlock]

If I were in your shoes, I would give this one a very hard look.

 

https://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Boat_3Event&postid=56513

 

 

[liquid d]

Remember , the cost to own a boat is not what you pay for it. It's what you pay for it , minus what you sell it for down the road. Depreciation is all you pay ....it sounds like the 12k is on the table, so i'd look a little newer and grab the sweetest ride you can find. The dif when it's all said and done and boat is sold down the road...will be minimal. It may be even less when you consider what might have to be done for maintenance and fixing.

[Dysco]

I've skied many hours behind a 94 and 96 echelon. If you are at 28 off or less, it is a very nice wake and nice driving boat. Heater is a nice option.

[MDB1056]

 

Going to lean against the grain here. I’d be leaning to the 89 MC Prostar. Great bulletproof boat, great skiing boat, great wake, all glass, you’ll love it ! Any 190 in that era. The 91-94’s are arguably one of the best hulls ever made. Way prefer vs the Malibu

[Clydesdale]

If just for skiing in Calmish water I’d take the sportster. Newer, all glass, skis great, and has PP. If you’re skiing the course PP (or zero off) is extremely helpful. Without it you’re relying on the driver and never really sure of your speed. Just .5mph can make a big diff. Upgrade to stargazer if it hasn’t already been done. HOWEVER, if you want to use the boat on lake winni in anything but perfect conditions I’d look for a direct drive crossover (is that what we call them?) with a decent wake. A malibu sun setter with the diamond hull has a pretty darn good wake. Also some years of sport nautique, and I’m sure MC has an equivalent. All skiable and also usable In less than perfect conditions on winni. If you go this route see if you can ski before you buy and try different line lengths.

[jerrychabot]

12k would be the absolute max I can tie up in a third boat, and I'd only do that if it was an amazing value. Turns out the 03 has a busted half windshield not mentioned in the add and that looks impossible to buy and could be 2k? Turn it's a 14k boat with PP.

 

I would ONLY use this boat for ski runs and I drop in 1/4mi from my dock and run up and back behind an island. It's a great spot.

 

I'm leaning towards the Echelon cause it is all glass and newer and something I could build on. The 88MC would need money put into it. The 89 Centurion is a sharp looking turnkey boat and I wouldn't put a nickel into it (all been done) aside from maintenance and it's cheap, so I could likely flip it in a couple years if we got more into skiing or one of my son's decided he liked it, and then I could upgrade at a fairly neutral cost as I never see a ski boat that floats sell for under 6k. Just has wooden stringers and I'm counting on the judgment of the owner who did the restoration that they were solid, I guess. The Echelon I could maybe invest in and add PP and hang onto it long term, though.

[Jetsetr]

@jerrychabot or for anyone else....

I have a source for ANY type of windshield/side window replacement with new. Pro Glass specializes in race car windows but can make anything...hooked up one of the ballers on here and to the best of my knowledge worked out well... company is based in northern IL.

[escmanaze]

@jerrychabot Great to hear you are interested in a ski boat. I love it. Here are a couple of my opinions in your shoes.

 

1. Don't even think about living without perfect pass once you are hanging out in the course with your wife driving you. It's fine to buy a boat without it...but then put it on.

2. The 91-94 prostar hull is well known for having really small wakes, even at longer lines and slower speeds. Once you start running the course, you will discover that this means A LOT to a course newbie like yourself. So don't view a MC 190 from those years as "just newer" than the 80's boats.

3. I have a stepover open bow (97 SNOB) and I quite like it. I don't have the cold issues as mentioned and there is still room up there for some more folks.

4. I ride on Utah Lake, which has to be just as nasty, at times, as your lake. After a little bit of figuring it out, I haven't taken water over the front for years and years now. It really isnt' the end of the world at all.

5. Be careful about getting greedy about prices falling in the fall. It's all good right up until that moment that the flow of boats being sold just stops and you still haven't bought anything.

[PatM]

@jerrychabot No matter what you decide. You should seek out the Abenaki Water Ski Club in Back Bay in Wolfeboro. A lot of knowledge there to lay down on you if you are interested in the course and ski boats in general. It is a great site (one of Jamie Beauchesne's NH favorites). There is a tournament there next Saturday (Sept. 12). Pick up a conversation with anyone of the skier's there and they would be more than happy to give you some info or better yet a connection you didn't have.

[Hallpass]

The Centurion is least costly, but it was less costly at the outset. There were plenty sold, and obviously, this boat is still going after 31 years, but the Centurions were not top of the line in that era. The Centurion also has/had wooden floors and stringers. You said something about floors being replaced and stringers are good. It's pretty unusual for the floors to rot with no damage in the stringers. Most people don't do the stringers right as it is a dirty, time consuming and costly repair.

 

All three of those other boats have composite stringers. For that reason alone, I would choose one of the other three. I personally like the Echelon because it is the roomiest of those three. Free advice take it FWIW.

 

[GSchmid]

I don't know if a '97 - '05 Nautique fits into your price range, it may, but you can't go wrong. You can buy a TSC or TSC2 hull for <$20k, use it for 5 years, then turn around and sell it for within $2000 of what you paid for it. In the meantime, it's one of the best slalom hulls ever made, and the reliability is so good you'll hardly have to spend money on it to keep it running. For me, these off brands can be harder to resell and build quality is not as good.

[Fast351]

@GSchmid agreed. Bought my 360 hour 01 SN for $16.5K. I could sell it for more than that today, and likely will not depreciate much below 10K in the next 10 years if I keep it in decent shape.

 

I have yet to ski behind something I like better (although admittedly I'm an open water hacker, not a 39 off pro).

 

[jerrychabot]

Thanks for all the input, helps steady my nerves. So the 94 Echelon is gone but I found another even nicer, same boat. So it's glass, not diamond hull, no locker, l no PP, low hours.

 

Then I'm forcing myself not to buy this cherry 89 Centurion for 6k. The low entry point on a restored boat in mint shape is so tempting and the tru trac hull gets good reviews. But I'm fighting the impulse.

 

The 03 Malibu is a Sportster LX with PP and busted windshield for 12k. I didn't realize it was a smaller hull and carb engine and maybe not a good a wake and the silly bow area. But it's a good value and it's local and I could be on the water next weekend.

 

I'm pulling the trigger on something this week.

[jerrychabot]

Oh another update! The guy with the 03 Sportster LX and busted glass just said 11.5k cash if I come tomorrow.

 

Quick, talk me out of the Sportster LX hull and carb engine!

 

 

[VermontSkier]

@jerrychabot I live in Vermont and have a 2002 Sportster with PP. I really love it. Great on gas, fast, and skis very nicely. Driving my buddies at 35 off in the course can be challenging, but they like the pull and the feeling of the small wake. Yes, the wake is a bit firm, but its very small. I don’t have the open bow, and it does take on water easily if you are not careful, but its a solid little boat. Good luck!

[jerrychabot]

I would never put this thing in Champlain that lake scares the crap out of me! I'm only on flat water or I wouldn't be skiing and I ski almost from the dock

[VermontSkier]

@jerrychabot I use mine on the Connecticut River which is generally pretty mellow, certainly mellow enough for us to keep our course in the entire season. Ive only taken on water from turning back into my own wake, which I’ve learned how to avoid after the first two times. Looks like there is a super clean Sportster for sale in North Hero VT if you search on facebook marketplace.

[jerrychabot]

That's the one I'm buying, the yellow one? He listed it for less and disclosed the busted glass over on Craigslist.

[VermontSkier]

Oh nice, thats the one! looks pretty sweet despite the busted glass!

[bananaron]

@jerrychabot Call me I will help you with finding a boat......Ron 218-851-2801

[6balls]

seriously just let @bananaron find you a boat. No one knows how to do it better. You don't want wood stringers/floors in a seriously older boat. Echelon is nice, Sportster is nice. A '91-'94 MC prostar is really nice. A '97 and up SN is the bomb.

[jerrychabot]

Thanks Ron I've seen some of your boats they look amazing. I think I'm picking up this Sportster tomorrow. Excited.