When down to big three?

[75Tique]

Other than the short run of the Carbon Pro, what year had all the zillions of other ski boats that were around in the 80s and 90s faded away into the dust bin of history, or in other words, what was the first year of just the surviving big 3? What brands were the last to drop out of existence?

[RAWSki]

Early 2000s is my guess,  then they all starting making as many or more VDrives (compared to DDs) and then it just snow-balled by the end of the decade.   I think Tige was the last to offer a DD AWSA approved boat (besides the 3) then the Carbon Pro appeared in '11-18'.  

[Horton]

since the '90s I don't think any boat company outside the big three has made a competitive boat or a dent in the market

[bananaron]

Mark Overbye of Gekko boats I think was making them from 1996 to 2009 and then made a comeback  in 2015 making a few GTR boats which were a great ski boat.I still own a 2001 GTR and have owned many direct drive boats to include carbon pro, Malibu, mc and Nautique and still think the Gekko is one of my favorite boats.However it was difficult to compete against the big 3......

[Kelvin]

Ben Favret produced American Skiers in the early 2000s.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

American Skier was around since at least the early '80s.  Ben was a promotor and may have had some investment in the company circa 2000 when it had financial trouble.  The mid 80's vintage boats were as good as or better than the big 3 at the time.  I had an '86 American Skier that was awesome.

From my memory hole:

Ski-Ray.  A 3 event boat from SeaRay.  Ricky McCormick had a hand in that.

Infinity - KLP and Rob Shirly in the late '90s

Toyota - good first attempt, but didn't get traction.  Even had the Lexus V8 engine 

Tige - mid 90s

Ski Centurion (maker of Carbon Pro) had some really good boats, and some not so good, in the '90s

Building another 3 event boat is a tough nut to crack.  Huge investment, small market, and you have to stand out.  And be persistent.  Any Billionaire skiers out there with some extra cash?

 

 

[Drago]

Supras, Brendellas, and MBs were pretty nice boats. 

[Wish]

You could probably figure out who stayed in the game for a while based on who built wake barges. Centurian, Gekko, Supreme, MB, Tige ,..I’m sure I’m missing a few. Some of them are still in business like the big 3 but no longer making 3 event boats. 

[RAWSki]

As has been mentioned, in a similar thread, we as tournament skiers should actually feel fortunate that we have had 4 choices in boats for the last decade. (2012-17 MC, SN, Bu and CP---- 2019-23 MC, SN, 200 and Bu)  Our Choices could easily be 2 boats.  With CC Inc's acquisition of Centurion it made sense to sell two Nautique boats and let the Carbon Pro die so the California plant could focus on big wakes and big profits.

[RAWSki]

1 hour ago, Wish said:

You could probably figure out who stayed in the game for a while based on who built wake barges. Centurian, Gekko, Supreme, MB, Tige ,..I’m sure I’m missing a few. Some of them are still in business like the big 3 but no longer making 3 event boats. 

Interestingly from that list above all but MB were manufactured in the Fineline (Centurion) plant for part of their existence.  The first 5 years of Tiges were simply Falcon OB or CB with different interiors and paint schemes.  

[Anderson]

This is a pretty interesting list of ski boats from back in 1989.  Interesting that almost all of them disappeared in the span of 10 years.  

1989 Waterski Magazine Tests

 

[MDB1056]

Don’t forget Hydrodyne which was ever present in the boat market entered the direct drive market in the early 90’s . Extremely well made boats. Soft wakes, outstanding tracking . I have a 92 Comp that was an early promo boat. They like others didn’t have the marketing horsepower vs big 3, or at least didn’t invest it . 

Edited April 3, 2023 by MDB1056

[ETskier]

A couple other failures come to mind. Bayliner, Century CTS, Dixie Skier. Not sure, but I don't think any of these 3 even got AWSA approval.

[Wish]

I skied behind and drove that Sunbird Skier advertised in the WSM link above. Cool to see. Was a great little boat to ski and drive👍 

[mfjaegersr]

WaterSki mag boat test lists from 1993 and 2005, for comparison:

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by mfjaegersr

[Rednucleus]

So many great boats in the mid-late 90's. Used to spend hours at the boat show looking at all the direct drives. When I was shopping and skiing INT I was ready to buy a Centurian. Also saw the open bow Sanger at the show - and when I went to the dealer the next week, came home with the Sanger instead. Very nice family boat. Good in the course, bare footers & wake boarders liked it as well.