DSP

The season has just about passed and still no word from boat mate. Meanwhile the Fulton XLT 1400 Series winch broke from cranking the bow up over the bow stop as powering on scratches the hull.

 

My opinion so far sine 2016: Not a good design. Not a good trailer. Poor service.

I’ve never had a trailer without a traditional bow stop. Rolling the bow up on it requires acitane or fingernail polish remover to get the rubber skid marks off the hull. Not pulling the boat up all the way creates other towing hassles. Skiinxs posted a photo of a trailer with a different bow stop design. What are those vertical pads called and is that design better than the other kind?

I received a helpful email this week. It seems they are trying to get this resolved:

 

We have not sent out any of the linear braces yet. We sent one of the first renditions to Skip Dunlop to test out for us, but that is the only one. I have been pushing our administrative team to get these things ready to ship and we hit a snag. We got the first manufactured pieces from our suppliers and found the measurements they used were incorrect according to the drawing we supplied. We returned those and are awaiting our second batch. The trailers you may be seeing are the newer 200 or Ski Nautiques that have the roller welded to a cross member. Those are the updated version we have worked into our 2019 and 2020 design. With your trailer being and older version, you will require the linear brace that runs vertically between cross members.

 

I know this has been a long drawn out process and I know this is an issue for many. I have tried to get my administrative team to get this thing released, and they have not authorized me to send these units out. They are trying to make sure the braces will be absolutely correct before they ship them. I apologize again, but my hands are tied up in waiting on my supervisors (Owner and VP) to release the braces.

 

 

It’s been a month since I spoke up about this and while Boat Mate sent me one email, I’ve heard nothing new from them other than they are waiting for Nautique to approve their design. Meanwhile, float it on deep, catch it, hook it, drive out three to five feet to lift it up, crank it the least I must to get the bow over the bow stop, drop it back in, crank it some more...ugh. And yet I see pics from skiinxs and others with the fix. How do I get it done? These guys need to their stuff together.

Pretty interesting:

 

Monday morning I had an email from Boatmate apologizing for the inconvenience. I haven’t heard from them in many months until bringing this up again here.

 

They are working on their “3rd iteration”. Trying to get it approved by Nautique.

 

Either it’s a fantastic coincidence or the BOS forum is important to industry insiders.

 

Either way, I’m just hoping for a speedy & effective resolution and really appreciate BOS & all of you paying attention.

Cat skiing at Targhee is incredible if they’re not fully booked. Snow here Tuesday-Friday. No problem finding a place to park in front of our place. Blue bird Saturday. Tomorrow is the only green light day waterskiing

Let me know when you’re in UT. We live 12 miles from Snowbird & can get you sets at SunTen weather permitting. April can be fickle.

Thanks @Wish

I’ll call them again Monday. Thanks BobE!

I misspoke. Swiss had Ramlins for the 200s, Boatmate for the SN.

 

I thought if Ramlin was doing it better than BM, and if I could get a Ramlin without problems vs waiting for BM to get things resolved, I’d at least look into it.

 

That roller idea on BobE’s looks interesting. I wonder if it lifts the bow when the trailer is deeper than the v Style I have. It would be nice to drive it on without catching, cranking and adjusting the trailer depth.

I didn’t know there was drama between companies. I thought the dealers usually made the trailer decisions and noticed Ramlins in some parts of the country and Boatmates elsewhere.

I like that low cut intuition liner. Did you cut and stitch that yourself?

I noticed at Swiss WS Resort they had both Ramlins and Boat Mate. Ramlins for the new SN and Boat Mates for the 200s. However, I don’t think they trailer much at all.

Pat M, you are right, my trailer has bunks where BobE has a roller. I know with a gray hull it shows marks more than white so I had the hull cleaned up this off season and I’d like to avoid more hull gel coat touch ups by getting the trailer fixed or figured out ASAP.

 

2016 Boat & trailer. Thanks BlueSki

I was using double hard shell Reflex like Terry Winter until this past fall when I just started using the R Style Reflex with a full thin Reflex liner. I like it. I can tighten it up over the top of my foot and feel almost as secure as a the rear boot without the rear binding plate hardware drag. I can slip my rear foot out without difficulty both during a crash or upon finishing a set. While I’m still trying to figure out the ideal rear liner, (The Reflex R Style liner is pretty thick and the Reflex thin liner is unnecessarily tall) skiing has continued to improve, I feel safe & in control. Not recommended if you need or want to drag a foot when getting up.

Thank you for your input. I’ll try some of these recommendations. I’ve called the Boat Mate trailer warranty department multiple times since 2016, most recently this winter when they said they were working on a retro fit. I’ve been pretty disappointed in their service / attention. Perhaps Ramlin does it right?

2016 Boat Mate trailer, 2016 Ski Nautique 200 OB

Is there a retro fit from Boat Mate for their Ski Nautique 200 trailer?

 

If I sink the trailer a little too deep, the boat bow comes in under the trailer bow stop resulting in gel coat damage.

 

If I put it in just right, I have to crank it on resulting in more gel coat damage from the bunks because the trailer is out of the water more than it should be.

 

Even when I get bunks wet, the hull gets all marked up.

 

Maybe I just need a boat lift and a boat house now? Seems excessive for what the trailer cost.