BeMorrNH

This is me behind the 19' I/O regal a week ago, it was like a fight, being drug forever to get up, inexperience behind the wheel, half of a cheap combo set, and a mountainous wake, even in this shot at 30+ mph. I'm going competition open bow all the way and will search till I get the one I want in my price point. I'll wait till I can afford it if it's too far out of my range. It seems to be the perfect combination of what I'm looking for. I'm sure I can rig something on the transom to ski off for those days when I have a crowd, but at the moment only the three adults ski.

One more thing, may sound like a dumb question, but most of the use for this boat will be with my brother's family of four and my son and I. Three adults, three children, 6, 8 and 9 currently. With the rope attached in front of the engine, can you use the back seat while skiing? With that many people in the boat can you attach the rope to the stern and ski from that effectively? None of the kids ski, yet, I'm the only one that slaloms, but I'll get my brother up with a boat like this in no time. Just thinking very practically here.

@Bdecker - I appreciate the local help and the great advice! I do however want to make it clear that I'm still kicking the idea around, it will certainly happen before too long, but I'm not sure it will be this year. Would be cool to watch a local tournament though! Where are they?

2005 Wrangler unlimited Rubicon Sahara, one of 1,000 ever made in that particular package. Hitch professionally installed, 2"-3" old man emu heavy duty suspension lift. 103" wheelbase, as oppsed to a short wheelbase Wrangler which has a 2k tow rating. Daily driver is a 2001 Cherokee sport, but it has no hitch. When the Wrangler based pickup comes out with a diesel, the Cherokee will be sold and that will be my tow vehicle. I've been driving Jeeps for 20 years, this thing will tow 4k easy, just not at high speed, planning on slip or mooring during summer, marine storage during winter.

Rayn, I went to Plymouth and skied on newfound, really like that lake and still have friends that live there.

Moski, the red is my favorite, Scarlet and Gray! Question, how do you keep a 20 year old boat from fading and cracking, interior and exterior?

First off, thank you very much for all the great advice and information. You can see my dilemma, ranging from, you'll be fine to, a starter submarine! However, I've been on a 13' whaler in 6' seas, so I'm fairly confident I can handle a19' boat on lake winni. The true value was the open bow direct drive models with some age, found several online for between 9k and 15k in excellent condition. Spending a little more is something I knew would be a possibility! If winni turns out to be too much, there are lots of lake options that don't have the traffic or size to support rough water. Skiing is the priority while I'm young enough to do so! Early 90's sport nautiques and MasterCraft 205's will be the focus of my search. I'm sure I'll have many more questions in the future, one being, what season is best for boat buying! Until I get closer this has been fantastic, great forum!

First, a little background... 40+ years old, skiing other folk's boats for 30 years off and on, 99% family bowriders with I/0's. Once skied behind a Nautique 2001 in high school, only remember the handle being ripped from my hands. Live in NH with my 8 year old son, have been renting bowriders on Winnipesaukee for 3-5 days a summer for the past few days with my brother and his family, 6 of us all together. $1,000-$2,000/summer to ski and tube for a week. I'm not getting any younger, deep water starts aren't getting easier and the 19' regal I/O couldn't pull my 210lb brother out of the water, even though his technique was good for a beginner, he's never slalomed, but I would have had him up with more power, for sure! This boat drug me to the point where it wasn't fun, I'm 160 and typically pop out of the water. I want a boat, really bad boat fever. From vacationing as a kid at my grandparents in Coral Gables, 13' whaler, 21' chris craft, 53' Hatteras, to my small local lake in Ohio full of ski boats, I've been around them my whole life, now it's time for one of my own. My biggest problem is budget, $5-$10k, it's just all I can do right now, which seems to be enough based on craigslist. Second tidbit of information, 3500 lb towing capacity, 2005 Wrangler Rubicon unlimited. But these are just criteria I need to work with, here's why I joined the forum. Lake Winnipesauke is a large lake that get's rough, I'm drawn to late 80's early 90's inboards that have been well cared for but have had people actually tell me I'll swamp them in the open water on the big lake on a busy day??? Is that true? How much worse is the ride, compared to a family bowrider with a deeper V? I could always avoid the big lake and stick to the smaller ones. I've heard a lot about taking a 4.3 I/O and changing props and adding something to the stern drive to make it plane faster, but would this even remotely compare to an inboard. These boats are MUCH less expensive. I was always under the impression that outboards ranked behind inboards, then third would be I/O's for pulling skiers, was this a fantasy that I dreamed up? I really like the idea of an outboard, if I have to choose a deeper V hull design for the bigger lake. Anyway, I keep going back to an 86 supreme that looks to be in great shape and just dropped from 5k to 4400... Oh, this boat will be used for water sports 90% of the time, not much for just burning fuel and taking in the sites, want to get as much skiing in as I can while I still can and teach my son to ski. Thank you in advance for any and all advice!