It's sad that the big 3 are still building boats only for the 35-43 off skiers, not us 15-32 offers. In the past that top down marketing got all of us better boats. Particularly lower and softer wakes. Not any more. The 196s were the best in the wake department and drove the best. My Last Boat was an 06 196 with single puck ZO. At B2 34 and now 32mph, pull felt very similar to the new boats. My old 94 196 had almost no wake. The 200s and the pickle fork 197 MCs and older BUs are OK. Most of the 90s big 3 are good skiing boats for us mid-level skiers. Now at tournaments, we get to look forward to big wakes and hard rooster tails in our opening passes. Oh what fun. Even if I could afford them, I wouldn't buy one. Repowering and upgrading an old one is the way to go if you are on a budget. Side note, the hydrogate on the new Nautiques can be tuned for a little bit better slalom wakes. But, only a handful of people know how to do it, and apparently it's a super secret death penalty for the secret to be let out. Secondly, the microtuners should be deployed for all slalom. Again, the manufacturer doesn't care about us, it's fine for the high end skiers. I will add that Mastercraft has worked hard in recent years to deliver a boat we intermediates would like, still $100K.
@Horton @Broussard I believe I paid homage to Mastercraft both for their 14 and up and particularly for their recent efforts, both skiing and driving. If I could afford to buy a new one, Mastercraft would be my choice. Sorry if I was confusing. My rant on the new Nautiques stands.