Jordan

@bananaron

The original Jcrafts were legendary boats in Canada (particularly in Ontario and Quebec).

Their last location was in Pefferlaw, Ontario.

Like many boatbuilders they succumbed to the 2008 financial crisis.

At the time they manufactured 2 models, the 17 foot Regatta and the 19 foot Pro Ski.

After they closed down, the 19 foot mold wound up with a fellow named John Spaeth. He was allowed by the original owner to make them on a custom order basis.

This guy is a seriously high quality builder.

A couple of years ago, some investors got together and wanted to revive JCraft. I don't know all of the ins and outs but there was some problem with producing the 19 foot model.

They made a new boat based on the old boat, it is wider and longer.

It apparently planes out almost instantly and handles great.

I haven't skied the new boat, but over the years I have skied behind dozens of the 19 foot boat. It had very small wakes. They were somewhat hard at shorter line lengths. They track well for an outboard but you can pull it around a fair amount.

It is a fantastic outboard ski boat.

I'll stick with inboards, but if you specifically want an outboard, this is a great one.

As an added bonus, it's priced in Canucks bucks; so it's a bargain for you U.S. guys.

Also....check out YouTube videos about fin set up. You want to make sure that the fin and boots are set up to factory suggested numbers.

I have watched guys eye-ball fin set up just to put the ski in the display rack, often nowhere close to how it should be.

Once even got a great deal on a ski that had been returned because the first buyer said he couldn't ski on it. When I checked the fin numbers, it was so far off that nobody could have skied it.

Go to one of the Mastercraft threads on fb. Peter Biever is the carb expert over there. He can answer your questions.

https://www.facebook.com/peter.biever.31

JMAC ran 3@41 today at a tournament in Ottawa. Don't think he has competed in the last 2 years.

https://instagram.com/stories/jmacskis/2387342018222549171?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=13gqcc8ntwrmv

Nate is on the Ion S with the red Ion graphics. Rumour is that he is putting up insane scores in practice.

There haven't been a ton of tournaments so we haven't seen it very much.

Chris Parrish skiing behind '94 Prostar. Look at that wake!

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEA7YrzBbw1/?igshid=hn2ueiy3pc3j

The hull id number won't tell you if a manufacturer copied another manufacturer's hull.

My recollection is similar to what @skimtb posted above.

"Epic Fail" is too strong a descriptor for me. Having said that, they failed on price and they failed on looks.

Life is too short to ski behind an ugly boat!

This is a tender topic and a sensitive time. Just make sure that you have good support.

Get out there and have a ball. Keep a bag of frozen peas handy...lol

Joel did a video quite a while back, prior to his injury at the world championships, where he detailed his setup and even included a trip to the hardware store to buy a length of aluminum angle to cut into those brackets.

He definitely was permanently attached to the ski with no release; no velcro.

He discussed his belief about both feet in being safer in his opinion than a release.

One of the interesting things about our sport is that we can get lessons from top professionals. This is rare in most sports.

Also by the nature of the limited money in the sport, most skiers need to coach and run ski schools to get by.

The other thing these pros bring to the table is that they themselves have been exposed to top coaching as they climbed the ladder.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but every top level skier me or my son has had the opportunity to get lessons from have been top notch.

I love Radar skis.. but the D3 Ion is lighting up competitive skiing.

Nate is crushing it. Freddie is throwing up 41s regularly.

The women's one skier served record on it.

Worth a look.

Once my brother in law's boat wouldn't start, it would barely turn over.

Quick call to the mechanic, he is too busy to look at it, but says try taking the connectors off and lightly sand the battery posts and the inside of the connectors...

We shook our heads at that advice but tried it. It fired tight up.