Sport or Pro Air?

[awest]

I have finally gotten rid of my I/O and am looking into a Correct Craft. I have found two within 500 miles of me. One is a 98 Pro Air Nautique and the other is a 99 Sport Nautique. Other than the tower what is the difference between these two? I understand the pro also has an automatic ballast but the shop says it is pretty slow to fill. Could I just put a tower on the Sport and install a ballast puppy and sacks to make it an Air? The sport is only 20K and has 139 hours so it seems like a deal. The Pro Air has 230hours and is a bit more used but still under 20K. Suggestions? Differences?

[lffish133]

RE: Sport or Pro Air?

Dude, I'm not gonna lie, my boat is a 1995 Super Sport, which is the equivalent of a Super Air Nautique (99 - 06), is a way better deal for 21k than either of those boats. If it were me I would chose the Sport over the Pro Air and do what you described, but if you are a serious wakeboarder, you will eventually want a v-drive anyway (Super Air, or Super Sport). You can check my boat out here if you would like: http://www.planetnautique.com/index....ewtopic&t=9913
One thing is for sure, any CC will make your IO look like the biggest peice of garbage in the world! :twisted: Just my thoughts.

[rbalan]

RE: Sport or Pro Air?

I would lean to the sport, but definitely don't rule out the Pro Air. Put in your own ballast and a New Dimension tower. Many here ditch the factory ballast as it wasn't one of CC strong points and 400 lbs just does not make that much of a difference anyway. Look for Miljack's winter project post for ideas. There does not seem to be enough difference in wake between the 2 to rule either out unless you don't want to add any extra sacks, in which you may prefer the Pro Air. Also, if you are going to only wakeboard, I would suggest going with a Super Sport/Super Air. My 2000 Air with 1300 -1500 lbs puts out a pretty good wake, but it is not as good as its vdrive cousins.

[cmd]

i would say the sport too.the pro-air has a slightly different hull,ballasts and of coarse a tower(1st gen.). nice boats,great wakes,but if it does have the 1st gen. tower it will not fold down,not a big deal,but if the boats going in a garage or lift after everytime out it may not fit. with the sport you can upgrade as you need and want to,slap some ballasts or sacs,tower and bam..you have a low hr. air ntq. for alot less $.you can normally find good deals on a used 2nd gen flght control or new dimension towers,plus either will fold down and look great on 'em. my sport throws a pretty descent wake with some weight in it(better than my friends vdr moomba),plus over 30 mph the slalom wake is good as well.hope this helps.

[bchesley]

Hands down buy the super sport listed above. I have ridden behind a sport a little, a pro air a ton, and a super sport a ton. Super Sport wins all contest is you are a wakeboarder. Proair is a close second but the room of a vdrive is what tilts the scale....

[BigBald]

I did the exact thing your discussing....I took a 99 sport....added a FCT tower and perfect pass. For my usage....we used the boat as much skiing as wakeboarding. So, I never invested in a ballast system (except for piling several lard butts onto the boat....which works great and they do all this lifting themselves). I absolutely loved my 99. I have recently upgraded to a 2007 216 mainly because I loved that 99 so much.

You really should take into consideration what type of watersports you'll be primarily focusing on....

[awest]

Thanks for all the input

I am definately leaning toward the sport Nautique. I really only has 137 hours which is definately a great selling point. The tower on it is a Titan Alpha one which looks a little weird but will get the job done. I did review the installation thread for aftermarket ballast installation and it does not look to difficult. Better than dropping a pump in the water every half hour.
Kam, I did email you about your 95 super sport. What is it like to ski behind? I am not looking for a tournament wake, just an all around boat that we can all enjoy. My wife and I ski, my kids board.
Cheers
AW

[awest]

Reasoning

If you look closely at the photo you can see why I like a smaller wake for skiing and why I don't wakeboard. It does look like fun though. [/img]

[lffish133]

RE: Reasoning

Hey Awest I just sent you an e-mail with some more pictures of the boat. I know my boat has a few more hours on it than the 99 sport, but at least it doesn't have that ugly tower on it. Any way, if you want to do a demo just let me know, if there are any other questions you have about the boat just let me know, thanks.

[bkhallpass]

RE: Reasoning

Awest,

You certainly didn't have to justify wanting a Sport Nautique. Great boat. Will work well for you and your wife to ski, and for your kids to wakeboard. Will be a much better choice for waterskiing than the SAN/Super Sport.

Nevertheless, I'm glad you did post that picture. Plenty of guys with great ski boats, and all their limbs who never get out behind the boat. Keep cranking out those turns. BKH

[Hlymons]

RE: Reasoning

I have a 2000 sport and I love it. It works great skiing and good for wakeboarding, however I just joined a private lake and my have to get something smaller. So if it's for wide open recreation lake go for the sport.

[awest]

Size matters

Boats just seem to be coming on the market everywhere lately. I just took a look at a 99 Tige 21v with 800 hours on it. They claim that it is a perfect cross over boat due to the taps system and it has the room of a v drive. One thing I must say about the Naut. sport is that it is pretty small inside. Then I found a Supra 22V drive locally that might work. Kind of ratty, though but the price reflects that. Don't know what that wake would be like. Too many choices all of a sudden.

[lffish133]

RE: Size matters

I will agree with you that they biggest drawback of the Sport Nautique is its interior space, the Sport is a great boat and will be a better ski boat than wakeboard, and the Super Sport will be a better wakeboard boat than ski boat. I would avoid Tiges, they are noisy and mechanically rough in my opinion, not a very well built boat, I don't think the Supra would be a better choice than a Nautique either, I could really go off on these two boats but I'll spare you and let you make your own call, I'm sure most people on this BB agree with me that the only way to go is a Nautique That is a sic pic by the way.

[Hlymons]

RE: Size matters

Here is a good info on the Pro-Air vs Sport, as for the other brands all I can say is once you drive a Nautique the other boats will not compare. If not Nautique then go for Mastercraft or Malibu. IMO when it comes to performance ,Quality and Resale these are the only brands that compare.
http://www.planetnautique.com/index....hlight=pro+air

[chris196]

RE: Size matters

I skied behind a Tige 21V a few times. At the time I owned an I/O so the Tige had a much better ski wake and I really liked the layout. The one I was in, the Vdrive whined something awful. Myself and another guy who also owned a boat asked the owner if something was wrong. It just didn't sound right. I asked him if he had checked the gear oil in that thing. He said it sounded like that from new.

As per my screen name, I now ski behind a CC 196. Nothing beats that for slalom. Based on what you have said, I'd go for the sport. The ski wake will be really good and unless your kids are some serious wakeboarders, they'll be fine.

Not trying to discourage you from the Tige though. I liked it and the taps and layout made it a very versatile boat.
As always, test drive. I have another friend who now has the Tige 24V, that thing is massive. It was fun to surf behind.