Perfect Boat?

[rtrott]

RE: Re: RE: Perfect Boat?

Also, I know this is hugely subjective, but any opinions on what graphic would look best on a 226 if I wanted to change? I saw a plain "Air" recently in a picture I liked alot and the "Super Air Nautique" without the crest I liked as well. As you can see, I prefer the more clean classic look I guess you would call it.

[Huffy2k]

Not trying to be a wet blanket here, but if your lake is very rough due to the presence of large crusiers and/or heavy traffic, you may not want to spend the extra money for a high end wake boat. Speaking from personal experience, we tend to tie up and float when conditions are lousy for water sports, and in your case, that sounds like it will be most (if not all) of the time. You can't do anything about your lake so why not just buy the right boat for your particular lake?

[rtrott]

Very valid point Huffy. However, I think we can (and should) pick and choose good conditions to go boating. I may be overstating the roughness a bit but it has been a factor if there is much wind or lots of boat activity. There are several areas that always have smoother water due to summer south winds. I just dont want myself or my passengers to get beat to death getting there - or if say three couples want to go out for an afternoon cruise I wont be spilling everyones drink in choppy water...I realize I am trying to find the 'perfect' boat that covers all bases, but not sure it exists. All things considered, I do remain serious about this 226 and will check it out tomorrow. Thanks again.

[TRIP]

another thing that has made the wakeboard boat hard to accept for me is for years seeing them packed with shaggy-haired teens, heavy metal or gangster rap blaring from the speakers, tribal/inner city grafitti-like graphics, etc...

+1!

Clean 2001s all the way! :mrgreen:

[BPSKI]

Some tend to give it a bad rap because its not the "Best" at any particular activity. It is not the best at anything but it is good at everything, which is what a crossover is supposed to do. As far as engine goes we have a 330 in ours and its no problem. If we have a ton of extra ballast it takes longer to get up on plane though, but it also has the stock prop.

[ranger3]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Perfect Boat?

Boy you guys are great. I am going to see the boat tomorrow. Any opinions if the Excalibur 330hp is too light or would it be ok for my needs?

BPSKI - thanks alot for your opinion - what bad rap do people give the 226?

Hey ranger3, saw you are at Cedar Creek - we are at Possum Kingdom. Does it get choppy/whitecap much at Cedar?

We really have not been to Cedar Creek since '06. We bounce between Lake Athens and Lake Palestine. They are hardly ever too choppy. Not nearly as bad as PK on the weekends. I grew up in Mineral Wells and spent MANY MANY wekends on PK. Last July, we hauled the boat up there and stayed at the Cliffs. That little trip tore my ACL and my wife's implant!! Id say it was a little TOO choppy from the boat traffic. During the week it was reall nice though. We're both back in business and loving it!!

I've never seen these lakes as choppy as PK was that weekend. I guess it just too narrow or something. Maybe its the rock walls.

[SlipNSlideKing]

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Perfect Boat?

Go with the 226.... you're kids will thank you

Soon you'll have a decked out nauty with a 10K wetsound sound system and you'll turn into one of those ruffian wakeboarders :shock: Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

[HS]

rtrott:

I have a friend who owns a Cobalt, and I think it is in the 23 - 24 foot range. Because it has a deep Vee hull, it does cruise real nice. He purchased the boat when his kids were younger and he is now thinking of making the switch when his kids get into watersports. His oldest boy is 6 and we got him up on our boat with the help of my barefoot boom.

If you are just getting into WB, then you might need a bit more experience to truly appreciate the wake behind a Nautique. I am one year into it and I am very pleased with my choice in brand and features on the boat. I didn't look further than the 211 -- so I can't comment on the 226.

His Cobalt has a tower, but he has to fiddle with the trim on the lower unit to create a wake for jumping, and even then it is not crisp and has some wash. Also, if you beome advanced enough you might also want a boat with ballast tanks which I believe the Cobalt lacks. When we go to his we always WB behind our 211.

Cobalts (sport boats) and nautiques (ski/WB) are really two different animals as you can see by the two different classifiactions in JD Power.

On the subject of Nautiques that handle "big water", others will have to offer their opinions, but I had the impression the 230/236 hull had more freeboard a larger hull. Don't know about the 226.

Definitely ride behind and fully test each boat. Hopefully you'll be able to test them in realistic conditions to be able to assess the ride in chop.

[Kenv]

rtrott,

I think the 226 gets a bad rap due to a few factors...I have one and love it by the way. 2005 Team. The 226 was the first Nautique to stray to the Euro look, and at the same time was the biggest Nautique ever. Traditional fans didn't like the new lines and the what the future might bring. Also, the 226 looks really HUGE sitting on a trailer, and the arse end doesn't appeal to everyone. I went to the 226 from a 2000 Super Air without even a test drive. I knew I wanted the 226 for the room. It is one of the smoothest boats you can drive. It does alot well, not GREAT, but well. I recently drove an '08 230 and from a ride comfort and drivers point of view, if you were blindfolded, you might barely be able to tell the two boats apart. My next boat will be a 230, but for now, I am really impressed with the 226.

Ken

[brad_s]

I have a 2006 220, which I suspect rides very similar to the 226. The boat handles rough water well; however, if it's very choppy, I'll slow the speed down to 22-24 mph to get through the rollers. When the water is semi-choppy (i.e. a couple of boats / jet skis passing) I usually cruise through the rollers at 26-28 mph.

[J]

The 226 does as well as any inboard in rough waters. The walk through transom gives good passenger flow through the boat. The boat does sit higher in the water than traditional inboards, which will give you more of an I/O feel. As for power, I would opt for the ZR6 with prop upgrade though....it should get you a better top speed and performance. Top speed is between 46-49 depending on weight on board.
As for graphics, I would opt for the traditional Air logo (because its still available in 08), but it really depends on the color scheme of your boat.
Whats' your location? I'm sure theres a nice 226 near you.

[r4000]

I have an 06 226 Team Edition that we run on the Ohio River near Pittsburgh. The river has about every type of wake you can get from small pleasure boats to 500 foot long barge traffic. So far we have found no problems whatsoever with the boat's ability to handle these wakes. We use it for skiing, tubing, wakeboarding and just having fun. It has the 375hp motor with stock prop and a tremendous sound system.

[chris196]

I don't know which boat would be better for you, but when looking at specs compare apples to apples.
The 226 is 22'6" long hull, then with the swim platform it's 24'9".
A lot of I/O's have an integrated swim platform which they count in length. Sometimes a 24' boat is really a 22' boat with 2' of swim platform.

I used to have a searay 180 from the 80's. That boat was an 18' hull. Later they had a 195 or something which was the same hull, they just counted the swim platform in there. But, it peformed the same.

[J]

could be a good time to start up a 226 "let's see em' thread" pic thread...

[rtrott]

Plenty of good advice and thanks for all of it. I am feeling very good about this boat - will check it out in person tomorrow.

J - is the top speed you stated (46-49mph) with the Excalibur or ZR6?

r4000 - thanks for sharing your experience with the 226 and rough water/wakes - I cant afford to replace the fillings in my teeth each time we go out on a choppy day in search of good water!

Chris196 - I will bet you are right that the swim plat on my Sea Ray 200 is counted in the length measurement.