Potential New Nautique Owner

[husker]

From the outset, I've been around boats and boating for almost 25 years (jeez, am I getting that old?!?!?). I've owned some bowriders for the last 15 or so.

I've always wanted a true ski boat. I had two friends about 7 or 8 years ago who had Nautiques, and I really got into skiing on a course back then. Both had kids, sold their boats, etc, so I've been stuck in my Crownline since.

However, I have saved some $ where I can perhaps afford a Nautique. I am going to look at one on Sat - a 2006 206 with around 200 hours with a tower. I have wanted a 206, and I believe they are primarily a ski boat, but I like the open bow (good for family outings, etc.)

I have a few questions:

From what I have read, a 206 provides a wake very close to a 196 - is this true?
My goal is to get back on a slaalom course, and I want to make sure this will fit that bill. I'm also like to mess around on a wakeboard, so a tower is good as well.

I gather that on the 2006 models, CC stopped putting tanks in the back, and have moved to this Hydrogate thing. Does this work as well as the tanks? Is it still wise to get a fat sack? Any recommendations if this is still necessary?

Anyone with experience with a 206 that can shed some light on what I should be looking for when I go over this boat, it would be appreciated. As I said, it is a 2006 model with around 200 hours, tower (but no perfect pass).

Hopefully things will work out this weekend - its always been a dream of mine to own a Nautique.

[jjackkrash]

RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

I own an 03 Ski 206. Its a great boat. I trade pulls with a buddy who has a 2005 196. I have pulled him deep into 38 off behind my 206. I run into 32 off. My 206 is slightly less nimble and slightly less quick out of the hole than his (it weighs a few hundred pounds more and has the same engine) but it has plenty of power and it is plenty nimble. A tower would add more weight, though. The wake on my boat is just as good for slalom as the 196 when the line gets shorter, but slightly bigger for skiers who skl slower than 34-36 mph. I think the 206 has a better trick wake and I think it tracks just as well or better than the 196 for slalom. I am not sure what year they gave the 206 TBW, but I think it was 07. I do not like TBW, but you need it to run zero off. I like PP just fine. I don't think the hydrogate was designed to replace sacks, but, then again, I run my boat on empty or close to it and would never try and ruin its fine ski wake by filling it with water. So someone else who treads on the darkside might chime in on this. No PP seems a bit strange. Is it a Ski 206? 200 hours is barely broken in. Oh, beware that the new 200 is coming out, so prices on the 206's may come down, but this remains to be seen. If the boat looks clean and has had a least 3 oil changes you are probably good to go as long as it hasn't been run in salt.

[husker]

RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry if this is a stupid question (I'm still trying to learn the acronyms), but what is TBW?

The boat is a Ski Nautique 206, not an Air. Never been in salt (according to the dealer). Boat was serviced at the dealer, and has all the maintenance records.

It is the SE model (I think, whatever model was stripped down), hence the no PP. I can have one put in for $1500 or so (so says the dealer).

[SkiTundra]

RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

TBW = Throttle By Wire

[SGY]

RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

I had a 2003 206 and traded it for a 2005 196. As jjackrash indicates above, the 206 at 28 off and above skis very much like the 196. At 22 and 15, the wake is bigger and harder--especially at 22 off.

I'm not sure you'll be happy with the 206 in terms of anything beyond novice/intermediate wake boarding. LIke anything, it's a trade off.

$1500 sounds a tad pricey for Perfect Pass--but I haven't been in the market for a while. I'd check around for better pricing on PP--such as Max at http://skiertoskier.com/ You can install it yourself and save some $$. Are they suggesting Stargazer or Zero off?

[Roddyj]

RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

DO NOT pay a dealer to install the perfect pass. you can get stargazer sent directly to the house from perfect pass for 1195 total. it takes approxiametely 45-1 hour to install the stargazer. extremely easy with the directions they send. after the first install, you could do it again in less than 30 with 2 folks.

[SNMike]

RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

Also my friend, the hydrogate is really to flatten out the wake table for trick skiing.
Regards sir!!

Mike

[cotton]

Only a few months ago in March of this year I was asking the same questions of the fine folks here on PN.
http://www.planetnautique.com/index....hlight=#106165

With their generous help we ended up buying an 09 206 TEAM. Since then we have used it almost exclusively on private lakes instead of on the river and a large public reservoir as originally planned. However, the extra room has been a huge benefit since the kids and their friends love piling in the boat and wake boarding with the tower.

My wife and I on the other hand could not care less about wake boarding but love to slalom ski and have hooked up with some pretty good amateur skiers. One of which was very skeptical about the 206 since he is very wake picky and prefers the 196 over the MC and BU. However, he has had his personal best this year behind my 206 with 4 @ 38 off and is very happy to get a pull anytime now. Since he starts @ 28 off he has stated what jjackkrash and SGY has stated in this thread along with MARK-S, SNMIKE and others in other threads on this subject.

As a newbie to the course having skied both my 206 and the 196 I can say the 196 wake is better @ 15 off/30.4 MPH but at this stage wake is the least of my problems and when I do cut through the wake properly I hardly even notice it.

In hindsight buying the 206 was the absolute correct decision for our family. However, if not for the kids wake boarding I would be taking advantage of some of the awesome low hours 196's for sale right now. When slalom skiing we keep the boat totally empty of clutter, a 1/4 tank of gas or less, 40 pounds in the nose, and only two people riding in the boat. Therefore the added expense for the additional room would not be required.

Good luck finding the right boat for you!

[jjackkrash]

Re: RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry if this is a stupid question (I'm still trying to learn the acronyms), but what is TBW?

The boat is a Ski Nautique 206, not an Air. Never been in salt (according to the dealer). Boat was serviced at the dealer, and has all the maintenance records.

It is the SE model (I think, whatever model was stripped down), hence the no PP. I can have one put in for $1500 or so (so says the dealer).

Send me a pm with your e-mail address. I have a new-in-the box couple year old PP classic that my dad got out of a dealer bankruptcy that I would sell you for pretty cheap. It is not a stargazer, but classic perfect pass is awsome, in my opinion, unless you ski loads of tournaments and are really picky and just want zero off or stargazer for consitency.

[gride300]

RE: Re: RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

i hear star gazer sucks(what the dealer i bought my boat from said) and yes 2006 was throttle by wire's first year. i do not like how the p.p. is controlled with the tbw personally.

[mx559]

RE: Re: RE: Potential New Nautique Owner

Hey husker do you happen to be from nebraska? I live in Lincoln and bought a SAN 210 this year...purely a wakeboard boat so I can't help out with what your looking for. If your buying a boat from a dealer in the midwest I would take the time to look around the country at prices, especially from private sellers. It could be different, but for my particular boat and I think wakeboats in general seem to be priced a fair amount higher with comparable hours here than in other parts of the country. I ended up traveling a good distance (14 hours) to get my boat but I think it was worth it...just something to consider. Good luck!

[husker]

THanks guys for all your help

I was born and raised in Nebraska (folks still live in Beatrice), but I'm down South now.