Ski Wake Behind DD Air Nautique

[Atticus]

Hi All,

I'm looking at various used Nautiques and was wondering if anyone is familiar with the ski wake behind a late 90's or early 00's direct drive Air Nautique. I wouldn't expect it to be world-class, but was thinking that it might be alright. How does it compare to the 196? Is it significantly different? Also, how are these early DD Air Nautiques related to the later line up during this decade (e.g. 206 or 216)?

Thanks for the help!

[dip]

RE: Ski Wake Behind DD Air Nautique

My brother had a Sport Nautique, which I think was essentially the same boat as an Air Nautique. My recollection was that the wake was quite good for slalom skiing, much better than any of my friends "crossover" type boats, but not as flat as a Ski Nautique. Unless you're a competitive slalom skier, I don't think you could do any better for an all around great boat than the DD Air Nautiques. In fact, my brother, even as a wakeboarder, preferred his Sport loaded with ballast to his 01 Super Sport (V drive).

[camjam]

RE: Ski Wake Behind DD Air Nautique

Here are three videos of the wake from our 1999 Air Nautique OB at various speeds. Not sure of the exact speed on the first two, but I know its in the range I listed. The third video is 36 mph. The rope is full length in all the videos. I think the boat is very comfortable to ride in and drive. I think it pulls great. We have also barefooted off the boom and long line without any problems. At lower speeds (below 20) it throws a nice wakeboard wake even without filling the ballast tanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB49puEnbWE (26 -28 mph)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIibWYsv-V8 (32 -34 mph)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMb9jnivnE (36 mph)

[Hlymons]

RE: Ski Wake Behind DD Air Nautique

I own a sport/air I use on a private ski lake and when i was skiing with my Mastercraft friends (90 PS190, 96 PS190 & 01 PS190) my wake was fine. I now ski with some 196 & Malibu guys and my wake seems bigger now. I ski mostly 15-22 off @ 34. Now if you plan on just going out on the open water you will be very happy how these boats take the rougher water and the extra room. One of my favorite features of the boat is the ski & back lockers. Between the 2 you can store all your gear out of the way instead of all over the floor. I was thinking of downsizing but every time I get close I just part with my boat.

[mcbridek]

RE: Ski Wake Behind DD Air Nautique

Here is a 99 Sport/Air that I am building the WEB pages to sell after the holidays. Lots of HD pictures and a detailed write-up
http://home.rr.com/mcbrideraleigh

[NCH2oSki]

RE: Ski Wake Behind DD Air Nautique

Mcbridek we almost have the same boat!!! That is one great looking boat, and you should have no trouble selling it when your ready.


We went from a 99' ski to a 99' sport, and there is a difference in the wake, but its not all that noticable above 32mph. The main thing I noticed is it's not quite as nimble as the smaller ski nautique. Othewise for a family ski boat it's hard to beat it.

[DanielC]

I have a 1997 Ski Nautique. I have skied behind a 1998 Ski Nautique, with a factory FCT. (Flight Control Tower) I have also skied behind a "Sport/Air" Nautique.
I have ran 15 off, 30 mph, all six buoys, and entrance and exit gates, but I do not ski slalom competitively. Free skiing, I like to run 32-34 MPH.

I would not turn down a chance to ski behind any of the three boats, because of the wake. Given a choice, I would rather ski behind my 1997, with a 1/4 tank of gas, and the back seat removed.

If you need the space, the Sport Nautique will do you just fine. Just try to not have a bunch of stuff in the aft trunk. Keep the back end of the boat light.

For what it is worth, I do notice a slight difference between my 1997 Ski Nautique, and the 1998 Ski Nautique with a tower. My belief is that the tower has a little drag passing through the air, and this drag, up high, pitches the aft end of the boat down similar to having some extra weight aft.

I also spent some time with a 1997 SNOB. (Ski Nautique Open Bow) I did not slalom ski behind the SNOB very much, but I did drive it a little. The biggest difference is that I noticed the SNOB rode a little more bow high at slower speeds.

The 206 wake is a little better than a Sport Nautique, but there is a significant difference in the storage in the two boats, with the Sport Nautique being able to hold more stuff. The 216 has storage similar to the Sport Nautique, but I have not really skied behind one.
I believe that when the 206 and the 216 came out in 2003, and 2004 they were both AWSA approved ski boats. I do not think the Sport Nautique was ever approved for AWSA tournaments.

For what it is worth, you would be surprised on how much stuff you can put in the bow, and under the front passenger seat on a Ski Nautique. But if you have people in your boat, it is not as convenient to get to it, with out everybody moving around. When I take out a lot of people, I try to get the stuff they bring into the bow that will not be needed until the end of the day. You can also find the closed bow boats for quite a bit less than the open bow boats, due to the popularity of wakeboarding.

In 2000, Correct Craft came out with Teleflex digital gauges. They are hard to read, blue numbers and pointers on a green background, that becomes almost impossible to see with polarized sunglasses, and they are very prone to failure. By now I would think most of then have been replaced, but there may still be some 2000 to 2003 boats with the original factory Teleflex gauges. The boats with these gauges also used the gauge to record the hours of operation on the boat, so it is difficult to know how many hours these boats have on them. Try to verify hours by service records, or maybe a Perfect Pass installation.

It is a personal choice, but if you can, the Ford GT-40 engine is the desirable engine to get. In 1999 the 502 python engine was also available, but you will have a weight increase with that engine, and it will use more fuel. A Ski Nautique with this engine will easily do 53 MPH.