2011 Sport Nautique

[swc5150]

Wow, that boat looks great, and a sweet trailer too! I still don't get the scaling graphic thing. Can those be removed, if one wanted to?

[Dinsdale]

Mine's Gunmetal there as well, just looks darker in the photo. I see you went for the upgraded Zero Off. I just have the one you control through the Linc system. Love the system, but hate how it turns off every time you shut the engine off. Old Perfect Pass remembered you were still playing, and only shut off when you told it to. First part of my ski the other day was rather fast until driver realized ZO had turned off, and had to turn it on again.
Not sure, but I would assume you could order without the "puzzle pieces'. If you want "Sport Nautique" chromemax you can only have diamonds. If you want "Air Nautique" chromemax you can only have triangles. We went "Air" because the daughters said it gave us more street cred, even though we ski 90% of the time

[srock]

I pleasantly find this funny that everyone is questioning the wakeboard wake of a V-drive instead of the skiing wake

I don't get it. The boat is a "cross-over" based on a ski boat hull. I would think the questions would go both ways.

I find it interesting that the 210 is called a ski-able wake at 34 and above.

[swc5150]

I find it interesting that the 210 is called a ski-able wake at 34 and above.

No doubt! I guess I'd have to see that definition of skiing. Of course, my neighbor has a Tracker fish & ski - ski-able wake, from what they say;-)

[Jbar]

The graphics are removable for sure. They are the very last thing to be put on the boat at the factory before the boat is wrapped for shipment. There should be no problem specifying to have them left off on a ordered boat. I am surprised more people are not opting for the upgraded ZO. If you are a skier you do not get the A-C settings with the standard one.

[pzthk6]

The Sport 200 is one of the best true cross over boats I've had the opportunity to experience. Within an hour we can go from tubing, to skiing the course, to wakeboarding, to footing, to surfing. All of them are very good, not the best at any particular one, but then again neither am I. It's not a monster of a boat that may be intimidating for some to drive, yet considerable more space than your typical direct drive. Footing is a bit rough between the wakes (I typically stay to one side anyway) and skiing at 22 off there is a bump (shorter or longer is better). For the versitile family that wants to do it all though, this is definitely the boat own.

[srock]

This hull sounds ripe for a slightly larger knock off model for a little more room.

[qstufflebeam]

I just had an opportunity to ski and drive the Nautique Sport 200. I have a 2008 196 and jumped back and forth between both boats. First off the boat has a great layout, as said before plenty of room for everyone. It definitely seems to have a slower hole shot than the 196. Considering that the 196 is much lighter I am not surprised. I was not impressed with the tracking at all. It was very difficult to hold a straight line when pulling a skier through the course. I played with the tunable rudder to see if I could get it to track better but only saw marginal improvement. I does feel stern heavy and even has a tendency to roll. Overall, the handling was no where near a 196. I would compare it by saying it was like driving a sedan vs a sports car. I also noticed that it is sensitive to weight distribution between port and starboard. If not properly balanced there seemed to be much more spray on the driver side at short line lengths.

When I had a chance to ski behind this boat I was really excited because of all the hype I had heard that the wake was as good as the 196. Well I would disagree with that statement. At 22 off 34 mph there is a pretty good bump, much more pronounced vs. the 196, still very ski-able and with some time you could get use to it. At 28 the bump goes away but you can feel your ski hit the prop-wash. It is a sharp pop and can bounce the ski if your not on edge, again absolutely ski-able but not the same caliber as the 196. 32 off still had the same sharp pop at the prop-wash although I don't think it was as hard. 35 off still had the noticeable hard pop but not as pronounced as the longer line lengths.

I did notice the rope hit the tower in my pull out at 35. I couldn't 'feel' it but I saw it happen. I didn't feel it as I skied the pass. I did notice that there seemed to be more spray at that line length vs the 196.

Overall, I think this boat is amazing for what it is, a V-drive. I didn't wakeboard or surf behind it but I would imagine it would have big enough wakes to keep everyone happy. For a hardcore slalom junkie, I recommend you keep your slalom boat. For everyone else, you should absolutely buy this boat!

[swc5150]

Great synopsis! I assumed the "wake as good as a 196" was hype. It seems like an outstanding boat, but putting a crossover boat on par with a dedicated boat just seemed unrealistic.

[Noelb]

Great review qstufflebeam, I've had the chance to ski behind the Sport 200 and I think you are spot on (with my own impressions at least).

One comment I that would add is that in my search for a great boat primarily for skiing but also for the occasional WB set, I tried my neighbour's Bu. He has a Response Lxi with a tower and although it is a direct drive boat, I still found that it kicked a heck of a lot more at 15 off and 22 off than the Sport 200 did.

The 22 off length is a crucial one for me - I was only able to do it consistently since this year after having spent many sets behind a Ski 200. When I skied behind the Sport 200, maybe it was just intimidation, but I couldn't make the 22 off at all.

Finally I ended up ordering a Ski 200 OB. As I told another prospective buyer (who got in contact with me before he bought his Sport 200), if I were a better skier OR a worse skier, this would have been the perfect boat. In other words, if you are happy doing some free skiing or going in the course at 15 off, or if you are consistently able to do 28off or better, then the Sport 200 is a no-brainer.

[quimbolaman]

Great comments on the Sport 200!! Keep them coming! Anything owners would change on the boat now that they have used them a bit more??

[Jbar]

Well we have some hours behind our new SportV and truthfully I am very dissapointed. In my opinion this boat does not even come close to the hype it produced. The bump at 22' off is ridiculous! We have the ZR409 in ours and the boat is still slow at 42mph top speed. I know it will gain 1 or 2 mph after the motor breaks in a bit but still a pretty tough boat to barefoot with. It revs pretty high at skiing speeds so maybe some prop work will make this thing better, may even help the bump? The surf wake seams really good but I am new to surfing. The wakeboard wake is average. Long and short we are going to try and sell the boat and get as much of our investment back as possible. Pics are ealier in this thread if your interested lol.

[MattieK27]

How much? Pm me with info if your serious about selling.

[swc5150]

So what you're say J, is that it's not actually as good of a ski boat as a 196?;-) I called BS on that one the second I first read it. Thanks for your honest take on the 200V, and good luck with the sale.

[TRBenj]

We have the ZR409 in ours and the boat is still slow at 42mph top speed. I know it will gain 1 or 2 mph after the motor breaks in a bit but still a pretty tough boat to barefoot with.

What prop are you running and how many RPM's does it pull (check the tach in the ZO)? 42 sounds painfully slow for that combo- I would have thought it would be good for 47 or so. I wonder if youre up against the rev limiter.