Boat Guidance por favor....

[pheery]

Looking at an 03 Air Nautique. 330 motor, 370 hours. Looks to be in nice shape, no major issues. Dual axle trailer, bimini, complete cover, teak platform.

What is a reasonable price to pay?

I had a super air, but I like to ski as well, and it proved more difficult behind a super air. Is an air nautique a good choice? Is it work giving up the v-drive for the slalom performance? I have searched, and came up with mostly older threads, wanted new opinions. Thoughts?

[TRDon]

A decent 03 should be in the high 20s low 30s range. I am not a good skier, but like to carve at least once a year just to do it. I found my 03 Super air to be crappy at best vs my old 93 sport. That being said, I board a lot and surf quite a bit too. Was it worth it for trade off? It is to me, I am not competitive at skiing, nor do I care if I progress. I dont progress at wakeboarding by comparission, but what I give up in skiing, I am much happier with more preformance toward wake and surf. Follow where you prefer to have your dicipline and you will be happier you steered that way. If you are 50/50, a DD Air might be the boat for you. Just dont expect it to be good at anything. They do anything well, but nothing great.

[pheery]

thanks for the input. I am certainly not competitive with skiing, but I do enjoy it. I am not very good at wakeboarding either, but I enjoy that too. I want a good all around boat for my kid to learn both on growing up. I am concerned more with giving up the v-drive space and putting the motor in the middle of the boat.

How much smaller does an air nautique feel compared to a super air?

[surroundsound64]

I can't comment on size, but sounds like y'all need a dd.

Prices... I've kind of quit looking now, but I was hard on it a few weeks ago. You should be able to find that boat for 26-27.5k. That should also come well equipped and probably a tandem axle trailer. Although I wasn't opposed to a single.

[themaestro]

Sorry for the advertisement, but here's what I have and the price I would ask:

I have an 03 216 Air Limited with 250 hours. Rare red hull and tower. Tandem Trailer with chrome wheels and spare. Bimini, jump seat, and bow filler cushion. Excalibur 330. No issues, new riser gaskets, fuel filter, plugs, cap and rotor. Teak platform, Perfect Pass, Digital gauges. Tower speakers, 2 amps, dual batteries with perko switch. Spare Prop, towable cover. Almost new condition. If you want to come to San Diego its yours for 27K.

http://i.imgur.com/ZZtYp.jpg

[pheery]

Why are you in San Diego? If you were near me, I would scoop that up for sure. Love the colors

[themaestro]

Come on down! (Now I REALLY sound like a salesman)

[pheery]

ship it to me for $27k and you have a deal.

[pheery]

I looked at an 03 yesterday. It did not have a speedo or a depth gauge. Is that common in these boats? You could use the perfect pass as the speedo, but I would prefer the analog gauge myself. Also, one of the ballast tanks wasn't working. The boat is in good condition overall, a few cracks in the interior, but nothing major. How easy are these issues (speedo, depth gauge) to fix?

[xrichard]

pheery...I had a 95 Sport Nautique for years...same hull as the 03 Air--just a different interior and deck. The slalom wake on my boat was considered excellent for a family ski boat. Back when I skied, I found it had a rooster tail that kicked pretty hard depending on the speed and length you were running. It was fine for intermediate/recreational skiing, but you'd be hard pressed to get serious with it as getting past 15' off put you into the rooster tail. When I switched to wakeboarding, I was lucky to find that the 95-06 hull puts out one of the best wakeboarding wakes ever, especially if you like a steep wake.

The biggest drawback of the DD over the v-drive is interior space. You wouldn't think there'd be such a huge difference, but there is especially if you sack out the boat. With a V-drive, you can hide ballast in the rear storage compartments and throw a bag up front. With a DD, you have sacks out in the open and are constantly walking on/over them. The v-drive layout is also much nicer for a family as everyone is sitting on one area--the DD requires a pretty big separation as the motor is right in the middle of everything.

I've never slalomed behind a v-drive version of that hull, but I'm guessing the DD is significantly better in that regard.

To me, it would come down to: priority on wakeboarding and comfort, then get the v-drive. Priority on skiing, then get the DD.

[EntiatSkier]

Just get a DD Ski Nautique and a V-Drive Air Nautique!!!!