Sport Nautique 200

[twrv]

Looking for experiences from Sport Nautique 200 owners now that summer is close to being over. There's been a lot of talk debating how flat the ski wakes are and how rampy the boarding wakes are. I've also heard some talk about this boat being "weight sensitive." What does that mean? Is leaning to one side, or does that mean that weight affects the flatness of the ski wake? Besides that, any must have options, any regrets?

[swc5150]

http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/sh...Sport-Nautique

This was a good thread about it. Some honest positives and negatives.

[Jbar]

Here is my take after close to 100hrs behind the 200v. Our boat for the record has the zr409 engine, tower and 3 event ZO. The ski wake is for the most part really good after some prop alterations. The only hang up is the 22' off wake which we were able to improve with changing the prop but I beleive we can still get it better and i'll be trying more prop configurations next year. The boat was also extremely slow with the facrory prop but now have a top speed of about 47mph at 5200rpm and 3900 rpm at 36mph ski speed gate down. Again I think this thing can go faster yet. It is a shame Nautique did not do a better job with prop testing before they released this thing. Ski wakes at 15'off 28-34mph are really good and close to a dd200 and I ski behind a dd200 2-3 times per week at my ski club. The 36mph 15' off wake is a liitle harder than the dd200 but still very close. The 22' off wake kinda sucks to be honest and everthing shorter than that is again really good. Is it as good as a dd200 or 196-NO but its very close. I have skied behind the current prostar 197, prostar 214v and response and the ski wake is better or as good. The mastercrafts are way worse IMO. Surf wake is again really good for a boat this size. We have additional bags plumbed into the factory system in each ski locker though(approx350lb/bag). Wakeboard wake is more than good enough for 90% of riders. The other 10% would not be looking at a boat like this anyway! The hull is more or less the same as a dd200 which was not only developed for slalom but for superior trick wakes aswell. This characteristic I think is what gives it a good surf/board wake once weight is added! For me I have been spoiled after skiing behind a dd200 with a 422 prop so much on a dedicated ski lake. I would have loved a dd200 of my own but on bigger water that is not glass calm 100% of the time this boat gives you so much more versatility. The boat is very weight sensitive as is the dd200, meaning if the weight is not distributed evenly side to side it will list to the heavier side easily when moving. Storage is again good for a boat this size maybe not as good as a wakesetter or mc214v though. We however store as little as possible so to not alter the ski wake!. We have had some minor issues, one bad alternator, two cleats have spider cracking in the surrounding gelcoat, a few little interior blems and a chunk of the white powder coating came off on the tower. All issues will be dealt with by my dealer next month once we have finished for the season.

Hope that helps a little.

[twrv]

What size prop did you switch to? Is the weight sensitivity always an issue. I mean, when you are driving out to your sets, do you have to arrange everyone in different seats, so the boat doesn't list or lean, or is it something you do as a matter of cleaning up the wake for skiing?

Thanks for the detailed info so far, by the way.

Here is my take after close to 100hrs behind the 200v. Our boat for the record has the zr409 engine, tower and 3 event ZO. The ski wake is for the most part really good after some prop alterations. The only hang up is the 22' off wake which we were able to improve with changing the prop but I beleive we can still get it better and i'll be trying more prop configurations next year. The boat was also extremely slow with the facrory prop but now have a top speed of about 47mph at 5200rpm and 3900 rpm at 36mph ski speed gate down. Again I think this thing can go faster yet. It is a shame Nautique did not do a better job with prop testing before they released this thing. Ski wakes at 15'off 28-34mph are really good and close to a dd200 and I ski behind a dd200 2-3 times per week at my ski club. The 36mph 15' off wake is a liitle harder than the dd200 but still very close. The 22' off wake kinda sucks to be honest and everthing shorter than that is again really good. Is it as good as a dd200 or 196-NO but its very close. I have skied behind the current prostar 197, prostar 214v and response and the ski wake is better or as good. The mastercrafts are way worse IMO. Surf wake is again really good for a boat this size. We have additional bags plumbed into the factory system in each ski locker though(approx350lb/bag). Wakeboard wake is more than good enough for 90% of riders. The other 10% would not be looking at a boat like this anyway! The hull is more or less the same as a dd200 which was not only developed for slalom but for superior trick wakes aswell. This characteristic I think is what gives it a good surf/board wake once weight is added! For me I have been spoiled after skiing behind a dd200 with a 422 prop so much on a dedicated ski lake. I would have loved a dd200 of my own but on bigger water that is not glass calm 100% of the time this boat gives you so much more versatility. The boat is very weight sensitive as is the dd200, meaning if the weight is not distributed evenly side to side it will list to the heavier side easily when moving. Storage is again good for a boat this size maybe not as good as a wakesetter or mc214v though. We however store as little as possible so to not alter the ski wake!. We have had some minor issues, one bad alternator, two cleats have spider cracking in the surrounding gelcoat, a few little interior blems and a chunk of the white powder coating came off on the tower. All issues will be dealt with by my dealer next month once we have finished for the season.

Hope that helps a little.

[NoWake]

We put about 50hrs on ours this summer. No regrets at all, great boat.

[Dinsdale]

It's not perfect at everything but I can't imagine another boat that does everything so well. Really interested to know what you did for a prop. I said all summer if it wasn't for prop wash there would hardly be a bump at all for skiing. If you've improved the wash, I'm really excited. I have the 343 and can only get about 41 mph out of it.
Very sensitive to weight. Our boat seems to list slightly to port. When there are 3 of us in the boat we look pretty cute all cuddled in the middle to even the wake!
After skiing I can surf with the stock ballast and my wife and daughter in the boat who don't weigh 250 lbs between the two of them. World class waterski wake that you can surf behind a couple minutes later. Tough to beat.
Our only issue was chromax letters falling off, but Wizard Lake looked after that. Fit and finish was generally very good.
Buy another? In a heartbeat!

[ChrisMakk]

I completely agree with the above posts. I've put on 80h this summer and love the boat. The only disappointment is you need 28 off before you get an amazing wake. I'm interested to try a new prop so i'm hoping 'Jbar' posts his specs on the prop he has found to work the best. I'm also going to try some extra bags next year to get some more weight. I can board and surf with the standard issue, but the extra weight would be a lot better.

[wawasee]

Would a dd200 surf and board just as well as a 200v if you put a ton of wieght in it? I would be torn between buying a dd200 with a tower or 200v.

[ChrisMakk]

If you can ski at 28 off personally I would go for the 200v. You get a amazing wake at 28 off and the seating is a lot better with the vdrive. Plus, you get the multi-sport stuff all built in. Just my 2 cents.

[Noelb]

Would a dd200 surf and board just as well as a 200v if you put a ton of wieght in it? I would be torn between buying a dd200 with a tower or 200v.

I decided on a 200 DD with tower after trying the 200V (22 off was too important for me). As a wakeboard enthousiast (was my main sport for 6 yrs until the knee injury), I can tell you that a properly weighed 200 DD will throw an amazing WB wake. Start with #750 in the back (between motor box and back seat), then add another 350# to 750# to your taste.

[soozand3g]

we were in the 200 sport this summer. we own a 220 and truly love it, but i have to say that the 200 was awesome! i love how the dashboard is lower than in the other nautiques. it really lets you see the water in front of you which i like alot.

we loaded the boat up with fat sacs (and people!) and had a wake ALMOST as big as with the 220. i will say that for wakeboarding, i like the 220 better, but for wakesurfing, i felt that the 200 was almost as good. and, although, we don't ski, we pulled a slalom skier and he loved it! i liked how the ski pole was removable.

just my 2 cents...

[twrv]

I was able to demo one and I got to tell you, that the ski wake was impressive. The cons are the weight-sensitivity that others have mentioned and the lack of storage.

This boat is extremely sensitive and you really need to pay attention to where your passengers are seated. All 150 lbs of me was driving, my 105 lb wife was seated at port and the 175 lb salesman was seated at rear center and the boat listed and pulled port to the point where I had to input a lot of counter steering to straighten it out.

Also, there really wasn't any room to store skis. No ski locker (ballast) and you could only fit skis on the starboard side locker (I could only get one in there) and under the observer's seat. The question is whether or not the ski wake is worth the other sacrifices and if so, why not get a dd? This really put a hitch in my plans.

[tke104]

I demoed one this summer. I was pretty impressed with the boat. I didn't ski behind it, but the ski wake looked better than my 2002 DD Air Nautique. I did get a chance to wakeboard and surf behind it though. The surf wave was OK, but it was relatively short. We filled the factory port & belly and filled a 750# bag to about 550-600 lbs on top of the port tank (there was room to fill it a little more). We had 5 people in the boat all on the port side (2 in the bow). I'm sure it could have been tweaked to be pretty decent, but I honestly wasn't super impressed. It would be fine for the average family though.

The wakeboard wake was very similar to the old SAN wake. We filled the factory tanks and put about 550-600 lbs in each rear locker. It was hard and steep with the hydro-gate set to "trick", and much more mellow with the hydro-gate set to "cruise". When the gate was set to "cruise" the wake lost height though, so it would require more weight in my opinion to beef it up. I honestly prefer the newer 210 wake over the old 210 wake so this was a bummer for me. This wake is not by any means near the caliber of the newer 210 or 230 though. In my opinion, the 200 is a good boat for a skiing crew that wakeboards sometimes. If you are a wakeboard crew that skis sometimes the 210 is your best bet, and if you're looking for the best wakeboard and surf boat and don't care about sacrificing the ski wake then the 230 is the best bet.

I definitely noticed the side to side weight sensitivity as others have pointed out. I think that this is amplified by the fact that the bench seat in the back doesn't wrap back around to behind the driver. People seemed to sit more on the port side because that's where all the room is.

[wawasee]

I decided on a 200 DD with tower after trying the 200V (22 off was too important for me). As a wakeboard enthousiast (was my main sport for 6 yrs until the knee injury), I can tell you that a properly weighed 200 DD will throw an amazing WB wake. Start with #750 in the back (between motor box and back seat), then add another 350# to 750# to your taste.

I thought that would be the case. Thanks for that info.

[sportnautique200or226]

Guys I am going to buy the Sport 200 but looking to your posts make me a bit doubtful. What do you mean by props? And I am both a wakeboarder and a skier. What do you think?