Looking at 2002 Air Nautique? need advice

[jslow68]

I'm looking at purchasing a 2002 Air. I was looking for a super air, but haven't found much in my price range. I am very familiar with working on the gt-40. Is there anything I need to look for with this boat? I'm also concerned that it does not have enough ballast. Is it possible to add more, that is permanant? I don't want to be manually filling and it taking up room in the boat. Anything else that I may be missing?

Thanks in adavance!

[Chexi]

What is your price range? For the price of a 2002 Air, you should be able to find a 99-2001 SAN or SS.

[jslow68]

My price range was in the low 20's.

[azeus17]

They are out there...I just paid $26 for my 02 SANTE, but that is only because I was very picky. I saw others advertised for less.
http://www.buxtonmarine.com/web/boat...ition_id=10426
http://www.buxtonmarine.com/web/boat...ition_id=10426

I bet both of these have a little wiggle room in the price...and that was without even searching all of craigslist.

[jslow68]

I did see those two. I can't do yellow no matter how hard I try. And the red one seems that it is a little beat. The interior looks to be worked over. I wouldn't have any money to re-do anything. Maybe I'm too picky.

[TexanC3]

If you want a V-drive, keep looking. Ballast can always be added
http://onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=30037
http://onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=30822
http://onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=31339
http://onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=29946

[Chexi]

Red one looks decent to me, althought I prefer the GT40.

[tke104]

What will you be using the boat primarily for, how much additional weight do you want to run, and how many people will be in the boat?

I had a 2002 Air Nautique, and it was a great boat for 10 years. It has a really good ski wake, and it can be weighed down to produce a good wakeboard wake. You can surf behind it (you can surf behind any inboard), although that's not where it shines. If you plan to wakeboard, you will definitely have to add additional ballast over stock. I rode it this past summer with only stock ballast and about 4 people in the boat and the wake was a joke compared to what it is with weight. I would run about 1500 lbs + people and gear regularly. If you want to hide the weight, you can put sacs in the rear locker, ski locker, and under the bow seats (not tons of room there though). There is no belly ballast on this boat so keep that in mind when distributing weight, although because the engine is more forward than the super air you don't need as much ballast up front to keep from purposing. I honestly think the best wakeboard wake is when I would put 2 750 lb sacs on each side of the engine. You have to move the sacs around when they are filling up to keep them from getting stuck and pushing up on the sidewalls, but the sidewalls can definitely take the pressure once they are full - and they do get full.

With all that being said, if wakeboarding and/or surfing is your game and you don't care as much about a ski wake, I would strongly urge you to look for a super air in your budget, or save up until you can afford one. The Air is a great family crossover, but it really isn't built for the serious wakeboard crowd.

Here are some pictures of the Air's wakeboard wake with about 2200 lbs+. It was a pretty choppy and it was amateur driver hour. Don't be fooled by the port side though - this wake is hard and steep.

[Chexi]

I loved my 99 Air. I still miss it. I poured my heart and sole into that boat, redoing all of the upholstery (with skins from Christines/Nautiqueskins.com), upgrading the audio, installing an auto-ballast... the list goes on. The handling of that boat was incredible, and the GT40 started every time. If you want a cross-over and don't need a lot of room, it really is a great choice.

With all of that said, I agree with the above post. Unless you plan on skiing a lot, the SAN/SS is the better choice. I can ride my 2000 SAN with literally no ballast (other than about 320 lbs of lead) with only the driver in the boat at 22mph and still have a great wakeboarding wake. And with virtually no ballast, I can run it all day without having to fill up. I know most people slam their boats with ballast, but unless you are pro-caliber and are doing combined spins/flips, you really do not need it with this hull. It is one of the many benefits of the classic SS/SAN hull. The only drawback to the hull is that the wake can be hard on the knees when you case it.

[jslow68]

I don't need a huge wake for wakeboarding, but it would be nice to surf every now and then. I would like to hard plumb in bigger ballast in the reaer locker and one in the ski locker. Would that be enough? I really don't want to be manually filling a fat sac that takes up most of the room in the boat.

[Chexi]

In an Air, no. You cannot get a good surf wake without ballast in excess of what you can put in the rear compartment and ski locker.

[Chexi]

Well, at least not if you are using water ballast. I suppose if you filled the surf side back up completely with lead you might, but you'd probably end up at the bottom of the lake that way.

[azeus17]

Sorry if any of these have been posted...just some others I was looking at.

http://houston.craigslist.org/boa/2794747502.html
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/boa/2737045145.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/boa/2783778272.html
http://denver.craigslist.org/boa/2827017013.html

[tke104]

Well, at least not if you are using water ballast. I suppose if you filled the surf side back up completely with lead you might, but you'd probably end up at the bottom of the lake that way.

Truth. I would put a 750 lb bag in the rear locker, a 750 bag on the side of the engine compartment, and fill the surf side stock tank. Then I would move people around. I want to note that the boat is almost sunk at this point, and I would be very nervous with even a decent driver. The surf wake is very temperamental and seemed like it would vary daily with the same setup. If I accidentally filled both back tanks, even with the full 750 lb bag next to the engine compartment, the wake would suffer. If you want to go the lead route, you will definitely benefit from some in the rear corner - I would always make the biggest person sit in that seat. Anyway, it depends on what type of surfing you want to do.

[shag]

I would look for a SAN. Another thing to think of, is that CC, imo, at that time - did not have the tranny's in the direct drives built yet to handle a lot of additional stress of extra ballast. And it is $$$$ to replace a tranny.