Boat Suggestions/Am I'm going down the right path?

[scott resick]

master craft~disaster raft. nuff said.

[H2O]

I have owned both the GT40 and Excalibur. I actually like the Excal better. It is smoother, quieter, feels more powerful, and gets about the same fuel efficiency. Reliability for both is awesume. Can't go wrong with either, they are great motors. I was a little worried about the Excal when I switched due to all the PN love for the GT40. In my opinion the Excal is as least as good as the GT40 if not better!

[Mikeski]

I prefer the GT-40 but it's close enough that the Excal powered boat should not be avoided if you find a deal on one. I am pretty open to any brand of boat and don't wear my "Nautique goggles" too often. That said the MC X-10 would be toward the end of my list. That hull requires a trim plate or it porpoises at any speed over 30mph = poor design. The wakeboarding wake is also freakishly wide. I would not even consider slalom skiing behind one. I do however like the old pointy nose X-star/X2/X1 hull, it is a great all around performer. It should be easy to find one of those in your budget. I have skied behind a new X-Star and that was pointless, but the wakeboarding wake is one of my favorites. I would think you could find a 04 or 05 SV211 very close to your price range. The SV211 wakeboarding wake is not the best. After riding behind a few of my buddies well weighted Mastercrafts and Malibu's I was not that happy riding behind my 211 last summer. Not enough so to sell it but enough so to be disappointed quite a bit. It's OK if you don't mind going out into the flats on most tricks but the ramp is too short and steep to help much on the landings, it is also a fairly narrow wake.

[mnwild2]

You should reverse this post and place it on Team Mastcrafts site and see what kind of replies you get. I'm not saying make your buying decision based on anything, but I think you'll get a good feeling about Nautiques.

I think I'm looking at my neighbor's mint 2001 Mastercraft X-10 ( I think) but would be interested in opinions.

Me-50 year old, average at everything I've ever do..ski (looking to give up) wakesurf (just took up last year but really enjoy). We think this might be the new "family thing to do" and we also do the usual with the kids....kneeboard, tube, wake board etc. Kids are 12, 14 & 17. We usually have some newbies down s well. I spend 80% of my time as the captain.

We have a house on a small 5,500 acre lake and go just about every week. We just sold a 1995 Nautique Super Sport and love the GT 40. I'd like to have something reliable, as economical as possible and with decent resale in 4-5 years.

As a side note I'm also considering a 2000-2003 Super Air Nautique.

Let's here it..........thanks!

[azeus17]

Not saying this is typical or normal, but hearing what everyone else here is saying about MC engines, I am starting to think so. My brothers father in law has gone through 3 engines on his 05 era x-10. All three were dealer maintained each year and not ragged on. He has also been through a trans with the last engine. It was bad enough that he is thinking about switching brands. He had a demo from the dealer for 2 months this past summer because of all the issues...(at least this dealer was willing to take care of him in that respect). Besides the engine, I have to agree with the overall quality being far less in a MC. Seems like every time we were out in his boat last year, something was wrong with it. And, that freakin tower just about needs a crane to raise and lower it...def not something my wife, or a smaller guy could/would want to do by themselves.

Just stuff to think about...

[MikeC]

There's a reason why your Super Sport brought a good price on the resale market - primarily because it has the name Correct Craft/Nautique associated with it and it was built to last. So that about covers the resale argument.
As far as other manufacturers go - really, if you take care of a boat, any boat, it will last a long time, sometimes you have to put more effort into maintaining other manufacturers boats though. As far as I'm concerned all the manufacturers make good boats - they all have things I don't like and things I love; some porpoise, some are finicky with ballast (some are very, very finicky), some feel like a barge when trying to turn, some have difficult systems to operate (it's always fun to hit the touch screen by accident and find you ballast suddenly dumping), some have way too much bling and some need to spend a few dollars on good carpet and upholstery. But at the end of the day if you line up every manufacturers boat side by side, it would be much more difficult to find faults with the Nautique than any other brand.

[thedude]

If i were in your shoes, here are the 2 boats I'd consider:

I have a 2003 SANTE and I can say its been great for 5 years I've owned it. I've replaced a ballast pump, keypad, a perfect pass servo motor, and replaced the gasket on the V-drive oil pan, but that's about it aside from normal fluid changes. I have about 760 hours on my boat, so it gets used.

My friend has a 2003 Supra 21V with the gravity games ballast. That is also a nice boat that you should be able to find in your price range. His has run strong for about 1200 hours, aside from replacing the normal small things, no major issues. I'd say the wake on the supra is a bit bigger than the SANTE in stock form (the Supra does have about 2800lbs with the GG ballast system), but it is similar in shape to the Nautique, but better for Surfing right out of the box.

Both engines are chevy 350's, so no real advantage there, the Supra may have a tad bit more interior room, but no real advantage there. For resale, the Nautique will probably be better.

I don't think you can go wrong with either of the two choices above, for me personally; they are the two boats I've ridden behind the most, I'd buy either one with no regrets if they were in good shape.

[hondaprlud]

@hondaprlud - That's fascinating about the pylon. My buddy just bought an '04 SANTE and I had to go look at the pictures to make sure it has a pylon - it does. It must have been an option that was not chosen for your boat. I presume there is no hole in the deck for the pylon?

No hole. I assume it was an option. I wonder what % is out there without this. Seems like most of them have it.

[crobi2]

Well, a lot of guys have taken the pylon out to make room for ballast puppies anyway, so at least you won't have a hole there if you ever go that route. I guess yours was built as a pure wakeboarding machine!

[jaybird]

I would stick with Nautique 2003 or better, major improvements to boat and engine 2003 and up.