Sport Nautique

[rman56]

I was curious about the sport nautique's. I had a guy tell me thats the boat they make the air nautique from. I have a 83 SN right now and have been thinking of upgrading. I found a really nice 1996 sport and thought, a tower and racks and were ready to go. Would a hull like this one be a better wake than my 83 SN or should a guy buy a air or super air? The price on the air's are still a little over buget right now. Thanks for any help!

[HS]

This link takes you to an article I first saw on the "Wakeboard Report" site and the piece was originally written I think by Erik (a PN member).

I think the article provides some good insight on the lineage of the nauutique line. But it says it was the SUPER Sport that became the original 210, and the Sport became the 216. I can't say for sure if it was the predecessor to the Air, though.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?not...15822265107993

[rman56]

Thanks.........

[natedog]

just as stated above the sport nautique is the same boat as an "air" except the "Air" has factory tower, ballast, and sticker saying "Air", if you really want a great wake, look for a super sport, which is the same as a super air until 05 or 06. i have a super sport and added a wake tower and fat sacs and i replaced the prop with an acme 1234 to pull the weight, i cant think of a better budget wake machine, i found my 1996 supersport for cheap last last year, they are out there if you look and have cash ready to make an offer and drive to get it.

[Chexi]

SS = Super Air up through 2006.

Sports were same hull as Super Sports through 1997 (just d-drive not v-drive). In 1998, the year that the Air D-drive was born (some appeared in late 1997 as 1998 model year boats), the hull of the Sport (and Air) was changed to be something a little different from the SS hull. From what I understand, the wakeboard wake actually diminished a bit, so 1997 and earlier Sports can actually get a little better wakeboard wake than 1998 and later Sports/Airs, but 1997 and earlier Sports have no rear cargo area, which tends to be a significant drawback, especially since you can hide a lot of ballast back there (see my profile under my Air ballast project).

All that said, if an early Air is out of your budget, a SS/SAN should be even more out of your budget. The v-drives command a premium over the d-drives. A good condition late 90's SS (with tower) and 2000-2001 SAN will typically run $20k and up. There are the occassional steals out there (usually on mid to late 90's SS's), but expect to pay $20k-$25k for a SAN or loaded SS made to be like a SAN.

Two things to keep in mind when you are looking are: (1) pre-1999, the bows were playpens, not walk-throughs, on Sports, Airs, SS, and SAN, if that matters to you and (ii) factory towers in 1998-1999 (the FCT 1) is not great and generally had problems with welds breaking. The 2nd gen FCT is much better, and many SS and 1998-1999 SANs have been upgraded. This is a $2k tower, so figure that in. An SS or SAN with a FCT 2 should be worth $1.5k - $2k more than one with a FCT1, all other things being equal.

[rman56]

Thanks I appreciate the info.

[rman56]

Does the SN in the 90's have much of a wake or would my 83 wake still be better?