Sport 200 - Thank You Nautique!

[Surfsmith]

Up to about 40 hrs on the Sport 200. Every hr brings out more appreciation for such a great boat!

Left the dock with the family at 10am got back at 4:30pm. A little slalom to start for the adults in the morning (before too many tubers woke up), followed by wakeboarding for the whole family (shortened the rope and got the daughter w2w for the first time, with full ballast), stopped in a cove for lunch and a rest, wake surfing sessions to finish the afternoon off! All without tripping over ballast bags, each other, or all the gear (barefoot boom, slalom ski, jr combos, 4 wakeboards, and a surfboard) which was all neatly stored away.

For a hack slalom skier I enjoy crossing the wake behind this boat more than my previous 2 Nautiques
Wakeboarding, even I can get w2w at 70' - no where close behind the 206.
Surfing is a blast - only the 7 yr old could do it behind the 206

Oh yeah, we also just got back from a family holiday where we trailered the boat over 1200 miles round trip. My first experience with a tandem trailer - won't be going back to a single axle anytime soon!

So for us the Sport 200 is our G25!!!

Thank you Nautique for building a versatile boat that can do it all pretty darn good!

Thank you to the team at Lauderdale Lakes Marina for getting our family into our new boat!

[dski]

Interested in the slalom ski comparison to your old 206. You are saying it has a better ski wake than your 206? What speeds/line lengths?

[81nautique]

Similar experience every weekend here with our 2012 sport. Only thing I was not sold on was the slaom wake UNTIL yesterday I shortened the rope to 28 off and was instantly in heaven. 28 off sounds crazy for free skiing but it is an absolute blast and the wake is fantastic. Wife and I just got back from a morning on the river, 7am slalom, wakeboard , trick and then a easy set of surfing. lounged on the deck, sandwiches and back home just as all the crazies were putting in. This boat is the real deal.

[Surfsmith]

dski

Its tough to be emphatic without doing side by side test runs, but I will say the wake is better than the 206, and this is with the 200 loaded with more gear than what I could fit in the 206. However, the last time behind the 206 was last October... I was getting a little worried about the 200V and slaloming based on some of the comments posted here in the past and recently, but after my first slalom run no more worries.

As stated in the original post I'm a bit of a wuss slalomer, so currently running 30 mph @15 off. This put me right in the middle of the rooster tail, if you don't look at it you don't know its there. It must be soft as I am not getting launched, have the feeling this boat will allow me to improve my slalom skills, I had seemed to have plateaued behind the 206.The slow speed and long line are indicative of where I was comfortable with the previous boats (always went at 28mph). Goal is to be in the 32-34 mph range shortly and start going to shorter line lengths - the wake as viewed from the boat really flattens and widens once past 32. I currently just free ski as there has historically not been a course on our lake/river; however, just noticed someone put a course in yesterday. Need to find out who did it and try to get permission to use it. I have never slalomed behind a 196 or 200DD so cannot comment. So unless your a competition slalomer I'd be surprised you could find a speed/line length you weren't happy with. If you are after the best possible slalom wake than the 200DD is the obvious ticket, if you can settle for second place than the Sport 200 is the ticket - sorry 196'ers.
Wife is 26 mph at 15 off.

My point was that I feel I do have a competition level slalom wake, but then I can convert the boat into wakeboarding and surf mode in a matter of minutes, without compromising the interior esthetics or function.

Bottom Line: Boat performs as advertised!

I read with interest the threads that are talking about adding ballast to 206's and 200DD's, that was me last fall with my 206. Glad I spent the kids college fund on the Sport 200 as there is no way I could have gotten the 206 to function the way the 200 does - and I really liked the 206! Adding ballast to a 200DD is just wrong!

regards,

[Surfsmith]

...This boat is the real deal.

Exactly!!!

I'll have to try the 28 off. My problem is getting the wife and kids up early enough to beat the crazies.

[dski]

Surfsmith, great information! We are pretty similar in the slalom dep (working on 34mph /15off). 206 works great for me (bump at 22 is hard but manageable) and is pretty good for the kids (at 21 and 25 mph). I guess the real concern is for them. I have the rare case where my kids always pick slalom first and are working on the course. I don't want to go backwards on the wake or they will quickly move on to other things. (Which I don't enjoy near as much) I can tell you the wake on the 200DD is just incredible at every speed.

Would love to have the flexibility of the 200V, however our breakdown is probably 80% slalom, 15% wakeboard and 5% surf. With the main slalom course that is really protected being too shallow now, the kids will probably be doing a bit more wakeboarding.

Getting a demo ride on a 200v is next to impossible here in Utah so I haven't been able to give it a whirl. Do you have any pics of wake at 26mph?

[Surfsmith]

dski, no pics of the wake at the moment. I'll see if I can get some next weekend.

[bscott]

Surfsmith, sounds like the perfect boat. Have you used the barefoot boom yet? How did it fit? Any worries about using it w/a removable pylon?

[swc5150]

If you are after the best possible slalom wake than the 200DD is the obvious ticket, if you can settle for second place than the Sport 200 is the ticket - sorry 196'ers.

I'd have to respectfully disagree on that one:-)... the 196 is still one of the greatest ski boats of all time, and really not far off of a 200 - with only a little more spray and a slightly larger -15/22 wake. Anyway, glad you're loving your new ride! The 200V does seem like an awesome boat, and head and shoulders above other crossovers out there.

[Surfsmith]

Surfsmith, sounds like the perfect boat. Have you used the barefoot boom yet? How did it fit? Any worries about using it w/a removable pylon?

bscott,
No, have not used the boom yet. Its all fitted and adjusted, clamp on the pylon, etc., but yes a little nervous with a removable pylon. I don't want to be the first...

[Surfsmith]

I'd have to respectfully disagree on that one:-)... the 196 is still one of the greatest ski boats of all time, and really not far off of a 200 - with only a little more spray and a slightly larger -15/22 wake. Anyway, glad you're loving your new ride! The 200V does seem like an awesome boat, and head and shoulders above other crossovers out there.

swc5150,
I was waiting for someone to call me out on that one, I've not skied behind a 196.

[swc5150]

swc5150,
I was waiting for someone to call me out on that one, I've not skied behind a 196.

You'd love it! It's an amazing pull, however it doesn't provide the space and luxury of the 200. It still amazes me how CC made a boat that skis a little better than a 196, but added all that space and comfort. For the die hard 3 event guy, the 200 is almost overkill.

[Surfsmith]

dski, check out this thread:
http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/sh...884#post185884

[prairiethunder]

Surfsmith,

do you feel the 200v skis better than your 206? or, you like it better due to versatility? both boats are on my "next I would like to have"... 206 would be sooner 200v would down the road $$$. i think I would go 200V before a 216 DD.

[Surfsmith]

Prairethunder,

I feel it skis better than the 206; however, I don't think it tracks as well as the 206 did. May have something to do without an engine sitting on top of the fins.

Yes, the versatility is awesome and is the key to this boat. Its pretty amazing to me that a 20' boat can do it all so well. Even pulled a barefooter at 42.5 mph last week. I wasn't planning on trading in my 206 until I took the 200 for a spin...