Power racks

[bturner]

Oh come on, let's be honest here, about 95% of the options on the paragon are over the top or at least not needed ( the key word there being needed). As far as looks go, everything is in the eye of the beholder. Are you really going to tell me that the current "Boaty McBoat face" styling elicits the same sleek styling queues reminiscent of the 63 Jag XKE? They're all max cube, mini vans of the water, designed for making big waves. I'll give credit where credit is due, the interiors are really nice in both brands with my personal preference going to Nautique, but the boats themselves, please. I think the last truly sleek boat Nautique made was the 200 Nautique but you might make a case for the new Nautique if you're into the "Battlestar Galactica" angular look. You could probably say the same about the latest version of the ProStar. Love or hate MCs, the one piece cover for the bow on the ProStar was cool. But then again, there's that eye of the beholder thing again.

All these top end boats are full of whizzer-banger what-cha-ma-call-its and feelgood who's-a-ma-jiggers. Fur lined cup holders and infinite color, light show, curtesy lights. Nanny helpers for driving and "someone please set my boat up for me" assistive devices. If you like all this stuff, think it's necessary and are willing to pay for it, I see no problem with any of them and hope you enjoy them all. But to call the latest over the top option ugly or not needed is a bit of a stretch if you're buying into all the other shinny objects and styling of these surf ships.

To me, it's just one more thing.

[GMLIII]

The rear engine hatch of the Paragon is quite heavy. It has the lounge seats on top if it. If you have ever lifted these you know they are substantial. Adding this weight to the rear hatch area requires the fiberglass to be significantly thicker because the weight of the lounge seats would crack the thinner fiberglass on prior generation boats that did not have lounge seats, especially when operating in rough seas. Furthermore, the lounge seats preclude the ability to have a clamshell design. So the unified hatch is quite heavy and requires lifting assistance. Of course they could have used gas struts to lift the structure, but that would still require a significant force to lift/close the hatch. Being a premium boat the natural solution was motorized assist. If you have ever spent time on a larger boat +35 ft you know nearly all have a motorized engine hatch. Nautique thought this was the preferred approach for a premium boat. It makes sense.

Now I have spent several thousand hours on boats with board racks. The number of people I have ever heard say they wish the racks were motorized rounds to zero, in fact it is zero. If I were going to motorize board racks, I would design them so the motor function swung them inboard and outboard, with sensors to prevent hitting a person sitting nearby. This would be convenient when driving onto a lift or docking. I could bring a rack inboard by the push of a button on the dash. That to me makes more sense than having motorized board clamps, that seems utterly pointless.

I could not agree with you more in paragraph 2. I would love to have motorized racks to bring them to the inside position as I approach my boathouse.

[MikeC]

I have one question - when the boat is out of warranty, who's going to pay to fix the electric board racks when they stop working? An electric tower I can understand, electric engine hatch too - you're raising and lowering a large, heavy, cumbersome object, but to secure an object that we used to secure with what is essentially a rubberband I think is a little overkill. I assume the engineers at MC were bored one day.

[greggmck]

Oh come on, let's be honest here, about 95% of the options on the paragon are over the top or at least not needed ( the key word there being needed)....

We were having a critical conversation about the rationale behind a powered lift for a heavy engine hatch vs. powered boat racks. Your extrapolation to thinking I am defending every option on a Paragon is ridiculous. Furthermore, if we are talking about "needs", no one needs a boat, period. We only need air, food, water, shelter and companionship. Everything else is a "want".

Also the conversation about me "crapping on MasterCraft" is another over exaggerated response. I am an engineer and having a fact-based discussion about an electric lifted hatch vs. an electric board rack is all I was doing. It is not crapping on anything, it's called having a critical conversation. I have owned three MasterCrafts. They were fine boats.

[hal2814]

What part of calling something a “high school shop project” is a “fact-based discussion?” My “crapping on Mastercraft” assertion was fair. I will say as far as the power hatch goes at least this time they didn’t put the batteries directly under the hatch. I had a fun time opening the rear hatch on my Super Sport once when the battery died on me.

[greggmck]

I do have opinions. As an engineer I shake my head on the design of the MasterCraft tower, it's one reason MasterCraft does not make my short list when I consider a new boat. To me it looks inappropriate for the boat, especially compared to where the industry has evolved.

[bturner]

Yikes. Where are you getting any of this from? Where did I even mention you or say you were crapping on anything? (Actually I think Hal said something about crap in post 12, is this where you're getting that from? Are you going to admonish him too?) And furthermore (you left out, young man), Greg (now I'm addressing you personally), nothing I said was meant to be directed at you personally If it were, I would have quoted you (like others did) or directed my comments directly at you, like I just did. If you somehow thought my post was directed at you and took offense, I'm truly sorry you somehow made this about you personally, as that was not my intention. I have no want or need to do so.

My comment was meant as an observation on the subjectivity of beauty (remember my line, beauty is in the eye of the beholder) and essential features. Nothing more, nothing less.

Lighten up a bit, it's Friday and this is just a boating forum. I sincerely hope you have a great weekend.

[greggmck]

The comment about "crapping" had nothing to do with you... Go back and reread the thread... I wasn't personally addressing anyone. Just what was posted here. This conversation has gone off the rails so over and out!

[FireBreathingRubberDucky]

That’s probably exactly what Mastercraft thought about the racks. I’m not saying it’s a great idea or even something people were clamoring for. What I am saying is that we probably shouldn’t crap on a new idea we haven’t tried and haven’t really thought of before. There are a lot of really cool things in our surf boats that I like but didn’t think of. I would never have thought to put a thruster on a boat my size. When I initially saw them I thought it was worthless and a sign of a bad driver. Now I have one and think it’s great. Who knows? Maybe in practice the motorized rack is a good idea. Or maybe it’s not. Or maybe it’s one of those things that adds just enough value for the price to start putting them in more boats.

Can someone say oversensitive? When I read through Gregg’s post I don’t get the impression he’s “crapping” on anything. He just doesn’t see utility in the design. I even disagree with him on how the tower looks but that’s okay. If we all felt the same, everyone would be driving around with the same colored boat. It’s okay to have differing opinions…it’s honestly paramount for innovation. I have considered Mastercraft on several occasions but I just can’t say enough good things about Nautique the company and my local dealer.

[BasaltRMK]

FireBreathingRubberDucky - well stated! I was just writing a response along the lines of 'man, that got heated quickly'...

Personally (and it's just my personal opinion, nothing more), I'm on team greggmck on this one. Seems like an odd choice to add complexity to, given the wear and tear that board racks take, the speed with which people generally want to mount and dismount their boards, the dripping water, etc. I picture them breaking a lot, but who knows, maybe they'll be great. And i likewise do not like the look of MC towers at all, in fact I viscerally dislike them. But as stated above I'm glad there's a ton of different opinions out there, or else life would be pretty boring. (Disclaimer - I had the privilege of riding, surfing, and driving a new X-24 all last Saturday. Nice boat and good wave, but reaffirmed my love of Nautique).

Big picture opinion (and here's where I'll get in trouble) we're all on a forum about recreational boats (and props to NautiqueJeff for making it all happen). Anyone taking themselves too seriously here might want to consider that.

- bob