Ski and Kneeboard Racks for 2001 Air Nautique

[northernoak]

I have a 2001 Air Nautique with a black FCT 2nd gen (the one that collapses). I'll throw a pic below. Last summer was our first year with this boat so we didn't make any changes and wanted to just see how everything operated as is with our uses. My wife and I are slalom skiers and this year or next our kids will be getting some skis too. Its quickly become clear that getting skis in/out of the ski locker is a pain when you're frequently taking ski run turns and we'd end up leaving skis on the floor. Making them a tripping hazard for everyone and at some point I imagine the ski fin will cut/wear through the carpet. At the end of the season we also got a kneeboard which the whole family enjoys using but again there is no place to put it when its not in use.

For this summer, I'd like to find some tower racks to put a set of slalom skis into and another rack to put the kneeboard on. Does anyone have recommendations on some slalom ski and kneeboard racks that could fit our tower? Preferably black and right now I don't have a big budget for this so I need to keep that in mind. Next summer we're hoping to get a bimini from TowerBiminis if that makes any difference.

[skibum1110]

You have to seach for flight clips. They were oem racks for that tower. They come up for sale occasionally.

[SilentSeven]

2004 206 owner here - had to deal with this.

First, Nautique Flight clips are nearly impossible to find and/or people want pretty silly money for them. Were designed primarily for wakeboards. Probably don't want to that to be your primary solution. They are cool if you can nab a set.

Here's a few budget friendly options.

For skis, I have one of these from racks from Monster. Works well to rack a set of doubles. Also fits slalom skis with a rear toe binding. I can't get my comp double high wrap ski in as the spread of the holders won't accept the ski. You'll want to check the spread to your skis before you decided to keep. The rack has a quick release for fast removal. I see they are 'out of stock' - not sure if that's permanent or not. https://monstertower.com/monster-water-ski-rack.html

Kneeboard racks are tricky as the correct rack is completely dependent on the thickness of the board & pad (rotomolded vs fiberglass composite). Never have found a knee board rack I like. We keep the kneeboard stashed along side the motor box behind the drivers seat. Is out of the way there. Nice thing about kneeboards is that pretty much everyone rides the same one. But even when we bring two, we stash both along the motor box. I would recommend this over a rack.

If you want to rack boards, rack wakeboards. There are lots of budget friendly options from Krypt, Monster that are sold though Amazon or factory direct. Check this Amazon link https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wakeboard...NAK6Z&spre fix=wakeboard+rack%2Caps%2C189&ref=nb_sb_noss_ 1

Regarding skis and carpet damage. Never had an issue in decades of skiing. We keep our $$$ slalom skis in transport cases on the floor of the passenger side of the motor box (may not work for you if space is tight).. To protect the ski (and the carpet), the ski is slid into the ski case on the floor when not in use. Something like this: https://wileyski.com/connelly-ski-case/

Happy to answer any questions you have.