Best Water ski boat?!help?

Question

I want to buy a really good boat for mainly skiing but I have no idea about boats at all!

What do you recommend? Thanks alot!

Answer 1

If you were going to buy a boat strictly for skiing, then I'd go with a pure ski boat. That means inboard drive and center pylon. However, they do ride really bad in the rough water, and they're not that fast on the top end for what they have for power in them these days. The best riding, pure skiing boat are the Nautiques from Correct Craft. They actually have a little deadrise when compared to other ski boats like Moomba's or Tige's. Ski boats also put out a shallow wake, making slalom skiing a breeze, let alone a lot more fun than skiing on the back of a bow rider. But, if you're going to do some skiing with some cruising, look for a boat no shorter than a 20 footer or so. If you have full-grown men out skiing and they're carving pretty hard, they'll pull the boat to whichever side they're heading towards if the boat is under 20...I usually try to get skiers into boats larger than 20 to try to avoid that pulling movement in the stern of the boat. Try to shoot for a heavier bow rider such as a Sea Ray (1997 and up), Monterey (2003 and up) and boats such as those. That's about all I can tell you...you'll just need to get out and see what you like and go from there..Good Luck and Happy Boating!

Answer 2

The Two Top of the line ski boats would be:

MasterCraft

Ski Nautique

I would say the second tier would be:

Malibu

Tige

The would come:

Ski Supreme

Supra

Moomba

If you are looking for a ski boat, don't be fooled by any dealer who will tell you that an inboard/outboard is just as good (i.e. don't let a sea ray or bayliner dealer tell you that their boats are just as good for skiing as any of the brands above)

Ski boats are almost always inboards, and a few strictly ski boats could be outboards... NO I/O's though!  

I am a mastercraft fan myself, but the nautiques are just as good.  If you are not looking to spend the crazy money these cost - all the other brands I mentioned are great boats.

Look for a model with a bow (for extra family seating) and I would most likely select a direct drive model (engine will be in center of boat) opposed to a V-drive (engine in rear).  The center drive is a better ski boat and puts up a smaller wake, it is also less expensive.

Best of Luck

Answer 3

Spend a couple days with some water skiers in your neck of the woods and ask them. Is it waterskiing your doing or wakeboarding? Wakeboarders have some very specific requirements and that can help make a decision, but spending time on the water, and behind the wheel is the best way to judge a boat.

Check out WaterSki magazine for boats and ratings.

www.waterskimag.com

Best of luck, have a great summer on the water.