Page 2 - Annual Boat Show

     Wakeboard, wakeboard, wakeboard. I’ve never seen so many wakeboard boats in one place in all my life. Big towers, big ear busting stereos, big wild graphics, even bigger prices. I really don’t know how so many people can afford these things. But a lot of them get sold every year.

     Although all brands were not there, most of the biggest were. All decked out in their Sunday at the lake best. Any and every option could be found, maybe not on the same boat but enough so you could see it, feel it and play with it to see if you’d like it on your boat.

     Most all of the towers collapse down for storage now, but the coolest new thing I saw was the Malibu collapsible arch called the Illusion X.  Usually a radar mount on larger boats they have incorporated the design into a wakeboard boat. It is counter balanced so a pull of a pin and it can easily be let down. And it looks really cool.

     Mastercraft had a huge selection of wakeboard boats as well. From the entry level X-1 to the twin engine X-80 monster. They offer a range of boats and prices to fit most any category. Mastercraft has one of the best model list available. Take your option wish list to a Mastercraft dealer and they will probably have a model to suit your needs.

     Nautique had their big guns out as well, from tricked out 205’s to Air Nautique V-drives. Big, bad and expensive, but unbelievable quality.





     Supra and Mobius also had quite a selection, good quality and good pricing. 

     One dealer that carried Nautique also carried the Moomba brand, which is good. It gives you some low cost options as well as high-end choices. So if a dealer doesn’t have what you like, ask what other lines he may carry. Most handle more than one brand, but will push the higher end boats more.



     Tige had their boats out as well; although I don’t see too many on the lakes in this area they sure looked good at the show.

     I don’t pretend to know all the nuances of wakeboard boats so I didn’t crawl over them as I would a ski boat. It’s all in where your biggest interests lie.

     The ski boats are another story. I wanted to play with them all. Nautique, Mastercraft, Malibu, Tige, Centurian and Moomba. Although all styles and models were not there and some other notable brands weren’t there at all, the selection was enough for any potential buyers to find a tournament ski boat to fit their need and check book.

     And although none of these boats can be considered cheap, if you wanted to buy a new inboard ski boat you can get in one for about $25,000 for a base Moomba and go all the way to break the bank with a fully optioned out Ski Nautique.

     I had a real hard time finding fault with the Moomba Outback, yes it’s lighter construction and not nearly as refined as say a Mastercraft or Malibu, but for entry into a tournament style inboard boat it would hard to beat based on price.

     The next level was Tige, a bit larger than you’d expect for a ski boat and similar to the Mastercraft X-9 hull in size and layout, the Tige was a well-appointed boat. I skied behind one a few times last year and even though the wake was a bit higher than I was accustomed to, it was very soft. After 28 off it was less noticeable. 22 off created a significant bump. But over all a nice roomy boat.

     Almost all ski boats are equipped with towers now so if you don’t want one you may have to special order a boat. Also, when you see a tower on a boat don’t assume it’s a wakeboard boat. It’s usually just been added as an option to a ski boat.



     Centurian also had some nice boats, but even the dealer said it was a better wakeboard boat than a slalom course boat. Nice honesty from a dealer, but I’d like to try one anyway.

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