Page 3 - Annual Boat Show    

     The big three:
In the middle of the road, er, water, is the Mastercraft 197 and Malibu LXi. These two brands and models always seem to be neck and neck every year. I’m more partial to Mastercraft but that’s more brand loyalty than design. Both boats are excellent examples of the finest design and quality at a middle of the road price, a nicely paved road that is.

     Each rep told me why theirs was better than the other, I understand the sells pitch and logic of these arguments, but sometimes I wish they’d just accept the fact that they both offer exceptional ski boats. It’s like arguing what’s better, a Ford or a Chevrolet. Relax guys, it’s all about sending us out to the lake to have fun. If we didn’t chose your boat, don’t take it personally.

     Into this volatile mix gets thrown Nautique, their pricing as well as quality puts them at the upper level. The finish and layout of these boats is phenomenal. But you do pay for it. Averaging about $5000 more across the board than the other two the only thing I don’t like about Nautique is the appearance is starting to look dated. While the hull is a work of art the top deck design hasn’t changed much in 20 years. Yes it is completely different than years past but you can definitely tell a Nautique just from the windshield profile. Some call this being a purist; others think it shows lack of vision.

     But the interior is unmistakably Nautique in quality, workmanship and layout.

     I had hoped Svfara would be there, being a Canadian company probably keeps them from venturing to Southeastern shows to much. But they have created quite a buzz with their acquiring Infinity ski boats as their top of the line slalom boat.  And once again Gekko, Supreme and a few others were no shows.

     Now for the big boys, the Cruisers that is. We had Regal, Sea Ray, Bayliner and Chaparral.  Usually there are more but the market in this area is somewhat limited for these big cruisers and it’s starting to show with dealers bringing fewer of these to display. Sea Ray had the biggest boat at over 40 feet. My favorite was the Sea Ray Sundancer 320, twin-engine V drive, an absolutely gorgeous boat. My only dislikes other than the mortgage the farm price, were that the steering wheel isn’t centered to the driver and the drivers seat is not adjustable. But I could see myself retiring on this boat.

     The Regal at the show was a nice boat with a great show price but with a single engine Volvo stern drive. 
The Chaparral was very well appointed with twin stern drives and they had several sizes to choose from. But either brand boat would be a very good overnighter or express cruiser. 

     Bayliner was a disappointment this year, as they didn’t bring much to this show as far as cruisers. They were full of runabouts though and had one of the largest booths but were lacking badly in the cruiser selection.



     One aspect of the cruisers that needs attention is the Radar arch, they really need to take a page from Malibu and make this so it can be lowered. Bridge clearance is tight on a lot of waterways, and with no way to lower the arch you can find your path blocked easily.

     The most unusual and arguably the most beautiful boat that brought the most attention and wow factor from everyone who saw it was Boesch. A Swiss made wood boat of unbelievable craftsmanship. Very few of these get imported to the US. If you want something no one else has on your lake, and have the coin for it, take a look at Boesch.

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