'98 Sport

I'm looking at a '98 Sport Nautique. I've asked questions about Sport's before, but primarily focused on '89 to '97 Gen 1 and 2 Sports. The boat appears to be in great shape, I've emailed and talked to the owner and it sounds like a well maintained boat with 670 hours.

It has the carbed 290 HP 5.8 HO. Would I regret this over the injected 310 HP GT-40?

I've asked enough questions to have a sense of how a '93-'97 Sport skis. The '98 has the same dimensions but a different hull, does it ski any better or worse than a '97?

Thanks in advance for any info!

The owner said he went to a smaller prop to improve holeshot, and max speed is 42 mph, the original prop was faster. In the end he said holeshot was slightly improved but not a huge difference. My guess is the boat needs a different prop, but he didn't give me the details of prop specs of wot rpm.

98 is better slalom wake than the 93-97 Sport. Flatter and softer (It is the TSC1 hull after all).

With a lot of weight the 93-97 can put up a better wakeboard wake than the 98. But, I've argued many times, too much is made of a "better" wakboard wake. Most people can't handle big, giant, world class wakes. The 98 Sport can put up all the wakeboard wake needed by the vast majority of wakeboarders.

I have owned two of the GT-40 boats and have always been pleased with the power and reliability. Doesn't mean the 290 won't work. Just means I liked my GT40s.

BKH

You know Tim, you are right. I don't think I have ever read anything that confirms 98 Sport is a TSC1 hull.

I do know that I was specifically told that it was in 1998 when I was looking to buy a new boat and eventually settled on a 98 Ski Nautique.

I have since skied and wake boarded behind 98 and 99 Sport Nautiques as well as Sports of the 93-97 vintage. I personally concluded that the 93-97 puts up a "better" wakeboard wake, and that the 98/99 had a smaller and softer slalom wake.

Who knows. I'm a hack at both wakeboarding and waterskiing. Perhaps it was just in my mind. Perhaps since I thought it was a TSC1, I thought it was a better ski wake.

Any who . . . . .

BKH

Randy_in_Ohio wrote: So there seems to be some discrepancy on whether or not a trailer intended for a 1999 Sport Nautique will fit my '93 Sport. I have read the brochures and manuals in the reference section and they list both years as having the same length, beam, draft and weight. here is the letter I just got back from Owen at Boatmate: Hello Randy, I should have sent you a message letting you know that I haven't made progress confirming whether or not a trailer for a 1999 Sport Nautique would fit your 1993 Sport Nautique. I've tried researching the forum, brochures and manuals available at correctcraftfan.com, but nothing I've found makes me confident that the trailer will fit perfectly. I've talked to the two CC "experts" that I know. Both are adamant that the hull changed between 1993 and 1999, but they are not certain that the hull change would affect the trailer fit. They both think that the bow eye location changed and that the bow stop for the 1999 SN would not be the correct height for the 1993 SN. The "expert" in whom I have the most confidence says that CC used the same trailer for the 1993 SN and the 1993 Ski Nautique and that the trailer had an adjustable bow stop to account for the 18" difference in boat length. I have the fit for the 1993 Ski Nautique, but I'm not confident I can "stretch" the trailer 18" and come up with a perfect fit for your boat. To summarize, I can build you a 1999 Sport Nautique trailer or I can build a 1883 Ski Nautique trailer stretched 18". I can not guarantee that either on will fit perfectly. I have attached a photo that shows the basic form that this trailer would have. Let me know what you think. I'm sorry I couldn't come up with a better answer for you. Best regards, Owen E. Shelton BoatMate Trailer, Inc.

Randy_in_Ohio wrote: Steve Jones who has his '98 Sport listed in the diaries and was able to confirm for me that the placement of the bow eye is the same on the '93-98 SPN and the '98-2002 SPN.

I think they are different, I could have sworn I've seen 98-99 Sports with a TSC decal on or near the side of the windshield. I'd feel a little let down if the sticker is a lie. I do believe the SS/SAN hull is the same as the 93-97 Sport. A few detailed hull pictures might solve this.





I think I can see the taper change but it's rather subtle.

The Hull changes were very minimal to the later Sport 98-2001. Chine cutout was changed as the boat had a tendency to drop in and run not so flat in a turn as did the early super sport . Also a flatter shaft angle was was introduced that year that helped the slalom wake. A 98 Sport makes a great slalom boat provided that the boat is kept as light as possiable. Start getting three people and a skier in the boat and all their gear and it has a rather rough bump at 34/22off and the longer line wake is biger then a SN but still better than any other boat in it's class for that year. 28/32 off and top speeds the boat is dream to ski with,35 off their is a slight trench in the middle of the wake but is very managable. Spray is non exsitant at all line lengths.
BKH is very much on the money about his statement concerning overweighting the boat.
If the price is right and the boat is clean and you want it then pick it up!!

I put the feelers out for this measurement on the 93-97 hull. I'll snag it off PLBC's 99. I'll bet it's a good 5" difference.

Why is the platform so much smaller? I wish our 2000 sport's was bigger like the old ones.

(I'm sure this will get put into a signature at some point)

lewy2001 wrote: Hollywood the earlier hull does look narrower but is it just because all the other angles have changed due to the new rounded transom.

The earlier hull in the back is wider.

Because of the rear trunk area new molds were produced as it would have been a nightmare to try and adapt the newer transom in the exsisting mold. In reality the width of the boat overall did not change except where the chine cutouts were. The relase points on the trailing is indeed somewhat narrower. Some may think that what I consider small changes in a wetted surface to be a totaly new hull but the entry and basic shape did not change. As for the platform on the early trunk model being a little smaller it was addressed in the last couple of years. More emphisis was put on the deck change and the amount of room and storage.
Still the Sport is a very fine ski machine and will provide for a great experiance either behind the wheel or behind the boat. A lot of the ideas off the sport transfered over to the 216 as the Sport was fazed out.

David $18K sounds a bit high for a 98 especially this time of year. If the boat was in really good shape I would say $14-16K.

I think you both are right, and was thinking along the same lines. It is worth something to me to hear the story of how the boat was maintained, you can tell when you speak to someone how they approached it, what kind of attention to detail the owner took. But, hard to put a number on that, and it's not in my back yard either.

I've expected/hoped to spend 12-14 thousand on a '93-'97 Sport. As I look at the design changes and listen to the comments here, I know I'd like the '98 a lot, but I just can't spend that much on it. I might make an offer and see if the owner is willing to part with it for a few grand less.

That looks like an incredible buy. I haven't found any deals that good over the few months I've been looking. I expected some to surface as fall came along, but still haven't seen what I'd call great deals on Sport's. It seems like there are a lot more closed bow Nautiques, and a ton of 2001's, but not a lot of '93 up Sports for sale.

63 Skier wrote: That looks like an incredible buy. I haven't found any deals that good over the few months I've been looking. I expected some to surface as fall came along, but still haven't seen what I'd call great deals on Sport's.

There seems to be a bit of Nautique drought in New England. I was having that conversation with bkhallpass the other night. He was saying they can be plentiful in CA, I know there's a lot in the South East.

Someone should start addressing that issue. I'd think there could be money to be made as long as transport costs could be managed.

With direct drives typically the "Airs" are sports unless of course they are "Pro Airs", which 99' - 01' or 02' had a different hull (TWC).

Regarding price, My neighbor just picked up a really nice 98' for quite a bit less then 18k FWIW