Super Air vs 2001

In one short summer I outgrew the wake produced by my Ski Nautique 2001 for wake boarding.

There is a 2001 Super Air Nautique vDrive that is for sale for a pretty good price in my area and before I go down to look at it I wanted to get peoples feedback on the super air's wake compared to my Ski Nautique 2001.

I thought about adding some ballast bags but I also want to add a perfect pass so before I throw more money into my boat I could go get the Super Air that already has built in ballast tanks and a perfect pass. If I did ballast bags in my 2001 I would be climbing over them all the time which would drive me crazy.

I put a lot of time into rebuilding my boat and would hate to see it go but I feel it would be worth it in the long run to have a better wake.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

aka

What kind of upgrades can be done for the ballasts without having bags all over the floor?

akabulla wrote: In one short summer I outgrew the wake produced by my Ski Nautique 2001 for wake boarding.

Sounds like we'll have to keep an eye out fot you on the pro tour then akka.!

Surely you can't be serious.?

However IMO the SAN wake is the same "general" shape as the SN2001 wake, except that it is noticibly wider, and much bigger.

If you need the extra room I would say go for it, but I don't think you could really outgrow the SN2001 wake.

You put a lot of time & effort into that boat. I'd be trying to add some weight first & see how that goes. I use some lead bars in mine and somtimes some additional steel fixed weights, but usually just the lead. Takes up barely any room at all.

I'm not completely sure what the difference is between a 2001 Super Air and a Super Sport with a tower...it may just be graphics and built in ballast tanks. I can tell you my brother's 2001 Super Sport has room on either side of the engine for bags, and in the under floor ski compartment, so there is no stepping over them.
(He does 500 lbs on either side and 500 lbs in the ski compartment) In his boat, when you do that, the wake is freaking humongous, as well as very steep. It actually feels like the darn thing is throwing you into the air. I've had a 2001 hull (and my 93 SN) loaded with ballast and there is absolutely no comparison.
I'm a skier first, so the Ski Nautiques are my preference, but if I were a boarder first, the combination of wake size and room in the boat is really a bonus in the Super Air. The Super Air still has most of that nimble, sports car feel of the 2001, which is also nice.

F&F, While I agree that placement and amount is the key in the 2001, I guess we do disagree, because the SuperSport I board behind has a mountain compared to my former 89 2001. The 2001 hull may be the best all around hull ever made (I prefer the 90-96's), but the Super Airs are considered by many the best wakeboarding hulls ever made.
I'm not saying the 2001 weighted correctly is just so-so, but it isn't a Super Air. The other issue, noted in the original question, has to do with where you put the weight. Are you using bags, or steel? Do you keep your boat in the water, on a lift or tow it? I trailer my SN so steel would be out, and I can load it with as much weight in bags as you want, but it not only becomes a floating water bed with nowhere to move or keep gear, but also begins to have real performance issues. At my level of boarding (a couple of aerials) a properly weighted 2001 is fine, but I won't claim it's equal to a Super Air also properly weighted.
So, to me, if the question is, can I continue to use a 2001 hull with proper weighting and increase the wake size to the point where it won't prevent my skill level increasing? I would agree with you and say yes, if you don't mind the inconveniences. If the question is, will a weighted 2001 hull throw a wake equal to a weighted Super Air hull, my answer is no.

Thanks for the input guys. I guess my real thinking was convenience. I just rebuilt my boat from the floor up and tearing it apart to move the engine after just putting it back together doesn't interest me. If I were to rebuild another 2001 I would love to do the V-Drive conversion.

I am an extremist all the way. I have over 5000 skydives, skateboard and do aggressive inline so I took to wakeboarding pretty fast and hard. I was doing wake to wakes on day 2. I am not flipping yet but it is only a matter of time . The reason I say I outgrew the wake is because I have to hit it as hard as I can to clear the wake and my thinking was with a larger wake I would get higher and it would be easier to do tricks off a bigger wake. Maybe that is wrong but in skating once you outgrow a 4 foot halfpipe you move up to the 8 foot and so on.

So I have two options. One is spend the money to put a perfect pass (which I really want) and put a bunch of bags on the floor all around the engine and remove the rear seat and have them take up the entire floor.

Or save the money on the perfect pass, sell my boat, and move to a boat with built in ballast and perfect pass already installed. Drop the boat in the water, flip a switch and have extra weight in 1 minute fast and be ready to board AND the boat is still use able because the floor is open. I really like the idea of the V-Drive to have the engine out of the way as well.

I guess I really need to get a few runs behind a few different SANs to see what the difference is but that will have to wait till summer .

Thanks again for the input. Ryan I want to come visit when you get yours on the water so I can test out the VDrive conversion for myself :)

Joey,your more than welcome to meet us at the reunion or if your ever in the neighborhood.


There is another route but it requires a handfull of fiberglass work.
You could mold the rear seat base out off epoxy and drop the bottom down into the hull around the shaft log area creating a ballast tank.Then build some side tanks making use of the room around the peremeter.If you dug some of the foam out of the upper cap the side tanks would ring in about 250 a peice.Place a bag in the nose and your golden.Just don't put bags on the floor,it will piss you off everytime you use the boat.
Whatever you decide the information is here if you want to try the ballast.

I have to hit it as hard as I can to clear the wake
What length rope are you riding?! Unless it's 85 ft or so I think you'd gain more by keeping working on technique than spending 15K or so on a SAN. Then again, that's just based on those few words.
You're now riding without any weight at all, is that right? You might want to consider what f&f wrote. Some weight under the bow and in the back, see what a difference that makes.
Then again, if I could afford a SAN, I would get one as well though I'm sure I'll never ever outgrow the wake of our 2001. Only reason being the convenience of the extra space.

Just to show the possibilities of a stock 2001-wake; we had Benny Greenwood behind our boat, he stuck back to back 7's with just 4 people in the boat, no added weight. That makes you think about the 'necesity' of adding thousands of pounds. But OK, we're not all Benny G's...

Just for the record I am not arguing against one of the best wakeboats ever made.I am simply trying to inform you of the massive potential you already have.

Wake size, boat speed and rope length are all variable. Experiment with all of them til you find the prime combination for you.

Also for the record, for the most part I think I'm in agreement with Ryan that your boat has enough potential for 99% of the riders out there.

ok you convinced me. I will give it one more summer to make up my mind. Now I just need a lake house so I can get more time behind it :)

harddock wrote: if you get a chance skip over to the wakeboard report and scroll down the left index to check a young Scott Byerly at a Massachusetts clinic. He is doing some amazing flips and wake to wakes behind a outboard powered Malibu without a tower or ballast. No offense, but maybe your technique needs more work than your boat.    wakeboardreport

Do you remember when they used to use Sea-Doos as the tournament towboats?

You could drive a yugo and save on gas but that doesn't mean you want to.A bigger wake is a better wake and can take your tricks to new levels with better hang time and longer grabs.Its just plain more fun and thats why I do it.

dip wrote: Do you remember when they used to use Sea-Doos as the tournament towboats?

LMAO yes I do!

I say you wait....I think you can never outgrew a wake..it more other variables..as rope lenght..speed..etc...
i been riding almost 15 years..in different boats etc...bigger wake makes some manuevers easier but I can go wake to wake on any size of wake..always with the correct lenght..depending boat and shape...My firts experience with a 2001 hull was this summer behind Kristoff´s boat..and I was able to land all my tricks (back roll, scarecrow, airralley, front roll, front flip, and almost a kript..) with no ballast at all..well driver and 4 people on board...(too bad kristoff wasn´t there LOL) It was harder, you have to be more precise on were to kick the wake to get the best of it but it was fine for me, and with some ballast bags I guess the wake could improve a lot....
The difference I see when I ride behing a san (in tournaments so its brief)..its you don`t need to cut that hard to get pop up...and as I´m used to cut hard behind my wake I sometimes get trashed as I get super air!!! yes its easier on a SAN..but I don´t think you got to the point to outgrew your boats wake....but it´s not enough only with the built in ballast...in the tournament to get this huge wake i´m talking they put the built in ballast and then 600 on each side of the engine..and one on the nose also 600 and the all the judges..so there is some serious weight there 4000lb at least....
only with the built in ballast you get a normal wake...
My boat was for 5 years the official towboat for the local wb tour and all the pros landed mobes, crow flips..behind it.....the wake is still respectable..yes you need some serious ballast though I was running almost 2000lb and it quite pita everytime you need to fill the bags ride and then unfill..I use to 1100 gph pumps..that you need to fight with..as those 12v lighter plugs are some F....s...or thet suck air...and the process is around 25 minutes..to fill same to unfill....so I loose almost an hour there.....yes you get tight on space with those fat bastards lying in the floor..dripping some water.... on my new carpet....LOL