TWC Sport owners

Due to the kids wanting to bring friends along on day trips, I am now on the hunt for a sport. I'm looking for a '99 ish year. I prefer the '99 graphics and dash over the 2000 N swoosh.
I believe I'd prefer the TSC hull as I am not into wakeboarding but the kids are starting to enjoy it, but I'm seeing that most of the sports in that year have the internal ballast and I'm assuming with the ballast comes the TWC hull.
My question is... How is the ski wake on the TWC sport hull? I'm not talking pro course wakes but I have friends that do ski aggressively as do I when I have the chance.
It would be nice if the TWC with ballast could do both...opinions appreciated.

Thanks
I believe I'd want the TSC but it seems most I've looked at are the TWC with ballast that's why I was wondering how the ski wake is on the TWC hull.
The little ones aren't and probably won't be for quite a while to the point where wake size and shape matter so I'd rather the TSC but they seem to be hard to find in a sport.

Some clarification...
TWC = Pro Air <--do not believe any Sports got the TWC hull
Sport = Air <--ballast certainly an option on the Air

The sport never got the TSC hull, despite the little stickers CC stuck on them. Hull is largely the same as the 93-97 Sport, which is based on the NWZ.

Air/Sport is much more common than the Pro Air. Kevin has skied the Pro Air, recall him saying it was passable. Go Sport if you can, but if you stumble across a really nice TWC at a great price, give it some consideration.

Ok thanks everyone I think I understand the hull situation and also learned something additional.
What I learned after reading posts from as far back as 2010 is that current Sport owners must think there is gold hidden somewhere in these boats. Prices now are as much if not more than what they were asking back then.

The hard tanks sure are a waste of space. Your kids don't need ballast.

The hard tanks in these boat are pretty much useless. A bag provides better ballast if/when needed, and you have lot more storage when not using the ballast. At over 30, I don't see a lot of difference in ski wake TWC or regular hull. But, under 30, the TWC is not as good for skiing, IMO.

My boat is a V-Drive, But probably worth double what it was right after the economy took a poop a few years back.

BKH

Yep, and then you are left with a partially finished trunk.

Faceplant wrote: Just out of curiosity , why are the hard tanks pretty much useless ?

As to the early versions of hard tank in a Nautique, they didn't provide enough ballast to make much difference for a wakeboarder. They take up more room than a soft bag, full, or empty. When empty they are taking up valuable storage space. The pump systems were not very good.

I don't remember the exact specs, but it was something like 275 lbs in a Ski Nautique and 400 lbs in a sport Nautique. Might make a difference for trick skiing, but not for wakeboarding. You'd do better with a couple of big friends in the back seat, at least you can move them around.

Also, on the early tanks, you had to fill both at the same time. You could not fill just left or right.

BKH

Faceplant wrote: Just out of curiosity , why are the hard tanks pretty much useless ?

Another issue are the controls under or near the helm that you use to fill and dump the hard tanks. You have to consider that the late 90's were the first ever mass marketed ballast boats. Over the years great improvements have been made to those controls. From what I have read on Planet Nautique, they were just plastic and a bad design. Basically, a handle is pulling a cable to a valve or seacock in the back of the boat. They can be problematic. Jeff Newton of PN (PN Site Owner and CCFAN Member) did a nice DYI post about upgrading that system on a late 90's or early 2000 210, I believe it was. He basically, replaced that hardware with Industrial grade valves and controls. This can be found on PN. I did not want to hear my wife complain about using a system that did not work properly.

When I was looking for a Sport or Air Nautique, Direct Drive boat over two years ago, I was advised to lean toward the sport for the big trunk storage. I was also warned about the hard tanks being too small to do a lot of good. For me, it came down to condition, condition, condition and I ended up with a Sport from the Pittsburg, PA area.

The FCT 2 is also the way to go vs the FCT 1 tower in my opinion. The FCT 1 was basically the first tower. They quickly got better in design and function. If you are willing to wait and willing to travel they seem to come available from time to time on the used market. They seem to mostly poop up in Florida. My Sport came without a tower but it was indeed an option in 2002. Luckily, with help from Air 206 (Steve K) and Quinner, I found on in Boston very quickly. I had to get it powder coated from gray to black to match my windshield and boat.   I drove from Charlotte to Boston to pick it up the weekend after I drove to Pittsburg to get the boat.

My girls can jump the entire wake with no ballast at all. My oldest daughter who is 20 mainly wake boards . My youngest daughter, 16 was a wake boarder but now is a skier. She has not wake boarded in almost two summers now. The boat gives you options. .

One of,my wish list items for this winter is to mount a reversible ballast pump in the floor and plumb in a 800 or 900 lb fat sack in the trunk. This is just to make the boat complete to me. We will likely not use it for boarding but we might use it for surfing.

Each year I use my 2002 Sport, I love it more. Basically, the only difference in a Sport and a Air Nautique (Direct Drive) is the decals and the hard tanks. Also, sometimes the Airs had the taller pylons which are also nice.

New Dimension builds a great FCT II tower near Knoxville TNN. They can powder coat, add board racks and install speaker wire in the tower for you if needed. They also install for a insanely low price. However, the tower is not cheap, but the quality is great.

Things to consider.

Donald

quinner wrote: Wouldn't you need to remove everything on the bags before filling them up??

Chis,

Yes, you would need to remove the Junk In The Trunk to fill the Old Bag. .

We just do not wake board much and I have access to surf boats for my kids, so the bag would likely not get used much and the junk would stay in the trunk. A fat sack most likely not even 100% full would take up the entire trunk. I am guessing you can only fill the bag to 80 or 90% it seems I was told several years ago.

A big girl works nicely too

Donald

There is that 2000 Air in the for sale section that looks very appealing .

This is with driver and observer, less than 1/2 tank fuel, 32 mph, '98 Sport. Never sure if pictures help show wakes.

gun-driver wrote: Thanks guys I appreciate all the info. Search is on no real hurry so hopefully the right one will pop up. By the way that means my '95 Signature Edition and the restored '85 2001 will be looking for a new home. I tried to talk "Household 6" into keeping at least one but she said we're not the Benjamin's     Not sure what that was suppose to mean

I don't understand. You have two boats now. Plan on getting one new boat. Why do you need to get rid of two?

2 + 1 - 1 = 2.

This should be you! From today, amazing September day on the water. Sport at around 38 mph.