Other 3 Event Ski Boats of the 80s

Hey guys,
I noticed that there's been some chatter about American Skier in a couple of other threads so I thought this might be an interesting topic. Specifically, speaking of 80s era ski boats, what are your impressions about the competition ski boats of that time period? Not looking to start a knock on the competition since we know where are loyalties lie, just interested in everyone's impression of the boats of "back in the day." My experience was pretty much limited to MC and CC, but certainly there were many others out there who frequently got a set behind these boats or spent time behind the wheel.

CC Ski Nautique 2001--good quality, decent ride (for a tournament inboard), dryer ride than an MC, good trick wake, not as good of a slalom wake vs. an MC. Carl Roberge was a CC 3 event skier.

Mastercraft--super sleek lower profile, superior slalom wake (to most brands of the day), Powerslot option, wet, rough ride. Platform seemed alot smaller than a CC. L shaped observer seat was uncomfortable as was the rest of the boat. Remember Camille Duvall? Damn she was fine.

Supra--pulled the Worlds in about 88. had a fiberglass platform with a stainless grab rail all the way around it. Nose dropped really low. WL was a dealer for awhile and painted it to be superior to the Nautique. Mike Hazelwood was a beast of a jumper during that time frame. I think he was a Supra guy.

American Skier--looked good, small wake. virtually non-existent in my neck of the woods

Ski Supreme--lots of upholsterey buttons and teak.

Malibu Skier--the poor man's inboard at the time. Distinct California look. WL was also a dealer of Malibu in the late 80s. Had the slalom course times and tolerances screen printed on the dash.

Ski Centurion--none in my area. Another undeniably California looking boat.

Again, not looking to knock the competition. Also, this was just my brief impression of these boats. What's yours?

I know I've posted these photos that were provide to me by Dan Fitzgerald, Three Seasons Ski Club in MA several times. American Skier and MasterCraft were very popular on the lake mid to late 80's. I recall counting about 12-14 Ski Nautiques on the lake in '87-'88. From what I'm told, the MasterCrafts had a smaller wake compared to the SN2001. Lots of people trick skied at that time and it seems that the SN2001 was the perfect boat for that. There was one Ski Supreme on the lake. It seems like American Skiers were very popular in the mid 80's. I was told American Skier would negotiate price and Correct Craft wouldn't. Anyway, I enjoy seeing all classic boat brands. The Stars and Stripes is a nice looking boat. There's a beautiful '85 MC Stars and Stripes blue/gray on our the lake that's showroom condition and sounds strong.

Didn't Bayliner or somebody else attempt to produce a comp ski boat in the late 80's? If I recall right, it had an ugly pink stripe.

Bayliner made an inboard called a Challenger. It was hideous. Someone on my lake had one. It seemed really wide and looked as cheap as every other bayliner.

Some of the orginal Three Seasons Ski Club members enjoying a nice 80's summer day!

Sorry for the thread-jack. I get passionate talking about the good ole '80s boats and memories. I wish more people would scan and share their old pics.

Nice list Kevin
Found one more, may I add the century cts
There is a cherry hydrodyne inboard down the road from me, btw.
Was the glastron ski machine 3 event?

I've heard from multiple skiers who competed in the 80's that if they saw a 2001 was pulling the competition that they'd be terrified of the wake. They'd pray for an MC being the towboat at the time.

Awesome pics Nautique2001.

This 88 Skier has been in the family since 1992. It may have been the first Malibu in Maine. For the first few years everyone was always asking what it was as they had never seen one. My brother in law bought it at Lake Lure in NC. It's been a great boat with very few problems. It's not as big and solid as a 2001, but it definately has smaller ski wakes and the gel coat is beautiful.

I met a guy at Race City Marine 2 years ago that had been the distributor for Malibu back in the 80's & 90's and knew all about this boat as he ordered it. It has a PCM 240 which he called the "White Lake" package as the Ford PCMs were popular there rather than the standard Mercruisers.

Larry, no doubt some don't like the rainbow CA look, but even today most boats, even CC, don't have that kind of detail in their gel. That red and white boat has a thin black pin stripe bordering the red that is gel. On the SN 196 which cost about $20k more they used tape on their pin stripe.

I used to love the WSM boat buyers guide back in the 80's because there were so many different companies building 3 event boats.

Best gel work had to be the ski eliiminator, bar none.

At a tourney in "87" I remember marlin magnum skier, malibu, and ski eliminater all bringing there boats to make sure they met the minimum to pull regionals and possibly nationals. When I saw a strip of vinyl made into a loop attached to the bottom of the motor cover (for the handle) on the Malibu, it scared me to think of the things that you couldn't see! Never saw a supra in a tournament. In the 90's Bimini skier came out. My buddy bought a 94 or 95 brand new for just under $15000 with a nice trailer. Most people on the lake told him to stay away from it, buy a used CC or MC. to scaffolds surprise it has been a great boat. It reminds me of the early malibu's, cheap vent covers, thinner vinyl, etc. It is a he'll of a slalom boat. If not the best, one of the best handling boat on the lake, STILL. articulating front skag that turns with the rudder. Very similar to a 1980-81 Mastercraft, your head is above the windshield, motorbox can be seen above the sides, etc. Not a rough water boat ( it is a ski boat!). Even his clock still works! The paint and fiberglass are still in great shape. He is paranoid about the wood stringers. He checks the lags on the motor mounts. So far so good.

Nautique2001 wrote: I recall in the 80's, our ski club would beach their boats in the little cove you see the photos of the gold MasterCraft in. A club member would fire their boat up, VEEEEROOOOM, the dual exhaust would say dammit, listen to me!! Those were the days.

Beach their boats????? Kidding, i'm the only one on the site who admits to doing that these days. love your description of what the exhaust says when it cranks.

Bruce, thats a great Malibu. I remember how nice that gelcoat was. Were they originally a California company only? I know they are now built in Tennessee. I actually ski more behind Malibus than any other boat (my own included). Not quite the fit and finish of a Nautique but if I didn't buy a Nautique that is what i would buy.
Larry and Brian and I were talking about how nice the Supras were. They also had a manually adjustable trim tab that allowed you to adjust the attitude of the boat to affect the shape of the wake. That was pretty imaginative. I think Tige later followed with a more refined version of that idea. I also recall that they had a sharp V hull fore to cut the water with a very flat bottom aft, supposedly to offer both a good ride and good wake. Not sure how that worked. Supra also did a great job early on of having a broad product range to suit different need. They had the Mariah and Sunsport which were good quality, family oriented inboards, predecessors to the Sport Nautique.
I really thought the Mastercraft change in '87 to the Prostar upped the ante on ski boat design dramatically, ultimately leading to the '90 No wake zone Nautique. Its fun to look back on those years because so much was happening but the boats hadn't really morphed into the machines they are today yet.

Darren, they were a CA company when that boat was built. Once they started building a lot of boats sometime in the 90's they opened a 2nd plant in TN which is their only plant now. They closed the CA plant when the economy tanked. Not as good fit and finish as a Correct Craft, but a lot of the same components like VDO gauges, PCM engine, Morse controls. I think they were about 15% less money. That boat is mostly original and still looks great. About the only thing replaced were the seat cushons and I rebuilt the observers seat a long time ago as it rotted out. That pic is from 06 or 07.

The TSM Supra or whater they called it was a nice boat. My perception of Supras was that they were good quality boats.

Hollywood, I've never had a problem until our 03 Malibu with beaching a boat. Not with Correct Crafts, Centurys or that 88 Malibu. The fine sand will dull the gel, but on our the 03 the gel seems soft and has some deep scratchs so we try not to beach it.