’85 Hull

The 2001 Hull started in 1982 and ran through 1989. From what I have read once you weight down a 2001 they are a very desirable wakeboard boat.

Yep,

Same hull all the way through, can confirm that they make a great but very rampy, vert style wake.

Best bet is the 1986 onwards as they have the nicer interior. But basically anything from 1976 onwards are good as long as you don't mind the funky old interior

When I say funky... I mean "FUNKAAAY" :-)


Here is a friends wake from an '81 Nautique, 300kg stern and 80-100kg in the bow. Rope length 75-80ft and rider is 6ft tall.

Mark, Awesome wake. I just bought mine this year and ran with out ballast.
Did you have to swap out your prop to run enough weight to get a wake like that?

86 forward do have nicer interiors but these boats are not made to take out the family for the afternoon. It can be done but they are a little limited on space especially when you start filling up fatsacs. I go out with 3 or 4 people most of the time and I couldnt think of a better boat to own.

Heres what you gotta do to make a 2001 nautique a sick wakeboard boat! First of all, upgrade your prop to an Acme 542 13x11.5 pitch. Your whole shot will be amazing and your gas bill will be lower. Put 2 440lb sacks on the side of the motor box, 400lb sack in the back, and 150lb of weight up in the bow. The wake will be huge! That prop is the money maker though! I swear by it!

When will winter end!!!

If you put all the weight in the back, you will get a tall wake, but it will also be excessively steep. It's like running into a wall, and if you do make it up the wake, you will be thrown straight up, making it difficult to clear the wakes and get out into the flats on the other sides. You also get excessive bow rise, and poor visibility from the driver's seat.

If you put too much weight in the front, the wake will wash out, you'll have foam at the top of the lip, and you'll be subject to burying the bow.

You are looking for a comination of weight that produces a wake that is tall enough to suit your needs, has a desirable ramp shape, and is "clean at the peak" of the wake. These characteristics will vary, even within the same boat, if you go at different speeds. If you find a speed and wake that works well for everyone you board with, then you will only need a single setup. If you have a mixture of advanced boarders (usually want to go faster, and with bigger wake which requires a lot of weight) and beginners (even no weight may be sufficient) than you will need to figure out a couple of combinations.

Usually a good starting place to put about 60% of your weight in the back of the boat, and 40% towards the front. You can experiment from there. Many people find that with the direct drive boats, you can place weight on each side of the motor and that is sufficient. Next they will usually add weight to the back which improves the height of the wake, but makes it too peaky, so they end up putting a little bit of weight, all the way in the tip, to improve the shape.

BKH

BKH; You never fail to impress with the amount of info you cram into your posts.

surroundsound; please tell me you are only joking. No one would really put cinder blocks in their Nautique, would they?

jbear

jbear wrote: BKH; You never fail to impress with the amount of info you cram into your posts. surroundsound; please tell me you are only joking. No one would really put cinder blocks in their Nautique, would they? jbear

lol...
Like I said, low tech.
I don't leave them in there all the time. Just when we are actually wakeboarding. Skiing, or when we're just hanging around, they come out.
If that makes it any better.

BKH....great post. My boat was doing exactly as you described....launch you straight up and about 1/2 way across the wakes. The board was just slicing through the peak and getting no pop.

When we increased speed, the wake would just lay down.

Seems the little 16' can throw a very peaky wake so your comments will be put to good use.

Thanks!

Slalomguy,

I'm 42 yrs old, 7 knee surgeries, two feet
reconstructions, multiple broken ribs, multiple disclocated shoulders, and a laundry list of other injuries. The only reason I started wakeboarding at all is because waterskiing kills my back. I'm lucky to do a good wake to wake 180, consistently.

That said, I'm fine with stock ballast (about 800lbs I think) , or no ballast at all in my Super Air. My wife is a real beginner and never uses ballast. The stock wake is about kneee high, and I only ride at 70' and 22 mph. Lately I've been improving, and riding a bit faster, so I've been experimenting with a little more weight. I'm never going to be a 26mph, 85', waist high wake type of rider though.

We do have some world class riders here in the Delta. I've pulled some of them -amazing. We've put a couple of bags in the boat for them. What I've found though is the better the rider, the less they complain. These guys can do flips off an ollie in the flats. They just have fun and pratice what they can with the wake presented. Heck, the good guys never even complained behind my 98 ski nautique.

What's your setup/abilities?

BKH

Well, at least you didn't recruit two 400 lb friends who you have to feed all winter BKH

Slalomguy,

sounds like a perfect setup to me BKH

John, I look forward to it.

BKH