'93 Sport Nautique

93 is when the Sport no longer had wood stringers. Should be decent all around, but it is a compromise. It is still a flat bottom boat. Not going to be great in chop by any means.

It is rough. I haven’t ridden in several different inboards to get the full perspective, so I am sure there are others who have, but it definitely doesn’t cut right through it.

To handle Chop you need a big boat or a big Vee Hull. The Ski Nautique is a three event competition ski boat with a flat bottom.   The Sport is not a competition boat, and is larger for family but comes from the Competition heritage.   It is more of a crossover boat. Great for skiing, and wake boarding and many surf behind them with a ton of added weight.

The first question you have to ask is what are you trying to do with the boat? If you are a skier you need a direct drive inboard like a Ski Nautique. The Sport 200 Vee Drive is an expensive exception to the rule.

If you are into wake boarding than you need a Vee Drive like a 210 Nautique. The Excel and Barefoot Nautiques fit somewhere in here too.

If you are a surfer, you need a Vee Drive Nautique, or a Nautique 211 or a G23 Boat.

If you are a footer, you need a Barefoot Nautique or a Ski Nautique with larger motor like a 454. You need a high top speed boat for larger footers. There are exceptions to all of these rules and it depends on the talent or lack of talent of the person holding onto the rope.

The Sport is considered by many as a cross over boat. Not a world class ski wake, not a world class Wake Board Wake and extra weight needed on the floor to Surf behind. However, with 1/4 tank of gas, and the right line length, has a great ski wake.

To have the best boat in a particular water sport you really need three boats. If you are not looking at watersports you need to look at something else. The Sport is a great compromise. My sport has a great ski wake and is all the wake boarding boat my family can handle. There is only a hand full of wake boarders in the World who can get 100 percent out of a Nautique 210 Wake Board boat. For everyone else it can get you hurt.

If you are looking for a boat to just ride the bigger lakes in big chop you need something like a Correct Craft Southwind or a Correct Craft Martinique.   The boats have high freeboard and a deep vee for a smoother ride.

I choose the Sport Nautique over a 206 due to Lake Norman being big choppy water. Several CCFanners brought this to my attention. The sport is great for Lake Norman as long as you stay out of the main channel on busy weekends.

The smaller Nautiques ( Correct Crafts) are best of smaller, calmer waters. But man are they cool.

I sent you a PM with my phone number. I can give you a ride in my Sport on Lake Norman if you want to check it out.

Donald

Donald80SN wrote: Dr. Steve K., AKA Air 206 has a great Vee Drive Barefoot Nautique that he is willing to sell. It has beautiful gel and beautiful interior. Dr. Steve is a perfectionist and he had the flaws removed from the gel in the boat's deck. It also has a sweet 454 with the Protech to DUI conversion out of the way. He boats on Smith Mnt. Lake near Roanoke / Lynch burg, VA. Steve has a full service dealership and boat gauge shop. He can give you dog / cat a tune up and your boat at the same shop.

Yes... I've chatted with air206. He is a guru of the bfn.

jimsport93 wrote: Tyler, am very happy with my 93 Sport. We typically boat on the south end of Lake Lanier.....big, rough water lake on the weekends; which is usually when we go boating. The boat handles the rough water fine. You will have to slow it down to about 17 mph in the rough stuff. Not going to be able to zip along at 35 + like the v hull I/Os. We are skiers (not course skiers.....usually) and the boat does a great job with a good wake for our needs. Wake is pretty good at 34 mph. Plenty of power. Good handling boat. Composite stringers. The open bow is a plus for us. Not sure what you want to do with it, but it is a good choice. Catch a ride with Donald. That will give you a good idea of the boats capabilities.

Thanks! Appreciate the perspective.

I'm aware that no boat will be perfect for our needs. We're not incredible skiers or wakeboarders or anything, just looking for a cool CC that we can tool around in with family/friends, work on our basics, and not get submarined by giant I/O's TOO often. Ruled out a 2001 SN for this reason - I think we'd get swamped on the regular.

2001 hull cuts through the chop noticeably better than an NWZ hull..