ONLY IN NIGERIA!!! 

Wait, is that for real?  Can't tell what that white motor mount actuall is attached to.  And if real what is in the engine box?

Or maybe I'm just gullible and this is photoshop at it's finest hour.

So many questions ...

1st, no way the swim platform is holding a 175 outboard.  But I can't picture how that extended motor mount could be integrated into the hull.

2nd, why?

3rd, why, why, why, why?

Why? Cause in Nigeria you cannot easily replace the engine, got the Nautique for a steal, and he had a 175 HP laying in his garage!

For us skiers and Nautique fans, it is an outrage. For the owner, it looks damn good!  

Well I don't see it as an outrage now that you explain it, I see it as ingenuity.  What model boat is it?  Have you seen it run and ski or board?  I'd guess it is enough power to ski behind but bigger people would have trouble getting up on 1 ski.  Wakes are probably no good for boarding but maybe ok for skiing.

Now that you've shown us that boat, someone from this site will be trying to mount a Verado 400 on a Ski Nautique.

I mean, there is a Suzuki Marine distributor in Nigeria. 

Not sure if the same could be said for marinised American automotive engines..

It is a 2014 AIR NAUTIQUE. Yes, I saw it leave the Boat Club, the boat takes off quite well but the cruising stance is a bit poised at the front since there it is quite heavy at the back and the outboard creates a big torque lever. It does not level well at cruising speed so the wake at the back is big with a tall rooster tail. 

That said, it is definitely not suitable for wake surfing if you want to keep your limbs in one piece!!  

Boat will need cavitation plates to make it run flatter. Getting it up over the reverse chines might be interesting. wonder if they left the fins on? probably better off leaving it with a high ride attitude..??

We took a late 90's super sport and installed a Mercruiser stern drive set up in it. I think we got about 3 weeks into the testing program when the decision from management stopped the program. boat was promptly dismantled, dissembled wadded up and crushed at the landfill.

I get it that the heavy engine is way back there, but also gives it a ton of trim leverage, I would have thought down trim could force the stern up, bow down a bit.  Probably need 400 lbs in the bow to help drive it down.

Of course no thoughts of surfing!!!  But wondered if wakeboarding would be acceptable.

Years ago, I flew into Jamaica quite a bit, and was always taking "gifts" to a buddy of mine at the airport, as the import duty on those "gifts" were easily 5 times their value.

OK making this a sticky thread makes a lot of sense. I know where the boat is parked and I will make it a duty to all you fans to get you detailed pics of this setup. It actually makes sense to me, I also own a 1994 Ski Nautique with a bad engine. I am seriously thinking of transforming it into a Barefoot boat with a 200HP outboard!!!

Stay tuned for more...

it's just a thread about a boat, what makes it worthy of being a "sticky" thread.? 

If somebody wants to find it, they can do a search for it.

And, absent a step-by-step process from engineering, pictures, documentation, etc...I'd have to agree....just a pic of a boat with a unique mod.

The 2014 Air is quite a bit heavier than a 1994 Ski, I think your ski weighs around 2,200 lbs., remove the engine/transmission and more like 1,600 lbs.  No idea what the ride characteristics will be, but a 200 outboard should really move that hull!