No more DD's??

[Mikey]

I was just at a local Dealership snooping around when i heard a nasty rumour. Rumour is that SC will no longer be making DD's??? Anyone heard anything else. As much as i want to support SC, i'm not willing YET to go to the darkside and buy a VDRIVE. Where does one go or do other than switch brands in the next few years when boat needs replacing????

WOOOOO is me.... This is just not right.

[NCSUmoomba]

Wow, that would be sad. I hope that is not true. However, I guess folks that are really serious about slaloming, or 3-eventing, probably tend to stick to the big three more. When is the last time anyone saw a Moomba or Supra pulling a ski event?

[skiyaker]

I heard the same thing from a reliable source. The good news is tha Gekko is back in production and the GTS 20 looks a whole lot like the boomerang and comes in at 30k and the GTR 22 would make a good substitute for the outback. The outback's days were numbered the day they got away from the hard core skier looking for value (I.e. e day they put that goofy a$$ tower on it that prevents it from being a capable course boat). I tried to buy an outback- I wanted to buy an outback- and in the end it was cheaper to keep my outback V and buy a second boat than to special order an outback without the tower. So I'm not surprised they didn't sell enough outbacks to keep the model afloat (hehe).

[ian ashton]

Every Gekko boat I've been on has been total crap.

Sad that the DD will go away, but I'm not surprised.

[iwaterskihard]

I sold my Outback earlier this spring and went to a SN 196 strictly to get a proper slalom boat.
FYI - thanks for not giving me the boot from the site! :)

I think SC is chasing the market that a majority of boat owners are going too - wakeboarding & surfing! 3 event boats even with small ballast for trick skiing just don't put up the wakes everyone is looking for in order to play this way. Another reason is the amount of people you see on these boats. Crazy to see 10+ people on these boats as they make waves on lakes that to me seem like tidal waves!!!!

I purchased my Outback because it had an open bow so my daughter could bring friends out on the lake too. It was a GREAT boat and we had a ton of fun with it. But SC just never seemed to want to take the boat to the next level? I went to the boats shows here year after year with hopes that I might toss down the money if they improved teh boats and made them compete with the big three....................unfortunately it seems all changes and efforts were made to their bigger boats.

I agree the tower on the Outback is a waste as well. And at the rate SC is going with this line I can see the boat eventually being discontinued. Shame though as one would have thought SC would have tried to challenge the others a bit more. Heck there's even a pro event down under called the Moomba Masters and terrible thing is........the event doen't even have a Moomba boat on site! :(

[deerfield]

I agree the tower on the Outback is a waste as well. :(

Not so.

Bought my Outback in 2007 when my boys were 20, 18, and 12, and wakeboard neophytes. They learned basics and have enjoyed every ride getting pulled from the tower. They have lots of room to improve their skills before needing a v-drive with big time ballast.

The Outback replaced a Nautique I bought before getting married and sold when the first son was born. I love to ski and the Outback with open bow and tower was the perfect boat for us, when my wife said we had the money to buy another boat.

Regarding the discontinuation of the direct drive, the molds for the Outback and Supra Comp are in storage at the factory, and I bet Skiers Choice would build one if asked.

[zabooda]

I bought my DD in 2002 and I never considered it to be that good of a ski boat. Too much prop wash and an uneven wake but it served our purpose of an inexpensive family boat. Nothing beats the convenience of maintenance on a DD.

[Mikey]

Deerfield i believe the tower others are refering too is the new swoop version mounted 1/2 way down the sides of the boats like most of the Vdrives. Not the radacage version you and i have.

Hopefully this is not true, otherwise i need to start saving pennies to get a 200 Nautique.
As for Gecko's. I nearly bought one as a buddy was the local rep years ago . The biggest thing i didn;t like was the incorporated swim deck , because it was like a Scoop for water and you really had to be carefull coming to a stop as wake catches up and would literally wash back into boat if you did not do a little Burp on the throttle. Otherwise a nearl identical boat.

[skiyaker]

yeah just to clarify it's the V2 tower I'm referring to. Yes you could still order the outback with the rad-a-cage but that made it a factory order and for me it proved to be a harder negotiation than negotiating a boat that was already sitting on the lot. I thought it put the boat in no-man's land- at close to 45k with options I couldn't see a wakeboard family buying one as a value play, and I couldn't see a ski family going after it with that tower.

I've never set foot in a gekko so I can't argue about it's quality- I'm just thinking besides the Centurion Carbon Pro it will be about the only non big 3 DD out there. Maybe Tige as well. Not that there's anything wrong with the big 3. As a dedicated course boat it's hard to beat my closed bow Correct Craft, and heck I was able to get it for about the amount of depreciation on a new DD (because who wants a closed bow boat anyways.... oh wait this guy does!) I still want to ski behind the outback though.

[PatL]

While I'm not happy about it...I'm definitely not surprised. The market has been moving away from traditional ski boats for a while. The Outback has had a great run and very few design changes in the last 10 years. We still ski the heck out of ours almost every weekend. This just gives a good excuse to move to the Skiyaker plan... Dedicated slalom tractor and Moomba V-Drive :)

[BensonWdby]

Just completed a nice slalom set on glass with my 1998 Mobius (open bow Outback DD with Radacage). ran some 32, 35 , and 43 off. Yes I hav e no business at 43 off - but it was a blast. I am reasonably certain I would never consider it with a V drive. A buddy has a MC209 which is a DD but more like what I envision a Vdrive to be - the wake on tha boat is scary depending on rope length. Ironically the shorter ropes at higher speeds seem to be better - but 15 off at 30 is nasty.

If they go to Vdrive only I would have to ski it before making a decision - but they would probably lose me - but I would probably not buy a new one anyhow.

[Mikey]

I have a buddy who had a 209 and he got rid of it after skiing behind my Outback. It had a hard wake that after comparing he was not willing to put up with anymore. He now owns a used X1 VD that is about middle of the road between his old 209 and my Outbacks wake. As for skiing 43 off.... Yikes. I tryed 39 just for Shits and giggles once ,but let go as i was scared..haha. Your right i/we likely have no business trying that stuff. LOL