Potential buyer - how does a '97 Outback do as slalom boat

[jcb512]

Hi,
I am looking at buying my first real ski boat. I have come across a 1997 Outback that I am interested in purchasing. I would like to know how it is to ski behind this boat?

Just some quick frame of reference: The primary use would be for slalom and some barefooting. I am not a course skier but do pretty decent, I ski around 30-32 mph. I have skied behind true inboard ski boats before such as Malibu and Mastercraft's before but my main boat is a Glastron outboard.

I have read on Ball of Spray some polarizing reviews on skiing behind a Moomba and wanted some input from the group of expert owners on this forum.
- Is the wake solid, rough, and big?
- Does having more than one plus a driver in the boat increase the wake much?
- Does the Outback track a straight line well (remember my context is a Glastron that i could pull all over the place when doing a cut).
- Anything outside of skiing that I should look at or watch out with on this boat?

Thanks so much to all and anyone that is willing to help me out by sharing their great information.

[iwaterskihard]

I don't know about the older Outbacks meaning pre 2000. We used to own a 2006 Outback and it was a great boat for us as kid was little and always wanted to bring a friend along. We sold it when we moved but here's a couple things I can vouch for.
Our boat tracked well but it was never used on a course.
The wake was decent at 15 and 22 off and I highly doubt you're going to see anything shorter if you're not a course skier.
Our boat didn't have Perfect Pass or Zero Off so I skied only with the speedo.
No complaints really. I did upgrade to a Nautique 196 when we moved to our ski community as we didn't need an open bow boat anymore.

That year of boat probably not fuel injected.

And really if you're a serious buyer tell the seller you want to ski behind it and play with it for an hour doing what you would be doing with it as an owner. Then you'll know!

Good luck and happy skiing! :)

[zabooda]

My 98 wake is OK but not like the smaller boats (Prostar19 & Boomrang) just from the displacement perspective. As with every boat, balancing the load inside the boat is important for an even wake. From the discussion in previous years, I would recommend the three blade prop over the four blade as it creates less wash. For what I do, the wake is fine but then I ski at 36 mph where the wake is less pronounced.

[BensonWdby]

I have a 99 Mobius - which is basically an Outback. WE run it through the course all the time at shorter ropes. It is not the flattest wake in the world but it is perfectly fine for most serious slalom skiers. It may actually be bigger than your outboard - but I think most inboards will be - unles syou want to get a new Prostar or a Nautique 2000.

[Mikey]

I agree with Benson above that yes you may find a slightly larger wake then your out board, but the inboards do track MUCH better then your boat ever will. Coming from a similar type outboard boat. I have an 07 Outback similar to what I ski hard was telling you about and we ski occasionally in the course usually pulling 15,22 and maybe attempting 28 off and it tracks well and as for wakes its not bad. For serious ski days i definetely try to limit first ,people,one driver,spotter and skier only, then if possible i might even remove access gear to lighten up the boat.

On days when i can remove, coolers, extra life jackets, anchor , fatsacks etc, anything i really don't need , Then this Boat really skis nicely. Is it in the same ski category as a New Prostar or Nautique 200, NOT even close but 1/3 the cost. I'm not exactly sure what the boat your looking at will ski like but as someone mentioned...If you can manage a ski during demo ,Then you will really know.

Not all DD inboards ski well, I;ve skied behind a couple that quite frankly SCARED me First time hitting there wakes. The Outbacks are a midsize DD and generally ski pretty decent. Good luck.

[Mikey]

Something i forgot to mention that might help in your search for a decent skiing boat. Not sure if that model and year is/was , But is it Tournament rated? Generally the boats had to meet certain standards especially in wake to be rated so that may or may not help you decide and or find a decent ski boat...My 07 Is rated although shortly after not sure which year Moomba Quit going to the trouble and POLITICS of having there boats Rated...Now sadly the outback has even been discontinued from the Moomba lineup.

[iwaterskihard]

You never mentioned your price range you're shopping in. There is some good deals on Ski-it-Again if you're willing to travel or pay delivery for a boat?
Also summer just hit some areas and I promise you your ability to get a better deal on a boat will minimize.
Most DD boats have somewhat decent wakes. You will notice a definite hit at 22' off on almost all of them based on the fact the wakes have to rise some place before they flatten out again. The wakes will then soften or be reduced as you shorten line lengths.
If you're not a course skier this shouldn't matter too much to you. Nor will the little hump at 22' off as you're not working hard to create angle to the next buoy. Open water skiing you don't notice it as much. At least I don't because I don't take the same angle into a cut in the open water as I do the course.
As I stated in my first post - if you're real serious tell the seller that. Tell him you want to drive it and you want to ski behind it. That's exactly what I did with my old Supra. The guy hummed and hawed until he skied behind it. He was in my driveway 30 minutes after we got back from the lake with cash in hand! :)
Good luck dude!

[jcb512]

Good evening,
thanks to all of you that provided feedback to my original question. i have not made a purchase yet as life has been busy. I am glad I waited because things have changed and now I have an additional invester in the boat so my price range went up considerably. We are willing to spend in the 24k range now. So, I am hot on a 2006 Outback with only 72 hours on it. It doesn't have any bells or whistles and is a carb engine which is kind of a bummer. The guy says it is a bit cold blooded and needs to warm up a bit before you gun it for the first time. He also says with a three blad prop it tops at 42-44 which is kind of tight since I like to barefoot and if we have people in the boat. He is asking 19,500. I am looking at it tomorrow. Anything to watch out for or be concerned about on this model or year. Final note we are also considering a Malibu Response LXI which is at the top of our range and one year newer. I know this is a Moomba forum but which is the better value? Thanks for the help.

[maxpower220]

I owned a 2008 Outback and a 99 Malibu. You didn't give the hours on the Bu, but if it has less than 400 hrs on it, the Bu will have a better ski wake. Later down the road, the Bu will probably have a little better resale.

My Outback was a very nice boat. It has room that you won't find in another boat that will ski as nice as the Outback. A new, better prop will address any slight speed needs that you have.

Either boat that you pick will have a better ski wake than you are on now. As a final note, be careful with co-owner investments. Have a contract that spells out every detail of hours, maintenance, partner buyout, and repairs. More often than not, there is a divorce in the process along the way. Better to have a contract and a little hurt feelings than a nasty and pricey split.

[trayson]

I wouldn't spend that kind of money without having fuel injection. Honestly, if you are going to go carb'd you might as well save yourself a ton of money and get a Supra Comp. It's also a Skier's Choice boat and they are legendary as water ski boats. Also, most of the market has shifted to v-drive boats now and you'll find many Direct Drives that are plummeting in value because there's just not the demand for them. People that want a purpose built slalom/barefoot boat are a dying breed. So to a point you're paying for newer, not necessarily better on the direct drives.

If I were you, I would look for a boat with the following as a minimum:

Open Bow
Trunk
Heater
Fuel Injection


The shower is something that is honestly lowest on my list of extras. If it's cold enough I'd want to use the shower for my wetsuit, I'm in my drysuit.

[skiyaker]

If you are going direct drive my advice would be to go after one that will be appealing to a slalom nut- they hold their value really well. If the Malibu is a newer model that can be converted to zero off you won't have any trouble selling it someday. Depending on the year and condition quite possible that the bu will cost you less in depreciation. True that many DD prices are dropping, but the diehard slalom tugs really hold their value well. I could sell my 2001 nautique for more than I bought it for because that year's hull has a good following. What year is the Bu? I split time on the course between my 2001 nautique and a 2008 LXi.

[iwaterskihard]

If you have that kind of money forget about the carb boat! Just my 2 cents as an owner of both previously!

[FamilyMatters]

Where are you located.
I have my 2009 in the Classifieds for $25,000 on this forum. I also have a buddy that is selling his 2005 Mastercraft X7 (197 with a tower and 400lb Ballast Bag). $25,000
I'm a Free Skier, Ski at 34mph Love the Outback. The wake on the Outback is a little larger than the X7 (The Outback is Bigger) but the wake on the X7 is flatter, but is harder (I don't know why). When I ski the X7 I have to lean back a little more cutting hard through the wake because it kicks the tail of the ski and pitches you forward.
So bottom Line do what everyone else has said and Ski behind the boat. The one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the Direct drive get's you up so much easier, and does so much better on fuel economy you will never miss the Outboard!

[jcb512]

So, despite all the great advice from those of you that responded we ended up buying the 2006 Outback. After doing so I am very sorry that I didn't listen to you experts. Since the deal was made we have regretted it so much I almost don't want to ski. In a nut shell the boat had a lien on it so we had to buy out the loan which took a lot of effort then had to make a deal with the seller to hold some of the cash until he got the title from the bank (took 3 weeks). The seller was a real a-hole through all of this even threatening my 70 year old dad that if the deal didn't go right there would be "big trouble". Wait it gets worse, we put the boat in the water about a week after buying it and everything seemed fine until I looked in the little hatch in front of the ski bar (this model doesn't have the ski storage) and saw a good amount of water. Ran the bilge but saw this happening all day. Long story short with the help of a friend we discovered both mufflers were cracked on both ends where they go from wide to narrow. Of course the seller claims he had no idea and we bought it "as is". We did recover a little bit of replacement money but not enough to cover the pain anguish and our installation effort. The mufflers took 3 weeks to get here due to an idiot parts guy at local dealership. Hope to put them in this weekend and really hope the leaking stops. On top of this we don't feel like the boat has the power we were expecting. I will call it ok but I expected to be pulled out of my ski getting up compared to our 1989 outboard. I think it even lost some power as at one point it took what seemed like forever to plain out when pulling my 175 lbs dad up on two skis. There was an instance that I think I introduced water into the fuel but not that much, could a little water really effect power that much? Before the water/fuel incident the boat did run up to around 5,000 rpm (not sure afterward) but according to my iphone gps speedometer we were getting 38-39 mph which is lower than the expected 42-43. It is running a 3 blade prop but I don't know any more details than that. We also have a little trouble with it idling (sometimes dies) and a pretty good amount of trouble going at low speeds like when trying to get our kids up and slowly moving from nuetral to really low speed it kills out frequently.
Overall, this have been a really sad experience especially since we have been wishing for, planning, and saving for a ski boat for LONG time. Maybe I sound like whining, but we just have a bad taste in our mouth over the whole thing and don't know what to do about it. I am going to look at the fuel filter this weekend (any guidance on where I find it on this boat with the 310 HP indmar) and put some heet in the gas and run some high octane gas. I hope I get the power back.
I hope I learn from this experience and others do too. :(

[kaneboats]

I'm sorry for your bad experience. Sounds like you need a good carb cleaning, maybe even a rebuild. Also, why not drain the fuel completely and put in fresh stuff along with a new filter? If you think you have contaminated fuel don't run it through your engine. Get rid of it. Also, look at the numbers on your propeller (behind the nut) and post them up here. We may be able to help you with some of your issues.

Finally, do a search on "water under ski locker floor". A few models suffer from this and guys have drilled an access hole and installed a cover. You can use a shop vac to remove water. Keep your bilge dry and you can help this a lot. It's been a little tough so far but you have a decent boat. It may take a little TLC but try to enjoy it along the way.

[deerfield]

jcb - In what part of the country are you located? If anywhere near Richmond, Virginia, glad to give you a hand to get that '06 running right. - Deerfield