Pre season fun - favorite ‘classic’ wake/ski boat

As I often find myself perusing marketplace in between conference calls…. I scan through plenty of ‘classics’ be it cars/trucks/boats or other toys….

I am always waiting for the right pickle fork with a blown BBC to pop up…. But in the meantime I enjoy the older stuff as much as I love my boat….

What are your favorite classics, maybe for the purposes of this it would be pre surf ‘technology’…. I know last spring about this time I had a hoot down in Florida on a buddies mid 90’s ski nautique …. What are some of your faves and why ?

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Hey, that red/tan yamaha looks just like one of mine! That was sure enough the boat to have back in the day. Virtually no wake! Which was the ideal for fast, hard cuts back and forth.

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Well, my 2008 xlv is definitely pre surf technology, but I wouldn't call it a classic...

That said, it's the best 23' boat that moomba made before surfing took over the design emphasis.

The floorplan is downright amazing as it has the playpen bow with flip up backrests. One becomes an instant windscreen. The other adds an additional wind protected seat next to the driver.

The playpen locker is amazing. I easily fit 3 to 4 boards in there. Sometimes a ski. Or I've put like 3-4 VP gas jugs when heading out camping. Everything that's put in the locker is out of sight and less of a theft temptation. Once the stuff is out, filling the 1180 gravity games bag is a lot of weight that's centered and forward.

The flip up backrest behind the driver is a spot my son loves to use. The rear sundeck isn't interrupted by a walk through so the wife has a great spot to lay out in the sun. The rear lockers are long enough to hold wakeboards and wakesurf boards. And 1100 bags make for a decent amount of weight.

The 340 etx cat is a great engine that just doesn't quit and uses way less gas than a raptor I'm guessing. Most everything on the boat has been something I can work on myself.

The tower is old school which means that it's easy to clamp on so sorts of extra racks, cargo Bimini, mirror, flag Holders.

I actually like the cutout for the under seat cooler. I even put hinges on mine with gas struts and a magnet to open the cooler lid with the seat bottom. It's big enough to use as our 'family' cooler although with guests more capacity elsewhere is supplemented.

I'm a big fan of perfect pass with paddlewheel for riding on rivers with current.

Still has tons of cupholders and pretty good freeboard. The color scheme on mine is timeless.

Modern upgrades are totally feasible for a surf platform, surf pipe, hydro turf/seadeck flooring, LED lighting upgrades, big stereo, better vinyl...

It puts out a great wakeboard wake, I can slalom recreationally behind it, and a surf wave his enough to keep me from "upgrading".

It doesn't weigh so much that a bigger truck is necessary. It existed before wake boats for stupid expensive and as such mine is paid off. 14" wheels on the trailer make wheel and tire upgrades affordable. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...de4f5388f1.jpg

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My uncle had this old, geez maybe 1968? Tom Sawyer tri-hull ever since I was a kid. I guess you could call it a classic... Learned to ski behind it, tube, kneeboard, skurfer (remember those?), you name it. Went fishing, crabbing, all of it. It was ugly as hell but hey - it was available and free! In my late teens to early 20's he decided he was done with it and asked if I would sell it for him and we'd split the proceeds. Of course I could use it as much as I wanted -which we did A LOT of- and then get rid of it when I was done.

Funny thing, it took me a good 3 years to finally sell it. During that time we ended up blowing the little 120hp mercruiser it was born with. In went I want to say it was a 168ci, 140hp long block. That tired old boat (kind of looked like a car on the water) came back to life in a big way. Since I was a poor college kid my uncle actually bought the motor and I swapped it in.

We probably would have tried to barefoot behind it but it wasn't fast enough. LOL We would pull up on the beach next to these sweet drag boats and daycruisers and get 'the look'. I always thought I wanted a drag boat but it was kinda dumb because they would literally just sit there all day and look cool. We'd be going nonstop burning a full tank of gas every outing. Loved that old tri-hull.

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That old tri-hill was pretty close to my first boat just a bit older. I had a 78 Sea Arrow for the longest time. Creamy tan with a blue interior. Was a fun boat for a long time. Use to ski and wakeboard behind it. Made a custom 7ft wake pole for it. Was a huge upgrade when we got the 97 Tige direct drive. Now all those older boats seem so small :)


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no pics but funnest old school boat I have been on was a friend in boise that had a 90's boomerang. that boat flat out moved and could spin on a dime.... great times on it...
afaik, he still has it and uses it. last time I was on it was summer 2012.

berg, my family used to have a place on payette lake in McCall back in the 70's. had an old orange and white tri-hull with a 65horse evinrude outboard on the back that looked almost identical to the one you posted up. I still remember many summer saturdays watching my old man use very "colorful" language to work on that thing... fun but it spent more time dead than running... as a kid we would sleep on the fold down seats at night under the stars..

That tri hull is amazing….

It is wild when you look back at how manufacturers were ‘plentiful’ and stylists were pushing boundaries…. I was having the same thoughts looking back to the two dozen or so snowmobile manufacturers in the 60-70’s, and how that has whittled down…. And look at how (somewhat) similar our wake boat designs have become, well maybe except for the WT-2 lol…. But I applaud all of those who stray from the norm !!

Almost makes a guy want to dive back a couple generations of boat, and maybe worry less about cheetos being brought onboard !!

My first ski boat was a 1979 Glastron Carlson with a 350 I/ O (brochure picture - not me). It had the optional tow hook behind the back seat which a good ski boat at the time. I had a 1998 Mobius which was open bow ski boat that was OK. The boat to ski behind was the Mastercraft Prostar 190. It wasn't practical for families but the wake was almost nonexistent.

So this isn’t a wake or ski boat, but still deserves an honourable mention:

I grew up in Salmon Arm, a small town in BC and my family had a cabin on Shuswap Lake. Just up the street from the home I grew up in was this guy named Tom Reynolds. He was partners with a couple of my high school teachers, Dave Peel and Dave Hadley. They built high performance boats, Cougar High Performance Boats, that I would watch race past my cabin all summer long. I still remember Tom driving by the house in his bright red Corvette (might have been an 80-82) and the Daves also drove impressionable cars to school. 1 Dave drove a later 80’s Corvette and the other drove a Regal T-Type.

I did end up owning a Corvette a little later in life but by the time I was thinking about buying boats those guys had moved on to building 40’-50’ ultra high performance boats that I would never afford.

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Cougar built a cool boat. I recall them being a player in the early offshore race days.

I recall reading about their boats in mags like Hot Boat when they competed business against companies like Eliminator, Dave’s Custom Boats (DCB), HTM, Skater, etc.


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Love the old ‘muscle boats’ it’s so wild to look at that design…. I always have myself looking out for one…. But can only imagine what the folks on the Shuswap would think of those open headers now lol!!

I spent a lot of time growing up on Christina Lake and have so many memories of that style of boat…. Love it !