Outback Direct Drive vs. V Drive

[bashton]

We own a 2008 DD Outback that we use quite a bit for both slalom and wakeboarding that we bought new. It was always my dream to have a DD for skiing, and my son (co-owner) started out with a passion for wakeboarding. (I had never been on a wakeboard at that point.)

Anyway, we both absolutely LOVE our DD Outback. He now spends more time on a ski while I find myself on the wakeboard about half of the time.

We did purchase a larger ballast bag for wakeboarding, but for skiing there is nothing better than a DD. Also, the handling is unsurpassed. Those are the best points.

You do give up some storage and room and the low freeboard means the occasional water over the bow, but I wouldn't trade my Outback for anything at this point. We have about 200 hours put on over two seasons. For us, we rarely have more than a few people on board, so the room issue is not a big one for us. With four on board and one being towed, everyone is comfortable.

We just went to the boat show and again, left convinced that we not only made the right choice, but also see no need to trade up. Sure...the room would be nice but after driving several V-drives, including a few Supra's, a Supreme and several others, I can tell you that none of them come close to handling as well as our DD Outback. The only thing that really caught our eye at this years show was the new closed-bow DD Supreme, but at 50k+, we'll pass.

Picture the DD Outback as the Corvette, while the V-drive is the Camaro.

Anyway, buy as much boat as you can afford that best suits your needs, but be sure to DRIVE any boat before you buy it, because there is a major differance among the manufacturers and some of the neat looking boats are real tanks.

Bashton