99 sportster or 99 outback

I am looking to purchase a boat that will be used mainly for wakeboarding and I am looking to spend about 15k-17k. I saw a 1999 malibu sportster and a 1999 moomba outback for sale and I was wondering if anyone had ridden behind one of these or if anyone could tell me if these boats kick a nice wake for wakeboarding. If these boats with stock weight do not kick a nice wake would adding a ballast system, wedge, and etc... make them produce a nice wake or is there no potential in those kind of boat. Which one would you chose between the two?
Thanks for your help
Dave

I used to have a buddy with a Sportster, it had a great wake, just have to be careful not to dunk the sides.

Sportster is a better boat, and you will get more wake. You can also put a wedge on the sportster

I could be wrong but I believe the wedge can only be put on if the wedge plate was installed in the transom when the boat was built. Although most dealers ordered all the boats with the wedge plates so customers could add the wedge to any boat they sold. The Sportster was only 20k new so don't end up paying too much for it.

thanks for the answers. I just read somewhere that the prostar 205 would be a great used boat for wakeboarding. Since they are priced a little higher than the sportster, I would most likely have to get a 94-96 prostar 205 to stay in my 15-17k budget. I was wondering if anyone knew something about the wake on the prostar 205 and also should I be worried about mechanical problems if I buy a more than ten year old mastercraft boat or even a 7 year old malibu.
thanks
dave

I had a 99 prostar 205 and they're great boats. Very versatile for wakeboarding and skiing. Nice wake shape when unweighted and gets really nice with some weight. 400 trouble free hours before I sold mine.

In my opinion:
1. Prostar (regardless of year) would be the best choice outta the 3. Just find one thats been taken care of.
2. I looked at a 2000/2001 Moomba and it seemed a little too bare bones for me. I've never ridden in a moomba so I can't question the
quality.
3. The Malibu is a very nice,very LITTLE boat. You won't be loading up the crew & gear into that one. If you do you'll need to be VERY careful about taking on water.

"I could be wrong but I believe the wedge can only be put on if the wedge plate was installed in the transom when the boat was built. Although most dealers ordered all the boats with the wedge plates so customers could add the wedge to any boat they sold. The Sportster was only 20k new so don't end up paying too much for it."

you can add it to this boat. I had a 96 Echelon that I added the plate and wedge to.

The sportster is the best boat. You can weight it and get a good wake without the wedge. Just watch for rollers over the front.

Sportster.

Had a '99 Outback. Well built and reliable, but not a wakeboard boat! Don't buy it.

I second the Prostar. I did tons or research and the prostar allways had a crowd of people saying how much they loved the boat. You can find some really nice prostars in that year range. I would go with a prostar 205 for the open bow. They still make the same boat today. Except it is a v-drive but same hull. It is called the X1. Well more i think about it i guess it could be a 209 because it is also a direct drive. Anyways Good luck

what about the malibu echelon? would it be a similar wake to the sportster or better?

Have you thought about a 94-97 Sport Nautique? You can find them in your price range and they put out a great wake.

Look at all the Sporty Love! Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the Echelon turned into the Sportster so it's the same boat.

We've got an '03 Sportster and the only thing that could make it better would be storage. It has 0. The most we've weighed it down was with a sac in the back, two fat blocks, wedge, and about 6 people. Nice wake. The only thing I thing I can say is it has hard wake. Went behind a response and Wakesetter and they were much softer.

Echelon, response, and sportster are all the same hull, but not the same boat. All had diffrent decks and interior. The response is closer to the sportster then the echelon

I think the sport nautiques are a bit more expensive than the other ones, but similar to the prostar 205. I have not really found a clean sport nautique in my price range that was already equipped with tower and etc...

the sportster sits low really really low. just know when weighted that its going to take on water from every side. another boat wake will come over the back and every thing will be soaked all the time. there is no glove compartment and the drain that drains the open bow dumps into the storage compartment for some reason. so prepare to be wet. but the wake is ok. i personaly dont think its near as good as my wake but can get fairly big and rampy.personaly i woulld keep looking. 205 or sport. my .02

Jeff. The Echelon and Sporty I think are on the same hull. Like I said I think the Sporty is the replacement for the Echelon. The Response however is different. The Sporty is on the SV23 hull and the Response is on the SV23 Diamond hull. The Response has a much softer wake which is why it's one of the best Slalom boats. The Sporty is pretty hard which is supposedly why barefooters love it.

If you have a person or two in the bow, yeah water is coming over. But I've never had any problems with water coming over the back or side. We may just not have as much weight as some others .