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Well, it won't be official until Thursday, but Mastercraft is entering the FISHING market! Mastercraft is set to unveil the the new CSX 220 on Thursday.
The new boat is a Center Console(!). Obviously it has a center-console, a low, kind of "cut-out" transom wall with flip up seat, a forward facing seat in front of the console and a platform seating area up front. The boat still uses the picklefork front end.
There was a Mastercraft engineer on site. I told him I'd noticed a lot of marketing of the MasterCraft "Saltwater Series" (twin engine 280, etc.) and I asked him if this was the next level of their plan. He said it was. I asked him if this was a based on the X15 and he said it was not. He insisted it was a brand new hull.
I guess in sort of a crossover effort, the boat is available with a hardtop over the center console. The hardtop is fitted with bicycle and wakeboard mounts. Plus, it still has a tow eye. It's somewhat similar to Supra's idea on the 24SSV. (Neither design seems terribly convenient to me.)
The boat had a single inboard prop, probably driven by a V-drive. I didn't get to see the engine. It really got me thinking though: if you're trying to sell an inboard boat to anglers, what's really important: DIESEL! Perhaps this explains the rumors we've been hearing about MasterCraft experimenting with diesel. Certainly can't hurt to let R&D for the fishing market benefit wakeboarding.
Anyway, I was trying to figure out the marketing thought behind this: "Well, we've lost a lot of marketshare to Malibu and the wakeboarding market is not growing appreciably. If we can't grow the category through increased marketshare or new customers, we have to find another customer to sell to." I guess that's how they ended up with this new boat. I wonder though: Why fishing instead of high-end performance cruisers? It seems like they could have targeted a type of Cobalt or Fountain-type boat.
What do you think?
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