I/O

Looking into buying a boat in the 10k price range. From what ive read an i/o would serve my purpose and fit into my ideal price a little better...any suggestions on i/o boats? thanks

Bayliner might work. We have a 98 Bayliner and it works just fine, just needed a tower. Just when our dad offered us a wakeboard boat we couldn't say no.

Make sure wakeboarding is part of your test drive. I/Os vary wildly when it comes to wake. Some of them have nice wakes. Most do not.

I feel like a DA b/c im just getting into this, but what makes true inboard so much better? sorry for the stupidity....

It's hull design and drive location that make a clean wake. You lose some things with in inboard too, so check what's most important to you.
With a designed wake or ski boat they try to keep a very smooth flow as the water exits the hull and you get a wake that does not have froth on the crest and does have a smooth shape for quite a distance.
When you look at any I/O check to see if you have some part of the wake that is clean on top for some distance. I think you might find a Four Winns that would be OK but there are a lot of hulls that are reasonable. You don't want to get too small a boat and you do want a fair bit of power to come out of the water quickly.

A good wakeboard-specific inboard (or anomalies like the Ski Nautique 2001 or 80's models of Supra Sunsport) can have all the properties Art describes. Do keep in mind though that many true inborads (especially those designed when slalom was all the rage) have wakes that are absolutely pathetic (by design).

Make sure you realize that in some ways, a true inboard is harder to drive. With an outboard or outdrive (I/O) you are able to steer as you reverse, because the prop moves with the turn. On an inboard, you only have a rudder behind the prop, so whne you are in reverse, not too much water is passing over the rudder, so you generally just back up in one direction or another. It takes some getting used to. Plus, int he 10k range, you're more likely to get a large open-bow I/O than a similarly sized true in board.

Also note, for skiers/ etc, theres more a feeling of safety with an inboard, as the prop is all the way under the boat, rather than out in the open (you should still NEVER operate the prop with someone near the swim deck... accidents happen).

I started on a 17.5 ft Sea Ray. It got the job done and was under 10k. Great little fuel-efficient boat and was very easy to drive. The wake wasn't great but I could get wake to wake 180s fairly easily. Just don't get a boat with at 3.0L engine!

I have a 18' I/O with a "pole" puts out an ok wake for me with a little weight in the front and some people. Here is the boat..and the wake, I'm at 75' with about 200lbs in front and 4 people. Sorry about the guy in the picture.

keeping a steady speed can be very tricky and takes a lot of practice to keep it within a few mph!