1985 MASTERCRAFT Power Slot

Does anyone have any opinion on these boats for the sake of wakeboarding? I'm looking for a wakeboarding with a limited price range and I would love if anyone could tell me how these wakes are with a tower and ballast

I have an 1988 pro comp with powerslot.
They are not the best boat out there as far as wakeboarding goes but they are perfectly useable.

I have had a skylon on mine for years and this year I'm getting a tower.
I have a fat seat in the rear and usually go out with at least 6 people on the boat.
The wake is quite good but its a little wide.

If you are an all out boarder then maybe a 80s nautique would be better but if you want a cheap boat that handles excellently, has a bit more room than a nautique and is a good allrounder the MC fits the bill.

The powerslot transmission is also great for wakeboarding as it lowers the gear ratio and gives better holeshot, ideal for loaded down boats.

is the wake big and wide, or just wide? How does the powerslot transmission work? I have a limited budget, so I was looking at one of these boats for a first boat

Ryan i purchased a 1989 MC prostar 190 3 years ago, since then i've put in a custom automatic ballast system, custom tower and a few other goodies. Now i realize its no xstar or wakesetter, but my friends and i can throw a hand full of inverts and spins behind it with no problem at all. I like a rampy wake so i run about 400 pounds up front and about 600 out back and 4 guys in the boat + rider. I have about 600 hours on the boat and have had no problems to date.

Thanks Giacomo, so you like the wake behind the prostar? I know you can't compare it to wakesetters and x-stars, but does it compare to other converted ski boats?

the older mastercrafts (and most older boats) are made of wood, not fiberglass right? I was just wondering if I should be on the lookout for dry-rot

I think MCs from 86 on had no wood so its worth checking the stringers on an 85.

The wake can be pretty big on 80s MCs. The procomp and prostar shared the same hull so the wake will be the same. Its quite rampy and can be big if you get the weighting right. The only downside is like I said before, its a wide wake so you need to push harder to go wake to wake on a longer line.

I had a 85 stars and stripes with the powerslot. It was a good boat with weight, not an x star. The 85 did not have wood stringers, I belive 84 was the year they changed. Overall a great boat that you could use for years and sell for about what you bought it for.

Thanks for the input Stan, I'm not looking for (the price of) an X-star, and I'm looking for any input about the older mastercrafts. So any help/advice/opinion anyone else has, I would love to hear it. Does anyone have any other boat suggestions?

Ryan G,
My first boat a few years ago was a 1986 MC Prostar 190. I don't want to tick anyone off and I respect that everyone has different opinions on boats, this is just my personal experience, so take it for whatever it's worth to you.
First the good parts:
A very well built boat- sturdy, dependable, easy engine and tranny to work on. You can do almost any service yourself easily.

Now the things *I* didn't like:
The wake *for me* was too small. I kept adding more and more weight and it was always small, rampy with no lip. I decided I was going to sell it after I did two sessions with a fat seat in the back (~1200-1300lbs) and full fat sac in the bow (~400-600lbs) and the wake was still small. I had also added a Monster tower to it.

I sold it and got what I paid for it, minus the work I had done on it. I then bought a '98 SuperSport with PP and FCT and have added my own ballast system and it is a different world.

But I TOTALLY understand not wanting or being able to spend $25k+ on a boat. And WHATEVER boat you have, rock it for all its worth until YOU are ready to get something else. MY recommendation is to not get a mid 80's MC Prostar 190 for wakeboarding. I think they made the Prostar 190 bigger/wider in later years, and there were also bigger model Prostars which I have no experience with, only the mid 80's Prostar 190.

The thing is, for the same price range ($6k-12k) you can get an '82-'89 CC Ski Nautique "2001" model. Look at the back of the boat of the PS190 and compare the stern hull to that of the SN2001 and you will see the SN2001 has a V at the bottom where the PS190 is almost flat. That hull just makes a bigger wake and requires less weight to make the bigger wake. It has all the same benefits of the MC PS190, reliability, resale value, power, easy to work on, but you also get a much better wake for the same price. People told me all this when I was looking at boats but I came across this PS190 in great condition and thought I was getting a good deal. But I ended up with buyers remorse and would have preferred a SN2001 with torn up vinyl and twice the hours that had a good wake.

When you look at SN2001's, the common problems are the wood floors and wood stringers. Walk all over the floor and make sure there are NO soft spots. If there are, skip it and find another boat. Poke around the stringers as much as possible, remove a rear engine mount bolt on each side if the owner will let you and check for rot. There must be none. Then the rest is like buying any used boat. Never buy a boat you don't test on the water for 30 minutes unless you are willing to rebuild the engine and transmission after you buy it. Make sure the tranny doesn't slip at all. Check the condition of the oil and tranny fluid. Do a compression test on all cylinders. Look for engine/tranny leaks or fluid in the bilge. Check all the switches and gauges. Most importantly ask as many questions as you can think of to the person that has owned/maintained it and determine if the boat has been cared for and maintained properly. This is much more important than the number of hours on the engine.

Some people don't mind buying a boat for as cheap as possible and then rebuilding everything themselves, stringers, floor, engine, transmission, wiring, fiberglass. That's great if you are skilled in all that and enjoy it. I am not so for me, that means a lot of time off the water, and possibly more money spent in repairs than what the boat is worth. For me, I'd rather spend a little more on a boat that someone else has already done that to (or better yet has maintained completely) and is ready to ride. But that's your call.
I hope this helps and good luck! Post pics of what you end up with!
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