Older DD vs Older V-drive

Ok well.... I'm having a hard decision. I can't decide between a 10-13k DD or a 16-20K V-drive. This will be our first boat and would like to only spend 13k but I would also like a v-drive that I don't know if we can afford due to me being commission only and the slow season is coming. Is a dd going to have a large enough wake for most tricks and also large enough for wake surfing? Thanks alot for your opinions!!

As far as the wakeboarding wake goes, the engine position matters MUCH less than the hull shape- a DD and VD with the exact same hull will throw the exact same wake when weighted correctly (different weighting schemes for different engine positions). On the surf side of things, a VD will be easier to set up, but by no means will a DD be un-surfable. What specific boats are you looking at?

94 Nautique DD, trying to find another Super sport and I just found a 96 205v for 16,500

Supersport. If you get a Ddrive you'll be selling it 2/3 years and be looking for a vdrive.

When we bought our first Ddrive thats what the seller was doing, getting a vdrive.... 2 years later we did the exact same thing.

It is worth it in resale alone, not to mention wake/room/storage/ etc etc etc.

Find an older Vdrive for a low price is hard though. I'm in the same boat. I want to spend 10-13k next springish time frame, but don't think I'll ever find a decent vdrive in my price range. Oh well, I'm young...got to start somewhere.

A nice Malibu sunsetter vdrive just sold on ebay in Sacramento for 14,600. I couldn't believe it.

The worst part is the guy who bought it was having trouble getting financing, so it may still be available at that price. I'm across the country or I would have jumped.

The deals are out there, but they are very hard to come by.

I've found a few 96 97 VLX's... are these great boats or do they need alot of weight? Any advice is appreciated.

Well, the other problem I'm having is most of the boats I'm finding are selling for more than the NADA value and that is what the banks base the loan from... obviously, So for me it's not getting financed... I'm between a rock and a hard place.... any advice would be great..thanks

(Message edited by eerock on September 14, 2009)

Is a DDrive going to give me a good wake? I don't think I'm going to be able to afford a Vdrive right now, so are the DDrive wakes decent wakes? Thanks

Eric,

It all depends on the hull. Again, the engine position doesn't REALLY matter for wake, you can add weight to the right hull and get the same wake (you're not going to have much room left in the boat after adding the bags, but that's another story). However, you mentioned a 1994 Ski Nautique. That year ski nautique will not readily produce a good wakeboarding wake. It's a great ski boat precisely because it is designed to have a flat wake. older Ski nautiques (82-89), barefoot nautiques, any sport nautique, and also the Martinique will be able to give you a very workable wakeboarding wake from Correct Craft.

You also have options galore from Supra, Malibu, Sanger, and Mastercraft. I'm sure others on this board can chime in one which of those hulls can be made to produce a good wake.

Eric Jernberg from wakeboardreport.com wrote an excellent article on choosing older inboards for wakeboarding: http://www.wakeboardreport.com/archives/2007/05/the_5_most_important_things_to.html

Use that article along with: http://www.wakeboardreport.com/archives/2006/06/budget_wake_boat_breakdown_gra.html

Eric,there are only a few dd's that will give you a killer wake.The 94 dd nautique you listed is not one of them.
In between selling our boat and waiting for the right time of year to purchase another we decided to buy a cheap dd to get us by and play as backup incase any service time was needed on our new one.
I have since learned alot.
First off there are two boats I consider dd wakeboats
1.1982-1989 ski nautique 2001
2.Supra sunsport
I have seen threads for years talking about the 2001 and thought it was just owners goggles amping the boat up to something it wasn't.We decided to look at a few and thats where it gets tricky.
The boats are made of wood and there all in some degree of degredation.Most I looked at where toast and on top of that most people don't even want to sell them.We ended up driving twelve hours to pickup a 88 2001 just to get a decent boat.
Since then I have gained a ton of respect for this model.There are even a few new wakeboats I consider to have a lesser wake than the 2001.Not only that but the boat runs on half the fuel of a modern tank style v drive.astounding little monster is the only way to describe the 2001 and that is the boat for you.
For reference in your search on what to look for here are a few websites.
www.the2001.com
www.planetnautique.com
www.correctcraftfans.com
Good luck.

(Message edited by formfunction on September 14, 2009)

Thanks alot guys, I'm looking at a Malibu LX, Tige 22 and a Moomba, but people have told me to stay away from all except the "big 3". It doesn't really matter to me about the make I just want a good wake and be able to surf. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Eric,a thousand pounds in a 2001 is like two thousand in any other boat.The biggest challenge with the nautique is space however there are a few creative ways to improve a bit
or you could spend a little more and get a sport nautique v drive.I see them sell under fifteen.Once again though people know what they are and make it difficult to purchase.

I had a DD before my current V-drive. Both were Malibu's and had great wakes. You just have to weight the DD properly and make sure you are buying a proven hull. Don't think that just because a boat is a DD or V-drive it is a "wakeboard" boat. Some of the boats you are looking at are capable wake producing machines. If I were in your shoes, I would look at Sport Nautiques, Prostar 205's, Sunsetter LX's, Supra Launches and Sunsports or a Ski Nautique 2001 hull (82-89 I believe). Some of the other brands aren't necessarily bad boats, but some of these companies weren't producing the quality that they are now. For instance, I have been around older Moomba's and newer ones and they are building a much better boat now than say pre 2000 (at least in my opinion).

The only big issue to me with having a good wake on DD is that using the amount of weight you need to make it huge means you have room for 2/3 people in the boat... that sucks.

MC205 and Sunsports are awesome v-drives you can find under $20K. Might be able to get '00ish Centurion Eclipse or Elite or Moomba LSVs v-drives for $15K or less and they will make wakes too and are mechanically as good as the big 3 but lack the prestige, finish, and some of the trimmings.

Eric,
I sent you a PM, didn't realize you were local to me. Drop me a line.

Or if you want more than two people in the boat (and hidden sacs - mostly) try the Supra SunSport.

I think this dudes got you beat on space Mikey.
http://www.the2001.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=1184

^^ Wow. I can't believe someone would take the time and spend the money to do that. I bet it was very rewarding though.

I have a 97 MB Boss 210, direct drive. It has a very large ski locker that can hold a lot of weight as well as all of the gear. It has plenty of room for people, and it has a good size wake.

I just sold my mint 93 sport nautique with a ND tower and racks on it for 12K. It was purple but other than that it was totally legit. I just wanted to upgrade. Gives you an idea of what one can be had for. It was stupid cheap for what it was but I wanted to sell because I didnt want 2 boats for winter and try to sell all winter and spring.

FYI, I had a SN 2001 and loved it for 6 years. From there I went to the 93 sport because of the room and wake ability. Sure enough, like others have mentioned, I needed the V drive and got a 03 Super Air Team Nautique. Better room, metter layout, deeper boat, easier to chase kids in than around an engine box.

TRDon, what boat had a better wake. The 93 Sport or the SN 2001?

Brock thanks I have been trying to find that thread again to bookmark it.

Woody, I really liked the wake of the sport better than the 2001. It was more controlled, predictable, not as peaky, and a slightly wider wake table. I like a narrow table and the 91" beam was perfect compared to the 85 in the 2001.

Personal preference I guess. Combine that with a better layout and more room, a better transmission with reduction gear, It was twice the boat or more than the 2001 was. That and the fact it was a lot easier to sell because of the open bow. Everybody looks for that now.

Personal preference I guess,the peaky wake is one of my favorite side effects of the 2001 of course its all in how you weight it.
Predictable,I don't understand what you mean by that.
In my eyes the 2001 has three downfalls
1.space
2.wood
3.lack of technology which of course can be addressed with a handfull of money but then again money can solve all of them.I would be willing to bet you could buy a 2001 and rebuild the entire boat for less than twenty thousand and have a competent modern v drive will the added fuel economy.

Predicable adding to the less peaky. The 2001 was a nice wake for sure but the table was too narrow which my todays boats standards is about 1/2 at a given length. Peaky is nice, that is why I have had 3 nautiques, but I considered the 2001 to be almost abrupt instead of peaky. I loved the wake but getting the sport really changed the way I looked at it form that point on.

TRDon, was the 2001 wake to narrow or was it narrow but not to to narrow? Also had you ever looked into converting to V-drive?

Eric the wake is only as narrow as your line is short and only peaky if you run too much weight in the rear.
TRDON is correct about the super air being a better boat but the hull was baised on the 2001 if that tells you anything.
About the conversion to v drive,I rounded up the parts for mine and expect to have close to ten grand involved after its said and done.After paying seven for my boat,tower,bimini,perfect pass and what not I should have at least twenty in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWBeF8DrY48

Eric,

I can relate with you on the commission only. Makes some purchases hard sometimes. I went with a DD, because that's what my budget allowed at the time. I got a great deal on it, so in a couple years, I should be able to sell it for almost what I paid for it. I can't wake surf behind, which I like to do from time to time, just make a friend on the water to catch a set with.

Is the wake the greatest -- nope
Do is it have alot of room -- nope

But is it mine and I can go to the water when I want -- yep

my suggestion is get what you can comfortably afford, do I go sometimes and say, damn I wish I had a V-Drive, but then I go by a dock and see people standing on the dock, and I can say, well at least I am on the water and not standing on the dock or sitting at home.

Also with buying a used boat, and with any boat, they are going to break down, it's not if -- it's when. I have had friends go spend the max the on boat their budget can allow, and two months later the boat is sitting in the drive way cause they spent so much on their monthly payment, they did not put anything away for repairs on their boat. So they have a nice V-Drive, but not much good when it's sitting in the driveway.

So I would say this --

Buy a boat you are comfortable making the payment on.
Remember, there is more than just the boat payment, on a used boat, I would figure add another $100 to the payment, just to put away for repairs. A prop repair is anywhere from 100 to 200 bucks, a new prop is 400ish. A new starter is 150ish. So keep in mind, it's just not about just affording the boat payment, don't forget to figure in what your budget can afford for repairs as well.

Here is a pic of my wake -- It's a 92 Ski Brendalla, 500 pound bag in the back and 3 people in the boat. again not the biggest, peakest, rampiest wake, but at least i am on the water in "my" boat.

http://binghamton.craigslist.org/boa/1355726250.html

$3000 and this Supra will throw a big wake.

Totally awesome video Bruce thanks for sharing. Wish I could throw the crow, toe backroll or toe 3!