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Old     (Nautical)      Join Date: Mar 2013       06-21-2015, 8:02 AM Reply   
Hey.

Some of you may have noticed from my other posts that I've been looking for a situation on Lake Norman in NC. I may have found an instructor without a boat. I want to provide and drive the boat while the instructor instructs. I also want to learn to ski and wakeboard myself (not interested in wakesurfing at this time).

But now there is the boat part. Lots of opinions out there but one in particular piques my interest. Centurion (young or old) was recommended as the boat to use for the following reasons: The dealer said wake SURFING is all the rage now and you don't need calm water for it where wakeboard and waterski instruction requires the smoothest water possible. Since most people are on the lake on the weekends, when it's choppiest, the logic is that I'd be best off with more wakesurfing classes than wakeboarding or ski classes.

He went on to say that the Centurions made a far superior wakesurfing wake where the Nautiques and Mastercrafts fell short but again, only for wakesurfing. He had nothing negative to say about any brand when it came to their wakeboard wake but pointed out recent world champs who won with Centurion boats.

Dumping $80k to $100k on this business model is risky so I'm looking at used boats. The schools I found so far use a new boat every season so I'm not sure how a 10 year old boat would come across to the paying students and parents of students. Then I saw posts warning against the older Centurions. The used ones I'm seeing are from 2005 and 2006 with the 300hp Mercruiser Black Scorpion engine.

Trying to be objective about the brands, I would like those in the know to comment on those themes above: WS vs WB vs Centrion vs choppy weekend water. Does this advice hold water (okay, yes, that pun was intended - sorry!).

Thanks!
Old     (h20king)      Join Date: Dec 2009       06-21-2015, 8:18 AM Reply   
Nothing wrong with the older Centurions. 05 and older do not have the reduced drive trans but that is not a problem with the right prop. For sure surfing is the thing right now and has saved the boat market. Not sure what your price range is but you could get a new leftover supreme 226 for under 60 K or a new S21 for under 55K. Centurion and Supreme do put out the best surf waves and have the best rough water ride because of the deep V hull but the boat must be listed to get the best wave.. If you are looking used shop for an avalanche or a 230 or 240 enzo. If you plan on using the boat for a school you might want to consider a boat with a surf system so you can switch sides quickly. The wave from a surf system will not be as good as a listed wave but will still be fun. All newer boats offer surf systems so that opens things up if that is the route you want to go.
here are a couple I would look at
http://www.hillside-honda.com/showro...ils.asp?id=555
http://www.hillside-honda.com/showro...ils.asp?id=554
Old     (King12)      Join Date: Jul 2012       06-21-2015, 8:26 AM Reply   
Supremes are great surf options^^ H's is dialed. but I haven't seen any pictures of the wakeboard wake at all.. Like ever.
What is your price range? I worry about deep v boats like centurions(of which I have) due to your application. The ride will be butter smooth and the surf great but for a wake school i would think one of the biggest attributes you need is a clean wake at LOW speeds. Talking like 18. Flat out my centurion can't do that, maybe 19 with no ballast at all. Loaded more like 25mph. Commonly around 26... That's rolling pretty good for wakeboarding for most people.

That's my biggest reservation, quality shouldn't be an issue at all. The low speed wake makes me thing surf system axis.. Maybe a t22 or a24. But we really need a price range
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       06-21-2015, 8:43 AM Reply   
Pretty tough to answer without knowing your business model and what your goals are.

1. Yes, if your running a school/ instruction you are expected to have the latest greatest(including boat) if you are charging prime rates. You will also be expected to have a quiver of the latest skis, wake boards, surfboards, vests etc.

2. As a lifelong watersports person who started competing and getting coached around 30 years ago I will share some. I am also a small business accountant. Best case scenario is this type of business is a break even and chances are its gonna be a non-profit(charity/ loss). The initial investment is HUGE. Sounds like you don't know much about the sport/ area, as you mentioned you don't know how to ride. Are you an EXCELLENT driver? Because again thats what the paying customer expects. Boat driving is a far tougher skill than driving a car. Just cause you can drive a car doesn't make you a boat driver. Skilled riders will demand a good pull. Are you in an area that is going to support this year round?

3. Have you done a real no sh$t business model with cost analysis? Have you figured out what your costs are and where your break even point is and how many lessons per day you have to sell to just break even? How about to make some cash so its worth your while. Are you prepared to work 7 days a week 12 hours a day to make this happen? In the heat and sun? If you can't show a 15% net profit after tax most would say your wasting your time.

4. Maybe I missed the mark and you're rich, retired, and looking for a tax write off…….in which case disregard above!!! LOL
Old     (svnfightsvn)      Join Date: Mar 2011       06-21-2015, 8:44 AM Reply   
For what it's worth, Adam fields runs a wakeboard school on lake gaston and uses centurions exclusively
Old     (King12)      Join Date: Jul 2012       06-21-2015, 8:58 AM Reply   
^^ this is true and Adams fs22 wake on Instagram looks pretty freaking sweet
Old     (Nautical)      Join Date: Mar 2013       06-21-2015, 10:30 AM Reply   
Thanks for the replies so far.

Not rich, am retired, just trying to get the boat to pay for itself as it's a second boat, and I want to learn for myself too. As for budget, it's hard to put an exact number on it. I'd prefer to keep this a$ low a$ possible but if I had to buy a new $80k boat, I suppose I could, but not knowing how this will work will keep me from doing that. I wanted to test the waters (yikes, with the puns but they're not puns in normal conversation!) before diving (sigh) in all the way in. I'm sure I'll be fine driving as I have done that before. Also, every school I've contacted so far (for lessons for myself) has the instructor driving which not only doesn't seem safe to me, but also keeps the instructor from paying 100% attention to the student. As for equipment, the instructor without the boat should have most of that already but yes I expect to have to fill in some blanks.
Old     (boardman74)      Join Date: Jul 2012       06-21-2015, 1:03 PM Reply   
Your not the first guy to come up with this idea that I'm gonna do a few lessons and pay for my boat. The IRS also knows your not the first guy. They watch stuff like this very closely. First thing I would check on would be what is your insurance going to run. Your going to need to have a huge liability umbrella and thats not gonna be cheap. Your also going to put a ton of hours on the boat so I wouldn't even consider used. What do you do if your "business" boat goes down mid July and the dealer is 3 weeks out?

There is a reason there's not a ton of people out there doing this. A lot of us would love to. Its cost prohibitive and these types of things lose money. I'd bet you after doing it for a year you would have been money ahead to just buy yourself a used boat and make the payment.

My suggestion to you would be find someone who started something like this and pick their brain. Buy them dinner or a drink and ask them to bring their financials and discuss. Ask them if they had to do over again if they'd do it. I've organized and ran quite a few tourney's and small festivals over the years and I can tell you they always cost the organizers out of pocket even with sponsors and entry fee's.

If your not rich and you want to enjoy your retirement there are probably better ways. IMO your going to be funding a business like this and not vise versa.
Old     (rbeckner27)      Join Date: Oct 2013       06-21-2015, 6:12 PM Reply   
Adam just switched to centurion last summer after being a diehard epic guy for quite some time. It just depends on who brings the best offer when it comes to repping.
Old     (501s)      Join Date: Feb 2010       06-21-2015, 6:41 PM Reply   
We run a small wakeboard school up here in Canada. As a hobby it's great but as a Business, I can think of a lot of other things I'd do instead. If you are doing it for the money and not purely for the love of the sport, I think you may be disappointed. I rely on my main business for money, and the wakeboard school is all about fun.

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