Best all around family boat: Sport Nautique vs 206 vs 216???

[DBattt]

Looking to buy first time and want a good all around family boat that can do it all. Also, looking for an open bow, haave seen sport nautiques, 206s adn 216s but don't know enough to decide what the better boat is for the family. Your thougths!! Thanks,

[Miljack]

Try to define the "mission" for the boat very narrowly. Ie. what will be the most common usage for the boat? Day boat, live on the lake, etc..how many people on your crew most days, what is your favorite watersport?
If you're primarily wakeboarders, there's probably some Vdrives in your future...

[HS]

Looking to buy first time and want a good all around family boat that can do it all. s,

Have you looked at the 211, because your description captures what it was made to do. Which version of Sport had you been considering, direct drive, as with the 206 and 216? As Miljack says, first decide on your activities and required space. Direct drives are favored for ski, v-drives for wake (traditionally). Knowing the price range you want to stay within will help knowledgable folks here make suggestions.

When the 211 came out, it blended the hull characteristics of the TSC [ski] hull with that of the TWC [wake] hull for both, and called it the Fusion hull, as described in CC brochures. The current sport 200 is the next generation of the "do it all" boat.

As I recently posted, until we saw the layout of the 211, and the deck space that you get with a V drive, I had initially thought of going the direct drive route.

[SkiTower]

if you're not accustomed to a direct drive ski wake, the 211 is the way to go (or newer 200 Sport). Only question would be the number of people (might want a bigger boat). I LOVE my walk-thru and all the storage (don't have tanks). If you're not ski focused, the direct drives may drive you crazy with working around the engine box.

[DBattt]

Right now my budget is in the $20K to $25K range. We haven't had a boat, I always enjoyed skiing growing up, but things have changed and I have a boy and a girl 14 and 12 respectively and anticipate they will want to start wakeboarding and surfing vice skiing. I thought V drives provided a large ski wake and the sport was the mulitipurpose boat? Appreciate everyone's input.

[DBattt]

Regarding how many people, on average 4 likely up to 6 most times out if we take a guest for the kids.

[HS]

use the search feature on http://www.onlyinboards.com/Ski-Boat...e=-1&Keywords= (I searched 20 - 25 k and found some listings) or boattrader.com and you can specify price range.

This is a great article on the lineage of some nautique models. You'll see that it profiles the Sport (direct drive) and the Super Sport (V drive), among others. It was the Super Sport that became the 210 until the 2007 redesign http://www.wakeboardreport.com/archi...tique_230.html

And yes, you are correct, a V-drive in that price range will have a larger wake becasue the engine is mounted in the rear of the boat, as opposed to a direct drive, where the engine sits about in the middle of the cockpit.

The Sport became the 216 and is a direct drive as well. If you post where you are located, you might find some Planet Nautique members who'd be happy (proud) to show you their nautique. You should spend some time in these so you become familiar with the layout and how the boats perform (space, handling, what the wakes do, boat with tower or without tower, tow points, where you can store your gear like boards, skiis, cooler, tow lines, dock lines, life jackets, fenders, anchor, etc.)

[HS]

The Sport became the 216 and is a direct drive as well. If you post where you are located, you might find some Planet Nautique members who'd be happy (proud) to show you their nautique. You should spend some time in these so you become familiar with the layout and how the boats perform (space, handling, what the wakes do, boat with tower or without tower, tow points, where you can store your gear like boards, skiis, cooler, tow lines, dock lines, life jackets, fenders, anchor, etc.)

So like on a direct drive, for instance, and let's say this one has no tower. And you are towing a skier from the tow pylon sticking out of the floor located just ahead of the engine compartment. And you have yourself and 4 passengers and the rider. In this example, none of your passengers should be sitting aft of your tow point for safetly due to the tow rope, meaning that they'd need to be sitting on the observers seat and in the bow. If the same group was in a V drive, there would be more options for seating...

[ccs]

Best all round family boat ...? Go straight to your dealer and buy a 230 te
Edition - and a little water and sun and there's your recipe
For 100% family fun.......

Tubing, skiing, wakeboarding, wake surfing --- it can and will handle it all

[DanielC]

I think the question really boils down to slalom skiing. How important is that to you and your family? The 206, the Sport, and the 216 are all easy to slalom behind. A V-drive is not.
You can wakeboard behind a ski boat. In fact, it is easier to learn behind a ski boat, and I think you will learn more, because you learn how to cut.

I have seen some inverts and 360 spins behind my Ski Nautique, without additional ballast, and sometimes with only two people in the boat.

I have a 1997 Ski Nautique, closed bow. I also have a "ten foot pole". With that setup, I have had 6 people in the boat. It was crowded, but doable. If I want to slalom ski, with two people, and maybe no back seat, the ski wake is going to be very difficult to beat, in your price range.

[Surfsmith]

Our first boat was a sport (dd) without a tower, slalom wake was bigger than I wanted and with our family of four it got a little crowded between people, gear, food, beverages, etc.. Moved to a 206, no ballast with a tower, that helped out with getting the gear off the floor and out of the boat, slalom wake is much nicer; but, now the kids are really getting into wake boarding and surfing - wake is too small now. May have to get some ballast... As others have stated, depends on the intended use of the boat and how you get on the water - cottage/house with dock (on board storage not a concern) or trailer and put in for the day (storage is a concern).

Can't go wrong with any of those boats but yes there are subtle differences.