All Will Be Revealed 03.31.12

[aarond0083]

When will nautique get with wet sounds. I know there is more to it, but wet sounds is the best and id think nautique would use the best, at least for tower speakers.

Because of Nautique's relationship with Roswell. CC is using Roswell for towers, racks, etc. so why not buy their speakers too is probably their line of thinking. I haven't heard the Roswell 7.0 Airborne HCLDs yet but I doubt they compare to the REV series. Buxton is putting Wet Sounds on their '12 boats instead of using the OEM option from others members' boats I have seen posted here..

Wet Sounds has adapters now so you can mount to the factory locations on the FCT-5 for the OEM look.

[TRBenj]

vented windshield

The vented windshield looks optional, as the green boat doesnt have it. Very cool feature- my '80 Ski Nautique has one just like it!

Certainly not my style of boat, but it does appear to be well thought out, and have a lot of cool features.

I still would have preferred to see the Barefoot Nautique return though.

[gride]

When will nautique get with wet sounds. I know there is more to it, but wet sounds is the best and id think nautique would use the best, at least for tower speakers.

[TxJole]

Jeff did u ask about maybe a G21?

[migs]

Jeff- did you take any pics of the wake without the rider , or the rider just in in the middle, so we could see the wake clean? Was there any extra weight on the boat with Mckee riding, or was that stock?

[NautiqueJeff]

Did you order one?

Mine is already at my house. I have had it for about three weeks now!



Okay, no, I did not order one...yet. I will stick with my 210 that I have on order for this year. I am going to try very hard to have one next year though!

[NautiqueJeff]

jeff... did you get to ride? If you posted i may have missed it. how was it?

Had the option, but did not. I had gotten about two hours of sleep the night before, and didn't want to mess up the water for the 'real' riders onsite. I was content to sit and watch.

[tdc_worm]

handful of quick thoughts:

1. starboard leanback/convertible seating---i much prefer the the 230 style lean back to the tilt up lean back used on the 210 and now G23. the footwell created by leaning the seat upright reduces storage and reduces available support for your legs while lounging. in my opinion, you can fit two adults (semi) comfortably on the 230 observer's seat while under way. you lose that ability with this setup.
2. sunpad walk through ergonomics---one of the keys to enjoying anything is convenience. on the 230, filling in the walk through was a two step process: lift starboard locker cushion, pull out filler pad, lower starboard locker cushion. on the G23, that same end appears to be a 5 step process...PER SIDE: open locker, crawl into locker, disconnect cushion, reattach cushion, close locker. so 10 total steps to accomplish the same thing? at the end of the day, all of the little extra steps add up to become a PITA. seems like a design regression to me.
3. sunpad walk through depth---at first i was indifferent to depth of the walkthrough...untill i saw the size of the filler cushions. on my 230, the filler cushion is approx 4" thick. that is almost enough to roll an ankle if you happen to step both on the locker and filler cushion at the same time. at what appears to be at least 8" thick and having a slit between the two, i suspect that issue will be exacerbated as vinyl becomes wet, boats are rocking, and people are standing/walking on the sundeck. i smell a recipe of ankle injuries.
4. sunpad filler size---if they made them a 1% bigger, they would completely fill the entire locker, hahaha.
5. cabin cupholders---i am guessing there are only 5-6 from what i could see...hoping there are more...
6. on board battery maintainer---every boat should have one.
7. locker storage---it appears that the floors in the lockers and port/starboard storage under the side seats are pretty high. i know to get to 2850lbs of onboard ballast, you have to give up something, but with 800 stock in my 230 plus the 2250 i have plumbed on top, i can make my storage as big as it needs to be. i guess that sparks the hard v soft ballast conversation that has been debated ad nauseum....
8. tower---rather than focus on a non issue of excess rope in the boat, i wish somebody would design one of these new towers to accept a second set of INTEGRATED board racks. i ride 4 people total. thats 4 x wakeboards, 4 x wakeskates and a surfboard. i am pretty sure that the .01 cubic feet of storage that my excess rope takes is the least of my concerns. it would be especially rad if said board racks would remain in the horizontal position when lowering the tower (similar to MCs power tower)...
9. transom cooler---it appears to be a better design than on the 230. it looks like they took the time to integrate a lip that hopefully keeps lake water out better than the design on my boat.
10. self supporting hinges---why tout them if the are not good enough for the whole boat. the rear still uses air struts...and we all know how often those fail.
11. in floor cooler---looks like a perfect location for stereo batteries...i am keeping my cooler within reach.
12. being in the middle of my spring cleaning on my 230, can somebody please start using black gore tex thread for stitching the vinyl? it would add great contrast and be much easier to return to "looks like new" condition...

overall, i dont dislike the boat (just have a critical eye being an enthusiast) other than what i fear it will do to the value of my 230. ultimately the proof will be in the pudding, as the wake will be what creates the experience.

[CradGen2]

Jeff

Did you order one?

[johnboyy7]

jeff... did you get to ride? If you posted i may have missed it. how was it?

[aarond0083]

Good job Jeff. I love everything about this boat.

Love everything about this boat as well except for the rear bench seat and sun pad. The rear wraparound seat just looks chopped up and doesn't flow well at all visually. And again, that huge center walk through with two filler cushions I would much prefer a solid sun pad. I'm sure I could live with two minor gripes though. Absolutely love the dash, wish that design was on the rest of the 2012 Super Airs.

[TxJole]

Good job Jeff. I love everything about this boat.

[NautiqueJeff]

please tell me you have more pics of the black/green one?

I spent most of my time in the other two. Here are the only ones I have of the inside of the green boat. Check out the steering wheel in the green boat!

[vision]

Yes, and that is a key question. This new hull allows the speed to be reduced, even with full ballast, and the wake is super-clean. Most were riding at only about 23 with full ballast. Normal speed for these guys behind other boats is significantly faster, since that's what's required with this much weight. With less ballast, the speed can be reduced even further.

Excellent. Those falls are certainly less painful at lower speeds. Thanks for the info.

[NautiqueJeff]

Sun deck fillers in place, sun deck fillers retracted, flush hinges with Nau-Teak, engine compartment, rear cooler, rear grab handle with tow point, lighted vents, lift ring