Mastercraft owner looking to buy a Correct Craft

[nautiquenorth]

Hello everybody, I presently own a 1994 mastercraft prostar 205. I want to upgrade to a newer boat with internal ballast and tower, etc. I have 4 children with different interests so I need a very versatile boat. I would like a SV-211 but it is out of reach for my budget. I found a nice 1999 air nautique and it seems to be a step in the right direction.

Can anybody help me compare the wake for slalom, wakeboard and surf between a 1999 air nautique with a 1994 prostar 205?

Is there any common problems with the air nautique? Any issues I
should inquire before buying?

I am looking at upgrading the 99 tower for a 06 tower, is it a good idea?

Finally but not least, what is a 1999 air nautique on a single axle traler worth?

Thank you

[bkhallpass]

RE: Mastercraft owner looking to buy a Correct Craft

I don't know if there's anyone who is more of a fan of Correct Craft and Nautiques than me. Still, if I owned a 94 MC 205, and it was paid for, I would not make the swap to
a 99 Air unless I got an unbelievable deal. To me the size of the boats and the wakes
are comparable, and it just wouldn't be worth the money. I'd throw a tower on the 205
and add a sac or two. My $.02. BKH

[mcbridek]

RE: Mastercraft owner looking to buy a Correct Craft

99 Air should be in the $21 to $24k Range. NADA with the basics for a 99 Air / GT 40 is approx 22k. Changing to the new style tower will cost $2.5k from CC or $1.7 - 1.8k through newdiminsion (install yourself) I have a 99 Sport (same boat with differnt graphics), installed the newdiminsion tower last year. These are excellent crossover boats - add 400 to 700 lbs of weight and your have a good wake, slalom wake is good, but not tournament level. You would not want to run shortline on this boat. I am not familier with a 94 205, but the later years MC 205 - 99 & 2000 - the hulls are very similar to the Air/Sport and I would think the wakes would be similiar. The above refers to the Air and Sport Nautique, not the Pro Air - different hull.

[BigC]

We currently have a '98 Air (same hull as the '99) with an '04 FCT. For wakeboarding, the wake is far superior to the mid 90's Mastercraft 205. We tried adding fat sacks in many different configurations to the 205 and were always disappointed with the results. On the other hand, the 205 had a pretty darn good slalom wake. We skied into 32 off behind it regularly. The Air slalom wake is pretty scary, I would not try to do anything but recreational slalom behind it.

[nautiquenorth]

Thank you for the input. I hear some rattles in my 205 and gelcoat has started to crack at hedges which is kind of normal having close to 1300 hours on it. This is why I want to upgrade to newer boat with less hours. I am also considering a 209/X9 which is a bigger boat then the air nautique.

I don't think you can have a family boat with a tournament level wake for slalom so I have to compromise somewhere...

[brodie]

I ski regularily behind a 99 and 02 (same hulls) and @ 34-36mph, the wake is pretty good considering the size of the boat. I ski into 32 off and although it has a bit of a bump, it is manageable. Below 34mph, it starts to bet bigger. My wife hates the wake @ 29-30mph, but then again she is used to a PS190 and a SN 196. THe Air/sport is a great crossover boat and has a much better wakeboard/surf wake than the 205, but a slightly bigger slalom wake. The later model 205 @96-99 is comparable in ski wake to the 98 + air/sport. The early 205's had great ski wakes for the size of boat.
Due to the fact you are thinking about changing the tower anyways, don't rule out the sport models as well, because you can buy them cheaper and add the tower. The "Air" model only has 400 lbs of built in ballast, so you have to add bags anyways. Just get one big bag to fill the rear trunk and you are set.