Re: The Elusive Regal Tower
Some people make too much of an issue of having or not having a wakeboard specific boat. For most boaters, having a wake specific boat is not necessary, yes I love to wakeboard, but I also love to cruise 30-60 miles a day on the river, go into downtown canals for a good meal, cruise to a sandy bay for some frisbee and chilling with cold beers, I couldnt do that with a wake specific boat because I could'nt trim up to access some of the great spot on the river.
3mile , I could not agree more with you. I am 27 and sure I could afford a Mastercraft like the guy down the road from me, the difference is I own a 350k house while he lives in his parents basement, I put 300-400 hours a year on my I/O while he can afford 40 hours per season. Dont get me wrong, wake specific boats are awesome, but bang for buck isnt there one bit!
By the way, great choice on the Regal, they are truly awesome boats!!!!
Gee guys, Im only 30 and am doing just fine affording my boat, and not living in my parent basement. Yes I live in a modest house, but being house porr wasn't somethign I was interested in as I work hard for my money and plan to enjoy it. Tomorrow is an expectation not a promise and a house does nothing for me except give me a place to sleep. Priorities I guess.
Furthermore, Im sorry to say that overall value in an I/O just isn't there in the long run. Just look at the value of the boats after they are 10 years old with 500-600 hours on them. The Ski/Wake boats still command a premium. Also, last time I checked, my inboard actually drafted less depth that my 19 I/O. Sure it doesn't trim up, but the useable trim on my sea ray still required something like 26 or 28" of depth. Don't quote me on this as I don't remember the actual number, but I know plenty of people who beach there inboards.
Plus, there is a lot more room in a V-Drive. Now I am not sure why you can cruise aroun all those hours in a V-drive unless you are speakign of fuel economy. There is nothing that says you have to fill the ballast everytime you hit the water. Though, I have an MB with a 2-speed tranny (only boats currently made with this) so my fuel consumption is right on par with any V8 I/O, if not better than some of the larger engined I/Os.
I guess my thing here is, if you are not so concerned with having a wake specific boat, then why is everyone concerend with having a tower? You say that a $50K boat is out of your range, but there are plenty of 3 -4 year old V-drive out there in the 30's, 21-22'ers.
After you buy a $25K I/O, then speng $2000 on a tower, a $1000 in sacs and pumps, $500 on a perfect pass set up, and another $1000 to have the tower and perfect pass installed to have a quality pull form an I/O... well you can see 25+2+1+.5+1 = $29500. Which puts you into to a good shape V-drive that will do everything you want it to do. Nobody said you had to buy everythigng new or the current years model. Heck, I picked up a 2 year old leftover from dealer stock and got a $25K discount on MSRP it walking out of the door.
Anyway, back to the topic here... I say screw the tower. use you ski eye and put the money away from somethign else later. Or go aftermarket.
