Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

[NZjohnson90]

I've had a 14ft Glastron runabout with a 90johnson for about a year and it's been excellent first boat, but I think we are outgrowing it.

We use it 95% for wakeboarding but would love to be able to take it on the sea every now and again and maybe even explore the rivers. NZ is pretty poor for jetty's and ramps so lots of shallow beach launching even on the lakes. We are no pro wakeboarders but would like something we wouldn't get bored of and maybe could ballast up in future.

We are on a tight budget for both buying and running costs. I am looking at $10,000NZ absolute max, preferably less. and for this my choices seem to be as follows.

Older Wood construction direct drive ski boat such as these. I'm sure would be the best wakeboats But I am worried about fuel costs running a v8, as well as the obvious possibilities for rot in the wood. and user friendliness for sea use or cruising etc.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=279855780
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=287616081
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Motorboats/auction-287849181.htm


Or
A glass cabin boat with i/o or maybe very cheap/early bayliner at a push such as these. Would these be any good at all for wakeboarding?? they would be much better for the sea, cruising etc
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Motorboats/auction-284360801.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Motorboats/auction-285823529.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Motorboats/auction-285866566.htm


Or
Jetboat, I know they don't have a good rep for wakeboats, but you get lots of boat for the money, cheap to maintain car engines, and can launch them anywhere. And maybe they will be a better Wake than what we got??
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Motorboats/auction-286828919.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Motorboats/auction-265531282.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Motorboats/auction-285851399.htm


Cheers guys, any opinions appreciated, bare in mind i'm in NZ and boats are much more expensive here, would love a competition ski boat but even for a cheap 30yo mastercraft or nautique you are talking $20,000+.

 

[NZjohnson90]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

Nobody got any ideas?

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

Wow, and hello to you over in NZ. Majority of the forum members on here are in the USA like myself and don't get on here till later in the day. I work nights, but as for your question...

If your looking for a boat which rolls a nice wake, then you want to look for an Inboard/V-drive. There are some down falls with them unfortunately which is if you boat in rock/shallow waters you don't have any trim up options to clear rocks. This is the #1 reason I myself didn't purchase an inboard, my camp has rocks in the water and later in the summer the water drops quite a bit. But these boats throw the best wakes.

The V8's do drink fuel, but if you can find one with EFI (electronic fuel injection) opposed to a carb'd motor that will help out tremendously.

Next best option, I would say is an I/O bowrider. I would look to see if you can find one in the 20-23' range and a V6 if your looking to save gas. The V6 is more than adequate to pull out riders and you can add more ballast in the boat to make a larger wake.

 

[NZjohnson90]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

Cheers for that. I would ideally like a direct/vdrive but as i said before all i could get for 10,000 is an old 60's/70's wood hull so I think I'm leaning a little more to the glass i/o boats. Although then you have the same reliability/repair costs as an outboard, and 10,000 would only buy me into the bottom price range of that type of boat.

How good wake do you think a boat like this will throw out http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Boats-marine/Motorboats/auction-285866566.htm

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

I don't know what your boat market it down there, but up here you can pick up a great boat for $10k.

for example...

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1996-Chaparral-1930-Limited-Edition-96763665

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1989-BALLINER-SKI-CHALLANGER-2081-96784221

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1985-AMERICAN-SKIER-Advance-96307238

That last one you linked would tow you with no problems, but you might look kind of silly wake boarding behind that thing.

 

[security6]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

You asked about user friendliness for the sea. If you are thinking of going out on the ocean, then you want something with a pretty good V-hull. Direct-drive or v-drive wakeboard boats have a very flat hull, and can be downright dangerous on rough seas.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

To help fellow U.S. citizens with the question proposed:

His $10,000 NZ dollars = approx $7,123.00 US Dollars. But even that is not a fair comparison.

I doubt anybody knows what the supply and market prices for boats are in NZ, compared to market prices of boats in the U.S. Based on your statement, I suspect your supply of boats for sale in NZ is EXTREMELY small compared to what we have for sale here in the U.S. Which means you would get much less boat for the money.

I believe most of those boats you linked in your NZ traders would sell for $2,000 to $3,000 USD. So THAT'S the U.S. comparative price range this gentleman is likely shopping in...he is certainly NOT shopping for a comparable $10,000 U.S. boat!! I'm guessing those last 3 boats you linked ThreeMileBay would cost $30,000 to $35,000 in New Zealand dollars...

To the gentleman from NZ:

You're talking about running this thing in the ocean...which few of us here do very often for wakeboarding purposes...we do that stuff primarily on small inland lakes.

Overall you're in a different world than we are...therefore, it will be pretty difficult for U.S. members to help you with pricing comparisons. But here in the U.S. I think in that general price range, I agree that an I/O fiberglass open bow (or closed bow/cabin cruiser) runabout in the 20 to 23 foot range would give you most functional use for the dollar for wakeboarding...and even at that, it would have to be 20 years old or better to get it into your price range.

But that statement may be flat WRONG in New Zealand if such boats are not routinely sold there. This is tough.

Old jet boats are very rare here, kind of a newer thing that Yamaha appears to be doing well with. There are a few older ones out there, but they're rare. So I doubt anyone here in the states can offer much advice on those. I do believe they drink a lot more fuel than a conventional prop drive boat? Sometimes the bubbly wash created by jets causes watersports people to lean toward longer ropes to get behind the wash. But generally wakeboarding utilizes SHORTER ropes to keep you where your wake is larger/better. Thus I would not think wakeboarding behind a small jetboat would be very effecive at all.

As for your concern of rot in the wood: I bet those fiberglass Bayliners you linked will be far more likely to suffer from severe wood rot than the all wooden hulls you linked in some of the others. Fiberglass does nothing but wrap and hide the wood on most older fiberglass boats, traps the water, and causes the wood to rot FASTER. At least with an all-wood boat you can more easily SEE if there's any rot. So regardless, shop carefully. Older fiberglass boats like Bayliners (and ALL other brands) are FULL OF WOOD, and are NOTORIOUS for suffering from bad wood rot...so no guarantees there as you may seem to think.

Generically speaking, for bigger/better wake, you want a heavier boat. Same for running on the ocean. So it seems to me, looking only at the choices you linked, those 3 cabin cruisers in the middle (Bayliner-type) would give you the best/largest wake to jump, plus the most safety and comfort, when compared to the rest of the lighter boats you linked. They should have sufficient speed and power for wakeboarding.

Hope this helps a little bit. And I wish you good luck in your search!

 

[NZjohnson90]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

Cheers for the advice everyone, sorry, i have not had net for a while so i havn't been keeping up.

To help fellow U.S. citizens with the question proposed:

His $10,000 NZ dollars = approx $7,123.00 US Dollars. But even that is not a fair comparison.

I doubt anybody knows what the supply and market prices for boats are in NZ, compared to market prices of boats in the U.S. Based on your statement, I suspect your supply of boats for sale in NZ is EXTREMELY small compared to what we have for sale here in the U.S. Which means you would get much less boat for the money.

I believe most of those boats you linked in your NZ traders would sell for $2,000 to $3,000 USD. So THAT'S the U.S. comparative price range this gentleman is likely shopping in...he is certainly NOT shopping for a comparable $10,000 U.S. boat!! I'm guessing those last 3 boats you linked ThreeMileBay would cost $30,000 to $35,000 in New Zealand dollars...

To the gentleman from NZ:

You're talking about running this thing in the ocean...which few of us here do very often for wakeboarding purposes...we do that stuff primarily on small inland lakes.

Overall you're in a different world than we are...therefore, it will be pretty difficult for U.S. members to help you with pricing comparisons. But here in the U.S. I think in that general price range, I agree that an I/O fiberglass open bow (or closed bow/cabin cruiser) runabout in the 20 to 23 foot range would give you most functional use for the dollar for wakeboarding...and even at that, it would have to be 20 years old or better to get it into your price range.

But that statement may be flat WRONG in New Zealand if such boats are not routinely sold there. This is tough.

Old jet boats are very rare here, kind of a newer thing that Yamaha appears to be doing well with. There are a few older ones out there, but they're rare. So I doubt anyone here in the states can offer much advice on those. I do believe they drink a lot more fuel than a conventional prop drive boat? Sometimes the bubbly wash created by jets causes watersports people to lean toward longer ropes to get behind the wash. But generally wakeboarding utilizes SHORTER ropes to keep you where your wake is larger/better. Thus I would not think wakeboarding behind a small jetboat would be very effecive at all.

As for your concern of rot in the wood: I bet those fiberglass Bayliners you linked will be far more likely to suffer from severe wood rot than the all wooden hulls you linked in some of the others. Fiberglass does nothing but wrap and hide the wood on most older fiberglass boats, traps the water, and causes the wood to rot FASTER. At least with an all-wood boat you can more easily SEE if there's any rot. So regardless, shop carefully. Older fiberglass boats like Bayliners (and ALL other brands) are FULL OF WOOD, and are NOTORIOUS for suffering from bad wood rot...so no guarantees there as you may seem to think.

Generically speaking, for bigger/better wake, you want a heavier boat. Same for running on the ocean. So it seems to me, looking only at the choices you linked, those 3 cabin cruisers in the middle (Bayliner-type) would give you the best/largest wake to jump, plus the most safety and comfort, when compared to the rest of the lighter boats you linked. They should have sufficient speed and power for wakeboarding.

Hope this helps a little bit. And I wish you good luck in your search!

Hey Thanks for that , I think you hit the nail on the head there and you seem to understand fully what I am asking.

NZ is a whole different world compared to US for boat buying, that is why I put so many links in to show my options rather than ask about those spacific boats.

Thanks for your input threemilebaywalker but as Craze1carsin says in NZ those boats would quite literally be in the $30k-$40k mark. Wish I had that kinda cash but I don't.

Just to give you an example how few options there are here in an average week here in the whole country there will be maybe 15 inboard boats for sale

10 of these will be Jet boats that will be in decent condition.
3 will be old direct/v drive ski boats in a reliable solid condition but old 70's wood hulls
2 will be fibreglass i/o boats (bayliner etc) at the very bottom of the price bracket, therefore old and well worn.

So the question is which would you spend your money on?? As I said before I would like to go out on the sea, however If a boat in my price range won't do that then thats ok.

I'm thinking the Jet boats are the best buy, but probably out because they are no good for the wakeboarding.

I guess the most suitable could be the i/o boats but they are just so expensive so it's down to will a old wooden hull ski boat do the job properly and be user friendly enough??

 

[NZjohnson90]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

Sorry guys, I am rambling on a bit here.....

Another couple of thoughts.

Firstly after looking at just how laughably cheap boats are in the US, I wonder how much it would costs to import. I guess the downsides though are buying a boat you have never seen is very risky indeed and lots of work.

Secondly as almost all boats over here are outboard another option would be to keep my motor as I know it's good and swap the hull the something more substantial. Finding an outboard hull for sau $5000 is probably do-able.

The downsides though is that I would prefer an inboard as they are so much better for me in terms of repairs and maintenance. And - do you guys think a 90HP has enough grunt to push a bigger boat around while pulling 100kg me out of the water?

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

Completely forgot about the currency exchange, I forgot it was soo upside down for you. I ordered an All-Blacks shirt from Kia-Kaha last fall and it was priced at $55 and it showed up in my credit card $31 shipped.

 

[NZjohnson90]

Re: Which boat Advice - budget wakeboat

Completely forgot about the currency exchange, I forgot it was soo upside down for you. I ordered an All-Blacks shirt from Kia-Kaha last fall and it was priced at $55 and it showed up in my credit card $31 shipped.

I know I'm still getting used to it. I'm English but moved over here couple years ago.

The general living costs here are cheap, but to buy certain products such as boats, sports gear, electrical is soooo expensive compared to back home and the US, and such a small range of stuff available.

I think with the tiny population it just costs so much more to import or make products here. The kiwi's also have quite a no nonesense DIY ethic so there is not much demand for new boats but a huge demand for cheap 2nd hand boats.