Ski boats....experiences please?

[Barney2803]

Hi guys,

We're in the market for a new(er) ski boat and here's our story and options as we see it.

We had an old outboard on a small boat for 5 years until we outgrew it. Then bought a beautiful Lewis inboard 21ft towboat that is wonderful but getting old now, 1991, even though it has been totally redone inside and out. It has a worked 400hp chev and goes like a dream. So the question is what to get next.....but..... Here are the complications.

We own the boat (50/50) with my wife's brother and his family and it's all gone well for 7-8 years but now for various reasons we want to go our separate ways in the ownership stakes. We believe we will end up with the cash and theyll take the boat so we have to get a new one and theyll keep the Lewis. If they dont, wed gladly keep the lewis but dont think theyll let us. So....When it all goes through, we'll end up with about $20k to spend on our next one. So the options as we see them are:

1. Go for a similar one...namely mid 90's inboard V8, 20 footer plus
2. Go for an inboard/outboard (stern drive) , 2000-2006 bow rider but with a smaller engine.

Both will serve us and our skiing needs, a typical inboard is an awesome boat to drive but quite dated (age) for what we can afford, however the inboard/outboard is a very new boat with much much nicer design both internally and externally, but isn't a V8.

Has anybody got experience with either of these? Any particular comments on "bowriders" as a typical inboard/outboard style boat would be great!

Thanks!

[uninformed]

I only ever skied behind outboards...Bullet and Hanes. That was years ago. 2 years ago a mate bought a Lewis inboard that we wake'd behind. It was a bow rider as well, great boat and with a sack made a good wake, without it nice to ski behind. I think, and its only a guess, the type of hulls that tend to come with inboard/outboard legs are a bit deeper and not as nice to ski behind. If you like the Lewis and dont need to change that type I would just spend your time looking long and hard to try and find a good one in your budget.

[CJT]

If it where me, I would tend to go towards the stern drive bowrider style of boat.

You can currently get new or near new ones for under $30,000 in Australia and they give you the option of weekends skiing in the rivers and dams or heading into protected coastal waters.

Up here in Brisbane you can get a new Larson LX710 on trailer registered for just under $30,000. Not bad for a 17 foot boat, seating for seven and powered by a Mercruiser.

If going near new you should find something over the 20 foot mark.

You wont get anywhere near the power of your current boat though

[MEANZ06]

I've had three ski boats and a sport yacht... but its way past my bedtime here and I'm just now reading this. if you'd like my take on the question, send me a PM... :) and ill post here tomorrow