February 15, 2006

Updated: Master Craft Luminaries say 2006 NOT the last year for the X1

EDIT:This one definitely fits into the rumor category. And after speaking with representantives at the Miami Boat Show, it turns out that this appears to have been just Internet speculation and rumor.

I'd had it on pretty good word that the famed Master Craft platform that provided us the ProStar 205, the V205 and the first-run X-Star was being retired. I rode behind an early X-Star at a Pro/Am demo a few years ago and it remains, to this day, one of the best wakes I have ever ridden. Never to disappoint, I am sure that Master Craft has a replacement in mind...someday but in a world rife with pretender wake boats, that are really just tower-equipped bowrider versions of slalom boats, the 205 and 205v is a true wakeboarders boat. It takes weight like a champ, has a reliable Indmar power plant, and is known for providing many years of enjoyment to its owners.

If this retirement rumor is ultimately true, I never would have predicted it. This year Master Craft followed Malibu's brilliant idea of offering price-point boats, that were actually just stripped-down versions of their high-end wake boats. I actually expected other manufacturers to follow suit and certainly the Correct Craft Super Sport/210 and Master Craft's 205 and V205 would be perfect candidates for this sort of bargain (HA!!) re-release program.

So unless the X-1 is just going to get another name change and be known as the X-Porkchop or something else, and the actual 205/V205 hull will actually stay and just get rebranded, I am issuing a gigantic UPGRADE on all Master Craft 205 and V205-based boats that have been built. It sounds like they won't be making any more of them, and they remain at the very top of most people's lists of best wake boat hulls ever built.

I hope to edit this entry at a later date and tell you this was all just an Internet rumor.
EDIT: I did get that opportunity! Sweet!

Posted by erik