The Wakeboard Report: Final Update: The Ten Thousand Dollar Sport Nautique Has Arrived

June 11, 2008

Final Update: The Ten Thousand Dollar Sport Nautique Has Arrived

I don't normally post links to for sale boats despite wanting to a few times - mostly to mock. But today I saw this 1989 Sport Nautique for sale on eBay. The Buy It Now Price is $9999.00.

Welcome to the era of the $10,000 used Sport Nautique.
I am sure that has already happened here and there but I am now officially claiming it as here. And with that there is no better budget option, specifically for wakeboarding. It is an option that balances paying good money for a good boat.........but not too much. $10,000 is a perfect sweet spot. I am really happy for people entering the market with this sort of option. It is going to be rare for now, but not long-term. Year by year there will be more $10,000 Sport Nautiques entering the for sale market, and that is fantastic.

What's so special about the Sport Nautique?
I'm glad you asked. If you look down the corridors of wakeboarding history, you'll see a common legendary player in many legendary films, photos and riders' back yards. The Sport Nautique was the boat of choice for early trend setters like Greg Nelson, Dean Lavelle, Scott Byerly and Gregg Necrason, and received plenty of exposure this way alone. The length, beam, open bow, and general design heritage led riders to choose the Sport Nautique because it was the highest quality (almost singularly so) large inboard on the market. It was also more accommodating to not only large groups of people, but to ballast weight in the form of water bags, lead and concrete ballast (ah we were so crude back then). Add a tower to the Sport Nautique and you have your coveted Air Nautique. See where I'm going with this?

The Sport Nautique's run (or Crossover 216 as 2008 Correct Craft marketing literature indicates) began in 1989 and has not yet ended. It has seen several design changes (big ones for 1993 and 1997), mostly to the interior, but some hull changes were made along the way after Bill Snook first designed it. You need to be happy about the $10,000 Sport Nautique because it was a common denominator during an era when wakeboarding was progressing at an incredible pace. In some ways it was all we ever needed, and professional wakeboarders can undoubtedly do the same run behind a properly weighted Sport Nautique as they could behind a brand new, $70,000 wakeboarding-branded boat. If a pro rider flew to some remote island for a paid clinic and upon arriving at his or her destination learned that a Sport Nautique was available instead of a beat-to-death outboard, they'd breathe a gigantic sigh of relief (click here for an exception to the above and general display of professionalism under poor boat-related circumstances ). Also, the fact that it exists today tells us a tale about the longevity of the boat.

The $10,000 Sport Nautique should be of particular interest to my good friends in the wakeboarding community who seriously consider spending $10,000 on 82-89 Ski Nautique 2001's. Some of you know I run The2001.com and have a deep-seated love for the 80's era Ski Nautique and many other Correct Craft models. But I cringe at folks asking $11,000 - 13,000 and more for 2001's and cringe even more melodramatically when people actually pay it. I've learned to avoid the classifieds sections on some of my favorite Web sites.

We'll edit this once the auction is over but presuming this boat, like most New England boats, is a low-hour well-kept example. This one is from Connecticut and the total hours are not listed in the auction where they should be but a photo shows 157 hours on the tachometer. Why so low? Original engine? I don't know. With a few questions like this answered I'd almost buy it sight unseen if I was a buyer (and that's sort of how eBay works anyway)

Happy Bidding!

** Update **