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After a heated WW thread about these boats, I received a call from Phil Shearer about coming down to OTown for a demo. Since we were already planning a cable trip for the following weekend it was a no brainer. I wasn’t able to ride since I’m 8 weeks post ACL reconstruction, but I did some driving and filming while Jeff took a set. 

The Boat – 
Being a Nautique guy, I love the classically inspired look; which is quite obviously based off the SN2001. The new wrap and Monster Tower are a real step up from the original white w/reverse tower. The interior of the boat is nice and simple, with good quality vinyl and carpet. The seating arrangement is just like the old boats, which is probably the one thing I would change. I would arrange the rear of the boat to be a bench facing the rider (like the new Nautiques). I told Phil this and he noted it wouldn’t be a problem to change if the person buying the boat requested that type of setup. The captains chair was the shiz and I’ve never been in a more comfortable one. I loved the single gauge design and the visibility of the gauge was perfect. I understand other have said the location of the gauge or the single gauge design is a problem… but I loved it. 

Driving – 
As expected the boat handles like a dream. It turns on a dime and tracks very straight. The GPS speed control system is great for getting on plane and turning… you just pin it and leave it for the entire set. There was no on/off the throttle in the turns, or anything like that. Because the boat’s design is very narrow, the boat sways a little side to side when the rider cuts hard in/out. Its noticeable, but it doesn’t pull you off track and it’s to be expected with this size boat. With 1500lbs and a 160lb rider, the thing launched on plane with complete ease. The 350 is probably way overkill for the size and weight of the boat… but it makes driving it fun! The windshield is low making visibility is great. You probably wouldn’t want to bring a lady out that wants to keep her hair nice though. You can easily talk to your rider over the glass during pickups and having the extra visibility definitely outweighed the cabin wind. 

Wake- 
We had 1050lbs of sand in the boat; 550 spread across the rear, 250 on either side of the motor housing, and 3 full grown guys up front for a total of right around 1500lbs. I think we could have squeezed another 500lbs in the nose, but much more and you’d probably sink her. The wake cleans up nice at around 22mph at 75ft. Jeff rode at 85ft at 24.7mph, with super clean wake on both sides. The boat is not very weight sensitive, we never had to move a person or bag throughout the whole set… it stayed clean on both sides the whole time which is SOO nice. As far as size goes, obviously we aren’t talking about a big boat, so the wake was smaller than Jeff is used to, but he was stoked on its hardness and consistency. It wasn’t too steep or two mellow and looked solid from the boat. You can judge for yourself, since I tried to get a bunch of wake footage in the video (below). 

All in all, this boat is not for everyone… if you are looking for massive wake with a boat you can slam with 4K… this isn’t the boat for you. But for an all around great ride, nice hard wake, reliability (4 year warranty) and great value at under $30K… this is hard to beat. Phil is a great guy and I can assure you if you buy a boat from him he would do everything in the world to take care of you. He just seems like that kind of guy.