Buy a Wakeboard Boat

[El Bastardos]

After reading the recent boat thread i would just like to say this.

When i decided to buy a new wakeboard boat i went to the boat show in 2001, (having ridden behind all sorts of ski boats both here and abroad) i decided to get a closer look at the new boats on offer, and decided i would choose between the Nautique and the Mastercraft brand as they were the most well established.

At the time I used to have very long hair and am a skater(from the 70's) snowboarder and wakeskater/wakeboarder from day one, i am also in my 30's . On going to the Mastercraft stand and paying a lot of attention to the X-Stars I was ignored by the sales staff as a "wanabee" having asked for brochures. (This is precisely the attitude i received about 5 years previous when looking to buy a used Mastercraft). So off i popped to see The Nautiques stand where i was met by a much smaller stand but a very willing crew, having been invited to the rear of the stand i was treated very well by the guys and decided there and then to spend my 40+K with them.

Now since then the club i ski at (in the midlands)have got into Nautiques and some of them are quite old and the school operator has Nautique boats. The guys at TV SKI bust their guts to get round every one. In the early part of the season they were up almost every week delivering/collecting boats for members, a real pain in the ass when you have so few staff.

My service costs have been next to nothing(in fact i don't remember paying for one) and they have come to the lake to do them, when i ring them up they really do their utmost to meet customer expectation, so much that i bought another one this year.

My brother took a trip over to a Tige demo last year and was met with someone not content with trying to sell the boat on its merits but someone who thought that slagging off the competition (i.e. Mastercraft and Nautiques) meant that someone would be convinced to buy a new brand for this country.

I am not saying the Tige is not a boat that someone should buy, definately not, but should be considered along with other brands. I am sooo happy with my Air i said i would keep the last one for 5 years but after they increased the warranty to 5 years i thought why not get a new one.

TV Ski /Nautiques have convinced me to buy their brand not just on Correct Crafts commitment to making the best wakeboard boat, but on providing the best service of which they do.

Many years ago i ran an old Mastercraft and blew up the water pump impeller (usual stuff), but couldn't get any spares. Posted a cry for help in a newsgroup (1995)(rec.sport.waterski) and someone gave me a number in the UK to call for this pump. They actually gave me the European Director for Nautiques home number(which i was not aware of)so i rang him and was very courteous and within 3 days i had 2 impeller kits on my doorstep.

If anyone is in the midlands and would like to try a ride behind a 2002 Air, please get in touch and you are more than welcome.

Robin

[j3r3m7]

Robin,

Hi, think I had a message from you via Graham.. finally got the TV Ski link on Wakeboard UK last week so apologies for the delay.

Sounds like you've had all the good stuff from the UK Nautiques crew that our club members haven't The wakeboard scene is small in the UK so I think a dealer can get a bad or good reputation from just few issues.

Our lake has had a number of boat owners with Nautiques support problems. (And probably a number of less vocal ones who have had no problems) I'll ask around at our lake to see if we've got any chuffed Nautiques owners in case my comment above is ill founded.

I'm can only conclude that it's probably impossible to get great service all the time from any manufacturer/importer so your best bet is to pick the best boat for your requirements and make sure to keep the dealers to their words.

It's good to hear you've had a great boat owning experience as it's always a large amount of hard earned cash to invest in a leisure object... you want it to go well 8)

In the interests of keeping this forum from turning into a fighting arena for boat owners/dealers please let me know if any posts appear that need moderation. I'll keep a check as will Wayk but things sometimes slip through...

[El Bastardos]

Nice one Jeremy

Yeah i just hate to hear people slagging off a damn good boat and network, i have been skiing for many years and been round all sorts of great boats, I mean TV Ski are a very small importer in comparison with some of the other dealers, but they really do their utmost to keep a commitment.

Boats are like clothes though i guess once you have found something you like you tend to stick with it, let the best boats rule !!

Anybody who makes a great wakeboard boat deserves recognition not slagging, and hopefully we'll see more energy into making it a world class sport, wakeboarding that is, not building wakeboard boats :-)


All the best

Robin