Re: [OMC-Boats] New Post from Klauber

Comments on Old-School vs New-School boats for water sports activities:

I'd like to add to TK's comments:

My wife and I have donated many hours (and the use of our 66 Sportsman
- 210) the best four years to the water sports program National
Ability Center, of Park City, Utah. This is a nationally recognized
program that provides people of all ages and abilities to come out and
learn how to use all types of water sports equipment, ranging from
wake boards, to water skis, to tubes, to sit-skis (specially adapted)
to allow wheelchair-bound users to joy of water sports.

It's been a very rewarding experience, as we get to meet all kinds of
people and it's actually provided us with a real purpose to share our
passion for boating. (On the hassle side -- we do have to undergo
annual training and we are qualified by the State of Utah as
commercial outfitters, which requires us to not only pass inland lake
boating safety certifications, we also have to pass Red Cross first
responder certs, as well. I could talk more about the program, if any
of you have questions?

To finally get to my point, a few weeks ago we were out doing a 2-day
staff/intern training session. We flew in a world-champion disabled
skier to help us do the training. Also in attendance were four other
"new" inboard wakeboard/ski boats, who were there as observers, as
they plan to open a similar program in another part of the state. As
part of the training, all the boat drivers were assigned different
tasks, and then we rotated thru the tasks and rotated personnel among
our boats. I think the other boats were a 24' Moomba, a 22' Tige'
and a 19' Supra. They all had fancy ballast systems and fancy
wakeboard towers, complete with mega-watt sound systems.

So several of the other boat owners were curious about my 43-year old
Sportsman. I invited all of them out to experience first hand what old
school boating was like. Here are a few of the observations and
comments:

1) "Wow, this thing turns sharp when position the rope for a skier, or
maneuvering for tight docking space. " 2) "I can't believe how easy it
is to see and approach skiers, in this thing!" 3) "This thing makes
a pretty respectable surfing wake." (I was using trim tabs) 4) They
also commented on the hole shots and cool sound of the QuadraJet
(V8). 5) They all liked the digital instrument upgrade and the
precision (reads tenths of mph) speedometer. 6) They were also
impressed by how easy (low to the water) it is to transfer people into
the water, but laughed at the "old-school" ladder, compared to their
extended swim decks. 7) When it came time to refuel, I used 1/4 to
1/2 as much as they, that's when they demanded I raise the engine
hatch so they could see my Small block Chevy V8, as the couldn't
believe my fuel receipts!

So what do their $40,000+ boats do better? Well they carry a a lot
more people. The Sportsman can only legally carry 6 people, where they
are able to easily do 10 or 12 or more in some cases. And there boats
really are better suited with their towers and ballast systems to wake
boarding. The also enjoy a smoother ride. Top speed is higher as
well , but you usually don't tap that for watersports. They also
require much larger tow vehicles and storage space.

Basically, the "Little 'Rude that Could" holds up it's end of the
bargain pretty well, even after 43 years!

  I knew that, and you know that, but it was kinda fun to hear these
"new-school" skippers favorable impressions.

Lee Shuster

On Jul 12, 2009, at 8:07 AM, Thomas Klauber wrote:

> Took the 69 Rogue #1 out to the Waccamaw River last Tuesday - it ran
> great other than for a minor intermittent miss - thinking maybe bad
> gas (the boat, not me). Not going to sweat it as it had good power
> otherwise, and it will tell me sooner or later what it needs. I
> really enjoy buzzing by the kids in their ski boats with the racks
> etc. etc. - why don't young men ski like we used to? We were in a
> slalom ski ASAP and nothing else would do - are those wake boards
> that much fun? Yea I know doing those flip tricks would be great but
> get real. I am sure they see my boat and say WTF? - especially with
> the roar of that Rockchester 4 barrel at full throttle - a sound you
> just don't hear anymore. It just doesn't get any better than that.
> Been working on 69 Rogue #2 this summer - it came with the wrong
> stern drive - a 4 bolt cap - 120 - 155 hp circa 1967. Been restoring
> the upper gearcase which I'm not sure about. Will throw a lot of
> time and money into it - ah BOAT - Break Out Another Thousand! Gotta
> go - don't want to be late for church. TK
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Received on Sunday, 12 July 2009