Why are Inboards more Expensive

Has anyone here gone from an inboard to an I/O? I can't imagine moving that direction. Impossible I say.

All i know is that I grew up skiing behind a 1966 Wildcat, and I now own a 1969 Barracuda. I have barefooted/skied/wakeboarded behind countless boats. From brand new IO's to older outboard boats, even a 2008 Super Air Nautique, but I always come running back to the oldies.


The one exception to the IO rule is in a center console off-shore fishing boat, where the characteristics of trim and lower draft make it a clear choice when coupled with an efficient diesel power plant. My 37 foot Spectre center console will get about 4 miles to the gallon at 40 knots, when every other outboard powered boat is lucky to get 1.

eric lavine wrote: I dont know what brainiac ever came up with 2 stroke outboards, I run them in a tank and get an oil slick that is the worst thing you ever would want to see and where does it end up?

Almost twice the power to weight ratio. (you know - a power stroke every rev.) Eric, keep in mind that the first auto engines were two stroke and the first marine (inboards) were two stroke as well!!!

QUOTE=eric lavine   Im on a green world kick lately

What - - you trading the Suburban in for a Prius??

I am very late to this discussion but I have to agree that wakeboarding has become a fashion show. I am 24, work 60 hrs aweek as a diesel mechanic, pay for a house, pay for an 07 ram with a cummins, and sink the rest of my cash in a 19 year old ski nautique, hows that for a tight budget. I love to wake board and would love to make money doing nothing but working out and wakeboarding but that lifestyle is nearly unattainable. Pro wakeboarders are very lucky people but it is the untalented rich kids that help drive up the prices so that the rest of us with a true love for the sport can barely afford it. I live in Fort Myers Fl where the Gator brand boards are made and would love to ride a local brand but I can't pay $800 for a board/binding combo. I guess the rest of us will have to build 19 year old ski boats to ride behind and buy last years boards from the discount websites because our daddys won't buy the new stuff for us. Don't hate on the wakeboarders, we're not all the same.

newoldboat wrote: it is the untalented rich kids that help drive up the prices so that the rest of us with a true love for the sport can barely afford it.

We saw one high dollar boat with a boarder in tow yesterday. The guy riding stayed right behind the boat with the wrong posture. The rest were pulling tubes.

And OH to have a pic of the 'drop jaw' as they heard the pumpkin go by and Trey nailing trick after trick!!!

And if HW had been here...     

Tull, I feel exactly the same way.
I like riding the brand new Malibu response my buddy has, but nothing compares to the feeling I get when I fire up my 20 year old engine!!

Good to see the pumpkin rocking on the dock again! Pretty rough out there today though. We were rolling in the Crownline instead of the BFN today.

In a perfect world,one boat design would satisfy all needs. In the real world, specialized products are purpose-built to cater to those specific needs. Low production, high performance products cost more because so few people buy them, manufacturers cannot take advantage of economies of scale.
The demands of a tournament ski-boat are so far removed from an I/O or outboard (monster starting torque, unflappable stability under rapidly changing, high lateral stresses) a total re-design is required.

Like a Ford GT500, you want the neck snapping performance, prepare to open your wallet. Consider how well a 25-year-old CC hold it's value, two things must be true: exceptional build quality, high desirability. I love my 83 SN 2001, I bought it for $5.5K five years ago and invested another $4K, and no regrets. I get constant complements and offers to buy. There is no settling for less, once you've driven one.
I summer on a 200 acre pond, we sport five, count em', five inboards! Oh what a sweet sound O' summer! Singing lake pipes, hoots and hollers of joy as skiers and wake-boarders master new skills. (tubing for the timid).
In five years I've introduced dozens of newbies that have never skied or wake-boarded to a joy they never knew existed. Now they are addicted! All winter, I hear: "can't wait for summer at the lake and go riding" What price can you put on that love? Much of that joy is due to the superior performance of a purpose-built machine.

Hope this helps, to give you a taste, of what all fuss is about.
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Now go out and grab some fun! Cheers.