2000 Mastercraft prostar 205 Sammy Duvall Edition

[coskier]

Does any one have any experience with this boat? I am looking at buying one, but it is about a 5 hour drive to look at it. I want a good float and hang out on boat but one that I could ski behind.

Thanks!

[swc5150]

That hull has a decent wake through all lengths, and minimal spray. It tracks decent, but has more body roll while cornering that I like. It would make a really nice family ski boat.

[SDNAH2OSKIER]

I have a girlfriend who has had one for years and it is a nice all around boat. I am partial to the two response's I ski behind but ditto what swc says, it would meet your needs better than a somewhat single purpose tow boat like the response is. While I like them, if I had to "hang out" a 205 would be a better float.

[swc5150]

I mean to say "than I like" on the cornering...

[The_MS]

I thought that the 2000 and 2001 MC were not good boats. Didnt they add the Hook after all the complaints?

[swc5150]

For what most ballers would want, I agree, these were not good years for MC. As a float boat, with some rec slalom, they'll do a fine job. The good thing for the buyer is these boats can found at a bargain, basically for the reasons we agree on.

[Jody_Seal]

"Who's Sammy Duvall ?"

[swc5150]

He's the guy that owned those yellow, Mercruiser powered MC's at Disney World;)

[Wish]

What's Disney World?

[Bulldog]

Lol

[east tx skier]

There was never a bad era for the 205. The first generation 92--95 were epically good open bow slalom boats. The second and final generation of the direct drive 205 was not quite as wonderful, but still a very good slalom boat. There was some roll to the turns as SWC5150 mentioned, and it feels like a bigger boat compared to the first generation 205. But it is based on the 95--97 190. The 205 never suffered the 98 190 death star redesign or the 2001 hookless EVO hull shortcomings. It is the original Xstar hull, which isn't a bad slalom boat ... for an open bow of that era. Not as good as the TSC SNOB, but still very good.

 

My father in law has a 98 (same as the 2000) that I ski behind pretty regularly. It has worked flawlessly with pretty sporatic maintenance on his part. The Vortec TBI is as bullet proof as the ZF Hurth 1:1 on that boat. We have run it through the course a few times and it does just fine. This second generation 205 hull was designed before wakeboarding had taken over. So despite its being a great wakeboard hull (apparently), it was designed for slalom. I believe the ad line at the time was "fanatics with families."

 

In 2000, they got a bit funky with the interior. You'll have a teak ski locker in the walk through that looks like it was inspired by a Cobalt and this is getting into the era of dicey vinyl for MC.

 

That said, I have a friend with a 2000 205 and he has been all smiles since he bought it several years ago.

 

This is my father in law's boat.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

That is good to know about the earlier boats. I am on a budget and am looking at open bow boats to upgrade from my venerable '88 outboard. It worked fine for a family boat at sea level, but does not pull so well up above 6500 feet where we often ski. I have a thread open about what are good open bow slalom boats. the early 205s may go on the list!

[east tx skier]

My old 205 pulled someone through 35 off with no problem. Supposedly, the spray becomes a factor past that with the 1st generation, but I heard no complaints. My cousin (pictured skiing above), just picked up a 99 SNOB. The wake behind that boat is wonderful, but the cabin is a bit cramped because they moved everything back to accommodate the open bow.

 

I'm not sure about the 205s being at a good price point. The MC guys love these boats and pay pretty handsomely for the ones in good shape. When I sold mine several years ago, I got a few thousand more than I paid for it four years earlier. Like anything, the price drops a bit each year. But for these boats, it has flattened a bit.

 

Here is the wake behind my old 93 205 at 34 and 36 mph. As you can see, it kicked up a bit of spray at shortline.

 

 

[gregy]

Hey east or anyone else, every have any experience with the corvette motors they put in the MC in the 90s. Our lake has pretty tight setups and my friends 94 205 with TBI, you really have to give a lot of throttle. I love the wake though.

[Nick Sullivan]

Yeah, they are a great engine. If you can find one with that engine I would jump all over it.

[swc5150]

We had LT1's in 3 of our Prostars, and the TBI version in our '95. The LT1's had more get-up-and-go, but the 275hp TBI ('95+) is no slouch either. A '98 205 will have the 340hp LT1, where earlier versions had 318 down to 300. Finding a power slot would really be ideal for situation, but finding a 205 w/ slot could be tough.

[MrB]

I met Sammy Duvalat our boat show when he was promoting that boat. That boat was beautiful. I dreamed of that silver metal flake for years. Never skied behind it but I'm sure it will still turn heads. And, Sammy is a nice guy!

[RichardDoane]

I had a 92 MC 205 for about 15 years, it was still a great boat with 1400 hours when I sold it in 2010, even though it was only 240hp carb'd, a 4 blade stainless OJ allowed it to tow 36 mph skiers and an occasional barefooter

[Texas6]

I had a 96 205 that never gave me a single problem from 20-400hours. Great boat, decent slalom tractor, decent entry wakeboard boat also. The SUV of the lake in my opinion