Many of you were kind enough to respond to an earlier post regarding different boats, but at that point, I was just exploring a bit, and trying to decide if we wanted to go to separate boats for surf vs skiing (we live on a lake so we have room for two boats - $$$ is another thing!). At the time, general advice was to focus on Nautiques, Malibus, and Mastercrafts, and less so with the "off brands" (e.g. Centurion's, MB's, Supra's, Moomba's, etc).
I think we are going to try to pull the trigger on two boats, and am interested in any advice you would have on the top three ski boats / hulls PERIOD, even if they were all from one make (as an example, making this up, 94-97 Nautique, followed by 98-02 Nautique, etc). I'm purely an open water skier, don't have access or interest in the course, just want to advance my skiing on our lake. So to me, my uninformed priorities would be:
Soft and flat wakes at 32 mph, and 28' off rope length
Quality and reliability
I think I'd prefer fuel injection over carburated, although the ease of working on a carburated motor is attractive
I would want / need some form of cruise control - doesn't have to be the best, just good enough for open water skiing
Like most skiers on my lake, I'm an older guy (52), want to do this once, and find something that gets me another ten years. After that, I'll be lucky to walk down to our dock, let alone get up on a ski...
Fine with open or closed bow, although it will only be my son (driving) and me, so I kind of prefer the looks of the closed bow.
Welcome any guidance on other considerations, many, many thanks in advance for your time and insight / guidance you are willing to share!