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Help Recommend a Boat for me, response?


davemac

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Looking for some advice. Selling my 19' sterndrive (Fourwinns) after a year, and will be looking to get into a (used) inboard this spring. Price range around $20k (preferably a little less).

Boat is for family use (me, wife, dog and two kids 7&9- oldest one slaloms). I am a (40 yr old has-been) advanced, recreational slalom skier- 99% free skiing. Kids have not started wakeboarding yet. Often have 2 or 3 people w/ us, so likely want bow seating.

We spend two full weeks a summer, plus a couple weekends on a decent size NH lake, and also have a small lake a few miles away that we trailer to for skiing throughout the season.

I"m looking for something family-friendlyl - at this point w/ a bias toward skiing. If I had a place on a lake, a 99 SLXI would be ideal. Having looked at one the other day though, I'm now thinking that it is a little bigger than what I want to be trailering and storing at my house the majority of the time. Which probably leads me to a Response.

As most of my skiing/boating has been around Ski Nautiques (196), I would appreciate any insight w/ responses. While I love the walk thru to bow seating, it look like it was just made available in the 2004+ LXI - out of my price range. While I know the Response is a more than capable ski boat, how forgiving is it as a "family boat" in a light chop, and are the bow seats prone to getting swamped? In my price range, are there any years or specific models that had "advancements" I should be looking for?

Thanks, in advance, for any insight...

-Dave

Edited by davemac
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Look at the Sunsetters as well. I have a 2001 Sunsetter and use it as a cabin boat in the upper midwest. They sit a little deeper than the response. Wake is pretty good for skiing, of course, not as good as the Response. The Wedge works great for anyone who wakeboards. Kid friendly with open bow. Adequate room.

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True True .... we enjoyed our Echelon for 11 years ... was a great boat and will be less $s than a Sunsetter. Note, the Sunsetter LXi has a much better ski wake than a Sunsetter LX.

/Steve

Sunsetter LXi

This might be just the thing. More room than a Response LXi and almost as nice of a wake.

/Steve

Sunsetter LXI or Echelon LX.

Edited by ibelieve
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Sunsetter LXi

This might be just the thing. More room than a Response LXi and almost as nice of a wake.

/Steve

this is a outstanding boat. ( Not sure this boat but I would look at it if I were Looking. It looks like a good boat and they can be hard to find.) It will do everything very well. Good family boat.

This boat looks very well equipped and looks like a fair no good deal.

I have an 07 Rlxi and ski MC 190 and CC 196 and it will ski just as good and wake board better than the others.

Edited by Sixball
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Hmmm, have you considered a V-drive boat at all? There is no doubt that those direct drive boats are great boats, but a V-drive boat might be a little more "family" orientated, especially if you plan to have more than 5 or 6 in the boat on a regular basis. I've got a V-drive that sits on a diamond cut hull, and we find that it is a great slalom machine (although not quite as good as some of the direct drives..), but it is easy to load up with weight to make an awesome wake board and surf wake, has TONS of space for gear and stuff, and has a layout that is well suited for families and large crews.

I think it might be a stretch to find one that is under 20K though...?

Where in MA are you located?

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As a slalom skier 99% of the time myself, when I was looking for a boat, I skied behind both a 1999 & 2001 Response LX (same hull) and a 1999 Sunsetter LXi. While the wakes were similar, the Response LX was noticablybetter from full length through ultra short line. Both the Sunsetter and and Response LX had a nasty bump at either 35' off or 38' of (whatever the yellow section of rope puts you at). In the end, I decided on the Response LX. One of my deciding factors was the flatter bottom of the RLX. We boat on a a fairly shallow section of the Delaware River in PA. I was afraid that the deeper V of the Sunsetter might pose a problem during launch and recovery.

Fast forward 2 years, I still love my RLX!! We typically have anywhere from 3-6 people on board....and while more space would be nice, I doesn't take away from the fun. If i had the budget at the time, I would have looked at a Response LXi, however even now, you can't get into one for less than $25K. That may not change for a while as, I hear a lot of folks that prefer the hull of the 04'-06' LXi over the new hull on the 07'-08' RLxi's (especially for footing), which will keep the value of the 04'-06' boat up.

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Where in MA are you located?

on the Northshore, by Newburyport

Dave,

I have a sweet 2001 Sunsetter VLX up for sale soon, has the diamond hull for skiing but has the V-drive layout, located in Andover, MA. Tower, perfectpass, heater, wedge, stereo, Monsoon EFI w/ 60 hours

I can give you a smoking deal on this great boat. I can probably get a response lxi close to your price range. I'll PM you my contact info.

-Chris

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I agree with most of the comments made...my ultimate decision was made based on the fact that the wake for skiing behind the sunsetter was fine for my ability and the amount of room in the sunsetter vs. the response is huge!!! Good luck in your search!!!

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If you can't go to an RLXi due to the budget and you don't want to go to an SLXi due to the size, my take is that you have to decide on what part needs to take precedence in your decision - the family or the wake.

If it's the family then I'd go for a direct drive with the diamond hull. It will still give you a real nice ski wake and you'll get the extra size to boot. The SLXi would be the obvious choice, but since you don't want the size the next best choice in my opinion would be a 2002 Sunsetter. They put that model on the diamond hull for only that year. My boss has one and it skis a hell of a lot better than my old 2000 Sunsetter, although it can't touch my RLXi.

If it's the wake, then I'd go for the RLX, although I wouldn't like the idea of putting kids up in the bow.

Mike

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I bought a 1999 response lx with 150 hours on it for 17,500. There a great family boat. you don't need the bow because the response is so roomy anyways. Best time to buy is in november. Worst time to buy is Now!!!!!!!!!!1

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As most of my skiing/boating has been around Ski Nautiques (196), I would appreciate any insight w/ responses. While I love the walk thru to bow seating, it look like it was just made available in the 2004+ LXI - out of my price range. While I know the Response is a more than capable ski boat, how forgiving is it as a "family boat" in a light chop, and are the bow seats prone to getting swamped? In my price range, are there any years or specific models that had "advancements" I should be looking for?

Dave, Response LXi came out in '03.

The Response LX, in light chop or small waves, will not have a problem with water up front. You may have to learn to add some throttle going into a wave if you haven't done that already. We never took water over the bow on our 03 RLX, but we're on a small (~330 acre) lake. I usually ski with two other adults and a child. For a tournament-style boat, the RLX is not family un-friendly, but obviously does NOT have the room to move around like an I/O or v-drive. I'm glad we had the OB rather than the CB Response, but did not get too much effective use of the OB. Just sold the RLX to go with the RLXi.

If it's possible, test ski any models you're considering--that might make the decision for you. :)

If you're looking at older RLX, you'll likely want the trunk--'98 and up.

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My experience with V drives for skiing , Might as well buy an I/O

Go drive and ski a VTX or 20 LSV then come talk about IO's vs V-drives...

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99 was the first year for the trunk...98 was the first year for the diamond hull.

See that, the memory is the first thing to go.

I actually had typed that and decided to be nice and took it out....

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From the way you describe how you will use your boat, I would recommend finding a way to swing the walk through open bow if you can. The Rlx is a great boat, but the step over windshield is a PITA and there is next to no room up there. We went from a Rlx to an Rlxi two years ago and I just can't tell you how much happier the CFO is with the Rlxi. Thumbup.gif

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I bought a 1999 response lx with 150 hours on it for 17,500. There a great family boat. you don't need the bow because the response is so roomy anyways. Best time to buy is in november. Worst time to buy is Now!!!!!!!!!!1
My experience with V drives for skiing , Might as well buy an I/O

Hi, welcome, I really have to disagree with you.

It depends what you define a "family boat as", but I could not imagine fitting a family (defined here as 3 or more people) in a boat with a closed bow. When you pull from the pylon people sitting in the rear seat have to duck or get decapitated, so that leave the drivers seat, the passengers seat, and MAYBE 2 jump seats if you've got them (and I suppose sitting on the floor). I've got a good friend whos got a clsoed bow response - awesome ski machine no doubt, but if you need to put more than 3 people in it, everything gets jammed up and crowded real fast. I could not imagine considering any closed bow a "great family boat".

99Response touched on the IO comment, so I wont even go there...

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I bought a 1999 response lx with 150 hours on it for 17,500. There a great family boat. you don't need the bow because the response is so roomy anyways. Best time to buy is in november. Worst time to buy is Now!!!!!!!!!!1
My experience with V drives for skiing , Might as well buy an I/O

Hi, welcome, I really have to disagree with you.

It depends what you define a "family boat as", but I could not imagine fitting a family (defined here as 3 or more people) in a boat with a closed bow. When you pull from the pylon people sitting in the rear seat have to duck or get decapitated, so that leave the drivers seat, the passengers seat, and MAYBE 2 jump seats if you've got them (and I suppose sitting on the floor). I've got a good friend whos got a clsoed bow response - awesome ski machine no doubt, but if you need to put more than 3 people in it, everything gets jammed up and crowded real fast. I could not imagine considering any closed bow a "great family boat".

99Response touched on the IO comment, so I wont even go there...

Plus1.gif

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