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Sunscape Model differences


ajinid

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Looking at buying an older crossover. I've seen it mention several times in forums that the 02-04 sunscape is a good option. Anything wrong with the 2001 sunscape LSV23?

We will mostly slalom, tube and would like to get into surfing.

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The 2001 Sunsetter VLX or 2002-2004 Sunscape 21 LSV are great crossovers. The 23 LSV is a pretty big boat and doesn't slalom ski nearly as well as the 21 footers I mentioned.

Unless you are regularly out with more than 6 or 7 adults or spend a lot of time on big water, I'd steer towards the 21 foot variants.

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Yea I have 7 kids so I need a bigger boat. I'll be stepping up from an I/O so I assume the slalom will still be an improvement.

Anyone know what hull is on the 2001 sunscape LSV23.

Any differences compared to the 02-04 sunscape LSV23 ?

Edited by ajinid
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I used to have an 03 Sunscape 21 with the Diamond hull. It was very nice for skiing and riding (also had the wedge, a removable pylon extension and some ballast bags to improve the riding wake). My opinion is that 03 is the best year in that range. That was the first year of the paddle wheel speed sensor and the easy removal swim platform brackets, but it still had the taller ski pylon. In 04 the Gorilla fins, the fancy steering wheel with the flat area on the bottom, and the retracting ski pylon came out. If memory serves, in 05 they went from the sv23 hull to the sv25 hull - this improved the riding wake slightly but made the slalom wake much worse. I would recommend either the 03 or 04 with a preference for the 03.

Edited by nemalibu
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Yea I have 7 kids so I need a bigger boat. I'll be stepping up from an I/O so I assume the slalom will still be an improvement.

Anyone know what hull is on the 2001 sunscape LSV23.

Any differences compared to the 02-04 sunscape LSV23 ?

sunsetter VLX's last year was 2001...that was on sv23 diamond, same as the 02-04 sunscpae lsvs. In terms of skiability, they are the precise same.

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Sounds like the '01 Sunscape LSV23 is about the same as the '02-04 except for the speed sensor, pylon, removable platform and gorilla fins?

Of those items, I think the fins are probable the one thing I might want. Is it possible to add the gorilla fins to an 01 sunscape LSV23?

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Couple things, keep in mind that if searching for an 01, you need to call it a sunsetter vlx not a sunscape. Secondly, if you have any interest in using a boom, the fixed pylon is significantly "taller" than the pop up pylon which will give you room to use one. As for the paddle wheel, that's unnecessary to look for a boat with that if you plan on using perfect pass speed control which I woul expect the majority of boats have. If not, if you installed "stargazer" (the latest perfect pass) it runs off GPS and no holes or paddle wheels are necessary.

I don't know about adding gorilla fins but they are certainly not a necessity. Unless doing high speed turns you're never going to know the difference and certainly not from the end of a ski rope as they have no effect. If you started course skiing a lot, and started getting into some shortline, you might be able to tell a tracking difference but if you're coming from an I/O, even a vdrive without tracking fins will blow you away with its precision.

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We had an 02 wakesetter 23lsv, it had a pretty good slalom wake for that size boat. Coming from an I/O you will love any of the options you listed. Obviously the slalom wake will be a bit bigger than that of a 21 foot boat, but you won't be disappointed, especially with the need for space that you have.

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Couple things, keep in mind that if searching for an 01, you need to call it a sunsetter vlx not a sunscape. Secondly, if you have any interest in using a boom, the fixed pylon is significantly "taller" than the pop up pylon which will give you room to use one. As for the paddle wheel, that's unnecessary to look for a boat with that if you plan on using perfect pass speed control which I woul expect the majority of boats have. If not, if you installed "stargazer" (the latest perfect pass) it runs off GPS and no holes or paddle wheels are necessary.

I don't know about adding gorilla fins but they are certainly not a necessity. Unless doing high speed turns you're never going to know the difference and certainly not from the end of a ski rope as they have no effect. If you started course skiing a lot, and started getting into some shortline, you might be able to tell a tracking difference but if you're coming from an I/O, even a vdrive without tracking fins will blow you away with its precision.

Timeout!

The Sunsetter VLX in 2001 was only the 21 footer. There was a Sunscape 23 LSV starting in 2001 which was previously known as the Escape LSV.

The 2001 Sunscape 23 LSV has the V25 Diamond hull. It is the same boat essentially as the 2002-2004 with the differences of the Gorilla fins, paddle wheel, pop-up pylon, different digital display in the tachometer introduced in 2003 I believe, and different factory stereos (JVC in '01 and '02 but '02 had aux input. JBL in '03 was junk).

All 2001s DO HAVE a removable platform.

My opinion? 2001 would be fine. As stated above, a paddlewheel is actually obsolete if you're wanting to use any of the new GPS based speed controls, and it only adds another thing to the boat that can be damaged by trailer and lift bunks. Gorilla fins aren't necessary unless you're a course die-hard, which you won't be with the 23 foot boat. We don't have Gorilla fins on our '01 and my gorilla-sized 250 lb frame doesn't dramatically pull our boat off course at 22 and 28 off where I ski (both on the course and open water). 2002 and 2003 Monsoon engines had annoying ECU programming that needed to be updated to get rid of cold stalling (2002) and a ridiculous idle flair when pulling to neutral (2003, ironically implemented to fix stalling of 2002). My ski team had 2002 and 2003 Monsoons and neither ran as well as our 2001 does to this day. 2002 and 2003 had better grounding which can be solved in the '01 by running a heavier gauge wire from the bus bar under the dash to the ground on the battery.

If it were me and I had to choose, I'd get whichever was the best value. It may very well end up being an '01.

Edited by UWSkier
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Timeout!

The Sunsetter VLX in 2001 was only the 21 footer. There was a Sunscape 23 LSV starting in 2001 which was previously known as the Escape LSV.

The 2001 Sunscape 23 LSV has the V25 Diamond hull. It is the same boat essentially as the 2002-2004 with the differences of the Gorilla fins, paddle wheel, pop-up pylon, different digital display in the tachometer introduced in 2003 I believe, and different factory stereos (JVC in '01 and '02 but '02 had aux input. JBL in '03 was junk).

UW, correct. I thought OP was referring to SV23 hull on the 2001 sunscape which of course doesn't exist its the sunsetter vlx. I see what you're saying you're clarifying that you may have though I was referring to 23 LSV, I'm not but I see the confusion. since OP was asking solely about the 21 footers that's all I was thinking he was concerned with, although I may go against the grain on this in this thread, while the 23 may ski "OK", it won't be as good at the 21 foot variant.

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My 2 cents, I had a 2002 Sunscape 23', I really liked the boat, it had a very good ski wake for the size of the boat. I hated the ski pilon, I alway thought one of the kids was going to get impalled on the thing as it sticks up so high. If I had not bought a new boat I would have put on a more aggressive prop. The boat was super smooth and with 10 people on board it was not crowded. The only other issue was the electronics, needed something every year (gauges or sensors).

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the '01 by running a heavier gauge wire from the bus bar under the dash to the ground on the battery.

:plus1: Yup, after I added a bunch of pumps and stereo that was a must do along with an alternator upgrade. It wasn't an issue until I had the boat way tricked out though.

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:plus1: Yup, after I added a bunch of pumps and stereo that was a must do along with an alternator upgrade. It wasn't an issue until I had the boat way tricked out though.

Oddly, I've gotten away with it so far. 3 reversible pumps (which I will run all at the same time), one 1 deep cycle battery, rebuilt stock alternator, 40x4 RMS amp running @ 4ohm (class A/B), sub is off a 200 watt Class D amp. No issues at all. I get a bit of a voltage drop running all the pumps at once, but hasn't been an issues. Only thing I haven't tried is cracking the stereo and running all 3 pumps; never had a reason to do so anyway.

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