What years / Sun Sport

[JMD1]

Hello,
I have been skimming through threads for a bit. Nice site. I’m currently looking at a 1985 Sun Sport 19' It is a complete bomb right now but very repairable.
Looking for a wake board / surf boat. And for a project boat it seems to fit the bill. I’m in no hurry to buy this or will pass on it for a better hull year.

Looking for a little history I guess.
What years did they make the Sun Sport any hull changes?
I worked at a ski shop as a kid around this time but never really paid much attention to family boats. We would get to ski right from the shop and no one would take a Sun sport .TS6M was the hot ticket then.

Thanks Jeff

[jsandy]

the comps are great for ski were as the sunsport was accidentally built to wakeboard. the new model supra Launch still uses the same hull design. i just got a 91 sunsport so i've been doin alot of reading

[JMD1]

the comps are great for ski were as the sunsport was accidentally built to wakeboard. the new model supra Launch still uses the same hull design. i just got a 91 sunsport so i've been doin alot of reading

So a 85 suns port hull and a 91 are the same?

[edgewater1]

I have a 91' would not have anything else, for skiing, wake-boarding, surfing, or just riding around. I have not found a better boat that does everything well.
In older models you might have to redo; stingers and floor.

[jsandy]

for the record the 91 has the same wooden construction as the older ones. in 92 is when they went with the full fiberglass construction. true a very low number of late "91" year models came out with the fiberglass stringers but its rare. so if there was a 91 and 92 side by side for the same price the 92 is obviously a beter choice but all in all there all very good boats and for the money you cant beat them. i searched long and hard for my boat (craigslist ever night for almost 7 months) and did lots of research and as far as under 10k wakeboard boats go it was between the sunsport or 2001 and the amount of room the sunsport has over the 2001 is amazing. really made the choice easy for me. now i have the perfect boat for good wakeboarding and i can fit 7-8 of my closest scantily clad lady friends in there with me.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

85-91 are all the same hull. Interior changes a lot, and the later years are a little heavier total weight. Same motor in all years.

[JMD1]

Thanks for the info vey helpfull

The boat does need stringers, but apears to be complete and in usable shape (interior)
The price is fair and if this one falls through I think I will be keeping my eye out.Right now I have a 2001 BFN have restored.
Thanks Jeff

[edgewater1]

mines one of three late 91's with plastic stringers and floor.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

all 91's are fair game to be checked for POSSIBLE composite floors/stringers, they started halfway through the year of 91. Some are wood, some composite.

[stinky_1]

maybe someone can clear me up here. Looking at side profile shots of the 85 - 88 sunsports and then the 89+ sunsports I was under the impression the hullse were slightly different.

For example, the bow of the 85's dont dip down lower in the front like my 90 does. It looks like it goes straight out the front. the rails on the top make it appear to dip, but not actually.

Also have not noticed those little notches in the sides of the back of the boat on the older ones compared to my 90.

Its totally possible I just missed it, and I will confess now that I have NOT seen an 85 in person. So I am going entirely off pictures on here.

I am not saying one is worse than the other. But I would say the 89+ hull is more similar to the newer launches than the 88 and older. If anything I would say those 88 and older ones have an even deeper hull. So they have more chance to load them up and throw a bigger wake.

I could be way off here, and very well may stand corrected.

For the money and what you get I think the supra is the way to go. The only other thing you would get close to this amount of room in is the Sport Nautique (same hull as the SN2001 but has an open bow), or a Malibu sunsetter. The cost on those sunsetters is a bit more, but you have some in the early 90's that had the wedge on them all ready, so they are in a good place to start as a wake boat. Price wise, you wont beat a supra though!

[JMD1]

maybe someone can clear me up here. Looking at side profile shots of the 85 - 88 sunsports and then the 89+ sunsports I was under the impression the hullse were slightly different.

For example, the bow of the 85's dont dip down lower in the front like my 90 does. It looks like it goes straight out the front. the rails on the top make it appear to dip, but not actually.

Also have not noticed those little notches in the sides of the back of the boat on the older ones compared to my 90.

Its totally possible I just missed it, and I will confess now that I have NOT seen an 85 in person. So I am going entirely off pictures on here.

I am not saying one is worse than the other. But I would say the 89+ hull is more similar to the newer launches than the 88 and older. If anything I would say those 88 and older ones have an even deeper hull. So they have more chance to load them up and throw a bigger wake.

I could be way off here, and very well may stand corrected.

For the money and what you get I think the supra is the way to go. The only other thing you would get close to this amount of room in is the Sport Nautique (same hull as the SN2001 but has an open bow), or a Malibu sunsetter. The cost on those sunsetters is a bit more, but you have some in the early 90's that had the wedge on them all ready, so they are in a good place to start as a wake boat. Price wise, you wont beat a supra though!

Anyone have in put on this.Im going to look at the 85 this week.
Jeff

[stinky_1]

Here are a couple profile shots courtesy of New Dimension towers.

85 - 88 Sunsport

http://www.newdimensiontowers.com/galleries/supra/images/1985-1988_Sunsport.jpg

And a 89 - 91

http://www.newdimensiontowers.com/galleries/supra/images/1989-1991_Sunsport.jpg


You can see that the bow does not dip as low in the 85 - 88 ones. It still has a bit of dip, but not nearly as far. Note that this is not really a bad thing. the newer ones would be more likely to take on water over the bow on a big roller .

Its hard to really tell about the hull at the back though. It still looks to me like those little notches are not there like the 89+ has.

edit:

Thanks to a pic by Jester on this forum I can confirm the 86 for SURE has those notches in the rear.

Hopefully he doesnt mind me reposting his pic

http://supraboats.com/bbs/picture.php?albumid=92&pictureid=614

So the only real difference is in that front bow part not dipping as far.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Stinky - good call there, your observations are right on. It is my understanding that the TOP CAP of the boat has evolved but the actual hull is the same. The bow DOES dip down but it's the top cap and the out-of-the-water hull they changed, not the running surface of the hull. They would still be weighted the same. Also note that the newer models (89-91) weigh about 1000lbs more.

Again, this is just what I have read, I don't have first-person knowledge. If you are that curious you could call Supra and Anthony should be able to talk about that point. :)

I think the newer (89-91) models might legally seat nine while my 87 seats eight? Not positive about that one. Oh yeah and they have the gear reduction trans and the larger diam prop - thats nice for sure. I cant really think of any other differences.

[stinky_1]

Hey Mikey, when you talk about "newer" are you referring to brand new? Or the 89+ "newer"

It looks like more than just a difference in top cap to me. But I dont think it makes much difference there. I personally like the look of both. The 92+ has the rounded windows on them so with a tower and new decals would be confused for a 2000!

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Sorry, post edited for clarification :p I agree it's more than JUST the topcap (out-of-the-water hull near the bow is different) but I believe the running surface is unchanged.

Apparently half the 92's still have square windows, so buyer beware u gotta check 'em out.

Hmmm now that I think about it you might want to check the Budget WakeBoat thread, there might be a reason why they only recommend the 89-91 models on their chart and dont bother to recommend the 85-88 models, but I am not recalling what that would be at the moment.

[stinky_1]

Pretty sure it was 85+ on the budget wakeboat thread. I agree though that it seems the running surface of the hull looks similar if not the same. The actual differences appear minimal at best

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Checked the chart - you are right again :p

[stinky_1]

I spent a lot of time looking at that chart the past few months. After my father in law bought his supra which is an 85 I started paying even more attention. Then the quest began for me to find one for myself.

This summer we should have both boat out at the same time. Maybe we will get some shots of the wake from the boat and riders perspective of both boats. We can take shots of them unloaded, and others with some sac setups. That way we can see for sure if there is any difference in the wake shape or size between the two.

I doubt there will be, but it would confirm if there are any differences in the hull design.

[JMD1]

I spent a lot of time looking at that chart the past few months. After my father in law bought his supra which is an 85 I started paying even more attention. Then the quest began for me to find one for myself.

This summer we should have both boat out at the same time. Maybe we will get some shots of the wake from the boat and riders perspective of both boats. We can take shots of them unloaded, and others with some sac setups. That way we can see for sure if there is any difference in the wake shape or size between the two.

I doubt there will be, but it would confirm if there are any differences in the hull design.

Sounds like a fun and good idea !