1986 Supra Sun Sport Ski

I am searching for a Surf boat That does not cost a ton, or forces me to sell my "Date Night boat"

I came across a "Barn" find 1986 Supra- Sun Sport "SKIER" it has 890 hours and no major work done to Engine.
Owner said something about "replacing the foam" 10 years ago and the floor boards being replaced and New Carpet. He also said motor mounts were done. I found a couple soft spots in the floor (So I am questioning the Floor board repair even though the carpet looks new) Boat is rough, but hull and interior is in good shape......then I saw this.....Stringers look to be fiberglass, but the two on the Starboard side have Cracks in them
Attachment 18871

So here are my questions:

• Can this be a Surf boat?
• Should I run from the floor project?
• Is the Motor mount/ Stringer crack a Deal Breaker?
• how many hours before the engine need a complete rebuild?
• What was the story with the "Foam Replacement" he said something about they had the wrong foam those years

Should I run....or try and steal it?

Thanks you in advance for any comments...

sunsports didn't have fiberglass stringers until mid-'92...you can tell on '92 models if they have a curved windshield that they are the fiberglass stringer model. anything '93 and up has fiberglass.

as far as this one goes, that crack looks like the wood stringer on that side split or is rotted out. they are covered with fiberglass, but still wood underneath. if he'll let you, you can take a wrench to the motor mount bolts and try to tighten them a little; if they spin, the wood is rotted out.

JTRYON
Thanks for the reply, and the idea...I can see what he says. Either way sounds like a big project. On another note. I see you are running a Sunsport. Can you tell me, is it possible to get a surf wave as good as some of the $100K models? What is the automated Surf System you use? Did you add an Arch? Which one.

So I wouldn’t say “as good” as any 100k boat, but you can definitely hold your own. I’ve gotten tons of compliments about how good of a wave mine puts out, and would say it for sure rivals any newer non-surf system boat. There are locals with much newer boats in our area (not throwing out brands) who we see riding often and they are surfing off the platform almost, while we can ride pretty far back on mine. Here’s some pics for example, I’ll see if i can dig up some goofy side pics too:https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c471620a8f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a04e3f428a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...873c68888b.jpg

I built my own system based on the Malibu surfgate. Google "goose slappers" for tons of examples on the MB forum in particular. Here is a link to my initial testing thread, before I automated everything: https://forum.supraboats.com/showthr...e-quot-install For about $400 you can get Lenco fast actuators and some circuitry (Ardiuno-based) that will let you run a single switch to control side-to-side switching of the surfgates, and can set a GPS speed for deployment and retraction so that when a rider falls the gate will pull back in, then deploy when taking off again. There are more expensive complete systems out there, but if you're in the price range of an old Supra I'd venture to guess you'd rather do it yourself for cheap ;)

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Those are awesome. No need for Goofy pic's Thanks for the info. I think the Stringer repair is going to be too big of a "time Suck" for me, so I am going to start looking at 93' and newer.

No problem! Sunsports (and bigger Supras) IMO are the best older boats for surfing because they have higher freeboard than other brands. It’s a great start on a budget. Let me know when you get one and I can share details on gate builds and such...I’ve since made some trimming modifications and such that have helped the wave a lot.


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What are the other Larger Supra's I should start to look at?

I believe the Mariah and Saltare are the two bigger models of that vintage


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Thanks jtryon- be in touch