Atlanta Boat Show Thoughts & Pictures

[scottieturnbull]

I was able to sneak away to the boat show for a few hours unsupervised, even after last years trip resulted in a large payment book.

I was excited to see the new G23 & G25. They are big, but I wasn't really a fan of the interior styling. I liked the rope storage area for the extra rope unter the pylon on the tower. The G25 had the Z5 on it, and I hit my head at least 10 times on it. I am 6'4, but that is unacceptable. It has a ton of storage, and probably have a great wake, but the sticker on the G23 was $140k, and they were going to make me a great deal on one they had on the lot for $116k. I'm pretty sure that would be grounds for divorce, or bankruptcy.

Atlanta Marine had a good setup. 4-5 Supras, and a bunch of Moombas. I liked the SA, but the side vents on it are just a bit off, and the black on black color scheme would be unbearable in the GA heat. I think I'll stay with the more classic look of the pointed nose on the 242. The new touch screen Vision system seems to be pretty sweet.

The best value i saw at the whole show was a Malibu 23 Ride. It was only $58k or so. It was only 1k more than the Mojo, and seemed a bit plusher. I have never ridden in either, so that is strictly an appearance comparison.

I talked to Rick Tinkers son about it and it said the real difference is in the hull. He said it just rides higher on the water and is fantastic in rough water. I guess a lake test would be the only way to know that for sure, but he did say the things they learned on the SA will be applied to all of the Supra hulls in the future.

I also got to talk to Rick Tinker. He was as gracious and down to earth as always. We talked about several things including the improvements made to the 2013 models like the walk thru transom and not putting carpet in the storage compartments...these were things that Moomba was doing in 2012, but didn't trickle up to the higher brand. I also told him they needed to fix the store on the websites, and he said it would be fixed within 30 days. A new company called Threads is taking it over.

Anyways, here are some of the pictures. The last one is a pontoon that they tried to make cool. Someone forgot to tell them it was still a pontoon. Also, Bryant had an I/O with the biggest swim platform I'd ever seen. It was like a tiered picnic table off the back of the boat.

Any one else see anything good down there?

Never mind. I am either retarded or the forum hates my new iMac. It keeps putting a red exclamation for each picture after up load. I even downsized the images to under 200kb. I will try again tomorrow from my PC.

[scottieturnbull]

Boat show picture attempt
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[scottieturnbull]

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Second Set

[scottieturnbull]

IMG_0592.jpg New Centurion
IMG_0595.jpg New Centurion Digital Dash. Looks like a iPad, and very functional. I liked it a lot.
IMG_0596.jpg Bryant Picnic Table
IMG_0605.jpg Malibu Ride 23
IMG_0606.jpg Pontoon.

[wotan2525]

Thanks for the updates. Doesn't look like any reason for me to go to one of these shows. Nautique has lost their mind. I think the metal-flakes look better on the water than they do surrounded with carpet.

And... Those $75,000 pontoons are actually tritoons. And they HAUL ass and perform incredibly. Not my cup of tea but I've been pretty impressed with the ones I've been on.

[suprasam]

I went, and wasn't to impressed with the newer boats. They were nice of course, but sorry way outta my price range to be honest for a "wakeboat". If I buy a new boat(never will, let someone else take the first year depreciation hit) I would much rather have my boat (paid offf) and invest in a mid-size cruiser for the money. Although I will have to say the Chris-Craft (launch) was the nicest boat there, nothing but pure class in that boat IMO.

[Jetlink]

In regards to the Tupolev, does it come with a Russian commander to operate the ship for you? Our L-39 is hard to understand the manuals half the time because they were originally written in Russian and then translated to English, or shall I say attempted to translate into English. Cobalts were the highlight of our visit to the Chicago boat show, looks like one will be added to the growing list of water toys this year for the lake.

[haugy]

My thoughts on the boat show...not impressed with any ski boat that looks like they bred with a bass boat. Absolutely disgusting the colors and metallic flake on every "ski" or should I say "wakeboard" boat that was at this show. The prices even more ridiculous!! We did like the 242 but not with red metallic.

$75,000 pontoon boats? Really? No matter how you dress it up, it's still a pontoon boat. When you buy a brand new top of the line truck and then realize that is half of what they want for a top of the line ski boat, I become disinterested real quick. Some of these watersport companies need to get back to basics and stop trying to be yacht builders.

Made me and my wife really appreciate what we have. I know I'm starting to mature when most of the boats I liked had a bedroom and a head on board. They were first class and looked it from the outside. I loved the Cobalts, liked the Regals with their power towers, and even a few Sea Rays got my attention.

I was more impressed with the way they had this boat displayed than the actual boat itself. Not buying any boat that puts "Boatmate Trailers" on the side of it.

Couldn't agree more. All the boats at the Nashville show had metal flake. The lowest end was 63K for a barebones Axis. These boats are trying so hard, but are losing all the lines that made them what they were. Distinguishable, noticeable, recognizable pieces of art on water.

The Chris-Craft runabouts are at the top of my want list. As CC has always done, they have stayed very true to the thinking that a boat should not only be functional, but beautiful as well. I will do everything I can to never get rid of our current CC as it's truly a classic these days.

Hey boat manufacturers, do you know why the Aston Martin is so popular? Because of it's simple beauty and power, not because it's flashy. When you think of a douche in a sports car, what's the first car you think he's in? Lambo, Ferrari? Rarely would anyone think Aston Martin, because they let the lines and understated beauty do all the work, not a bunch of insane colors and patterns. Take note boat designers, less flash, more style.

[Salty87]

i agree with you guys. unfortunately, there's no shortage of people in line waiting to drop big time bucks on these pickle-fork monstrosities...touch screens, power towers, whatever gadgetry they can get. i don't blame the builders as much as i blame the buyers for wanting that junk. there isn't as much $ to be made in timeless classics that people won't swap out of every few years.

[haugy]

They better have those damn hoverboards figured out by then!