Slalom & Barefoot Wakes

[H2Ofreak]

I am new to this forum and Supra boats. I could go into a long dissertation about what boats I have owned and skied behind, but I will keep it simple at this point and ask a straight forward question: From someone who has actually slalomed and barefooted behind one, what is the wake like behind a 1998 Legacy Comp? Thanks.....

[eyespyautomotive]

Sorry, but I personally cant tell you that. But I do have a friend who is a big time Skier, he is about 50, and has skied behind just about everything, has been in competitions, etc...Lives on a lake, takes his skiing very seriously. I value his opinion on skiing pretty high. Last summer I pulled him behind my legacy one glassy day on the lake, when we were done, he was sitting on the rear deck and kept saying wow, wow. He said that was some of the best skiing he has done and was super impressed by my boats wake. Now I don't believe he was blowing smoke up me and totally believe if there was was an issue he would have said something. He was overly impressed with the boat. Kept mentioning it at the fire later. FWIW

Felt pretty good about it coming from him. If he had said it sucked, I would have told you that too.

[H2Ofreak]

Thank you, this helps a lot. I have been behind numerous MC Prostars, a Nautique, an American Skier (really old school), and I owned a Malibu Sunsetter (which I thoroughly enjoyed). Each one has good and bad points when it comes to specific disciplines. I just turned 60, but am still heavy into slalom and footing, with past forays into hydrofoiling, wakeboarding, and kneeboarding. I had to sell the Malibu and my customized hydrofoil (bummer) during the 2008 recession, but am now getting ready to buy another boat. My wife says that I can't spend another $5000 on a hydrofoil, so I am upping my slalom and barefooting - hence the interest in a flat wake. Based on your comments, I will continue to look at Supras.....

[foxriverat]

Here is the wake on my 96 ts6m comp. Not sure if the hull is different on the 98 comp. Taken from my phone so not the greatest. http://youtu.be/lLj2oWe2kOY

[H2Ofreak]

Thanks for the video. The wake behind your boat looks lik a good combination of my 'used to have' Malibu Sunsetter and my ski partner's MC Prostar...nice rounded crest with a solid table. It also looks like a good wake for slalom. If this is a similar wake to the Legacy, I'm in.....

[chris young]

I ski behind a Nautique 196 at my club, and my own Supra Rider(1984) and find little difference and the Rider is no where near the ski boat a Comp is. I'm a 15 off skier and am skiing at 30MPH, so my personal opinon isn't worth all that much to a good skier. That being said, I spend time on Ballofspray.com and anytime any Supra Comp is mentioned, it has always been favourable. It gets high praise almost any time it's mentioned in a slalom forum. If buying an older ski boat specifically for skiing is your focus I think the Comps are some of the best deals out there. As for barefoot, I can't say.

[Hagman]

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[96Comp]

Like Chauncy, I have a 96 Comp STS. Same hull as his. It is a perfect slalom wake. I ski at 32-34 and it's a real soft wake. Also skied behind MC Prostar. Not as soft in my opinion. The Centurion Carbon Pro is very nice..... if you have $40k laying around. For this vintage and reasonable price, I'll take a Comp any day.

You can see from my pics we added a tower. Kids grew up and wanted to wake board. Cant afford two boats, so made the Comp a hybrid. There are some that would not support the decion to put a tower on a tow boat, but got to make the family happy. Even with the added weight of the tower, the wake did not change. The Comp is simply a great boat.

I have a friend with an Ouback that is the same hull as the '98 Comp. I have not skied it, but will this summer. You may also want to look at the DD Outback. My local mechanic has a real nice one for sale if you want to send me a PM. Guy bought it for his kid, who never used it. Can you believe that?

[H2Ofreak]

Again, thanks to all for the input. As far as putting a tower on a slalom boat....I wouldn't have a boat without a tower. It provides options you wouldn't have otherwise. It has become popular among barefooters to have a high tow and lets the average Joe learn to wakeboard with less intimidation. When I had my Malibu, I used the low pylon for slalom and the tower for footing and still had the benefit of a flat wake. Although hydrofoilers enjoy a larger wake for inverts, etc. they can still pop tricks without one, so a slalom boat with a tower can still be used that discipline. I do not recommend an extended pylon if you are going to use it for anything other than footing, where the pull is basically straight behind the boat and in line with the front cable. My ski partner has one for his Prostar and lets his adult kids use it for wakeboarding. The leverage generated when cutting hard to the outside has loosened his standard pylon at the base. At any rate, a tower, even on a slalom boat gets my vote.