1992 Supra Esprit

[rossp]

Hey guys I'm looking for some guidance. I've been looking at a 92 Esprit on craiglist that looks like it's in pretty good shape. Main purpose for the boat will be wakeboarding with the family. Wondering what you know about this model to lookout for, how is the wake and how cramped will it be with 6-8 people in it... I've also been seeing alot of posts with certain model boats being prone to submarine. Thanks for the help!
http://pensacola.craigslist.org/boa/2571431559.html

[rossp]

Here is a link to some pics
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/824/img0545af.jpg/

[Blackntan90]

I hope the 6-8 people are good friends! It will be tight w/8- but we had 5 people and 5 dogs on our Mariah this summer, and it was not too bad. You do have to watch for rollers coming over the bow, but steer into them and give a little throttle to get the nose up. For all around fun it is a good boat- not too big, not too small. The wake is average as well(w/o sacs or lead). Hope this helps!

[rossp]

Thanks for the quick reply. I posted a link to the pics and the description that's on craigslist. Sound like a good deal?

[tomelenbaas]

I have an '88 Mariah which is very similar. It will comfortably seat 8 or more people. But the boat (at least the Mariah) is only rated about 1,200 pounds, so I'd hesitate to put too much ballast in it. I put a 300 lb. sack in the back along with a couple of riders and we get a pretty good wake - or so the boarders tell me. I can't speak from experience since I don't board - only slalom ski, and for that the wake is very good for a boat this size.

Board storage is very limited on these older boats - they were made before wakeboards. I think this one has a ski locker under the playpen in front (where mine has a cooler) which may give it a bit more room.

Looking at the ad on Craig's list, I'd have two questions. Why was it necessary to replace the prop and shaft, and why was it necessary to rebuild an engine with only 270 hours? I consider both of those to be red flags.

[tomelenbaas]

By way of clarification to my last post, although the boat will comfortably seat 8 or 9 people for general cruising, I don't usually take more than 6 out to ski or board. If you have too many people in the boat you end up playing musical chairs as riders get in and out. Also, as Blackntan said, it's easy to swamp the boat so you've got to be really watchful for rollers - especially if you have a couple of people in the bow.

[rossp]

Thanks guys I'll have to check into the reason for the prop and shaft replacement. Something about the thought of rollers coming over the bow scares me...

[rossp]

Well this is the response I got about the work that was done.

First, my father-in-law dinged the prop on a rock in 2006 I think it was. He replaced the prop at that time even though it only seemed to have minor damage. However the bearing in the prop shaft stabilizing strut wore lopsidedly over the next season until the shaft sheared from friction and cross-forces in 2007. We only discovered that (by deduction) when replacing the prop shaft when we noticed the abnormal wear pattern on the inner bearing of the strut. So we actually replaced that stabilizing strut as well at the same time, not knowing whether the shaft or the strut was out of true. We changed out the stuffing box at the same time, so thats relatively new also.

Early in 2009, one of the exhaust manifolds (cast iron) corroded enough while we were out that the engine hydrolocked and we couldn't get it started back up. Unfortunately we were beached on the lagoon side of Johnson beach at the time. And we weren't the owners of the boat yet (my father-in-law sold it to us later for the cost of repairs) so we didn't have SeaTow yet. So, it took a few days before we could get it out and get te money to get it to a mechanic so the engine had seized and had to be rebuilt. We took it out again that summer and the next and it ran like a charm.

[jet]

Man, she is clean. Good starter boat, also Its easy to store and use. It will fit in the garage, throws a pretty good wake and you can ski behind it. You will never dip the nose once you know how to drive her just NEVER let off of the throttle FAST! Or it will dip the nose..if you see a $85000 wakeboarding boat go by, turn the your boat sideways and your fine. If Its just you and your buddies, load her up to 1600lbs!! or just a 300-400 lbs in the rear. Looks like a really clean boat. Have fun!!

[michael hunter]

That is an open bow comp ski boat. If wake boarding is your main goal you should buy a different boat. The bow is very low and in rough water it will probably take water. Looking at the windshield it probably has wood stringers make sure you check it thoroughly before you buy.