Prostar 205 pros/cons

[spudboss]

As a recreational slalom skier I've owned many 16-20 foot outboards and I/O bowriders, a few years ago I decided to try a direct drive and bought a 2003 Supreme SP220. I was hugely disappointed with the ski wake which was big and hard as a rock! I found it much worse than my previous outboards and most of the I/O bowriders. It did give us a chance to try surfing although with a very minimal wake (small built in tank plus sacs). Sold the Supreme and purchased a pristine 2002 Mastercraft X30 in spring 2014. Boat had under 170 hours and looked brand new! Upgraded the factory ballast through WakeMakers (1100 sac surf side, integrated bow sac fed off the ski locker sac). While this improved surfing to be great for the kids and smaller adults, we still found anyone over about 160lbs had a hard time going ropeless and the pocket was short. I'm 190lbs and soon as I got more than about a foot from the platform I couldn't go ropeless. We used a larger Hyperlite surfboard (5'7" I think) designed for smaller wakes. Loved the boat but sold it a year ago due to not getting enough use for the investment. In hindsight wish I'd had a chance to try Mission Delta wakesurf device, but I didn't know they existed back then.

Considering buying another boat, but want to invest less cash give our season in the north is really only a couple of months on a good year. Looking for a slalom ski wake that is at least as good as my original boat, a 1979 Glastron Future V-162 with 115HP Evinrude. So far it is completely unmatched! We'd also like the ability to surf. Thinking of either a 1996-2000 Mastercraft Prostar 205 direct drive. I've read that the slalom wake on this boat is anywhere from excellent to pretty bad depending who's opinion and what they're comparing it to. Questions are:
1) would I be happy with the slalom wake?
2) could we surf port side with sacs and a Mission Delta surf tab without submerging the fuel vent?
3) would it tend to take rollers over the bow like our Supreme 220SP, or be better like our 2002 X30

Would much appreciate opinions from anyone experienced with these models!

[flya750]

The PS 205 wake has a good ski wake unless you load that boat full of people, bow included. Too many people will be too much weight the and wake will suffer greatly for slalom.

Keep with minimum people in the boat while skiing and I think the 205 would be an awesome choice.

Good luck finding one, they go fast when they go on market.

[JohnE]

You want the slalom wake of a lightweight runabout and want to surf it too? Isn't going to happen. And that glastron with the good wake will get dragged left and right down the lake with a strong skier behind it. With that said, the 205 is about the best all around boat out there.

[swatguy]

The 205 is about as close as you can get to the perfect choice for the line between both in the MC line of that era.

Another boat that comes to mind in the Sanger DLX. Deeper v at the transom so ride is great. Arguably one of the best riding d-drive boats in chop. The deeper v also makes for good surf wake.

The Supra launch which is also known as the Supra Sunsport back in the day, surfs and wakeboards well. I have never ripped a slalom set behind one, but the launch had a hydraulic wakeate option and just about every boat that has one skis well.

[maxpower220]

The first gen 205 had the "best" ski wake of the 205s. In 97, there was a change in the 205, ski wake suffered a little, but slightly more room and better wake for board sports. 99 models have even better storage.

Your old boat will likely have the "best" wake for skiing around. It was light. A 205 will have an excellent wake for skiing AND it will track very well. Everyone will have a different opinion on ski wakes, so there is no telling if you will like it. Test ride with your ski, then you will know.

If you weren't happy with surfing behind an X-30, I doubt you will appreciate the 205 at all.

[mikeg205]

1996 205V will give you a decent slalom wake IMO - slalomed behind a bunch - surfed behind a few..... a 205V sacked out with a suck gate - may give you a bit more pocket... you could get an HO free ride and ride it like wake board ...

what do you consider recreational slalom - riding or pretending your running a course.. if it's the latter than finding a boat that does good slalom will be tough... 205V still much better than a moomba outback - that had a punishing wake unless going 36+. IMO

[Ski-me]

The 92-95 205 is going g to be the best wake for skiing but nothing to brag home about for surfing. I have all kinds of people in the back and at 190 lbs, I really can't drop the rope. And if loaded up, you may take water over the fro t if you're not careful. With that said, I love our boat and love the ski wake.

96+ haS more room, can surf a bit better, but slightly worse ski wake compared to the older generation. And newer one will handle the rougher water a tad better.

[spudboss]

Thanks for the feedback all! I seldom ski with more than 2 in the boat (any boat). Very true that the old Glastron did get dragged left and right down the lake, although not nearly as bad as the Sea Doo Challenger or jetskis! We were beginner's to intermediate back then and never skied the course so it wasn't a huge problem. I skied behind my X30 on a 67" HO Burner which is a forgiving wider ski with a contour'd bottom, but the wake was very large (although much softer than the Supreme DD). I found the Crownline 202 LPX, SeaRay 190 Signature, and Chaparral 180 SL with 200HP Merc outboard all had better slalom wakes than either the Supreme or the X30, but of course surfing is out!

I've considered a Sanger V210, but the low freeboard really turns me off after the Supreme SP220 which always took rollers over the bow. Some of the big old Supra's would likely be better in that regard, but I'd expect worse slalom wakes.

I realize a 205 would have a smaller surf wake than our 2002 X30, but we have 3 rec slalom skiers so that is a higher priority than surfing. The girls who like surfing are closer to 100lbs give or take 10 or 20, so I'd think they'd be ok. Plus, if the Mission Delta surf tab delivers as promised, I would expect it might make the 205 wake comparable to our X30? Check out this video of it working on an 1989 Prostar 190! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3V-aZou0us

In terms of my definition of recreational slalom, it's probably somewhere between riding and pretending to run a course!

I appreciate the Moomba Outback comparison as that is another option I've considered.

Finding a clean Prostar 205 is a challenge, especially in my neck of the woods. Found one 5 hours away, but the trailer is trash. I drove a 40 hour round trip to get the X30 from Lake Havasu which speaks to my commitment level and love of Mastercrafts :-)

[hondaprlud]

The delta, or any suck device, will only shape the wave. You need ballast or a downward tab to make it bigger and have more push. But with lighter people it should work for you.




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[jakethebt]

Agree with the ski comments on the mid 90s 205.

Someone above posted the 205 model change was in 1997. That was not correct. It changed in 1996.

One question you asked was about the fuel vent. If you ballast the boat out and surf the left side, the fuel vent will be below the water line. The water will be pushed away from it but it will be lower than lake level. I don't know if you will get water in it or not. If it is a concern there would be things you could do like add 10' vent hose in a coil or relocate it all together.

[TyTanium]

Thinking of either a 1996-2000 Mastercraft Prostar 205 direct drive.

If you're interested in a great slalom wake, have you considered the 1992-1995 205? 92-95 has the great slalom hull (fuel injection began in 94 if that matters). In 96 the hull changed producing a better surfing wake but not as good of a slalom wake.

[Tsumi]

I would consider a 2003+ (Convex V) Tige 21i. Direct drive with a V hull, like the Sanger DLX. Has a wakeplate. The boat is also massive and tall. Waterski Magazine loved the 21i at the time for its versatility in all sports and space. If I was restricted to one boat, I would probably have that. 22i is a bit bigger and more biased towards wakeboarding and surfing. 20i is much more ski oriented, but it's still much taller than any other ski oriented boat, and as a consequence heavier with a harder wake than low profile ski boats.

Since you are looking for a boat to do it all, you will have to compromise. My suggestion would be to lake test the boats you are interested in before buying to see what set of compromises you would be comfortable with. Even if you have to pay the owner $20-40 to take you out, it'll be worth it. You don't want to spend $10-20k on a boat only to realize you're not happy with it.

[paco_06]

Definitely sounds like you need a 205v. Surfable and you can change the rope length till you find the sweety spot for slalom.

[dvsone79]

The delta, or any suck device, will only shape the wave. You need ballast or a downward tab to make it bigger and have more push. But with lighter people it should work for you.

^^^Truth. Don't expect the surf device by itself to make a surf wake. You need lots of weight. For the 205 hull probably 1500 pounds for it to even be respectable. Or 1000 at the very least, IMO. I have the same hull although it is a v drive, and I run 2500 pounds in mine.

Two 750 sacks on either side of the dog house might work. There was a TT member in another thread who was running close to 3k in ballast in his DD and his wake looked really good. He had sacks all over the place though.

[rbuss4]

I own a '99 Prostar 205. It is an awesome all around boat. We regularly surf, board, kite, and slalom behind it. The wake at slalom speeds is nearly perfect. I have only ever skied 1 better-and that was a PS190 of the same era(closed bow, less storage, less people) Our boat hes every bit as good of a surf wave as a 8 year newer Moomba Vdrive that we also surf behind. You will never have the best boat for any one sport, but will have a better than average one for anything you want to do.