[CarreraDan]

Come on guys, inboards are fun once you get past the driving learning curve. Nautique went to a 100% composite boat in 1993 or 1994. We have a 1980 Ski Nautique and a 2007 230 Super Air Nautique--bought to surf with and hold many more people. My father in law is the original owner of the 1980 but it needs stringers replaced, unfortunately the motor and interior are in perfect shape. Most if not all older boats with wood will have rot issues. If your heart is set on a tournament boat I would stick with Nautique or Mastercraft. You see many 20-30 year old boats from them for a reason, they are built better. I enjoyed my Sea Ray bowrider for 15 years and never had a problem with it, it was garage kept and well loved.

A V-drive will give you a lot more room in the boat, I don't know if one is in your budget. You can learn the inboard driving quirks in a few afternoons at the dock when it isn't crowded. Our Nautique's only reverse to the driver's side due to the prop rotation, and once you let off the throttle you have no steering around the dock. You learn to plan your moves and can always use reverse to change course--to the driver's side.

One last point about the older tournament boats is they have very shallow freeboard and I never liked being around the surf boats with our 1980, we were almost swamped on more than one occasion. Our 230 doesn't have that problem as it is huge in comparison, however a G23 or G25 dwarfs our 230.