From the classifieds: 3 near-new big inboard-engined ski boats

Generally speaking, you’ll find the best price for a used boat once the weather starts to turn. Things slow down in new-boat showrooms, which in turn puts pressure on used boat prices as competition to attract buyers becomes more fierce.

If you’re into ski boats, it’s coming up to the perfect time of year to pounce on a relative bargain.

We’ve trawled the boatsales used listings to come up with what we think is the pick of the maxi ski and wake boats that you can hook up to the Chevrolet Silverado and pull around.

Someone’s decision to cut away from this boat gives you the chance to add one of Nautique’s range-topping boats to your driveway.

The emphasis on this deep-hulled model was comfort, with the 7.6-metre Nautique Super Air G25 having to cater for a big crowd – it is rated to carry up to 19 people onboard, which would make life onboard very crowded.

The PCM engine powering this one-owner boat is designed to be robust, featuring a closed cooling system that ensures if you dip this boat into saltwater, the block is fully protected from it.

And when we say block, we mean a big one. The boat featured here is fitted with a 550hp 6.2-litre supercharged XS7, the highest-performance Nautique engine available at the time, with less than 100 hours of running time.

The boat was not renowned for its ability to create the best surfing wake – for that, look at the Nautique Super Air 23 – but it can add almost 1300kg of ballast to give it a try.

Out of the water, it’s a heavy boat, tipping the scales at around 2900kg dry, so before fuel, iceboxes full of drinks, skis and snacks are loaded.

This is a boat made to make the most of the water. Key to that is the built-in heater with defroster and the heated driver’s and love seat, making clear late-autumn days a definite option to hit the water.

The boat gets the Nautique surf system with Surf Pipe to shape wakes, a tower with twin speakers to complement the six-speaker JL Audio system, a Z5 bimini, bow ladder for beaching, and even a rear-facing camera to help whoever is at the helm keep an eye on the skier behind.

This G25 package, priced at $230,000, sits on a tri-axle trailer with 18.0-inch alloy wheels, including a spare sitting on a back-up hub.

This is MasterCraft’s flagship model. It’s also the year that the pickle fork-bowed X26 received a big makeover to make it one of the world’s best tow boats.

MasterCraft’s thinking for the X26 was to create a boat that blurred the line between a cruiser – something you can spend a lazy day on – and a serious tow sports and wake boat.

At the time, MasterCraft claimed the X26 was capable of generating the biggest wake in the business.

Measuring 7.9 metres front to back, and 2.59 metres wide, it’s a heavy boat, tipping the scales at 3039kg dry – and part of the reason for that heft is what powers this boat.

It’s a 430hp Ilmor 6.2-litre GDI V8, the default engine available with this package. This one has a low 168 hours on the engine hour meter, and is still under warranty.

The X26 came standard with a gas shock-assisted ZFT2 folding tower and bimini. This boat includes an upgrade to the optional ZFT7 power-operated tower with surf sleeves and board racks, as well as speakers.

The boat also includes a wetbar and an enclosed head under the console, fridge, an upgraded audio system and the dual-screen dash package. It’s a party boat, rated to seat up to 18 people.

This MasterCraft X26 is priced from $285,300, sitting on a tri-axle gal trailer painted to match the black-and-blue two-tone hull.

If you want to upgrade your ski and wake game to pro level, not much will go past the Supra SE 550.

Featuring a pickle fork bow that allows the boat to carry more beam forward, it seats up to 18 people in comfort. There are some nice comfort touches including heated seats, a powered driver’s sweat, a premium JL Audio system with co-pilot controls, a power-folding tower and premium seating designed to be cooler to the touch even in direct sunlight.

This boat measures 8.1 metres overall, with a waterline of 7.5 metres. It’s a heavy boat, tipping the scales at 2950kg dry.

Again, that weight is because of what powers this boat. The default engine is a 410hp 6.2-litre Raptor 450 by Inmar naturally aspirated V8. But this version of the Supra SE 550 uses a Rousch-supercharged version of the engine called the 575 that produces 510hp, but torque over a much wider rev range than the free-breathing version, and with only 69 hours on it.

The Supra boats use a system called Autowake that automatically shifts up to 1600kg of ballast and shapes the wake or wave behind the boat.

This Supra is priced from $319,000, with images showing it sitting on a three-axle trailer painted to match the hull.