WaterSki Magazine

WATERSKI Magazine
2001-06-14 15:00:00 | 889 views |
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Tournament skiing with no compromises.

WSM: What is this boat about?
Centurion: This is a competition tournament water-ski boat. It is a
direct evolution from our Falcon, which towed the USA Water Ski
Nationals and US Open its first year out of the box in the 1980s.
Over the years, it has evolved to this state of a competition
tournament construction. It basically has no wake and no spray. In
its oldest form it had the first evolution of the S-rail spray
pocket. Every tournament boat you see that has two chines came from
this design. The first chine breaks the water up and the second
feathers it and knocks it down.

The idea with this boat was to build a slalom boat that could still
suit the family. Being a direct-drive, it handles like a sports car
and has as much storage space as you could squeeze into a boat like
this. It has the dropped floor, which gives the boat more space.
This was our first ICS boat, so it has the Integrated Composite
System, which creates a one-piece structure of the all-fiberglass
stingers, inner hull and outer hull.

Why is this such a great ski boat?
It has no wake. It has a flat bottom with a steep initial entry in
the front. The extra-wide body design that we originally came out
with works. The additional width took it the next step, and it has
a great slalom wake. Any time you make the boat wider, you spread
all the forces over the top of the water. It doesn't plow through
the water like a narrower boat. The S-rails along the side
eliminate the spray.

How is this boat in rougher water?
It's not a great rough-water boat. It's a no-compromise slalom boat
made for tournament skiing.

What features do you feel make the boat special?
Of course the wake is special, but the step-up into the open bow is
unique. It is deep enough to make getting to the bow more
convenient, but you get a huge strength advantage and extra seating
by having it higher like that. From a structural standpoint it ties
the whole boat so when you are in chop the boat isn't flopping
around. The ICS construction is also a big deal. We design all
these compartments into the construction for structure. It also
allows us to give the boat more depth because we don't have a
plywood floor over wood stringers. We are able to tool all the way
down to the bottom of the boat.

Super Specs
Length: 20 ft. 9 in.
Beam: 93 in.
Fuel capacity: 38 gal.
Seating capacity: 9
Test prop: 13 x 13 OJ 4-blade
Test engine: MerCruiser 350 hp MPI Mag
Base price: See Local Dealer

On the Water
Performance
Top speed 43.3 mph, 4,800
rpm
Accel. to 36 7.29
Accel. 30 to 36 3.07
Noise levels (db)
Idle 60 D, 60 R
36 mph 83 D, 89 R

Comments
The Eclipse is a winner among low- and high-end skiers alike. Its
soft and non-threatening wakes into shortline slalom will make your
job a lot easier in the course. Skiers will have a different
perspective of the slalom course at their toughest passes because
there?s virtually no spray. Wakes are consistently small and soft
from 15 through 35 off.
Tracking 1.5
Spray 1

Chill Factor:
This boat has noticeably more room than other slalom designs. It is
a deep boat mid-ship, and the height of the transom allows easy
access from the swim platform to the cockpit area. From the
driver?s perspective, the dash is clean in appearance and the
driver?s seat is very comfortable. Throttle position is perfect and
it?s easy to hold speed. The raised walk-through is nice because it
puts the cooler within easy reach.

Scale: 1 World class, 2 Tournament quality, 3 Suitable for
experts, 4 Suitable for advanced recreational use, 5 Suitable for
recreational use.

Summary:
The Eclipse proves once and for all that world-class slalom boats
don?t have to be narrow, two-passenger designs. This boat has a big
room on the inside and small wakes on the outside. Throughout the
boat comfort and design elements rank high. The snap-out carpet is
a great feature and everything in the boat from the seats to the
speaker locations is tooled in, giving the interior a clean,
flowing feel. From a performance standpoint the Eclipse shines.
While slalom skiers don't throw compliments around too lightly,
with the Eclipse they couldn't help themselves. The boat has no
spray, creating a philosophical issue. If a boat goes through the
course and leaves no wake or spray, did it really go through at
all? Well, as you round the last buoy for your toughest pass you'll
know the Eclipse, indeed, was there.

Contact Information
Centurion
Fineline Industries
455 Grogan Ave.
Merced, CA 95340-6401
Phone: 209-384-0255
Fax: 209-384-0267
Web:www.skicenturion.com