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WATERSKI MagazineSlalom skiers looking for performance advantages usually start with a list. While it varies from skier to skier, you can usually find the following at or near the top of it: lack of spray, unwavering tracking, adequate driver comfort, soft slalom wakes, snappy hole-shot and low noise. Every year, we test new ski boats with one or two characteristics that are as good or better than those from the rest of the ski boat field – but rarely do we encounter one that has them all.
The “new” MB Sports BOSS 190, designed by longtime skier and builder Mike Brendel, is one of those boats. Rather than follow standard ski-boat building procedure (see what everyone else is doing and build a variation of it), Brendel isn't swayed by others; he shoots for what skiers want out of a boat. And it starts with “the list.”
Brendel took the skiers' needs to heart in 1997, reshaping the semi-modified vee hull of the 190. The boat came to us with reduced spray, tighter straight-line tracking, more comfort, softer slalom wakes (all the way down to 39-1/2 off), quicker acceleration, and less noise and vibration than the previous version. In the process, MB designed a ski boat that truly gives the skier an edge in nearly every significant category.
And he didn't stop there. Like we said, Brendel doesn't always follow. He leads. The massive rear trunk he instituted in 1996 is back, and it alone holds as much gear as the typical closed-bow inboard does from bow to stern. We liked the 190's new, cleaner dash layout, which incorporates a clustered gauge that shows oil pressure, water temperature, volt meter and fuel level, as well as a tach that's placed right within the driver's line of vision. The 190 also sports not one, but two 12-volt receptacles under the dash; cell phones and video cameras are welcome.
Even with all the extras, this is still a slalom skier's boat, no question. It is AWSA-approved for tournament use, and dialed in for just this purpose. Longline or beginning skiers benefit, as the 190 tosses soft, lip-less wakes at slow speeds and a full 75 feet of line. Once the speed is upped and the line taken in, the wakes flatten out, but retain their softness, making for effortless crosses except at 22 off, where a rooster tail kicks the ski. Beyond 28 off, only a slight trough is apparent. Aside from the hull modification that produced the good slalom wakes, Brendel included O.J.'s new 4Force four-blade prop as a standard item this year (again, the first to do it), for super hole-shot. Both moves prove to be just what the skier ordered. – Rob May
