Who will mastercraft drop next?
 

Down to three riders, who will be next?

http://www.mastercraft.com/team/wake

Rusty or steel?

I think its safe to say harley won't be dropped for a while. Rusty doesn't seem to be competing to much but he does have a long history with mastercraft, kind of like parks. Steel has his youtube thing going on.

My vote is rusty.

Good job on supra for picking up Shota and keeping sponsorship's and comps going. (Same with Nautique)

Who did they drop? I saw Tony is on Nautique now, but I figured they just made him a better deal.

Rusty is recovering from a broken leg, so that's why he's not been competing.

I agree it seems like their marketing plan includes less competitive riding.

You think social media and exposure is taking over rather then contests and sponsored riders?

I think MC has a different plan. First they killed off women's riding, then dropped the tour all together, and now they have a very lean pro team. I think their focus is families with money. The pro scene probably isn't a good investment for that market.

Yeah nautique kinda stole the show as far as competitive wakeboarding boat manufacturers go. Supra has really stepped up into the lime light as well. Mastercraft still makes damn good wake boats though. Hopefully they keep all those guys though. Honestly Rusty is their best asset IMHO. He's been killing it for a long time and doesn't seem to be slowing down. He works hard. The real question is when is this new xstar coming out and what kinda wake is it going to kick?

You bring up a good point. With their focus moving away from competitive riding, why even make the X-star? Does anyone know what their top selling boats are and if the Xstar is even in the top 3? The only X-star I've ever seen on the water was Josh Twelkers prior to Nautique replacing that boat.

I never even thought about how I've never seen a newer X-star out on the water. I've only seen them at the boat shows.

#****wealthinequality

Shota used to be on MC and recently i just saw him on the supra team..

My bad i forgot about rusty's leg.

Also MC has been sponsoring RealWake so ill give them that but I am a little shocked on how small the team is getting.

In Washington we have a lot of wealth on lakes from Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and other random things. I can say from what I can tell no core wakeboarder nor surfer is buying Mastercraft in the NW. The people you see with Mastercrafts are unknowledgeable as far a boating goes. They see it because they live on a lake and it looks fun. They don't know any better but that Mastercraft is expensive so it must be good. On the other side of the spectrum you have the "Party Bro" with where ever they got their money. The only people that actually ride Mastercraft have a affiliation some how or have older boats such as second generation Xstar that they got second hand or bought before boats were crazy expensive.

This leads me to suspect that MC is fine just selling a product to wealthy families.

Wasn't Bob Soven with Nautiques? Just saw a pic of him in an MC on instagram.

I saw that too.

Believe Bob is on with Mastercraft now, which IMO, is a great pickup for the direction they've been trending... The lifestyle! Bob is a great personality and can also throwdown behind the boat too.

Rode with Bob on the LF tour last Friday. You are correct, he's with MC now.

So MC picks up bob and rathy!

Harley
Rusty
Steel
Bob
Rathy
Parks

Looks like they have a pretty good crew now! lol

This looks like a winning team to me.
_____________________________
Towing Alexandria VA

At least on my lake....

I have to agree that the hardcore riders don't tend to be in Mastercrafts. You see a lot of families who will mostly tube and maybe breakout the wakesurf board or try there hand at teaching the kids wakeboarding.

You also see the "party" boats at the big sandbar are almost always mastercrafts. Presumably because they looked cool to the buyer and they love the tower and loud speakers.

The core riders are in Nautiques and Malibus.

I guess I'm not hardcore. Oh well, I'm over it.

You just have to appreciate the WakeWorld post.

if you own a MC then you aren't a core rider any more....... I would ask the question, how many core riders are really out there?

I have 200 hours behind my MC all pilled up by wakeboarding and surfing, NO TUBING.

I think MC, Bu, and CC all command a superior price. The G and M235 are all more expensive that most MCs. My X23 loaded out was15K less than a G, and it was between these two boats. The M235 is $175k and the prices on the new MXZs are super high from the boat shows I went to. All these companies are asking a superior price, yet how is MC only appealing to the wealthy?

I think that some people see more boats than others based on dealer networks. MC is one of the few dealers in Louisiana so we see a lot more here. Gs are rare. I had multiple Bus but the dealer left and thank god they did because they were terrible.

MC seems to have gone away from the tours because they have changed over time and the crowds just aren't there, which in turns is profit loss. The majority of the crowds, "Core Riders" aren't likely buying a brand new MC, CC or Bu because they are younger and don't have the funds unless, they have nice parents. Families with money are what all three of these companies are trying to appeal to yet they are all offering a lesser model boat for others to purchase i.e. Axis, NXT, and GS.

The whole wake scene has changed and MC recognized that and Supra, wanting to change the perception and image of their brand, saw the opportunity to do so, kudos to them.

on a side note, from what I have been told and read, a new Xstar is launching soon.

I love how many hardcore riders are on this message board.

they will drop all of them because all manufacturers care about is surfing. So drop them all. Surfing is tubing of the new generation. At least you can actually get hurt tubing.

Some people can't afford to get hurt bud ^ I'm not wealthy just a normal dude if I don't go to work I don't get paid.... there is nothing wrong with surfing if I had daddy's money I'd still be doingT2B's

i think the majority of people buying brand new high end wakeboats are just dudes with money who see a sweet boat in a show room and buy it cause they want a boat and have the disposable income. They aren't buying it becasue harley clifford can do doubles..they've never heard of harley, or rusty, or anyone. They dont give a ****. they just want the shiny new toy and can afford it. thats why boat companies will keep dropping riders. riders dont sell boats like pro skateboarders sell decks. The majority of actual wakeboarders like you and me buy what we can afford, which is usually a few years old but will get the job done. we might take into account what pros ride what boats, but not really because we're just going to buy whats available for the best price when it comes down to it. The exception to this is really rich kids who want to ride harleys boat and their parents buy it for them. Also, agree about wakesurfing selling all the boats now...also...wakesurfing is sooooo gay

x2

I love how this concept is lost on so many of the "I hate wakesurfing we should only allow wakeboarding" crowd.

I know there are a few exceptions from old hats who can still ride but I'd love to compare how many dudes on this forum who just **** on wakesurfing have either/both:

1. A job that requires them to be physically capable to perform (IE not sit in front of a desk 8 hrs a day with their torn ACL elevated)

2. A family who's quality of life depends on #1

I fly for a living. I had to make a hard decision 7 yrs ago after I hurt myself yet again (this time compressed/twisted lower vertebrae) boarding in the terrain park to stop running laps thru the park even though I loved it because I knew eventually it would catch up and ruin my ability to do the job I love....wakeboarding falls into that same category for me but I love any/all board sports so I admit what sold me on my boat was the surfing wave first because it got a board under my feet during the summer....

Isn't Josh Palma on MC too... Or is he just supported

What happened to Zane Scwenk?

Both Zane and Palma are regional reps for MC, in that they tour to boat shows and promotions as well as have input on boat design. If you follow Palma's instagram, he's been heavy on the teasers for the new X-Star as of late. I've spoken with Zane a couple times when he's visited for boat shows in AL (great guy, BTW). The grind and demand of being a sponsored wakeboarder is not easy for a family man, especially one who's been around since the beginning, and that played a big role in him pivoting to the sales side.

In regards to the previous comments regarding X-Star's being out on the water as of late, the 2nd Gen X-Star (2012-2017, I think) was an absolute disaster. None of the sponsored riders wanted to ride behind it because it could never produce what made it famous in the first place, a top of the line wake. I had heard horror stories of it washing out or never being consistent (never saw for myself, but have had my ear to the ground in the industry for some time). And as a result, marketing was not very strong for the boat and in-turn resulted in a drastic drop in sales.

The newest one looks to be totally legit, if it lives up to the hype. I've been reading reviews from those that have test drove them, and have been hearing nothing but positive feedback. I have no doubt they'll sell better than their most recent predecessor, but how successfully is anyone's guess with an MSRP (I've heard) 150K+ :eek: