Boats

MasterCraft Boats MariStar SS200 2008

By Wakeboarding Magazine

Updated: January 1, 2008

Wakeboard Boat Review

The MasterCraft MariStar SS200 is the luxury version of the MasterCraft X-2 upgraded to the Saltwater Series package. It has a distinctly wakeboarding style, with the pickle-fork bow and optional ZeroFlex tower, all in a 20-foot package. This boat had everything a rider needs — wide bow, rampy wakes, wakeboarding amenities, premium construction — in a size you can trailer and store in the garage with no problem. That’s why it’s a best-seller.

Hull: With a two-pronged, pickle-fork hull it’s easy to draw comparisons to a boat like the MasterCraft X-Star. But structurally, it has more in common with some of the larger wakeboard boats that MasterCraft makes. The bow tapers to a single keel. Steps in the running surface set the V-shaped transom deeper into the water at wakeboarding speeds. The rider pulled the wakeboard boat around a bit, but we easily corrected with minor steering adjustments.

Ballast: The optional 550-pound system includes a rear tank at 250 pounds and two bags at 150 pounds each. That’s enough weight to get started, for sure, but the advanced riders on our test team are usually pretty ballast hungry, especially when looking at that load capacity of 1,609 pounds and imagining the possibilities.

Tower: The ZeroFlex tower is simply a must-have option for a buyer with wake on the brain. It’s all business in the front, with the traditional tubing, then party in the back, thanks to the lightning boltish rear supports. The pivoting wakeboard board racks that are integrated so perfectly into the tower’s design are a nice addition as well.

Highlight feature: Construction. From the hull molds to the gelcoat to the hardware to the upholstery, MasterCraft puts so much energy and money into making its wakeboard boats able to stand up to use for years and years, and the MariStar SS200 is certainly no exception.

The wake: At 65 feet and 22 mph, we found the wakes to be nice and rampy with good wake-to-wake pop. When we went to 70 feet, the wakes got a little smaller with the factory ballast and more abrupt. More weight would amp up these crisp, clean wakes.