Length (w/platform): 20 ft. 10 in.
Beam: 84 in.
Fuel capacity: 24 gal.
Seating capacity: 7
American Skier: This is what we call the ultimate crossover boat. We feel there are plenty of buyers who not only enjoy wakeboarding, but also slalom skiing and perhaps jumping and the more traditional events. We build a boat that will fit into the family budget and be the ‘Swiss army knife’ of boats. For the guy who wants to wakeboard, we offer our ACT (Altitude Control Tower) and ACS (Altitude Control System), but still have incredible wakes when ready for slalom skiing. This hull was our world-class tournament rig in the early ’90s. We don’t intend this to be the ultimate wakeboard boat and we don’t intend it to be the ultimate slalom boat. But, we do feel it’s a better slalom boat than any wakeboard boat and a better wakeboard boat than any slalom boat. It’s a true blend. If you are looking for a boat that will do more than just wakeboarding and will give you a high dollar value or high resale value, this is a great choice.
How would you describe American Skier today?
We fit into a Lamborghini/Ferrari image: we’re handcrafted, small volume. Our materials and construction separate us from everyone else. We look at every boat with a clean sheet attitude. If we are going to put on a tower or a ballast system, we’ll come up with a better way to do it. We listen to our dealers and customers, then meet and hopefully exceed our customer’s needs.
What construction techniques do you use?
Most boats, ours included, have gone to an all-composite construction process. A fundamental difference between all-composite boats is your wood replacement selection. While other builders are content using basic floatation foam as a wood substitute, American Skier elects to use aircraft grade structural foam coring. We use four high-density structural foam core stingers wrapped with glass, and then we have a 5/8-inch thick floor system. Once they are bonded together but still in the mold, we inject flotation foam into the cavities. So, it is structurally sound and solid.
Every component we build is hand-laid, mostly bi-axial and tri-axial cloths. This construction gives us a combination of high strength and less weight, resulting in better performance and durability.
What are some of the best features of the LazAir?
Our tower folds down below the windshield frame and is color coordinated with the boat. We are the only company using a six-point mount, which eliminates the need for specific laminates. Our ballast system keeps us well within safety ranges for the boat yet still gives us good wakes.
We knew the best way to increase the wake height and keep a good, clean shape was to put the ballast behind the stern. So, we designed a molded tank that creates the oversized swim platform and holds 450 pounds. In our testing, that much weight behind the transom was equal to almost 800 pounds placed inside the boat. We were able to achieve better wake enhancement by leveraging the ballast behind the transom.
