last year of american skier production?

[phil]

What was the last year that American Skier Boats where made?

[Messer]

I am curios as to how many were made in 1984 (since I have one) and of those how many were the Skier? I understand the luxury model had a back seat... I'm no luxury owner, just a seat and handle that will snatch a whale out of the water!

[RonT]

Interesting question to answer, so I will spell out the details & you can form an opinion. Until the summer of 2001  various owners myself included produced the American Skier line of boats, then being produced in Kentwood La.  In the summer of 2001 (beginning of model year 2002) Jay Blossman and Ben Favret purchased the business. Jay was a local A/S dealer and politician, Ben was a Drug Sales Rep. for Elan Drugs and a very good Slalom Skier. I agreed to manage the business for them for (1) year. Within the first 30 days of their ownership they changed the name to Elan Boats continuing to use my old molds. This was a decision I strongly opposed  because there was no marketing budget to support a name change, there was a pre-existing boat company in Europe with the same name, and our dealers opposed the change. This was also the beginning of the end. 2002 models were renamed Elan Boats however built under my supervision and from my molds. During the 2002 model year I was under strong pressures to reduce manufacturing costs to offset the declining sales because the dealer network was refusing to buy into the Elan program. At the end of my (1) year agreement (summer of 2002) I parted ways with Elan Boats. Elan Boats continued to spiral downward after this, by the summer of 2004 the Kentwood plant was abandoned, only a few tired molds had been removed along with current parts inventory. A few boats were produced by Elan from a storage building 50 miles away and by 2006 everything appeared dead.

So hear is my opinion to your question:
2001 models were the last of the "Pure American Skiers"
2002 models were American Skiers with the Elan name on them
2003+ models were Elan Boats built from American Skier molds but not A/S materials or parts formula
2005 is the last known Elan model that has surfaced to date
   

[Messer]

So who actually owns the name/brand "American Skier"?  Are the older molds still around? if so, how could one go about ordering, building or makings a early 90"s American Skier?   I love the older boats more than the new stuff. 

[RonT]

I get this question at least once a year it seems, and I always end up spelling out all the issues and the inquirer loses interest.
A) The registered Trademark name American SKier Boats was last under my ownership & transfered in the bill of sale to me from WESMAR Marine Holdings (owners 1990-95) . I offered it to Elan and they did not want it, a couple years, after I choose not to renew it and last I looked it was available. The original web site domain was abandoned by Elan by choice and was also allowed to enter the "free world" and was since taken by some snow ski company.
B) I have lost track of the most recent versions of the TBX, Volante, and Lazer molds, the Legend, Eagle, an old Advance mold and various small part molds were last seen abandoned at the Kentwood plant (2008) outside and badly weathered. All of the molds with few exceptions were getting pretty tired in 2002 and were in need of replacement. Most of these were molds I built in the 80's.
C) If a perfect mold set existed for an Advance lets say (hull, deck, floor, motor box, pass. seat, center floors etc.) the cost to build 1,2,or 3 for your friends would probably exceed the price of a similar size new Malibu, Nautique etc. bought from a dealer. If a small production run was the thought, then you have to add the cost of new EPA MACT compliance (ever wonder why so many ski boat builders are in new plants?) and consider the market for a smaller, basic ski boat. Nobody has had success in this field, my Lazer (Advance) was a tough sell compared to the Volante.
Conclusion: Restore, Rebuild, Update and Maintain vs. spending hundreds of thousands of $$$$$$$$

[phil]

Ron you re-gelcoat boats right? how much can one expect to pay for a new gelcoat on one of these older American Skiers? Can you still do the same exact colors? One day, I would love to get my boat redone to look brand new.

[RonT]

Yes I do gelcoat work, but you won't like my answer. It is not cost effective to re-gelcoat a ski boat, above the water-line repaint with a good urethane or polyurethane auto quality paint (Duponts Imron is a common quality paint that is used) Below the water-line is a different story, here auto paints don't do very well and gelcoat that really needs to be replaced can be but it is expensive. The last one I did the whole boat was turned over & took a couple weeks to do. As for color matching of gelcoat, again you may not like this answer either. Gelcoats are poor performers when it comes to UV fading and boats are used in the sun, and most gelcoats are hand blended at the gelcoat factory. So, since they are hand mixed (with one known exception) each drum is a little different in tint from one to another (auto paints & house paints have been computer measured for years) so a match from day one is difficult if using gelcoat from another drum. Then add the time exposed to the sunlight & the color is changing more and more. Virtually every gelcoat repair I do is custom tinted to acheive a blendable  match.

[phil]

hmm, i don't think i could ever have paint on my boat. i think i still have wet sanding potential.

[Greg]

I have an 84 American Skier Luxury.  It was a demo boat in Florida.  would love to learn more about the production of these boats in the 80's

[Messer]

Greg have you downloaded a picure yet? I have an 84 Skier (non Luxury) and would love to see the difference.

[Greg]

I've Posted Some pictures in the gallery and there are some taken from facebook.  Its the Baby Blue striped boat.

[Messer]

Got em, nice!  I've got to get a rear seat built. My girls love to boat and don't want to trade up, so I've got to build a template get an upholsterer to put me something together.

? Has yours been updated with new upholstery? If so, was it expensive? I'm inclined to find an exact match to factory original but I've got a sneaky suspicion there is not exact match.

I didn't know these came in baby blue. I thought they were either dark blue or burgandy.

[Greg]

The Interior was redone about 10 years ago by a company in NH called Superior Interiors.  I doubt it is an exact match to the original but it is very close.  I would be glad to get some measurements for you.  Right now its in storage but it will hopefully be out by April.  I've considered replacing some of the foam.  The seat is really simple but it works well and seats six adults comfortable in the boat.   

[RonT]

FYI that color was called "Sky Blue"

[Ozzgood]

I think I have one or the last boat that came out of the KENTWOOD plant..I can tell you that Ron is correct they were going down pretty fast.I was a poor dude competing in wakeboarding and got a good deal on the boat.. its been a great boat and we have put 600 plus hours since day one it has only sat for two weeks( due to the honeymoon )since we've bought it.     I have been involved in watersports and watching boat building and restoration for most of my life, the builder Marty T. knew his stuff and was great to work with but he was put in a bad place working for the crippled company..