Even if you"re a complete novice when it comes to boats or skiing or both, one look at the all-new-for-2002 Ski Nautique would make it perfectly clear that this isn"t one of those "all things to all people"-type boats. This is a serious boat, designed to do one thing " pull skiers " seriously well, and if that one thing isn"t exactly what you have in mind, you"re the one that"s missing out. Kind of harsh if you think about it " a boat so cool it can make you lose face just for wanting to go out for a lazy day on the lake. Quite frankly, the Nautique doesn"t do "lazy."

What the 2002 Ski Nautique does is pull skiers, maybe better than any boat ever has. Certainly better than any Nautique ever has, even better than the boats that received Correct Craft"s last great leap forward, the TSC (Total Surface Control) hull. The improvements begin at the bottom with the all-new TSC2 hull that utilizes, in Correct Craft"s words, "Eleven sequential changes that all work in harmony to produce the flattest, smoothest wake possible."

The trick, though, isn"t just producing a great wake, but producing a great wake without sacrificing slot-car-like handling or delivering a ride that will rattle your kidneys loose in even barely rough water. To its credit, the 2002 Ski Nautique does all that.

During a test on a day windy enough to see whitecapped chop on the unprotected sections of the lake, the Ski Nautique motors directly into the chop at 30 mph so smoothly that you think of the old "Saturday Night Live" commercial parody where a car rides so smoothly that a rabbi is able to perform a certain delicate operation on an infant in the backseat. Lacking sharp objects and willing participants, this particular test has to be (thankfully) skipped, but the fact that this skit comes to mind at all is evidence enough of how smooth the Nautique"s ride is, even when you"re dealing with less-than-ideal conditions.

In ideal conditions, the Nautique throws an absolutely perfect wake both at recreational ski speeds of 30 to 35 mph, and also at tournament speed (36 mph). The rooster tail has been all but eliminated, unless you"re skiing at 65-off or so, and the wake is pretty much gone as well. So far gone, in fact, that some recreational skiers may find themselves carrying way too much speed into the buoys because the wake hasn"t served its traditional function as a speed bump. Higher-level skiers may have to make even more adjustments in their passes, since they"re more susceptible to even miniscule differences in wake height and shape. However, it"s the kind of adjustment you should be glad to make.

It"s hard to give up the spot at the end of the rope, but taking a seat in the new Nautique isn"t so bad. The double-wide observer seat is comfortable, if cozy, for two, and has enough of a turn built in so that you can turn and talk comfortably with the driver. The rear bench is deep enough to give even a big guy some thigh support (something sorely lacking in many ski boats with ultra-narrow rear seats) and has a nice, high back so you feel like you"re sitting in the boat, not up on the sunpad. The cockpit"s molded-in entry steps have been eliminated, so there"s more walking-around room " this is a good thing " and the engine box hinges are hidden, so you don"t risk a painful toe-stubbing when you"re doing all that walking around.

Storage is usually in short supply on ski boats, but there"s pretty good capacity on the Nautique. The observer seat is a gull wing, so it lifts up to provide a huge access to the fully-carpeted bow storage area, where there"s room for quite a lot of gear. At the transom, the two-part sunpad lifts at the flick of a switch to give access to a carpeted trunk that can accommodate 60-inch skis, a wakeboard with bindings or even ballast bags if you have the wakeboarding jones.

The best seat, naturally, is the one reserved for the driver. The snug-fitting bucket is nice, but getting in and out of it is a little more difficult than it has to be because the observer seat and driver seat are only a couple of inches apart. So, you have to be somewhat snakelike in order to slide in behind the wheel, even with the driver"s seat pushed as far back as possible. Once you"re in that seat, though, you don"t really want to get up. The Nautique helm is almost perfect ergonomically, with everything exactly where it should be " right at your fingertips or visible without having to look away from where you"re going. There"s even a nice little recess in the armrest so your throttle arm is a little more comfy.

Put that right arm to work and push the throttle forward, and you"re rewarded with a roar from the optional 310-hp, 5.8L PCM GT-40 engine. (Rumor has it, though, that the GT-40 will be replaced by the all-new, supercharged PCM Lightning engine in 2003. Stay tuned.) The GT-40 accelerates the BW test boat from 0 to 30 mph in an eye-popping 3.7 seconds, and from 0 to 36 in 4.7 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 43.9 mph in smooth water. Added sound-dampening material in the engine box helps keep interior noise levels lo only 91 decibels at the helm at full throttle.

It"s a clich", but there"s no getting around the fact that at speed (and even at slower speeds), the Nautique handles like a slot-car. The hull responds to even the slightest twitch of the steering wheel, will rip off a full-speed wheel-lock turn without breaking loose, and will still hold a dead-straight line if that"s what you want. Combined with the optional Perfect Pass speed control (which should be standard, by the way), the Ski Nautique"s handling is so spot-on that even novice drivers will be able to provide near-tournament- quality pulls.

As the latest in a line that stretches back more than 40 years, the 2002 Ski Nautique has a serious legacy to uphold. And uphold it does. In fact, it does so in the best way possible " by being so good that every Nautique that came before it is going to suffer in comparison. Now that"s cool.