Something's changed. You can feel it. Ever since the New Year, you've
shifted slightly from your normal routine. You're experimenting with the menus at restaurants,
watching new programs on television, buying CDs that don't fit what people may think is your taste
in music.
Is something wrong? No, you're just looking at things in a different light. With your
transportation, why not upgrade to something more fun and stylish? Why not put a little pop into
your entertainment system at home? You don't want to rock the boat in your family life and
activities, just give it a nice sway from the norm.
And that's where Session comes in. The Orlando-based company, a watersports boatbuilder with
manufacturing ties to Regal, has a solution for those who want to make a switch from the runabout
ways into more of a watersports platform. In fact, it has more than one way. Walking toward a
neighborhood Orlando dock, you survey two similar-looking wakeboarding boats tied up, with two
unique ways to experience watersports.
To the left, the yellow Session Xi, a pure wakeboarding launch pad, decked out with a
monstrous sound system that is even fitted for a television and video-game player.
But your eyes shift to the red Session Si. It's sporty, with an edged-styled deck and catchy
graphics on the side. Yet it also feels like less of a shift from the bowriders and runabouts you
and your family are used to.
Your first step onboard confirms your suspicions. This isn't just a wakeboard boat designed
for the serious watersports athletes and the truckloads of CDs and gear they bring aboard. The Si
can handle practical families too. It's easy to filter in the kids with the walk-thru area, and the
diamond no-skid surface means nobody is slipping and sliding into their seats.
The kids can take their pick from their favorite recreational activities at the dock. The
aft lounge flips out for an oversized sundeck to catch some rays, and the swim platform is designed
for easy gearing up for watersports activities, or for simply taking a nice dip in the water before
heading out.
You'll get behind the wheel in a second, but first you want to experience the Si from your
crew's perspective. You can immediately see and feel that the seating arrangements aren't cramped.
There's 30 inches of freeboard from the floor to gunwale and 14 inches of backrest on the seats, so
everyone is safe and secure onboard, even when you're goosing the throttle.
The Si is equipped to handle 10 people, but a half-staffed crew gets their choice of some
plush seating accommodations. The open bow doesn't end in a cramped V-design. Instead, there are
three lounge seats, one facing aft, and an optional bow-filler cushion, so two guests can snuggle
up and watch the wakeboarding action.
Dotted up and down the deck are 16 oversized cupholders, not the slim water-bottle kind, and
most rest in snug positions you won't have to guard for spillage from the wind and jolts when
you're cruising. For idling moments around your favorite cove, you have the aid of an insulated
cooler and can disperse the snacks on a cockpit table that sets up shop in the traditional cockpit
setting or the bow.
When you think wakeboarding boat, you think wakes. Then you think music, because every one
that you've crossed paths with had the kinds of stereo systems that'd make any pop artist drool.
The Si, while not as hefty on its sound system as the Xi, has a nonetheless impressive array of six
speakers and an amp to voice the Clarion radio and CD player. The speakers aren't just for show,
either. They're not placed on the floor of the deck to vibrate off the fiberglass. They're closer
to the ear, about waist-high in caddies with cupholders built into the lounges, for better
listening for everyone.
Looking at the storage space onboard, you won't have to be shy with the provisions. Storage
under the U-shaped seat can extend to the bow, spacious enough for two or three wakeboards. There's
side-panel storage and spots underneath the glove box and console for your belongings.
Confident the Si can handle your crew, you decide it's time to check out the captain's digs.
In the helm, the padded elbow rest for the throttle is a nice touch for added comfort. A good
afternoon on the water won't make your right arm feel like it's gotten a strenuous workout.
However, your eyes might get a workout if you slouch too much in the seat. The windshield
isn't particularly friendly to couch potatoes with bad posture, obscuring your view as you cast
off, so you adjust your seating arrangement by slightly sitting up a little straighter.
Now away from the dock, you anxiously idle to open water. So far, the Si looks like a
wakeboard boat. Seats like a wakeboard boat. Has deck features like a wakeboard boat. But does it
perform like a wakeboard boat?
The answer comes quickly when you test out the optional 330-hp, 6.2L MerCruiser engine. It
breaks the 0-30 mph barrier in about 9 seconds and tops out at 44 mph in rainy and somewhat choppy
conditions on the lake. The noise is about what you'd expect. It hums at about 70 decibels at idle
and finds its voice at 95 decibels at full throttle. The pace feels just about right at 32 mph, and
it's a solid ride too. When the waves kick up a bit, you confidently slice right through them.
Session took the sturdy design accustomed to Regal boats and melded it into its wakeboard line, so
you won't feel the repercussions when you meet a meaner-than-normal wake out there.
Once you've gotten a feel for the ride, you hand the reigns over to a crewmate and sit back
on the port seat to watch the crisp, clean wakes roll behind the boat. For those a little more
serious about wakeboarding, there's an optional Pachyderm ballast system ($2,400) with three tanks
that can fill in less than three minutes for 620 pounds of weighty wake action.
Heading back to the dock, you realize this might be the kind of change you wanted in your
family activities. You can dip into the watersports world without having to dive head-first, and
although you're thinking about trading in your runabout for this wakeboarding boat, it won't be a
drastic change in creature comforts.' Sometimes, change is a good thing.