It's tough filling a legend's shoes. Just ask Babe Dahlgren. He took over as the Yankees' first baseman when Lou Gehrig retired in 1939 after 2,130 consecutive games. MasterCraft's ProStar 205 may not have been the Iron Man of ski boats, but it was always one of the company's top sellers and it had been around, it seemed, as long as MasterCraft had been building boats. So there wasn't exactly an outpouring of elation heard 'round the skiing world when it was announced that the 205 would be replaced by the all-new ProStar 209.

If asked, most people probably would've been at a loss to explain exactly why the 205 needed replacing, but that's probably why most people aren't in charge of boat companies. As it turned out, MasterCraft had been doing some serious research and had discovered that we boat buyers were starting to cast hungry eyes on boats that were a little bigger, a little roomier, a little smoother on the water than the 205. So the MasterCraft brain trust set about giving the people what they want, even if the people didn't quite realize what it was they wanted just yet.

The 209 is 20 feet 9 inches long and has a full 8-foot beam, so although it's not much bigger than the 205, it definitely seems larger on the inside. The bow seating area is pretty standard, but the walk-through leading from the bow to the cockpit is wide enough for even the heftiest passenger to get through easily, without having to turn sideways. The same goes for the entire cockpit area, with lots of room around the engine box so you can get from one seat to another without climbing all over each other in the process.

The double-wide observer's seat, with huge storage hidden behind it, is a nice touch, but even nicer is the optional flip-out bonus seat, a two-piece add-on that sits in the walk-through and makes the observer seat big enough for threesomes. The drawback of installing the flip-out seat is that it effectively eliminates the in-floor ski locker in the walk-through, and if anyone's sitting in that seat, they have to keep lifting their feet to give access to the self-draining, in-floor ice chest between the engine box and the ski locker.

The rear seat is big, too ' big enough for four if you don't mind being all snuggly with each other. It also does double duty as a sunpad enhancer. The seat bottom lifts and fits atop a pair of supports to basically double the size of the rear sunpad. While elevated, the seat bottom is somewhat secured by a pair of bungee-type rubber cords. Will this hold the seat bottom in place while the boat's underway? It might, but there's absolutely no reason to test that hypothesis, since no one should ever be on the sunpad while the boat's going any faster than idle, a speed at which the cords are more than sufficient to keep the seat bottom in place. When it's time to hammer the throttle and head for home, it takes all of 15 seconds to put the seat back down to a safe position.

Without the seat bottom elevated, the sunpad's main job is to act as the lid for the rear storage 'trunk,' a job it does quite well. The two-part sunpad opens for easy access from both the cockpit and the swim platform. The trunk itself is big enough to stow skis or even a wakeboard if you remove the bindings, as well as all the other accoutrements of modern-day watersports, such as PFDs, ropes, binding lube and so forth. And since the trunk's carpeted, you don't have to worry about dinging up your gear on the way to and from the local slalom course.

Of course, while MasterCraft will swear from here to eternity that the 209 is designed to be every bit as good for wakeboarding as it is for skiing, we all know that wakeboarding is going to be pretty much an afterthought for most 209 buyers. Like a politician trying to get elected, this boat is a partisan in moderate clothing. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The fact is that most people actually prefer either skiing or wakeboarding, but not usually both, although they may dabble in the other sport occasionally. The 209 is made for the skier who likes to get on a wakeboard now and again, or has family or friends who like to wakeboard. The ski wake, at 30 to 36 mph, isn't quite the quality you'd get from a three-event ski boat such as the ProStar 190, but it's close enough for anybody who's not trying to make a living on one ski. (Yes, tournament skiing's done at 36, but there are lots of recreational skiers who go slower, so let's not forget about them.) At 20 mph, the wake may not send you over the moon, but it is enough to get you up and over both wakes with a grab or a 360 en route.

The wake's non-existent unless somebody's at the helm, and that's not such a bad place to be on the 209. The helm seat is a snug-fitting bucket with a flip-up bolster for better visibility when you're docking or launching. The dash has everything, including the twin speedometers, visible at a glance. The throttle sits at the end of a perfectly positioned arm rest so you can keep your right hand on the throttle at all times. And the helm floor is covered with a rubberized mat so you don't wear holes in the carpet over the years.

You don't think too much about the floor while driving the 209. There are too many other things ' all good ' to think about. Think about the way the hull responds almost instantly to even a slight twitch of the steering wheel. Think about the way the mighty Vortec Predator engine, a 310-hp brute, charges from the hole with enough torque to pull even the heaviest novice up on a slalom ski quickly and easily, accelerating from 0 to 36 mph in 5.7 seconds (0 to 30 mph in 4.5 seconds) before reaching a top speed of 44 mph. And, since the 209 is a serious ski boat, on a rough day you'll be thinking of adding some extra padding to the seat bottoms. Even though the 209's hull has been designed to smooth out the chop as much as possible, its main job is still to throw a flat wake, and that means a bumpy ride if the water gets messy.

Will MasterCraft's new ProStar 209 live up to the legend of the ProStar 205 it's hoping to replace in the hearts and marina slips of skiers? It's a little early to make such a sweeping prediction, but sometimes that's how things work out. You may not know Babe Dahlgren, but a kid named Mantle did a pretty decent job of taking over for DiMaggio in centerfield, and the early evidence seems to indicate that the ProStar 209 has a lot more in common with the Mick than that other guy. Given time, it may just create a legend of its own.