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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles Archive > Archive through March 15, 2006

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Old     (dubsac)      Join Date: Mar 2006       03-14-2006, 5:08 PM Reply   
I'm looking at buying a Cobalt 240 with a tower and PerfectPass. It will be a saltwater wakeboard/pleasure boat. I live near the ocean so an inboard/v-drive is not really practical.

Anyone own or ride behind a Cobalt, especially a 240? Wondering if I will need to add any weight to get a good wake or if the trim tabs will help.. the boat weights 4600lbs. Any suggestions welcomed, thanks!
Old     (alindquist)      Join Date: Mar 2004       03-15-2006, 5:51 AM Reply   
Dubsac, I just last week bought a 1999 Cobalt 232 with the 454. I haven't actually gotten out and road behind it yet but have done a little cruising. At about 22mph on the speedo the wake looks big and looks like it has a nice shape. Again I won't know till I ride behind it. I have a tower for mine but I haven't put it on yet, it didn't come with Perfect Pass but that will get added later. I did a lot of research on Cobalt on boards like this and it seems like everyone has great things to say about them.
What year are you looking at? What engine?
Old     (will5150)      Join Date: Oct 2002       03-15-2006, 7:16 AM Reply   
My neighbor has a Cobalt 240 and I've been behind it- he's got the Volvo dual-prop on it and I don't know if that influences the wake or not, but it's not a good boarding wake. It's very washed out and really wide. Also not very tall. I thought it might be a good ski wake, but it's also very hard, so crossing is tough. Weight might help, but it would take a lot. It's a great boat for cruising- very solid, quiet and fast, but I think you'll be dissapointed with the wake. We go out together sometimes ( bring both boat- I have a Tige) and board behind mine and the kids tube on theirs or we hang out.
Old     (deuce)      Join Date: Mar 2002       03-15-2006, 10:44 AM Reply   
The wake can be cleaned up by trimming up. If the guy pulling will5150 didn't know how to maximize his wake, my assumption is that he was not adjusting his outdrive. Maybe will5150 can let us know?

Having the perfect pass is going to help a ton, then adjusting your trim with your desired speed, you "should" be able to have a fairly clean wake. My assumption is that it will be wide and not super firm(my experience with I/O's), but very rideable.

I have never been behind a 240.
Old     (dubsac)      Join Date: Mar 2006       03-15-2006, 11:25 AM Reply   
aaron: thanks, please let me know how it rides and what effect the tower & Perfect Pass have. I'm looking at ordering a new 240 with the 420HP/8.1 Volvo. The big block Mercs are not available with Perfect Pass.

will: thanks for the input. does your friend have trim tabs? That is a bit disappointing but I was planning to add weight, there is a lot of storage space.

It's a tough compromise as I want a boat that is versatile for cruising in the ocean/bay as well as riding. The 280 SS / X-80 SS is nice but its really expensive, and its an inboard which would give me worse performance in choppy waters and more of a risk in the shallow waters and coral reefs around here.


Old     (elduke)      Join Date: May 2002       03-15-2006, 11:46 AM Reply   
Regarding the 240 wake you need to add one thing to the boat to make it good. Add the trim tabs. Because of the seating configuration everyone tends to sit on the port side of the boat. So add the trim tabs. Also try to get everyone in the boat to sit with even weight distribution. And especially your gear. Most of the storage on the boat is on the port side so you need to concentrate on adding gear or ballast to the starboard side and then the wakes will be clean. Add perfect pass also because it is an I/O and it is a bit harder to hold speeds over and inboard.

Regarding wake size it has nice shape for an I/O with both side clean at about 21-22mph. Going slower than that will produce some curl on the starboard wake side. Trim the outdrive out to about 1 notch out from down. That allows the rear end of the boat to sink deeper and kick up a good sized wake. Is it as good as a Super Air wake? NO, but it will be good for any rider doing inverts and it is an intermediate/advanced level wake. Not outlaw class, but up to there it should be fine. Add some weight if you like but run it with 6 or 8 people in the boat and check the wake first. The key to getting the wakes clean is outdrive trim and proper weighting. Thereafter use the trim tabs to clean it up a bit.

I have a friend who has one and we use it for boarding quite a bit. It works well. But cruising in rough water that boat is exceptional. It is so good. I also sell them and for a I/O it has about the best wakeboard-wake out of any of our boats.

I am not selling to you so take an opinion for what it's worth. And EJ will tell you I am pretty straight on things.
Old     (will5150)      Join Date: Oct 2002       03-15-2006, 11:47 AM Reply   
They don't have trim tabs, but I don't think that would help much as the boat rides pretty deep when running around 21-23 mph. Weight will mostl likely help some- I just wouldn't get my hopes up too much. I went from a large run-about (Wellcraft) to my Tige and the Wellcraft was OK - you can clean up the wake a lot with trimming and I KNOW my friend with the Colbalt doesn't know how to does this well, but I played with it a lot and couldn't get a really clean wake. The boat is designed to plane quickly and handle any kind of water- which is does nicely, it's just not a wake board boat. But weight will help some i'm sure. If you're buying this boat primarily to board on, I think you'll be very dissapointed.But if you're buying it to be a great all-around boat that you can board behind sometimes- that's a different story. I hope I'm not too discouraging- it's a great boat and my standards for wake boarding performance are high- that's why I got the Tige. There's no comparison between the Cobalt wake and my Tiges.

Old     (dubsac)      Join Date: Mar 2006       03-15-2006, 12:27 PM Reply   
thanks ej & elduke. I would definitely get the trim tabs if I end up buying this boat. I hope that and ballast will give me a nice clean, sizeable wake.

I should add that I have grown up riding in saltwater, primarily behind big twin-engine outboards, so I'm used to big wakes that aren't clean. I'm buying a boat to cruise and ride in these same waters (Miami & the Keys).

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