1st time Wake boat purchase

Hi all....I have recently sold a Cobalt and looking to buy a wake boat for the 1st time. Will be used primarily for wakeboarding my teenage kids who are somewhere between beginner and intermediate in skill level and also to surf, ski and cruise etc. The Cobalt was 22+ feet so want to stay around that length.....+ or - a foot. From my research, it seems like MC and Malibu are the "premium" brands in this space and priced accordingly. Then you have Supra, Tige, Moomba etc. and they are a notch or two below MC & Malibu price-wise, but my question is are they also a notch or two below on functionality, quality, features etc? We won't ever be pursuing tournament-style riding and doing hard core stuff with the boat, just more family-oriented and having some fun. I want to buy a boat that is of good quality, has some style and is capable of growing with us as we get more experience doing the wake/surf/ski activities. I probably will go the 1 or 2 year old used route unless there is a great deal out there on inventory that isn't moving. Your input is welcomed and appreciated!!

mc and nautique are pretty much the mercedes and bmw of boats... malibu is the lexus.

going between a 21'-23' boat is a big difference in price and size.. the 21's handle the best and are the most fun to drive imo.

all three of them will throw incredible wakeboard wakes though each one will be different.

surfwakes will depend on wether you ride goofy or regular.. if your a goofy rider then you might want to check in a 2006 -2007 nautie with the left hand prop rotation and you will be set. otherwise all the new boats have the right hand prop rotation.

i dont think you can go wrong with any the above not to mention you will make it up on the resale.

clubmyke

Steve,

Made the same change last year - sold the Cobalt for a tow boat. We bought 2007 VLX and love it. Just had to get used to the change in ride quality from the Cobalt to the Malibu. By the way, we were in a 220 too. Good luck with your search.

Depends on what kind of lakes you frequent as well. I boat on a big lake with big boats and rough water. I like my tige because I can trim and get a smoother ride.

Check out the correct craft 230/236 TE air nautiques. The wake is awesome without too much ballast. the surf wake is a beast. room for 14 and tons of storage. demo them all. As for resale value stick with the big 3 CC,Malibu,MC.

Demo each of the boats and then buy used. After you figure out what you like you can buy a new boat. You absolutely cant go wrong with a MC though.

Supra and Nautique are right up there with Malibu and Mastercraft in every way. They are also "premium" brands. Tige has made a lot of improvements and is working their way up too.

Steven, if you're going to be riding in anything but glass, you might want to look into a Centurion Enzo 230. They're one of the smoothest riding inboards you can get. Plus, their quality and functionality competes with the best (and you gotta love their gel-coat work!).

Thx for the feedback. We boat exclusively on Lake Entiat (Columbia River) in Central Wash and for the most part when we are out on it we are on glass or maybe just a little chop. So, shifting gears....I understand Supra owns Moomba....is Moomba the 'value' brand while Supra is a little higher end?

you are pretty close to Seattle Water Sports, have you checked out the MB's?

Yes, Supra is a little bit higher end but not by much anymore. Moomba makes a quality boat! The vinyl, dash, fit and finish, etc is much improved from years past. Moomba and Supra also use Indmar engines, same as MC. I would suggest looking at the boats in person as it will give you a better idea of things.

If you are looking for the all around versatility of a wake, ski, surf boat take a close look at Tige.

So from what I've gathered here he should look at every boat made.

Steven, pretty much all the boat company's make a damn nice boat and everyone like's theirs best. I love my Sanger, Mike likes his malibu, Tim likes his Tige, Neil likes his nauti...get the picture? Go check them out and decide if you need some of the fancier stuff and bling or more of a well built wake machine that has a little bit less bling.

I'll be on Entiat next week if you wanna check out a Sanger (the closest dealer is about 150 miles from Kirkland) check out my profile pic and if you see me surfing by flag us down.

(Message edited by hatepain on August 18, 2008)

If you've owned a Cobalt, I would stay away from Skiers Choice (Supra, Moomba) as the fit and finish (and sometimes quality) of these boats are nowhere close to the quality of your Cobalt. And the warranty is nowhere close to the warranty of your Cobalt.

You can't beat the wake production efficiency of the SAN 210. It builds the best wakeboard/surf wake for the gallon of gas bar none. To bad its no longer sold new.

Cobalt makes a great boat...and the top inboard manufacturers do to.

Ronia- Sorry, you are wrong in your statement about the Supra warranty being 'nowhere close to the warranty of your cobalt'

Cobalt offers only a 2 year warranty on gelcoat finish, including blisters, cracks, crazing, etc. 2 years on the upholstery, canvas and all other components like steering wheel, seat mechanism, hinges, ladders, etc.

Supra offers a FIVE year warranty on all of those items....PLUS everything else. With a LIFETIME structural warranty.

This is also a top tier warranty in the inboard industry.

Back to the topic at hand however. I'm glad I'm not shopping for a 22' inboard...choices are endless with the top manufacturers and they all are very cool and stylish boats. Wish you luck.

You guys are making it more complicated for me! I was looking to narrow things down a little! But it's all good....like to read your thoughts, even if they are biased towards what you own or prefer to own a little!

Ronia, that is not a fair statement about Skiers Choice boats. The fit and finish and quality is comparable to other tournament inboard boats, not a luxury cruiser line like Cobalt.

Steven- Tell us a little bit about the body of water that you do most of your boating? Will you be primarily trailering? Large open water/ Salt water use?

X45 or X35

I will boat almost exclusively in Lake Entiat, which is on the Columbia River (55 miles between dams) and it is nice and flat in the AM with a tendency to get breezy/rough in the PM. It is a nice lake and I'm told some of the wake DVDs have been filmed over there. We also may see action on Lake Chelan, a very long (also 55 miles) and deep cold water lake. Chelan can get very rough. My trailering will be limited since I'm within a few miles of a launch to Entiat. I'm not going to be out there when it is blowing hard...I'll just go up river or wait for a better day.

This year I have rode on and behind the following:

Xstar, Nauty 210, Supra Launch, & Moomba Mobius LSV. All of which had similiar weight distribution. The best wake hands down is the Xstar, long smooth transition with a sharp pop at the top. The Supra had the tallest wake but was more straight up, as was the Nauty. The Mobius has a great wake, not as tall as the Supra or Nauty but still very good.

For the money and a first time wakeboat purchase I would seriously consider Moomba. Much cheaper to purchase and still a great boat. If you have the money....get the Xstar, you wont be disappointed I assure you.

Steve, I have been toying with the idea of selling my 2005 Centurion Elite-V C4 Air Warrior. It is an awesome boat and would make a great first wakeboat. This boat is the best boat I have ever been in on choppy water. The ride is fantastic. The wake is really nice and I can still throw on a single ski if I want. Great boat VERY VERY well taken care of. I believe it has 130 hours on it and has been serviced by a Centurion mechanic for all maintenance. Also has an aftermarket warranty still good for a few years. If interested email me at sean.dean@ferguson.com there is a pic on my profile.

Steven check out the Nautique SV211 IMO the best all around 21 foot v-drive available.
I hear for 09 you can get the SV211 with tower ballast, board racks, perfect pass for about 50,000 brand new, hard to beat that boat for that money IMO.
Yes I am a little bias, I do sell Nautique, but just check out the sv211, I think it sounds perfect for what you need and Nautique builds a very solid boat, with great resale and top notch quality.

Steven,
Unfortunately you are going to hear good points and bad points about every boat available. Many people have had great luck with their brands, while some have had nothing but problems with the same brand.

As others have suggested, figure out what price range you want to be in and go look at the different manufacturers. Though they all might measure up the same, you might like some features and designs on one boat vs. another boat.

IMO, the best thing to do is start with used boats available in your area. You'll be surprised how much $$ you can saved by buying a one or two year boat vs. buying new. Especially if you are just getting into the wakeboard boats. As someone else mentioned, it is not fair to compare a luxury cruiser to a tournament inboard boat. Go used until you'll in the scene a while and figure out what brand you really like.

Just my two cents.

SVFARA - "The Cobalt of Tournament Boats"

Since you are coming form a Cobalt, I am going to assume you are not afraid of spending some money up front and are looking new. The number one variable for me would be the dealer reputation and service. The inboards of today are getting pretty darn good once some of the kinks that occurr in a low volume manufacturing environment get worked out. As best I can tell the 'kinks' are not necessarily brand related and but how satisfactorily they get owrked out is completely dependent on your dealer.

Since you aren't serious wakeboarders yet, I wouldn't worry too much about the wake. Most people like what they get used to and I haven't been on a wake specific boat that wouldn't kick up a respectable wake when weighted correctly.

Other factors that I would consider, go with models that have a LOT of automated ballast. You do not need to fill it all the way up, but having more available keeps options open. If the capacity isn't there, then you will be reconfiguring the automated balast or manually filling balast bags.

Coming from a smoother riding I would next factor in ride quality. I think Centurions and Nauti's tend to have smoother rides than other brands, but I may be over generalizing and haven't been on every brand/model out there.

I would stay in the 21'-22' range. Bigger boats require more weight to build a decent wake, will need more petro, and the amount of extra space seems only marginally useful IMO.

I do not own a Nauti, but I really like their new 210/211s. A lot of wake stock balast, smooth ride, and high gun whales / free board for bigger water chop. Of course I would run to another brand if the dealer wasn't 5 star quality.

Again.....great feedback....thx to all and keep it coming. Some thoughts about dealers....I'm thinking that a newer boat with either zero hours or very low hours (if used) should not be seeing much dealer time unless something crazy happens so not sure how much I should be basing my decision on dealer rep. The manufacturer seems to be the bigger concern in my mind. Are they building quality products? Have they been doing this for a number of years? Are they sound financially? But some of you guys are obviously very dealer-centric....almost to the point of basing a buy decision on the dealer's rep? Interesting...

Steve, if you end up buying new you are going to have to put on 10-20 hours and take it in for the initial service. The simple fact is that these boats are built by people and they can have problems. Usually it is just rinky Dink crap like a switch not working. It can change your outlook if the dealer doesn't take the time to fix all your problems.

In my opinion as the owner you should walk the boat with the dealer and make notes of anything that should be fixed as well as anything you might want added. Use the boat the first few hours and continue to keep a list of anything that goes wrong. This way when you schedule your first service you can give them a list of stuff they need to fix. It will give them the time to get stuff in for your boat so it can get in and out in a couple days.

Do a little research on Correct Craft/Nautique, they have been building inboards for over 80 years.
Best of luck to you on your purchase.

Steve,
Talk to Kevin down at Gonnason's in Kent. He sells Supra's and Moomba's. We got a great deal from him and he treated us well. We transitioned from a Crownline to a Supra 22SSV. Best choice for us, we love the seating arrangement. I have to disagree with Chelan being labeled a cold deep lake. Deep yes, but you can get water temp's around 80 in the Manson area. If you go around the point you are at the deepest part of the lake which is a little colder. The river is always a good spot to launch as there are multiple places, but the current and low spots in the river make me nervous. We haven't been over to Wenatchee with our new boat yet.
Good luck.

I recently made a similar purchase. I narrowed down to a Nautique 230/236 or a MasterCraft X-45. As a wake sport boat and all around family fun boat, the X-45 was the right choice for me. We did demo both and the decision became very easy as the new 2007 X-45 was being offered at a price I couldn't refuse.

Well I have ridden behind most of the boats out now and nearly everything is going to be good. For me it would come down to what is important and what I like. Had a supra and it was a great boat, my first true wakeboard boat. Great performance but lacked in the "plush" category. Fit and finish was very good but not plush. If I wanted the best boat for the money Supra would be at the top of my list. Spent lots of time in Nati 21'. Great boat but hate the wake, very abrupt. Great quality but didnt like the wake and the interior passenger compartment seemed small. Mastercraft XStar-this is my second place pick. Great boat, great performance, great everything. High price but you are also getting a really good boat. Only thing I didnt like was the size of the passenger area. It just felt small, it has a large roomy bow, but for us, people dont like to sit up there as it is louder and you get all the direct wind as well as miss out on hanging with everyone else in the back of the boat. My first choice was the Malibu VLX. The fit and finish of Malibus' in my opinion is hands down the best. Our warranty has been outstanding. The wake is as good or better than anything available. Nice and smooth, big ramp when weighted down. You will get used to whatever you ride behind but I have never heard anyone that didnt like the wake. The boat handles amazing. The only thing that makes me look at other boats it that it is not as flashy as some of the others like the Xstar but for me it came down to what I wanted when using it with the friends and family. I was not a malibu cheerleader until I bought one! I would say go find all the features that you want and like and listen to the salesman a little, narrow it down to 2 or 3 that fit are the best fit for you, and then go drive those 2 or 3. Drive them in all different ways, weighted, unweighted; and do some turns to really get an idea of what feels the best. Then at the end pick the one you like the most.

Gig, it's a pretty cold lake after all it's glacier fed. I have a second home in Manson and I've never seen 80 on the water temp. Also Entiat's a piece of cake and very deep as long as you don't get close to the side which isn't a problem since it's so damn wide.

The Malibu is the Lexus??? Wow, someone needs to quit drinking in the morning. d a Moomba b4 and for the price it was great. Once I got my Malibu it was day and nite. From finish to bling to wake. My bud has a Tige and its a good boat as well. It is a 22v and it seems small for the length. I think Nautis are a bit overpriced.If you had a Cobalt (top of the line bowrider) then I would suggest going with a boat just as nice aka Malibu or hate to say Mastercraft.

I'd say Tige. Of course I am bias, because I ride behind one, but I have also ridden behind other boats (Malibu and Mastercraft) and just cant see how you justify paying that much for a boat, unless your really using it daily. Tige's put out a fine wake, pretty nice rough water ride, pretty roomy, and on top of that there priced correct too IMO.

HNP,
Growing up in Wenatchee, we experienced many times with warm temps at Chelan towards town. More crowded though. As you go further up lake, it tends to get colder. We were there 3 years ago and stayed at Cambells and water temp at the county park was measured at 82. Roosevelt can get warm, but in too far to go when we had Chelan, and the river at our front door. We usually skied at the lake or at Lincoln Rock. Daroga is a nice park to put in at too.
I have a cabin at Lake Cushman. We are happy with our glacier fed lake at 71 degrees.
A little off topic here.

Back to Kirkland Steve. Any inboard boat you buy will be an improvement over an I/O. Our Crownline threw out a wide large wake, but the Supra throws out a sweet steep wake. I can flatten it out for the skier's with the wakeplate too. No worries.

Gig, Daroga is where I put in at when on Entiat and we usually ride at a funky little lake above Manson called Roses always butter, warm and unused.

Steve, if I were you i'd check out the boat show and figure out which manufacturer you like then go get a left over 08 next spring. Sure a few things might be different but it will be largely the same.

They all make great boats, you should shop around crawl into each boat and see what fits you and your family. Dealer is important because you will spend lots of time their and money. Services, warranty work, etc.
When I was shopping we went to the boat show and crawled into every manufactorer, sat in them thought about how we where going to use it and based our opinion on that. Some boats I just didn't like the way the interior laid out or how thick the vinyl on the seats where, the way the dash looks, etc. It's all preference, good luck

Steven -
you should go check this out this weekend
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/616778.html?1219181457

SANGER

Sanger cuts through the chop of big lakes like butter.

Sanger since 1954.

Thx all again for your opinions and info....especially the heads-up on the MC demo coming up in Kirkland. May have to check it out. Lots to consider...hope to wrap up this decision soon!

Steven you got mail

Toyota Epic is the Lexus of Wake/Ski boats. Literally. Click on my profile. It's a great engine.

Too bad there are no Toyota or Sanger dealers in the OP's area.

If having a dealer that can help with any problems is of consequence, check out MC, Malibu & Centurion.

The Centurion dealer is a guy I've skied with a bit with a shop up in Bothell. He's got great resources & goes out of his way to help his customers.

I think you guys scared him away with information

Heya Steven- I am just down river 20 miles at Crescent Bar and boat on Columbia. I went through this same thing a couple years ago and ended up with an MB B52. Same setup for me and my family in requirements as you. Check out SeattleWaterSports in Kenmore/Bothell and look at the MB line of boats. Made by hand each one of them, quality fit and finish and a couple varieties that you would be very happy with. They have a new Tomcat (picklefork) 22 footer coming out this year. Good luck!

Still here...have tested a '08 Malibu VLX so far. Very impressive. Going out on '09 Tige 22 Ve and a new '07 Supra 22V later in week. And possibly a MC this weekend. I think that's it....

Steven I am going to suggest to you MB boats. I currently own a 08 b52 v23 and a 2005 malibu response ski boat. The mb is not far behind in quality fit and finish (i think if you compare even the new models they are so so close). they will throw an incredible wake (2000lbs of ballast in tanks under the floor!!!) saves you so much room. I bought my boat in kenmore at seattle watersports and they are a great dealer. They have 08 loaded boats for low $50k. they even have a couple new 07's i think. Good luck buying a boat! its a fun process!

btw i forgot to add you save a ton on gas with the new 2 speed transmission on the boat. its very simple and easy to use.

(Message edited by marinerman on August 20, 2008)

(Message edited by marinerman on August 20, 2008)

Interesting.......Kenmore is close....almost bought a Chapparal from Sea Watersports b4 buying the Cobalt, so have some knowledge of the dealer. You obviously like Malibu for their ski boats...why did you not get the VLX for your wake boat?

Steven,
You're wise to do the test drives. Unless you've ruled out Correct Craft, I'd suggest schedule a visit to Pacific Nautiques as well. My usage is similar to what you describe, and I've been really happy with my SV211. Correct Craft is coming out with a new 216V for 2009. I'm not sure if they are rolling off the line just yet, but that might be another boat that merits your review. Pictures of the 216V are here:

http://www.planetnautique.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=12268

Good luck with your search. I don't think you can go wrong with any boats on your test drive list - it's just a matter of personal preference.

Steven, suggest you test drive an MB before completing your search.

they are the only 100% hand laid fiberglass wakeboard boat with hull & deck glassed together - not glued like most - also no stickers on the side.

Also - a 2,000 ballast (or bigger) that fills and empties in 1 minute with no pumps....

Just take a new one out for a ride.

Steven - I've got an05 VLX for sale with about 300 hours on it, and a 2 year platinum warranty (thru 2010), asking 51k 541-729-6613, come test drive it in Eugene.

hey steve,

I used to have a four winns till this year when i sold it for a 2004 X-star best investment i've ever made. I've been behind some great wakeboard boats and you can't be the x-star however i only have the 350hp motor which is there smallest motor. If you want to ski and barefoot don't make that mistake i can't get my X-star up to a good barefoot speed. however i no with the bigger motors they don't have a problem. I also suggest for all used ski and wakeboard boats use this site

www.onlyinboards.com

I bought my X-star off of there for a great deal.

Nice....any idea on pricing for the 216V?