MB 23TWB vs. Nautique 230 (Serious Question)

Originally Posted by cjh1669

Exactly. MBs are nice boats, but there is a reason they sell for much less than a san, they aren't built as nicely. My biggest dislike of the MB is the freeboard. SANs have great freeboard. In the end the fit and finsh of a SAN is better period, if MBs were comprable they would also be comprable in price. You can't put as much into a 60-70k boat that you can into a 85-100K. Facts are facts

Did you go to the MHunter school of finance. "The price is higher; therefor, it must be better quality!"

I'm not saying Nautique quality is not higher... just that using price point as the proof ignores about 100 other variables in how these boat company's financials work in the real world. I'm talking about the kind of variables you and I have no clue about (overhead, marketing, volume, econmies of scale, supplier negotiations, geography, supply chain, debt structure, appetite for growth, profit expectations, workforce, etc. etc. etc.).

Originally Posted by ixfe

Did you go to the MHunter school of finance. "The price is higher; therefor, it must be better quality!"

I'm not saying Nautique quality is not higher... just that using price point as the proof ignores about 100 other variables in how these boat company's financials work in the real world. I'm talking about the kind of variables you and I have no clue about (overhead, marketing, volume, econmies of scale, supplier negotiations, geography, supply chain, debt structure, appetite for growth, profit expectations, workforce, etc. etc. etc.).

No, but typically that's the way it works, and in this particular example it's 100% true. You can feel a significant difference in quality between the two. i know you love your MBs, but I don't have a dog in the fight, I've just been in both boats and the quality level is apparent. I'm not saying MBs are bad boats, they are the best price point boats out there IMO, but they are price point boats, Nautiqes don't fall in that category for a reason.

I will say that after having been in both boats the OP asked about, the Nautique for the same $$ is a no brainer. The MB provides a good value for somebody who's first priority is the wake performance, and maybe is not so worried about luxury, fit and finish and resale. The surf wake is really good behind the TWB 23 with an extra 800# on top of stock (this is how I surfed it), didn't get a chance to wakeboard behind it.

The 230 is a great all around boat, the stock wakeboard wake is great and is not at all finicky. If you want to add weight to a 230, then you may have to mess some, but this in the range of 4-5 thousand pounds. I have a Fly hi add-on system in mine, and we've had two riders use it that way, and we had no problem with the wake with 2 people in the boat. So we had approx. 3100# of ballast in the boat (no people or gear/gas weight included) and the wake was clean and HUGE! The surf wake with this system is comparable to the MB's (added weight also). Personally, I like the rear facing seating so we can watch the riders, and having the ability to change the seating up as an option, not important for everybody I realize. I have been able to clean up one side of the wake as slow as 17mph for beginners, around 18-19mph for both sides.

Demo both if possible and decide what's important to you about the boat, then go enjoy it!

Full disclosure; I own a 230, but was seriously considering an MB 23.