New Boat!

Looking for a bit of advice on a new boat. Here's the deal: My wife is slalom skier (not tournament or anything, but pretty avid slalom skier), and the kids want to wakeboard and particularly wakesurf. Whaterver i get needs to be big enough for 10 (seems like I take alll the neighbor kids out as well). The boats I'm currently considering are the Mastercraft X15 or X30, the Super Air Nautique 210, and the Malibu Wakesetter VLX. They all seem very nice. I'm normally inclined to buy the best, but among other tings, I'm wondering if the Mastercraft and Nautique are worth the signifcant upcharge over the Malibu.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I don't think you'll be happy with the size of any of the boats you've listed.... also the surf wave on a mastercraft is just not good (210 isn't amazing either).

To comfortably seat 10 you'll need/want a 23/24 ft. boat.... sure we can fit that in our old 210 but it is PACKED, I would take whatever a boat model's posted capacity is and subtract 3/4 people from that to make it comfortable.... since we live on the water having storage isn't that important... but if you wanted 10 people + gear for a day on the water, in a new/old 210, not happening.

Getting wakeboard + wakesurf + skiing in one boat is really tough too. You can usually have a top tier wakesurf/wakeboard boat and a piss poor ski boat, or a average at best of all three (MC x14v)

I would say take a look at Supra 242, Malibu LSV, X25, or SAN 230 for the size and wakeboard + surfing needs and figure out a way to get the Mrs. to convert to a wake sport.

Originally Posted by sidekicknicholas

To comfortably seat 10 you'll need/want a 23/24 ft. boat....

The X30 is 23'.

Dang... good wakesurfing and nice flat slalom skiing from the same hull will be a challenge indeed.

Wakesetter VLX with the Diamond Hull would be my choice. It is rated for 14 so fitting ten in there is do-able. You'll want to get the bow ballast as well for surfing. It will have a respectable slalom wake, good wakesurf wake when weighted correctly, and a good wakeboard wake for your kids as the progress.

We have the same problem in our family with one slalom skier. As far as I know you are not going to meet all the requirements you have. The new SAN 200 is supposed to be a good boat for slalom and could be weighted for a decent wakeboard wake but I don’t think you could get close to 10 people in it comfortably and doubt you are going to surf it very well. The only thing that might fit the bill is the old 23 Malibu XTI “discontinued” but I have no experience with that boat. We are 4 years into our Supra and I have almost converted our slalom skier to wake sports instead.

What is your wife skiing behind now? If its a little ski boat, she isn't going to like anything in the 23/24ft range. if you want to fit ten, you are going to have to give up something. Ski wake, or space.


Get a nice family boat for boarding and surfing, then go find a cheap ass 1980s MC 190 for the wife.

I think you are going to have to prioritize your "wants." The Sport 200 will have a slalom wake that is head and shoulders above the others but 10 will be very tight. I don't have a bunch of data on that quality of the various boats but I looked at nearly all of the manufacturers and ended up with Nautique on the top of my list followed closely by Master Craft and Malibu. They are all quality boats, some seem to just be better than others.

Sounds as if money is not quite as critical for you as others. I would say ride in every boat you can possibly get in. Be open to other brands that may not be considered the top 3. Your looking more for a family boat. I would take a serious look at Tige. I don't own one but the seem to be built more toward the multi sport boat. Just my opinion. They also put more space behind the window than many manufacturers. Which I think is the problem with the new MXZ from malibu. Its seems to be pretty much the same as a VLX behind the window but tons of extra in front. No one ever rides up there in my boat. Good luck demo a ton and stay open minded!!!

Ive witnessed some slalom skiers ski 22' off behind a SAN 230, they ran the course but said theyd never do it again behind a vdrive.

The Sport is an excellent all around boat but I havent tried to wakesurf behind it and as someone said, it would be a tight squeeze for 10 and gear

Probably will depend a lot on how picky the wife is about her wake. The diamond hull Malibu is sort of designed to be that in-between boat, though. IMO, Malibu is a great boat, I wouldn't hesitate buying one over the other brands mentioned.

Teach your wife to wakeboard. She will already be able to shred since she knows how to slalom...

I would say that the Malibu VTX may by a good choice, since it is (sorta) ski-able...but ANY big wakeboard boat absolutely SUCKS to ski behind.

Wakeboarding is more fun anyway, and a lot less stressful on your body when you are just doing it for fun and not trying to be Bonifay. My guess is she will enjoy it way more than skiing (I did!).

You can wakeboard in chop also vs skiing. I bought my boat thinking I would be skiing and some wakeboarding. I have skied one time in 6 years of owning my boat and said "NEVER AGAIN". As a 39yo dad with families always going out with us I can say that the moms all love to board and nobody ever has a Ski anymore.

What about a Tige 22i? They have a nice slalom wake and they will throw a good surf wave and wakeboarding wake too when you weight them down and it seats 10.
http://www.tige.com/boats/22i

The X-15 skis very well and has one of the best surf wakes around. The X-30 is a great choice too as you will compromise the slalom wake a bit but gain a little on the surf wake. The Malibu with 10 people will be tight along with the 210. Go sit in them all and you will see the difference.

^^^ what Jason said. The X15 surfs very well, and the wakeboard wake is pretty good too. It has a ton of room in it. I've never had 10 in my boat, but I think I could without too much trouble. Its huge on the inside. I have never tried to ski it, but I have heard it does pretty decent for what it is.

I hear the Moomba LSV is a crossover. It's only 21 ft though.I own a 2007 I don't ski or surf but I've only had 1 person complain about the wake. Might be a tight fit with 10 ppl. 8 is do able.
Then save all that extra $ for gas and new gear.

This is easy... you can't have what you describe so you have to compromise. Pick your poison:

If you want to keep your wife happy, stick with MC X-14V, Malibu Wakesetter VTX (w/ Cut Diamond Hull), or the Nautique Sport 200. All will give you a great ski wake, but you will have to give up your 10 person requirement. All three will be miserable with 10 people. My preference in this group is the X-14V. Don't ask why... I just like it better. Also, it's the only one that is AWSA World Record Certified. Check out this video of it's ski wake compared to a direct drive (love MC's marketing):

If you want to optimize for your 10 person requirement, stick with a 23 footer: MC X-30, Malibu Wakesetter LSV (w/ Cut Diamond Hull), or SAN 230. The LSV will probably ski best (but still not great) because you can get it with the Diamond Hull.

If you want to split the difference, get Malibu Wakesetter VLX (w/ Cut Diamond Hull). Better ski wake than LSV, but not as good as VTX. I can't speak to X-15 or SAN210, but I can't imagine either will ski as well as a VLX on the Diamond Hull.

As others have said, you can fit 10 in a 21 footer, it will just be crowded. I have 10+ on my 21 footer from time to time and it's fine. It really depends on how often you do it.

The best thing for you to do is spend some time behind the wheel of each of the top 2-3 boats you are considering.

I have spent quite a few hours behind the wheel of a 2011 Nautique 210 this past season and was very impressed with the wakeboard/surf wake. We run in shallow water, so getting a good wake take some extra work, but we were impressed.

The ski wake is one of the better v-drive ski wakes on the market. Ski the boat and see what you think.

my two cents, the wife and I are old school slalom skiers, we more or lees gave it up as we are closing in on 50 and seemed to be injury prone, 4 years ago our new neighbors took us wakesurfing and we were hooked. A boat that throws barrels with the flip of a switch is much more adictive than an average surf wake that you have to fat sac (work) out. The big three are awesome rides but all have flat bottom transoms and are not as surfable IMO, who knows you may save a few bucks and get everything and more, test drive and happy shopping

Originally Posted by ixfe

This is easy... you can't have what you describe so you have to compromise. Pick your poison:

If you want to keep your wife happy, stick with MC X-14V, Malibu Wakesetter VTX (w/ Cut Diamond Hull), or the Nautique Sport 200. All will give you a great ski wake, but you will have to give up your 10 person requirement. All three will be miserable with 10 people. My preference in this group is the X-14V. Don't ask why... I just like it better. Also, it's the only one that is AWSA World Record Certified. Check out this video of it's ski wake compared to a direct drive (love MC's marketing):

If you want to optimize for your 10 person requirement, stick with a 23 footer: MC X-30, Malibu Wakesetter LSV (w/ Cut Diamond Hull), or SAN 230. The LSV will probably ski best (but still not great) because you can get it with the Diamond Hull.

If you want to split the difference, get Malibu Wakesetter VLX (w/ Cut Diamond Hull). Better ski wake than LSV, but not as good as VTX. I can't speak to X-15 or SAN210, but I can't imagine either will ski as well as a VLX on the Diamond Hull.

As others have said, you can fit 10 in a 21 footer, it will just be crowded. I have 10+ on my 21 footer from time to time and it's fine. It really depends on how often you do it.

This is very solid advice.

Also keep in mind that with the weight from 10 people, the ski wake will be poor in just about any boat. 10 adults is like trying to ski with ~1500lbs of ballast, which of course nobody would choose to do if they wanted a nice ski wake.

Prioritize
Best ski -Nautique 200 OB Will hold 4 confortably

Best wake board /wake surf and still give an OK ski wake at 32mph Nautique 210 will hold 6-8 comfortably

Best wake board /wake surf and survival skiing Nautique 230 will hold 10 plus no problem

Best 3 event boat [wake board /wake surf/ ski] Nautique 200 sport will hold 4-6 comfortably

If you want everything you will need 2 boats . I would go with the 210 or 230 and a 200 OB.

Sir, I had almost the exact same issues when I was looking for my boat. I went with the Malibu LSV. The main reason is I actually measured the interior space area of the other boats, and they just didn't sit as many (even though they claimed they did). With that said, I would have gone with the VLX, but I had a few extra dollars for the LSV which at that time was only $4K more.

Long story short, It does it all. No matter what you get, when it comes to surfing, its all about external ballast and placement, so that isn't so much of an issue as far as what boat to get. I can say that we ski plenty behind the LSV and everybody is pretty surprised behind it. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely not a comp ski boat, but its shocking how low the wake gets at 30+ mph. And when it comes to the wakeboard wake... come on, you won't go wrong with any of those boats.

So my opinion, if your concerned with all of those sports, and seating, VLX. If you can afford a few extra bucks, go with the LSV for the extra seating.

Are you not considering something beyond the big three just because they are the only dealerships around that you care to deal with? The only reason I ask is because I feel there are a lot more options out there. I had a friend in the same basic predicament. He drove every boat he could. MC, Bu, Tique, Sanger, Supra and finally a Tige. He went back to the Tige dealer immediately after the test drive and bought a 22ve.

Admittedly, I had told him to drive the Tige. He figured I was just being biased. He was right. I love mine. To his credit, he drove everything else he could, first.

Go drive them. Drive 'em all. Buy what you like knowing there's not something you might like better on the other side of the lake. You owe yourself at least that.