Tige

I currently own a 2002 22i Type R.

It's time to to upgrade and I want my next boat ownership experience to be the best it can be. My 22i when weighted properly can dial in a beauty wakeride or surf. This boat is primarily going to be used as a surfing/partying boat and wake riding will be secondary however remains an important part of my experience.

I thought I had decided upon an RZ4, and please correct me if I'm wrong because I'm basing my understanding of it's mint surf wave that I've read about and seen via video and photos of the 2. The RZ2 hull was created by reducing the RZ4 hull by two feet which tells me that with a little more ballast to sink it just a little further a guy can produce the same wave as the 2.

At a boat show this weekend however I was speaking to a certain pro that claims that the RZ series has issues with cleaning up the wake at speed when you load it past factory ballast. The resulting direction was a look at the 24ve.

My final question is if the 24ve can throw a surf wave to rival that of the RZ series?

My apologies for the wall of text. Hopefully someone out there can give me an educated and experienced response to my questions.

Cheers,
NiceOnes

ragboy can help you with surf questions. he has a rz2. i've also heard the rzr makes a super surf wake,but it's only a 20 footer.as for room difference figure 2 more people in the rz4 vs the rz2 . i also have heard the pro wakeboarders prefer the 24ve as their boat of choice.if you go to the surfing forum and post this thread i'm sure you will get more feedback than you need.

First off, the RZ2 came out a year before the RZ4. The RZ4 is not the best Tige for surfing, the RZ2 puts out a better wave than the RZ4. I think the weight distribution on the RZ4/24Ve (Same hull underneath) may be to blame for that. The new RZR/R20 pics that I have seen show that it may be the best surf boat in the lineup but it hasn't been out in the wild long enough for people to really get their hands on it and see what it can do.

If you want and need a 24' boat, the RZ4 is a nice choice but the surf wave is a little less than the RZ2 so if you were just going with the 24' for the wave, don't worry, the 22' is a safer bet.

When you refer to the cleaning up the wake at speed, are you referring to the wakeboarding wake or the surfing wake? Not unlike other boats out there, you do need to shift weight around/move people to clean up the wakeboarding wake sometimes. The only boat that I have been in that this is not the case is the MB F23 Tomcat where it just threw a perfect wake no matter where people sat. Surfing the MB will require you to purchase some additional ballast bags and a pump and then dial it in from there whereas the Tige with the surf package will get you started and then you can upgrade to a custom surf sac and swap out the factory one.

24 foot boat should have the same wave just needs more weight to create it.

Originally Posted by duffymahoney

24 foot boat should have the same wave just needs more weight to create it.

For some reason it is not that easy. There are lots of owners of RZ4's on the Tige site, and simply put, there is something different other than needing more weight.

If you have been happy with the 22i, I am sure that an RZ4 will make you even happier. The wake is very respectable for both surfing and wakeboarding, but most folks with a lot of experience in both think that the RZ2 is somehow better....even taking into account extra weight.

You need to check with wake 9 aka ragboy on TigéOwners.com. He has owned a 24ve and RZ2 and has done a TON of research on the Tiges and their surf wakes.

It looks the wakeplate is angled different in the pictures?

All I can say is that I surfed Ragboys RZ 2 at the Polar Bear event last October. The wake is huge !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can surf a long ways back and still recover easily.

I've surfed behind every model Tige almost every year since 2005 and the 24Ve in my opinion is the best fro wakesurfing. The RZ4 still throws an awesome wake and really is the same as the 24Ve in size it just gets a little choppy or distorted fom when you over weight the boat. The platform dips into the water and causes this issue. Personally it wouldn't stop me from purchasing the RZ4 if thats what I was looking for. Beings you are in the market check out www.bigboatlist.com. I know the guys at Custom Boat and Marine have a few non current brand new Tige's on bigboatlist.com at a killer deal. At the end of the day I always recomend to buy local but just a heads up on those boats. Good luck finding your new boat

When you say the 24Ve is the best do you mean with stock ballast or loaded up? Ragboy sold his '07 24Ve that he had made custom surf sacs and even a custom swim platform for after they discovered how good the RZ2 was.

The swim platform washes out my buddies 22v a little.

Originally Posted by duffymahoney

The swim platform washes out my buddies 22v a little.

needs more weight. Had the same issue, more weight=no more problem water just runs over it now, doesnt effect the wave at all.

I think cutting it down so it doesn't touch would be best. I plan on buying a 24v and doing a bunch of surf mods for it.

I believe Ragboy still has his 24ve.

Thanks for the info guys. I know it's going to be a Tige. It's just going to take a test drive or two to figure it out. Don't worry, I plan on bringing my extra bags to test out this overweighted issue.

Here's what I'm thinking for colors/graphic. Very very close to my 22i Type R styling. The speakers will be white. And the shading is just that. The boat is solid white.

I have a good time with the RZ2 just as well as with the 24ve. Here are a couple of shots of a 24ve with stock ballast and 5 people in about 8 feet of water