I've been lurking here for a bit and I know the quick answer is to demo, demo, demo. That said no demo will make up for the combined experience of the folks here, so I'd appreciate some feedback on which boat to buy.
My criteria:
- 21 to 22 feet max (not including swim step)
- good factory wakeboard wake, with pro level possibilities
- not hard to get wake cleaned up at various speeds / lengths
- prefer not too much sensitivity to weight placement
- most days out its just 3 of us - driver, observer, rider
- ok surf wake without sacs
- quality "content", ie. features, construction, etc.
I only buy a boat about every 10 years, so I'm ok with spending some coin. My son is 8 and loves wakeboarding. We live on the delta and ride 5-7 days a week when its warm. We have a closed bow Malibu Response now. Good for skiing, but he's outgrown the wake. Plus, I'd like to start boarding more... and surfing. Since we won't buy another boat for 10 years I want something the boy won't outgrow. He rides at 21mph and 65 feet now, but plans to be on magazine covers in a few years. ;-)
Current contenders in order are Malibu VLX, Nautique SA210, Mastercraft X-25, or Axis A20.
Thinking new, but not opposed to used. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Threaded Mode