Went out last Friday with a couple of friends to demo a '03 Maristar 280. No, it is not for me. Yes, it is a huge boat. No, the wake is really not bad. This has a lot of potential if you want to spend big money on a big boat. It defenately will handle rough water well and has a ton (or more) of storage. Let me put it another way- I could hide my family of 6 in the storage space of this boat.
The boat does really have some interesting features. The wake is fairly small at ski speeds. The 8.1L makes it get up and go. The tower is the most solid that I have ever felt or seen (must be 3" dia). It has separate trim tabs for the left and right side. And while we didn't have any sacks and only 4 in the boat, shifting people around really made a difference in the wake. A ballast system would really make a difference. I thought you may be interested in a few pictures