Rough Ride in Malibu Wakesetter

I took a test drive in a 2007 23LSV Malibu wakesetter. The water was chopy and the ride was rough. I was wondering if anyone else has problems with the rough ride in the malibu???

I am sure it is just the rough water. Despite what anyone says no wakeboard boat is a good rough water boat.

All wakeboard boats ride rough in choppy water. There made to get down in the water not ride on top of it.

Yeah, most inboards aren't going to be the smoothest of rides in choppy water. That being said I own a 23' Malibu WSLSV and it is probably one of the best rough water inboard boats I have been in.

And like they say...Who wakeboards in chop anyway?!

John-
I had the same experience. I found that the Tige's do the best in the chop of any of the wakeboats that I demoed. The MC were the worst. The type of boating you do will end up deterining what path you take. I needed a more all around boat for everything including rough water handling. Others will want a hardcore wakeboat and go with a MC. It is true that none of them are great, but depending upon where you boat it will make a huge difference when out. For me I went with the Tige, with the Malibu a very close second. To each their own, just demo all of the boats you can and figure out how you use the boat, where you use the boat,and what atributes are most important to you.

I must have a different perspective. I just bought a 2004 WS 23 LSV (same hull as the 2007) and when I first took it out on Lake Mead in mild chop, I thought it handled great. However, I had just upgraded from a 1991 Malibu 20' Direct Drive, which jarred my kidneys loose in anything but absolute glass.

Nice ride Sam! Check out www.themalibucrew.com. It's a privately run site and great for meeting other Malibu boat owners...that is if you haven't seen it already.

I've ridden in plenty of Malibus in plenty of rough water and I thought they did great.

I have a VLX. I think it does ok in rough water, I've been in worse.

I've found that filling either the right or left tank to ballance out the load helps a lot in rough water.

I will agree with Coach and say that the Tige does well in rough water. The 24ve we used in the Keys did great. But, I will highly disagree with him saying the MasterCrafts are the worst, especially any of the pickleforks. They handle it better than anything else. None of the other manufacturers even come close to these two in bad water.

If you are looking for a rough water boat no Wakeboard specific boat is the ticket, you should be looking for butta, or buying a Sea Ray.

MasterCraft CSX, made for the big lakes out west and coastal community's. They have 1000lbs of ballast, and it takes choppy water and big rollers better than any other wakeboat. Sometimes you have to go through the ruff stuff to get to the butter. Its nice not to rupture a kidney doing so.

(Message edited by woreout on November 30, 2006)

Came from a Crownline 202 to a Malibu VLX and the difference is huge, the Malibu is a much rougher ride. It has lot to do with not have the ability to 'trim up' to get on top of the water.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/383641.html?1162012285 Heres a thread with pics of the CSX wake.

when we first tested a 22ve the water that day was brutal and the tige did extremely well, even better than our i/o did

Fill that center ballast only, and then give her a go. This will help smooth it out a little. Nothing over 30mph though.

I will attest to MC being horrible in chop. It gets scary crusin accross my lake on a bad day. Great boat for the glass. So smooth, esp with a pitched down acme prop.

Mark,

I don't think the problem is that it's a MasterCraft. The problem is that it is a direct drive that was designed for waterskiing...it's going to ride badly in rough water.

"But, I will highly disagree with him saying the MasterCrafts are the worst, especially any of the pickleforks. They handle it better than anything else."

What MC are you talking about? They don't make a true Pickle, it just appears they do. It's still a V shaped hull.
I wanted the best all around boat, just like Coach mentions above. I tested, and bought the best all around boat-IMHO. I didn't buy, because it was popular, or the cool boat to own, or the most sensible boat. I'm happy with my choice, actually love my choice. I also enjoy many local friends who have different opinions from mine. When it's all said and done, they're just WBing boats anyway. I like em all really......

chris, that is true it is still a Vhull, with the 'pickleforks' above the waterline so the wide nose doesn't look like a deck boat.

I will say that I was amazed at how smoothly my buddy's Xstar drove through double up wakes, and I was even sitting in the front. I would imagine that it would be nice in the chop based on that experience. That being said I can only really compare it to 21' wakeboats, as I have not spent much time in the 23' and 24' boats.

The newer generation deep v Mastercrafts handle chop way better than any of the older hulls. The X 10 and 205 hulls were not good rough water boats especially the 205 which is a former AWSA certified ski boat.

I realize it's not a "true pickle", but people would know what boats I'm talking about if I refer to them as that...X-Star, X-45, X-2, CSX, X-80, they all do A LOT better than your average wakeboard boat.