Best rough water boat.

Just curious for some feedback on different types of wakeboard boats and how the handle rough watee. I spend most of my time on lake Washington in Seattle, and it can get pretty nasty somedays.
Thanks, HD

Deep hull, deep V entry point on the bow, dropped keel, ride adjustability = SUPRA

The x-star is a very good rough water boat, even though the bow is low is handles and rides very good in rough water.

malibu 25 is really good on the rough.

I've never driven it, but I hear the Nautique 226 handles great in rough water without sacrificing handleing performance.

These boat are very good in rough water.

Their wakes look like ripples , but you know there huge

Hank,

The best rough water boat I've ever ridden in was a Tige 22V. Tige makes big, heavy, deep hulled boats so they tend to ride really nice in the rough stuff.

the Tiges are great in rough water, both the 22v and 24v. Also look at the Maristar series from MC. They're the same as the X-10,30, and have the deepest hull of all the inboard boats out there.

SHIPS NOT BOATS!!!

Decend pic of half the Battle Group though....
Us Navy types know the difference!

(All in good humor!)

Not Ships...targets!

Us submariners (former anyway) know the difference!

BTW - Sangers are supposed to be ok in the rough stuff.

Sangers are great in rough water. They handle like a dream. Defintely give it a test drive.

Chuck,

There are a couple of Navy sub at work. You all seem to have a different view of the world. Best story that I heard from them was about an aircraft carrier.

While operating at night the officer in charge on the bridge sees a light in front of him, he gets on the marine radio and informs the light source “vessel off my bow, US Navy aircraft carrier, you must give way.” The reply over the radio “sorry cannot comply.” The officer a bit steamed gets back on the radio, “Vessel you don’t understand this US Navy Aircraft carrier, you must give way.” Again there’s a reply, “US Navy aircraft carrier, we can not comply, we are a light house, your call.”

Cheers

I like the Mastercraft x-30 with the front ballast filled...

oh yeah, and forget the tiges in rough water, they take water over the bow like a spoon...

To post an annoying third time in a row...be weary, everyone is recommending the boats they own themselves, so they are biased by nature, not that each boat isnt great or they arent being honest, just that they are all love their boats and would obviously recommend them. I dont have a boat, so I am speaking from practical experience. I usually ride in a Calabria Pro-V, but it kinda sucks in rough water.

Edward, Now thats funny I don't care who you are!!

The exchange between the aircraft carrier and the lighthouse is an urban legend. There was an exchange between a relatively junior USN Officer of the Day and a USCG Petty Officer in a lighthouse during WW I that was close to this, but not quite.

In answer to your question, the best rough water boat I have been in was the Gekko Revo 7.1. The X-Star would be a close second. Of course, the X-Star wake is much better, but so is the price. I have been in a few Centurions that did great on double ups, but the conditions were flat, so I don't know how they will do on chop sea conditions. The Tige's tended to bounce slowly unless you dropped the TAPS, then the ride got rougher. The Malibu's tended to wander in following seas.

Overall, a strong, deep keel line, some chine area, and a moderate to deep V gives the best ride in rough conditions. Good, experienced driving will also help. Aside from some military training (USCG being the best school for heavy weather driving), it is just developing the feel for it and knowing how to take each each swell you will encounter. For most boats, when you heel them over, the ride gets rougher due to more flat area. You want to take each wave upright and manuver in the troughs.

Good Luck

I bet the X-45 handles rough water very well. I checked one out on Saturday, and the thing was huge. It had more storage than I have ever seen in a wakeboard boat. Has anyone ridden in one?

I own a Sanger V215 and we took it out on Clear Lake last summer. It was a windy day and the swells were rockin'. It was quite bouncy and a few times, we were sure the boat would break in half but it held up really well. Not that I want to take it out in that kind of rough water again (on purpose).

In general everyday chop, it handles very well. In fact when we were test driving it against the MB Sport B52, the Sanger passed the "boobie test" (ask your wives/girlfriends, they will understand) with flying colors.

I can tell you a 90 prostar DOESN'T handle rough water very well at all!

Yea, My X2 is not worth a crap in rough water, which is a shame because it is rough here all the time.

I love my SSV, but if you have to deal with very serious chop, I wouldn't recommend one of those either.

paul its the one time the bow rise in the X2 comes in really handy if you stay around 10-12mph hour and take the chop straight on your sweet and everyone stays dry. But wouldn't be recommending an X2 here though

Stanfield, have you ridden in many other wakeboard boats? Actually an SSV fares damn well compared to most in rough water. It's in another world compared to an X2.

Not sure what you guys consider "serious chop" but if you deal with that a lot, get an i/o.

i own a Malibu, which isn't too bad, but gotta agree with Cliff - big Tigés are the smoothest boats i've been in in choppy conditions. the problems with taking water over the bow are mostly with pre-'03 models; that's much improved with the new hulls. even the older ones ride smooth if you keep the bow up.

most Malibus & Supras also ride well in chop, and in general trim tabs also help.

gotta agree with the crowd re X2 as well. Karl must be referring to the '03+ Xstars?

Boomer is right, though, if you're gonna regularly see >2' chop, get a big I/O.

SANGER V230 HANDS DOWN, Lake Havasu Memorial Weekend, that beast mobbed with the best of them.

if your looking for better, X80 twin screw or an IO setup, ive seen a few Hallett 260ACs with towers etc. Wake sucks, but boat hauls ass.

best of luck, Vdrives= no fun in rough

I'd agree with Todd, in the rough, bigger generally = better, and you want a boat with the deepest V possible.

I.e. Sanger 230, big Tige, Malibu 23' or even 25', Supra 24SSV, yada yada.

Boats with trim plates make a big difference in the rough. On my '04 SSV I could put the plate all the way down, burry the nose, and plow through some pretty rough water. With the plate up it was much worse, because the waves hit the back part of the boat that's flatter.

Boomer I was in a 22SSv last summer on our little 4 mile long lake. A decent wind picked up and it was horrible in the chop. My old X-10 was night and day, they ended up following me into the launch area.

For the person who said the Tiges took water over the bow like a spoon? Maybe a 90's dd tige, but not the newer 22 and 24 footers.

Cbrown,
WTF are you talking about? I didn't ask for advice on how to drive a boat. I have been doing it for a long time. Maybe we are talking about different kinds of chop. Living here, with the wind the way it is, I would be lucky to get up to 10-12mph on a ruff day. It still beats the crap out of you with the bow up.

(Message edited by psudy on March 17, 2005)

Pat, your definition of horrible must be different than mine, heh. Did it have a wakeplate? You really have to burry the nose, where it has the deepest V.

I used to have a Prostar 205, same basic hull as many MC's still use (like the X2), and THAT was horrible in the chop. If the chop started up at all, you'd have to drive under 10 mph or less in that thing or it literally HURT your body. You need some perspective, lol.

My SSV rode like a cadillac in the rough compared to the 205.

I don't doubt an X-10 would be better though, it's a deeper V-hull, derived from the Maristar.

(Message edited by zboomer on March 17, 2005)