Tige 20v

I hope I'm not posting a question that's already been discussed and I missed it. I've just started wakeboarding this summer after years of waterskiing. I love it! I'm looking at purchasing a boat, but am having trouble stomaching the price of many of them. I'm somewhat interested in the Tige 20v and would like to get some opinions on it. I live in the Pacific Northwest and have to contend with rough water some and am curious how the 20v handles that. I've read some peoples comments about it bouncing. Is this a problem? I have two 7 year olds that I'm sure will want bigger and better wakes as they grow. Is this a boat that will keep them content? I've read about "taps" vs. "ballast" and it sounds like I'd want to put a ballast system in it. Any opinions about this boat would be appreciated.

The Tige will not bounce, unless you are retarded. The TAPS plate in the rear of the boat is designed to keep the front of the boat down and allows the V to cut through the water. Keep the plate down when cruising above 25MPH and you won't have any problem.

Having said that, you are still dealing with a 20 foot boat, so it won't handle the same chop like a 23 or 24 footer. I can guarantee that it will handle chop better than other 20 foot inboards out there.

Your 7 year olds will love the fact that you can put that plate down at wakeboarding speeds and flatten the wake a little. By the time they are 12-13, they will be begging for ballast if they stick with it, depending on their size and agility.

Stomaching the price has gotten to be difficult. I am not sure on the 20V, but boats keep going up faster than inflation every year. Depending on your level of comfort with inspecting a used boat, you might consider a gently used 22 or 24V and that might be the ticket for you. There are lots of people who buy a boat and then find they don't use it a lot, or some who just upgrade to the latest and greatest every 1-2 years.

i have a buddy who just bought one at the beginning of this summer and we had it out in a lake that tends to get really rough during certain parts of the day and it handled the chop amazing. It did not feel like a 20 foot boat at all. He also got it with the factory ballast and the wake is huge with or without the tanks full. almost as big as mine and i have an 06 mobius lsv with the gravity III and 300 lbs of lead. hope this helps.

Nathan you'll really like the 20v. my parents own a tige dealership in cali so i've had a chance to drive and ride behind all the tige models. it doesn't handle as good as my 22ve but thats just how all 20 foot inboards are. you put the taps to 1 and go about 35 and you'll have no problem with the chop. if you want to keep it for a while i would go with the ballast the the new 07's have a really cool ballast system. it holds 900 pounds, the back tanks hidden so you still have all the storage in the rear. for the front tige went with a fly high "U" shaped soft sack. all of the tige line weighs about 400 pounds more than all the other inboard 20 footers which helps with the wake and in rough water because doesn't allow it to bounce around

Nathan,

I would look at a bigger boat if you are concerned about rough water. I would look at a different brand if you are concerned about quality. I would also look at a different brand if you are concerned about a nice/big wake in the future. This is not a flame on Tige...they make nice stuff, I just think that for the money and what you are looking for, that there are better options out there. If you think your boys will grow into this sport, and if you are looking to advance, I would suggest looking at a boat that has ballast. I think that a good alternative to this boat would be the Mastercraft X1. You can pick up a brand new one w/ trailer for about $39K. And don't forget that the hull on that boat is a legend in our sport.

Goodluck on your search.

LMAO,

How can you say it's not a flame on Tige right after you say "I would look at a different brand if you are concerned about quality".

Nathan I'd also ignore the comment about the wake not being nice and big. You can make the wake massive if you wish with minimal amount of ballast.

I respect Mike's opinion on not liking Tige's, as everyone has their own opinion. However, saying Tige's don't have top notch quality is asinine. As for the wake, I'll leave that statement alone other than my comment above as wakes are subjective to every rider.

OK Tanner,

Fair enough, maybe I am a little sour due to the fact that I owned a brand new Tige for less than 12 monthes. It spent 3 monthes of that time in the shop. The problem couldn't be resolved by my dealer, so the boat was sent back to Abilene to have it fixed. The boat never ran the same again. My local dealer also managed to install the wrong impeller into my boat which left me stranded in the middle of the lake for over an hour. This is not an isolated incedent either. Another guy in my town was given a new Tige after his issues could not be resolved.

I live 1.5hrs from the Tige factory. In addition the only dealer for ANY wakeboard boat manufacturer within 200 miles is Tige...and they have been outsold this year in my town by other brands. As a matter of fact only 7 new Tige's went out the door here this year as compared to nearly 30 last year this time. I have seen many people (including myself) drive 250 miles to buy boats from other brands even though they will have to put up with the hassle of driving for service/repairs.

I guess your right Tanner, this is probably not the case for all their boats, but can you see why I am sour? Also, there a LOT of Tige's on my lake and I like the boat w/ ballast. I would caution Nathan that IF he has to have one, get ballast. I would also check out the X1 before buying, although the Tige would prob. handle rough water better. The X1 should do better in wake performance.

mike i'm sorry about your bad luck with the tige that you had. i'm sure your dealer probably had no idea how to work on tige's properly. at my parents dealership we've never had a boat that had been in the shop for over 2 weeks. we've sold many tige's in the past 5 years we've been a dealer and never had any problems we couldn't fix within a short period of time. you wont be disapointed with the 22v.

Every brand has their isolated incidents...and with those is an unhappy customer who wants to publicly bellyache about their issue. My suggestion to Mike is to not buy another one, which it seems you haven't. This will isolate you from further Tige problems. For anyone else looking, I suggest you do your diligence checking out the boat, and the dealer who will be servicing your boat. Ask for references and follow up on them.

I think Tige is making a great boat at a great price. I do think they will ultimately need ballast, but without they are as good or better than most boats sold, I/O's and inboards included.

I appreciate the feedback. This has been helpful.

Nathan:

Bouncing with the 20V is a weird occurence. My friend has a 2003 20V, and I have a 2004 Switch V. The Switch V supposedly has the same hull. However, the 03' 20V we have had some bouncing issues with, so we are still looking into that. I have not had as much of an issue with my 04' which may or may not be due to some design changes.

The way I have had it explained is this: The 20V is so short that with the Tige Convex hull design, the rear end of the hull wants to settle. Because the boat is shorter, the hull settles at a pretty steep incline, but the engine wants to go the opposite direction, causing the boat to porpoise. Not sure how legit that reason is, but go figure.

I would say DEMO before you buy. We have had no real issues with our model, but like I said, the 03' we ride on has had some slight bouncing issues. Make sure you slam the boat ballast too, because weight may be a factor in the bouncing.

I have heard that too. One of the regional sales guys has said it helps to weight the nose a little more to fix this.

Eric

I will add this about Tige's... yes there are two or three posts on here about problems with a Tige that I found while I was researching my boat purchase. The thing that secured me into purchasing the Tige is how Tige, in particular Andrew, addressed these issues. Publicly none the less. A few of these boats were out of warranty and Tige still took care of their owner. My experience with them has been nothing short of the same, although very limited!

I even drove 350 miles to get to my closest dealer.

I am in my second season with an 04 Tige 20 V and have had nothing but great luck with the boat. The "porposing" issue only occurs at high speeds and with the TAPS at a high setting. Handling is great, it is easy to trailer, and easy to store. The wake without balast and a few people in the boat has been more than enough for all of the people we board with. Eventually some balast would be nice, but the ability to shape the wake with the TAPS is enough for us at this time, and probably enough for your kids as well. I think you would be very happy with this boat. I have had no regrets.