Rough Water

I live where there is nothing but big lakes so, the water can get pretty rough. Which V-drive handles the rough water the best?

Tige hands down.

How big of waves does your lake get? If they are pretty good sized the majority of the time, I would opt for something other than a Wake/Ski V-drive.

Sanger, hands up!

X 35

mendo247- how much weight was in that boat on your profile pic?? that's nuts- you must need to really watch it when you slow down or hit a wake!

I wouldnt say there were waves on the lake but it does gets pretty choppy. We are currently behind a Gekko revo and want to upgrade.

My wife also likes to cruise around on the lake so, I want to be able to have a boat that can handle the chop on the water.

Whats your budget? If the sky is the limit I would say an X80 with twins.

something bigger, not sure about the sanger. I have never been in one, but they have really low freeboard so I wouldn't think they handle chop too well. I think any of the newer, 23+ footers would do pretty well in the chop.

The new mastercraft X-35 is supposed to handle chop well. The X-15 also has what mastercraft says to be the deep v-hull that is supposed to handle chop better than most v-drives. I've always read on here that tiges have the best rough water ride. Most of the 23ft and up v-drives (because of their size) will perform better than smaller boats in rough water. All depends on your budget.

I dont think the x 80 is in my budget. I was thinking more along the lines of a 21-22ft boat. I wanted to know about the Malibu VLX.

I have done some research after David recommended the Tige and that does sound like a good option.

X 15

Depending upon where you live, there are dealers that have 2007 and 2008 inventories still.

Centurion, Tige, and Sanger all have deep V's and will handle the rough water

Supra has and has always had one of the deepest keels. My 87 handles chop like a champ and the nose sits high out of the water, never takes a roller over the bow. Lots of freeboard to handle lots of weight too.

As always, test drive all of the models on the lake that you frequent (if possible). Your definition of handling chop and someone elses might be totally different. My wife preferred the Tige in the rough water, I was good with most of the brands. Good luck with your purchase!

(Message edited by timmyb on July 25, 2008)

I have a few customers on the Puget Sound in WA with X-15s and love the ride. Of course my opinion is to go with MC, but Centurion makes a great rough water boat.

Centurion Enzo 230 or 240 are great boats for bigger lakes and rough water.

centurion uses the v-bottom like you would see on a i/o or something like that. we had one in 3ft rollers and i never felt uncomfortable at mid range speed. it was a 22 enzo v-drive.

Any Tige will handle the chop better then any other brand of equal size. If it's usually rough, go with the 22Ve, if it's always choppy, go with the 24Ve.

I know who has a 24Ve for sale.

Tige! I run Havasu area and Parker area and Tige's are all over the place because they can handle rough water very well.

I've taken my Sanger D215 out in 4' waves and 50mph winds for pleasure and it handled it easily. The low freeboard might be a problem if you got caught in a severe storm and the engine died but other than that it's better than any I/O I've ridden in that's the same size.
Having an adjustable trim plate makes a big difference.
Sitting in the back you barely feel crossing a big wake or chop. In the bow or front seat you still feel it.
I have ridden in Supra, MC X-30, and regular nose Tiges in chop and they were not as good.

Test drive and aim for some wakes. Keep the list out of the boat and hit it speed. That'll give you some idea.
Have fun.

best ride in ruff conditions = Tige w/o a doubt.
i service them all and test drive them all. you will NOT find a better ruff water ride from an inboard ski/wake boat than a tige. deep v,high freeboard, solid construction and being able to adj the taps to keep the nose up all add up to the best ruff water ride.
i would say supra 2nd best 3.malibu 4.m/c
was in an 04 centurion avy yesterday nowhere near as good as a tige. or a supra.

(Message edited by kko13 on July 26, 2008)

(Message edited by kko13 on July 26, 2008)

TJ,
While I love my VLX, it is not a great riding boat in the rough water. I have not been in any of the other boats that are mentioned, but coming from the buttery smooth ride of a 22 foot Cobalt, the VLX seems to beat us to death. Sounds like Tige' is one of the best choices. Good luck with your search.

Tige.

Even the older non-convex hull, low freeboard Tiges ride very smoothly; you just have to keep the nose out of the water.

We have a customer who has an 80' Hatteras on the other side of his dock and says the X35 he owns is an amazing saltwater chop boat.

We have a Tige 24ve that we use on Lake Mead, 90% of the time, which gets vary rough often. It handles the rough water great empty or with a full load.

This is the exact scenario that the X35 was desinged for. Very nice boat. Take a look if you get a chance. We havn't had one in the water yet. Hopefully I'll be able to give a first hand account soon.