What is this "space" thing?

On a site like this, where so many people are focused on the sport of wakeboarding and the quality of the wake, it just boggles my mind that the issue of "space" comes up so often. One often reads comments like: "the X1 has a proven hull and throws an awesome wake, but doesn't have the 'space' that the X2 has". Who cares? What's the problem with making a tradeoff for a better wake and giving up some space? I mean, what are you people storing on your boats?

hiding the ballasts (fat chicks)

.....I originally was going to purchase an X-1...but when I got in one there was less "space" than in my 17 foot aluminum crestliner....it was tough thinking I was gonna pay that much money on a boat and not have more space than my crestliner. Its like a house.....you go nuts in a small space....bigger just seems to be better....

Well at a minimum everyone pretty much has the following on the boat...anchor, 4 bumpers, dock rope, 8-14 life jackets. If you factor in the amps for the stereo and dual batteries you lose most of the space on the passenger compartment. A backup case of beer is also stored somewhere if it cant fit in the cooler. Very quickly you run low on space just with the basics. Add on a couple fat sacs with pump, and possibly some noodles or tubes and space is very important.

10 Optima Blue top batteries among other things.....

Space is extremely important on these boats because you usually have either the family or 2 + friends out including you and the woman or whatever else.

I go crazy with people's crap all over the place. I went from a 185 Sea Ray to a 21V and LOVED the built in cooler, the storage for the life vests, shoes, ect.

What are you riding now and what'd you ride before? If you jumped right into something like a wake boat with alot of room then you might not be able to fully appreciate the room.

All the "gear" for boating has to go somewhere be that life jacket's, beer, docking stuff, coastguard stuff, beer, towels, stereo, beer, party cove stuff... it has to go somewhere.

Some boats have more room to put that stuff than others so that becomes a difference to be considered when buying an expensive new asset. Of course if you're boating by yourself and only do one thing no problem, otherwise you have two choices make sure the boat has enough "space" to hold the stuff or load and unload the boat to varying degrees every time you want to do something different.

That was actually one of the things that really sold me on the Tomcat. It's ability to hold everything I would need while on the water including boards (in addition to the ones in the racks) and have it all out of sight so that my guests nor I were having to step over it the entire time you're out on the water.

"By 8tens (Ben Kerran) (rukie) on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:24 pm:
10 Optima Blue top batteries among other things....."

Not to threadjack, but if this is for real, I would like to see what you are powering! Seriously, details please!

let's just say from the pic's I've seen ballast isn't a problem.

depends on your priorities and how you use your boat. some of us could care less about having that "space" and some mainly go out with their families and need it. My boat has very little space and I could care less...

Jimmy-The batteries are just for ballast. Like lead weight in the bow. I'm not really into stereos that much

I have an older DD boat and space becomes an issure because I dont have a rear trunk and it gets old taking a 50" step over a fat sac all the time. It was even worse with my 85 nautique 2001. I could probably own any v drive and think it is a huge improvement in storage and layout space. So from what I have to that, I see nothing to complain about.

The X-1 is huge to me, Plently of space, tons more than I'm used to. The X-2 has 76 cubic feet of space, in a 20ft boat, someone did somthing right when they were designing that beast.

They X-star has a crazy amount of space to tuck away tons of ballast. Would be a good boat for the mafia for storing bodies, I got lost in the storage compartments in an X-star at the boat show.

For me, we upgraded from a 21ft boat to a 24ft boat and "space" was a major reason for doing so. There are usually 4-10 people in my boat on any given trip. All those people, plus boards, life vests, (extras for guests always in boat) anchor, bumpers, stereo system, food, drinks, dogs, diaper bag, trash, etc. It all adds up man, and we just always found that by the time we got everything and everyone loaded in, we were cramped. The new boat has much more storage, all the ballast is hidden underneath, and it is just plain bigger.

8ten...lol!!........thats great you got us going!

Ben,
you're not into stereos much like I don't like beer! haha

yeah, I'm not into beer much either

Dude,

When you load the boat out with chicks they bring tons of crap with them. Then you add all the gear mentioned above you can fill up a boat quick. My last boat was a 06 210 Team. After I got all my gear, jackets, beer, extra ballast...Then you add girls and their crap. Room is a big issue. That is on reason I bought a 08 BU LSV. A normal trip to the lake is two buds and myself, and normally 5-8 girls. It got really packed in my old boat.

Our first inboard we took into account space for all our friends. Per a friends logic (which ended up making sense), the second one we actually downsized for less space in order to cut down on time b/w sets. O/C the main reason was the wake, but having less space can actually be a benefit.

"the x1 is huge to me" thats to funny. when i went out in an X1 it felt like a toy. its a good boat but when it comes right down to it. its just to small. the bow is a friggin joke the seats are so shallow there is no way an adult could ride up there and i would not let my kid ride up there either for fear of hitting a ripple on the water and them getting bounced out. space is a PLUS the more the better. and on a side note 10 BLUE TOPS THATS FRIGGIN CRAZY THATS LIKE 2K$ IN BATTS. if its the ones i priced out. install looks nice from what i see though. they are about 68lbs each right?

the only reason that i would consider buying an x1 was if i had it on a private lake with a limit on the boat size.

Everyone has their needs and opinions. Although the interior of the X1 (205V) is on the smaller side when compared today's boats of equivalent size, it continues to fufill our needs very well.
Ours

Friend's


(Message edited by Phat in cincy on March 07, 2008)

This is interesting. Some of you are saying that more space allows you to hide your ballast. But doesn't more space require a bigger hull (i.e., wider beam) which, in turn, requires more ballast to turn out the same wake that a boat with less space can? Seems to me to be a zero-sum game.

True the bigger hull would require more weight to sink it as much as a smaller hull... but there is still more seating and storage even with more ballast.

Who says you have to sacrifice space for a nice wake? Isn't "nice wake" relative to rider preference anyway?

I have a Pro-V, which produces a nice wake, but also has loads of room where you spend most of your day...inside the boat.

I've had a couple of trips where 8 folks who ride a smaller boat climbed on for some pulls. When we left the camp, they all were sitting up straight, arms over knees. during the ride I could see them look around and slowly spread out like a bunch of compressed sponges filling with water. And I never had to unsnap the bow cover (which I use to store gear).

The only down side I've seen is that now I don't bother to organize or tuck stuff away because I usually run with 3-5 people.