How is the wake on a Calbria 23 Pro-V?

I only interested in the wakeboarding wake and how does the boat handle when weighted.

i know they take a lot of weight. back when i was riding behind them i didn't really have a chance to drive them weight down so i don't know about the handling

Craig-

I have an 05 Pro-V and haven't had any handling issues. I've weighted up to 2060lbs in ballast in addition to 3 riders, a full tank (65gals ) and 4 Pepsis... I've re-propped.

Send me mail if you're in the Fresno area and don't mind traveling to Bakersfield to get a drive in... I can always use a pull, schedule permitting, and you can see the wake first hand...

(Message edited by clubjoe on May 11, 2008)

The Pro V is wide at 102". So it does take more weight to sink it. We found about 1500# additional ballast work well and still drove well. Just as Clubjoe said you must reprop the boat. Calabria's stock prop is still used to ski behind. All that being said, the wake:

Wider wake with a nice long ramp with a good boot. Great for wake to wake for intermediate and up. A little big for novice. I have been told by Pro riders it is very similar to a X Star.

craig i have an 04 pro-v i weight it regularly with 3200lbs and iv'e had 5000lbs a few times before at 3200lbs it handles pretty well still just some wide slow turn arounds as for the 5000lbs we had 13 people in the boat and we had to put everybody in the bow to get it too plane out and we had to stop and idle our turn arounds BUT the wake is SICK! at any of those weights really fun.

I will seoncd the wake as being very nice as I used to own a Pro V. I have nothing to bad to say about them.

Clubjoe-
What prop did you go with? I am looking at re-proping now that I also sac it out with 2000+ pounds.

A buddy of mine has one. The wake dose not have a lot of pop to it. The stock ballast full with 3 on board and one in the water dosent produce a very good wake.
We are going to play with the stern plate and see if that makes a difference. If it dose I am going to try and talk the owner into putting a power trim jacks on the plate. It would make it more like a taps system.
Right now the wake is better half full than full with the stock ballast.

Is the 315 HP engine big enough? The one that I'm looking at only has the 315 Merc I believe or was PCM ever used for Calacria?

Also, does anyone knoe how tall the boat is with the tower down (Boss Tower), and or how tall the baot is without the tower? My garage is 8 feet tall and I need to fit here in.

What Year is this Calabria ProV? and as far as I know, Calabria always used Merc. Are you sure it is 315HP. If it is, it will work, but re-prop. It might be sluggish with extra bags.

If it an older Pro V with the boss tower it will be close at eight feet. I had to raise my garage because it would not fit under a standard door (with tower folded)with it off it will fit. I will measure when i get home.

The wake is really abrupt. Kinda hard on the knees. But they do drive very nice weighted. And the way the ballast fill is way faster then most.

Robert,

The boat is a 2004. If it is a merc then it should be easy to tell, because it should be a Black Scorp, right?

Rob,

A standard garage is 7'-0" on a track home and it is 8'-0" on a custom depending on the builder. Take those measurements for me pleae

Craig,
It is about 6'6" to the window, and about 6'10" to the point the tower seperates at. But, I believe the part of the tower that folds down and back sticks up higher than that. I cant pull out boat to fold it down though right now, my wife has my truck. I also have a 2004 and it has a mercrusier engine not a black scorp. I believe they could have either one. Maybe somebody can help wit the folded height before I can. As far as the boat and its wake. Great boat and good beginner/intermediate wake with stock and gets better and better the more you load it. Plus a great family boat with all the room inside. We usually have 7-9 people and still have plenty of room.

Craig- I run a 330hp, no problems weighted to 2060.... Gotta say, I wouldn't mind the extra HP to make me feel better, but I only re-propped when I started adding more than about 1000-1200lbs if I remember right.

MOX- 13.5 x 16 on the prop.

Also about the wake... Ive noticed, and others have mentioned that you get a little extra bump right at the wake's peak....

I don't know that my experience with the Pro-V is the same as everyone elses. When weighted at only stock +1100#, I wouldn't want a non-experienced driver at the wheel. I may not go as far as to say there is a handling "problem", but it does seem to take some finesse to turn it around in the D' at weight and speed. I haven't driven many other v-drives, so maybe it's common in other boats...but IMHO, you better be paying attention and know a little about driving a boat.

What I haven't seen mentioned, is that the Pro-V seems to be very sensitive to wake placement. If you have a lot of people on board this is easy to deal with...but with a small crew and a lot of bags you will need to experiment a bit to get things dialed.

All that said...I *LOVE* my Pro-V for most of the same reasons mentioned above. If you are patient and willing to learn how the boat responds to weight, and can pay attention while you drive...you just can't beat the space for passengers and gear.

If anyone wants to roll out on a Pro-V in the Stockton area to find out for themselves, hit me up. We ride 2-3 times a week out of Village West (Garlic Brothers) and would be happy to give a few pulls.

Also, a good dealer matters. Larson Marine in Stockton has provided excellent support and I would expect the same for any other Calabria buyers.

(2005 (manual wake plate), no ballast guages, 330 Black Scorpion)

Craig

If it is the Black Scorp. then you have 330hp. I do believe that the 330hp was a standard motor. So if it is you are fine. Get the boat you will love it. Calabria's are fantastic boats. you will not be sad. I am woundering if you had a chance to look at the Pro V2?

(Message edited by rbeckei on May 13, 2008)

Craig is looking at an 04. I believe they came standard with a 315hp. I don't remember seeing a scorpion logo on the 315's when I was shopping, but that was a while ago.

Clubjoe

I am not very sure. It could very well be.

I think the 315 is the mercruiser

2004 was either a 5.7 315hp or the 6.2 340hp MerCruiser ONLY in a Calabria. I have the 315hp with a 13x16 Acme prop and it pulls great.

(Message edited by sydwayz on May 13, 2008)

Any get any measurements yet. I'm test driving it this weekend and I can measure it then. But I'm like a little kid and can't wait.

Did you offer them $20k and call it a serious offer? What a joke man. I spent my whole Saturday waiting on you, then took you wakeboarding on my boat, let your wife drive, and let you drive and you offer $37k! I am so hacked off right now. Your a clown. The funny thing is you have driven the best now and everything else you drive won't even compare. You will always know the boat you buy doesn't measure up to the 210. You are a bozo.

Cita Pita

Can you explain a little more?

Craig is an idiot.

Sounds like you're a hell of a boat salesman....

The Pro-V's are a blast when dumped. We added 1500 on top of stock ballast and 12 large guys and the wake was giant, wide and really fun. The transitions must have been 5 feet long.

Definitely go with the biggest motor you can get. It's a big boat. We had to move people to the nose to get the boat on plane and back to keep the nose from dipping when coming off plane.

The Calabria ballast system is bar-none the best system on the water. I wish the other companies would figure that out.

The Calabria ballast system is bar-none the best system on the water. I wish the other companies would figure that out.


I believe MB has PureVert on their Tomcat this year. And MasterCraft has had the patent rights for their X Star.

I think the patent is availible for other manufacturers this year.

is x star a ballast system?

So I test drove a Super air 210 and a Calabria Prov V this weekend on the same saturday. I decided to go with the Super Air. The Calabria had tears in the uphostry and I couldn't live with that.

Some Guy (Read Above) didn't like my offer 38k for a boat that is listed on Nada for like 39k then decides that he's pissed off about my offer, done negotiating and calls the Calabria a POS. Looks likes he will be spending the summer paying for a boat he can't afford.

I liked the Calbria and if I can find a clean one close would still consider it. Is hard to get a West Coast boat here in Texas.

As far a the Pure Vent, it was pretty sweet, filled up and drained in less than a minute. I think patents last between 5-8 years. I read some verbiage on it at a dealer once. I think it might expire here shortly so other companies might follow.

good luck and if you do end up buying a SAN, for the love of V-Drives make sure "that" owner knows better than to beach his $40k boat..

The pure vert ballast system is available on the B52V23 model from MB as well. I think it will be on all models actually. My tomcat fills 2400lbs in about 70 seconds and drains it in like 30 seconds on plane. It's nuts.

For surfing, I can go from level to listing heavily in 40 seconds. You can just sit and watch it. It is the best system on the market with nothing even close in 2nd place IMO.

If you are still in the market for a Pro V give Larson Marine a call. Mike @ Larson Marine 209 465 5801. We have a few 2007 left. We can make you a KILLER deal.

Cita Pita (yates_and_debaux)
I don't know it seems like you may be the bozo, real professional, and not something I would have expected from somebody in finance. Guess I underestimated my profession, yet again!

Is being in finance supposed to take someone to a higher lever of social interaction?

HAHAHAHA, not really, but I can hope! I guess higher levels of social interaction come with age and experience.

cita-pita:
what was your asking price?

and I ride behind a proV alot. Th owner wont sack it out much, but I love the wake. And the interior room is rediculous.