Axis Boat today!

Wake looks good, can't say much else about the boat, it's horrible from any angle.

I love how stoked you guys all look in the second pic down by the way.

Different strokes for different folks. Personally i like the way the boat looks and i care way more about the wake then anything, i mean that's why we are all in this sport anyway.

Why ruin such a nice boat with that windshield and tower assembly?

that thing is nasty

Dash is def. price-point, fit and finish looks like price-point, the windshield may actually come in handy, especially for me cuz the side parts of the windshield always get in the way when i'm coaching and/or beaking riders...but most importantly the wake looks pretty clean and sizable. I'd take one over a Moomba, but prob. not over a used MC/Tige/Bu/SAN...all in all I think they just tried to hard...it seems the general population of wakeboarders would have been happier with a stripped down VTX or something...

Why not just get a Correct Craft Signature Series 210 or 210? They are about the same price and have the full Correct Craft quality, not some stripped down version... They are identical to the other CC Boats, but don't have all the fancy stuff, same hull though.

Another risk with going for a Axis of Epic is the the current economy may eat them up. In a year or two, you may have a collectors item.

They should keep there focous on the vride. If they did it right they would sell hundreds of the new vrides. Proven hull. Proven wake. Clean and simple.

Well axis is back by Malibu 100% so i don't think they are going anywhere. After taking it out last week it makes sence why they went with the windshield they did. The boat is made for ridding and the windsheild helps you keep people in the water safer by being able to talk and see them better. Some may not like it and thats cool but coming from a functional stand point the windshield is way better.

I dig the boat. Adam (One of the Axis designers)came out to the Chicago Boat show to go over the boat with us and I was very impressed. The boat is very well thought out and very fuctional. He said the wake is very similair to the VLX wake, and the pictures seem to tell the same story. The boat also has a TON of room on the inside with more than enough storage.

It definitly IS a price point boat. Compared to our new VLXs and 23's (Similar sized boats). We have 3 more coming and they will be priced between 42-51. Try to find a new 22' wake boat with a 100" beam in the same price range. The X1 is no comparison. Im not bashing MasterCraft here (I actually spend most of my riding time behind a buddys X1) You can pick up an X1 and put it inside the Axis.

As far as build quality goes, before you jump to conclusions, go look at one. I will be happy to talk to anybody in the Chicago land area about the Axis. All of us at the shop are stoked to get one in the water.

The AXIS boat looks sweet

i would take the axis over a moomba for sure!
but that being said if it was close enough in price i would take the V-Ride over either.

I saw the boat at the Chicago show. We talked to Adam for at least 2 hours, great guy and a great boat. I plan on trying to get out to California, to test it out. The windshield and the tower were super sturdy. The boat honestly looks better in person.

Although there are a few minor things I don't like about it, I must say it is growing on me. Especially after seeing pictures of the wake. I'd love to ride in one to get a better overall opinion.

That black axis is sick!!

black hides the radical lines i like it a bit better!

Although it is marketed as a "price point" boat, it is really a "price point picklefork" boat. It is designed to sell to people that need that look but can't get the credit approval for an xstar. Any semi-serious wakeboarder in the market for a new boat would buy a new moomba XLV or a used (insert big three vdrive) and never look back. Good luck, Axis.

The lip on the swim platform is nice so you don't bang up the boat... I'll give them some credit on that, and expect to see it all over in the next few years

The only problem with that lip Nick is it looks like it is Fiberglass as well so it is going to get F'd up. Better than the back of the boat I guess but it should have a strip of gator grip or something similar.

I heard Adam was on the pro surf tour. That is where he learned so much about wakes. He had to leave because he sired children on 7 of the 8 continents, so its safe to say the boat will only be made in America.

+1 on the black looking dope.

Black is sick. Red is alright. Blue is a mess! 46k with a manual wedge...Is hydraulic really that much of an upgrade?

Correct me if I am wrong when I was talking to the boat designer at the atlanta show I was pretty sure he said power wedge isn't a option for this boat !

It isnt an option on the boat.

The only problem I have with this boat (besides the fact that it is butt ugly)is that it represents everything that Malibu has been selling against for the last 10+ years. It is nothing more than Malibu coming to the realization that the number of people with the ability (or willingness) to spend $75 - $80K on a toy, is growing exponentially smaller. It cracks me up to even imagine that any inboard company has the balls to even market a "price point" boat, let alone one that you can't buy for less than $40K. Remember, for a BASE boat your at $39,995. Now add for shipping, plus dealer prep, plus, plus, plus. By the time you actually equip the boat the way you would like it, you blink and you're at $46K, now pay your taxes and registration fees; oops, your price point boat has now passed the $50K mark. Wow what a steal!! There are so many good deals right now on new, non-current inventory, I wouldn't be surprised if you can't buy a new BU, MC, Centurion or CC pretty damn close to what the Axis would cost you. I fully believe that this is going to be less than a 5 year experiment that will eventually end up with Axis getting "absorbed" or "bought out" by Malibu so as to avoid any PR embarrassment. Doesn't it bother anyone that Malibu is keeping it's name (and reputation) as far away as possible from anything having to do with Axis. Nothing on the Axis website, nothing in the literature, nothing except for the occasional blog entry or discussion page. If this is something that Malibu is proud of, or something that they believe will change the industry, then why the hell would they distance themselves so much. It would add so much credence and credibility to the line if it was marketed as such, but then at that point they might as well scrap the Ride series. It is my firm belief that the "new owners" (i.e. venture capital company??) of Malibu wanted more of a return on their investment. New product lines and industry breakthroughs are the modus operandi (see MasterCraft Saltwater Series and CSX). I don't know, for me its more of a smoke and mirror act than anything else, and unfortunately I had held Malibu to a much higher standard.

still fugly and I still don't understand the windshield design. I mean seriously, has no one here been sprayed in the side of the face on a windy day with a regular windshield? I try not to be out in the wind but sometimes it happens and with that thing I'd be fricken soaked. Style over substance I guess, which IMO is NOT the way to go.

How would the axis look with an illusion X tower on it? Probably better, don't know about a titan I II or III on it though.

Malibu is doing a great job at diluting it's name brand... let's see Chevy, GM, Pontiac, Caddy, Buick, Oldsmobile... It's all the same stuff with a different name. Why not just have a Malibu price point boat, oh, wait! They do, it's the V-Ride! What the heck are thinking? I'm no manufacturing guru or Henry Ford or anything, but the amount of revenue that Axis takes in has to be offset by the expense of a new line of boats including molds, design, etc... Why not just keep selling a stripped down Malibu? What's the point? What's wrong with the V-Ride? You won't see CC or MC follow Malibu's lead on this because it's just plain stupid! CC sells the signature series already, but it's still a CC. After you buy a CC Signature series and you later want a blinged out boat you move up to another CC with either the Limited or Team packages...I know the majority owner at Malibu knows business, but what is he thinking?


(Message edited by wakeboardsam on January 28, 2009)

Modifying an existing mold and using existing fabrication and design equipment seems like it would keep the expense of the new boat down. Opening your brand to a new group of buyers at a relatively cheap cost to the builder seems smart to me.

Dollar says the powers at Malibu are thinking that they can open up their customers to a whole new segment that their boats previously did not address. Perhaps a V-ride doesn't have the space, ballast, look, whatever that a buyer wants. The X-Star was given a lot of crap when it first came out, once people realized it could toss up a monster of a wake some of the initial issues were set aside out of respect for what it does well.

Regardless, it's fun to see people get worked up over a new boat. I think Axis was smart to release this in the winter. Let the snowbound yahoos that are obsessed with their winterized boat stir themselves into a "I need sunshine" frenzy.

Poser, any leads brotha? Supposed to be 80 this weekend!

IMO, the are trying to recover some development costs. Just an idea and hopefully next year they will be able to lower the price again.

That black one that is posted is sick. That is a great looking boat.
I do want to give you all the same advise I gave a friend a few years ago about buying a boat. He asked if money were not an option, what boat would I buy. I told him that even in that case I would go out and ride behind all that I could. In my opinion the purchase should be about performance.

But I have to restate that the black Axis shown is an awesome looking boat and from what I hear & read, the wake is like the VLX which is a great selling point.

D (jumpthewake777) I can not agree with you more!!!!

Price point wakeboard boat is an oxymoron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron). As an owner of an X1 (2007), I inquired about the ads MC ran on the $39,995 X1 boat. The dealer(s) all rolled their eyes when I mentioned it because the ad campaign ended up biting them in the butt.

You want a trailer? Add $
You want tandem axle? Add $$
You want racks? Add $
You want spinner racks? Upgrade the tower and add $$$$
You want a stereo? Add $
You want a nice stereo? Add $$
You want tower speakers and amp? Add $$$
You want a cover? Add $
You want rear ballast? Add $
You want center ballast? Add $
You want speed control? Add $
Mirror? Add $

And the list goes on.

All of a sudden, the $39,995 turned into $55K - real fast. So when the dealer showed you $55K, you are ticked off. They wasted their time and ticked tire kickers off at the same time.

(Message edited by bob_l on January 30, 2009)

i see what your saying bob, but the $40,000 includes trailer, ballast (yes, front and rear), and speed control. all three of those are the most exspensive on the "list". the other stuff you can get for pretty cheap. so to me, this is a price point boat....

Bob that $46K inlcuded everything shown, trailer, racks, sub, tower speakers, amps, etc...

Bob that $46K included everything shown, trailer, racks, sub, tower speakers, amps, etc...

If that includes ballast/trailer/rack/stereo/speed control then that is not a bad deal at all. The nickel and dime stuff MC did with the X1 ticked some people off.

I hit the Knoxville boat show this past weekend and they had one Axis there. It was black an a very pimped out boat. The dealer encouraged us to climb all over it and check everything out. There is a ton of room, I'm 6'2" and stretched out in the bow with no problem. A lot of storage and very comfortable. I think the new windshield design is going to catch on, at least it should. I sat in the drivers seat and could see how convenient it would be to reach out and grab the dock, another boat or talk to the rider. Without having to get out of the seat.

This boat was getting a lot of looks and with Malibu behind it, any "new boat worries" should be left behind. I look forward to trying out the wake. Go to a boat show or dealer and check one out.