2019 Axis A24 vs Moomba Makai
 

Looking for some general opinions of the Axis A24 vs the Moomba Makai. The good/the bad/the ugly

Boat will be used for surfing and wakeboarding regularly. With my ACL being torn last season and passing 40 I'm starting to think a lot more surfing will be more important in my future.

We have three kids so room to bring friends and entertain them is also important to us.

I have not been in either boat and plan to demo both at some point before making a decision.

Thanks in advance for any input.:)

Go demo them. The A24's wave is flipping amazing. Have not rode the Moombas, but it's a sick looking boat & I think the interior look's a lot nice than the Axis as well.

Oh they will both get a thorough demo, just looking for real world opinions.

The Makai is brand new and just started shipping this fall. I suspect very few have them yet so I don't think you are going to get a lot of opinions. You can jump on the moomba forums and you may find a few guys that have them.

Moomba throws a huge wave.

Interior seems nicer than axis as well. Better built. Axis did have superior wake until now. Makai is a player. A22 to mojo I think a22 all day.

I have a Makai with 35 hours on it. Absolute tank. Beautiful HUGE boat. Interior space galore. Out of the box? Not great. 4000# factory ballast is not close to enough. I am using WM upgraded rears (+600) and 1700# lead, and the wave kicks serious butt. Obviously that would make sense. I would say upgraded bags, 1000# lead, and a decent sized crew and you are running a top 5% wave. Also, IMHO, the 450 (460) 1.76 drivetrain is a must.

Haven’t run an A24. Been around one though. Build quality and interior to me tips majorly in the Moomba’s direction. I would guess the stock wave of the A24 is superior for sure. But conversely, I would also suspect the ceiling of the Moomba is higher.

Any videos or pictures of the wake?

I have been waiting for wake9 to post the full review on the Makai, but looking at his page it appears he has had bigger problems with fires.

PM me and I will text to you. Tapatalk and my phone photos don’t get along well.

I would go moomba just because it seems like a higher quality boat. I recently looked at both brands and the Axis left alot to be desired. Just didn't seem like a boat that would hold up before things would start falling apart. I am not knocking Axis, but it seems it was slapped together whereas the moomba quality especially on the interior was a step above. Both will be able to throw a great wave. The other thing to think about is surf gate. It works but you do have to fight the wheel a bit when its deployed. Can't really turn in the direction or side the gate is deployed. Both waves looked good but the moomba may need a little more weight, but upgrade those when you buy it and i don't see an issue.

Also not sure on motors—doesn’t Axis run GM still? Not sure if that’s a bad thing or not. The 460 I have with a 1.76 trans is crazy powerful. Pushes all that with ease. Damn near planes at surf weight. I am thoroughly impressed—I came from a 440/1.5 Supra SE and the difference is HUGE.

Axis uses a GM plant and Moomba is all raptor now. 6.2L 400, 440 and 575 (i think the 460 is also available)

IMO, none of them are bad motors. I would take any, but stock raptor 400 is 350hp with 407ft torque. Not sure what the GM 409 has for HP but torque is roughly the same. The monsoon 409 is hard to find info on HP.

Yes I have a 460 Makai. It comes with the 1.76 tranny which is a game changer for Moomba.

Something I will say regarding quality. We supply boats to many ski schools and I have been repeatedly blown away by how well Axis stands up. I'm in the UK so have nothing to gain by sharing this info, but I have Axis boats both on lakes and the ocean and you can throw 1000+ hours on one of them no worries.

I will admit the likes of Malibu, Nautique etc have a higher fit/finish but as a boat to use and have faith in you can absolutely count on the Axis.

This is a great comparison and can't wait to see the results. I think out of the box surf the Axis will win, BUT out of the box wakeboard I give to the Makai. With a little weight and time the Makai will trump the Axis surf IMO. The surf system on the Axis is great but fighting the steering all day long will get old very fast. The fit and finish I will also give to the Makai, Axis is nice and simple but very cheap looking.
Don't over look AUTOWAKE, it's a wonderful tool even for the seasoned driver.
There was a Makai in UT (6000') and the new motor and gearing was fantastic. Full ballast and jumped on plane, actually was surprised. If you have Facebook or IG I have a video somewhere running the Makai and also somebody throwing down on the stock wake. You have the option to throw the 575 in the Makai which is great but will place you into Supra pricing when it's time for an upgrade.

Attachment 44939

BTW: that Makai in the photo is sweet!

Since I have never owned a "surf" system boat. Fighting the boat all day doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Do they all work this way or is there a difference in the way the system works that makes one work better than the other?


I appreciate the input, build quality certainly will be very important to me.

Malibu/Axis surf comes out the side, Supra/Moomba come out the bottom. You get more of a crabbing action out of the Axis surf which I think makes it better out of the box surf. Moomba with the plates make a list type effect which usually takes more weight to achieve a higher level wake. I've been able to take any Moomba model (haven't rode the Makai) and was able to surf completely stock. Boat owners I think feel they have to have the biggest push and size to have a good time. Like wakeboarding, I rock stock and can throw all my tricks without a problem. Others want to load the **** out of it and jump wake to wake. Either surf or wake I think Autowake is a game changer of the sport. You really learn the system and it's addicting to use, watch and monitor.
Dealer support should also be a big factor. I can go on and on about a good dealer and bad dealer but I think you should feel this one out.
(Looks like I was miss informed and you can't get the 575 in the Makai.)

When it was launched you sure could get the 575 In it, has that changed?

No 575 option for the Makai. I think with the rush trying to get info out it was a mistake giving the impression of the 575 will be available. But really that motor and options your flirting with a SA or SL build price.

Good info, I'll make sure to pay close attention to this in the demos.

Good info here. I've surfed both and both will make a great wave. A24 out of the box is better but the Makai can easily get there with some added weight. A24 has a 2:1 gear ratio and 17" prop so at surf speeds its running a lower RPM than the Makai. Also, there is very little "fight" in the steering when driving the A24. Interior on the Makai is nicer, so is their dash interface. A24 has Power Wedge w/ lifting which is awesome, and I SurfBand is really really really fun.
Can't go wrong with either one, it just comes down to which boat & dealer do you like more.

Also, I can't agree more with brit_rider on Axis quality. My buddy has a 2014 T22 with 1100 hours, still running strong!

I have 16x16.25 prop on my Makai with the 1.76:1 tranny and 460. Full stock plus 2100# lead (not a typo) and crew of 4men surfed around 3700 rpm.

At more normal/sane weights it gets down in low 3000s. It’s a crazy good combo.

Great info! My experience driving a Malibu with the surf system was the 2017/2018 M235. I remember one side was ok but you still had to hold the wheel the whole time. The other side was just plane crazy how hard you had to hold on to keep straight. Maybe the A24 being bigger tracks better but the M235 was a hard pass surfing. Wake and wave we're LEGIT but not what I expected for high $100K boat to drive all day.

God forbid you have to actually steer your boat...

I don’t think that’s the implication here. Having a constant pull on the wheel isn’t ideal for anyone.

Remember when boat where small and we loaded them down with so much weight you actually had to know how to drive them. So you didn't dip the nose or heaven forbid you didn't have Perfect Pass.

A little pull to the left would bother me at all.

I do remember this. :D

^^ I still deal with it.lol. Most suckgates will pull your wheel over at surf speeds as well if you let go of it. Maybe not as easily if you have an old steering cable however. ha ha.

I still list (with a gate) and have to watch the bow dip so knowing how to drive is still very relevant. We don't all get to be 4' above the water like these new yachts.

Just because it was that way in the stone ages doesn’t make it preferable? We are talking about comparing expensive ass boats that still pull hard when surfing to the other expensive ass boats that don’t. And as an owner if one that doesn’t, it’s pretty damned nice to be truthful. Take your hand off the wheel to pull in the rope, to move a lead bag, to help a little kid that fell or dropped a toy. It’s amazing to do that and not go shooting off in one direction.

Doesn’t make anyone tougher, cooler, or more skilled to be able to handle a boat that pulls hard to one side. Or to be able to hold speed.

But you go!

^ this

Constant hard steering pull while surfing is annoying...... especially after you get used to driving a brand that doesn’t pull.

Bu should definitely do some future innovating on that issue....

its not that someone can't hold the wheel or drive a boat as you say, but its just not necessary unless your in a surf gate boat. Other boats surf and don't have that issue. I found it to be annoying especially when picking up a downed rider.

We all had your boat type most likely at one time. So we “know how to drive” as well. It really wasn’t that specialized of a skill set as I recall?

Jeez Dakota4ce give it up! I get it. I was poking fun. So serious!

2019 Axis A24 vs Moomba Makai
 

This is serious stuff BC. Serious stuff. Never EVER even hint you’re a better boat driver than another man. Off limits. You should know better.

And I will never give up. Never. I promised my jr high track coach I wouldn’t.

I can't say I've been in an Axis but there are a few on my lake. The one commonality I see is the driver standing up due to the extreme bow rise while surfing. I don't know if this is a setup issue or an issue with Axis in general.

Malibu and Axis boats benefit from having a dump truck in the bow while surfing. With PnP, and the wedge, they don’t have enough weight up front to compensate. The exception to this, is the 25LSV. That model seems fine without an additional bow bag on the seats up front.

Based on TMC posts, most everyone is running a 750-1000lb bow bag on top of the bow seats. It gets the nose down enough to see without bolstering up. It also lengthens out the wave substantially.

Sort of another thing that Malibu/Axis should have addressed by now.....

Exactly what we have to do on our 2017 23 LSV that we run in our crew. 750 on the seats and it becomes soooo much better.

Good hell you make a fine point there! With the Malibu/Axis surf deployed I couldn't turn the M235 at all. Owner said "turn the other way." What if you have to compensate for wind or something. I had to turn it off when coming off plane, at times forgot to deploy it again. I was sure this was a new boat, why wouldn't it auto retract coming off plane?

downfortheride, that is a great idea and I don't know why Malibu does not do this. I wish more boats used a surfgate style system to shape the wake but I suspect Malibu has some sort of patent on the technology. I also don't understand why they don't auto-retract. The Makai puts the surf tabs and center tab down to get the boat on plane faster and the tabs go back up (or to the programmed position) after launch. Axis/Malibu don't have that ability with surfgate and they should.

This is a great thread. Good discussion.

dakota4ce - what made you go with the Makai over another SE? The new SE looks absolutely awesome though it is extremely expensive. I may have just answered my own question. I'm in the market and not sure what direction I'm going to go. I love my 24' Supra launch (2009) which I purchased brand new for about 1/2 of what the new boats cost now. Need to decide if I'm going "budget", like the Makai, or to an SE. At 10 years old, the Makai blows away the features, fit, and finish of my Supra. Of course a new Makai costs about 3x the value of my 2009 Supra at this point.

First of all Malibu has STUPID strong patent protection on SurfGate and delayed convergence devices for making surf wakes. They have sued or have threatened to sue nearly everyone as I understand it. They locked that down big time.

IMHO, it’s not the best design, but that’s a matter of opinion and endless debate.

I got a Makai because the timing was ideal. My 2016 SE was in the zone for selling (new model coming) and the Makai offered a lot more goodies for a very modest incremental price over what my SE could fetch. So I did it. It’s a lot more boat—Autowake, 460/1.76, more ballast, more storage, wetsounds......blah blah blah.

It’s a hands down better boat than the previous generation SE I had. So it doesn’t land on me as a “budget” purchase—it was a big upgrade.

The new SE is sick sick sick. It’s price is too high for this move that I did from 2016 SE to Makai. It was a cash transaction—so the actual dollar difference mattered very literally to me!

Will there someday be an SE in my hoist....? I would say very possibly. Or a Tige ZX5. But for now, the Makai is a sick upgrade to my old one and it was an easy and financially feasible move. The timing was also key.

There’s maybe too much info for you, but how it all went down.

What is the cost of the Makai ? We did a demo of the one at the wake 9 polar bear. The dealer quoted us 110k If that is a real price why not spend a little more and up the game?

2019 Axis A24 vs Moomba Makai
 

They should be selling right around 100-105 I would think. With a 450.

Up what game in what regard? More touchscreens?

Just thinking at 110k you are in centurion range and could go with a ri237 or a fi25 for not much more $$

They do , 0! Problems turning my Axis and it drives straight as an arrow with gate deployed on either side as I can completely let go of the wheel while surfing, I do list heavy but that’s my experience , I spin the boat on way down off surf or riding plane with wheel hit and an immediate reverse , drive straight back to avoid my wave over the nose weighted down

With power wedge three in lift mode you can get a butt load of weight on plane for sick riding wakes made even bigger by deploying wedge to drag position

You should be able to purchase a well equipped Makai for very close to 100. For 100k as compared to competition at that price point, the value proposition is nearly unmatched. The boat is 24.5’ of massive and very well built.

However, of course $20k more opens a lot of doors. There would be tons of new choices at that point. Depends where you draw the line.