Any 2011 Epic 21V Owners Yet?

Looking for some input, as I'm currently looking at one. Thoughts? Pro's, con's, complaints, things you love? Pic's of cool features?

Thanks in advance for any help...

I didn't try it yet but it will happens soon when the ice get off. I already saw one and and feels big for a 21 foot.... the 210 looks like a toy next to it! There is not so much differences beetween the 23v and the 21v.... I can wait to see the result in the water!

Awesome boat Fred. Congrats, hoping for a heat wave for you!

The one I'm looking at has the JL speakers across the back and in the cockpit. I would prefer WS, but it will due for now. Just means I'd get to design a new system in the future.

Do you know anything about the onboard camera? This one supposedly has one, but I can't seem to find much info on it. I don't see a screen anywhere and I have yet to see one with it. No details anywhere on the net so far, but I'm still looking.

Keep it coming guys.

No more full loaded standard boat, everything comes in options!

Originally Posted by boardnxtx

Awesome boat Fred. Congrats, hoping for a heat wave for you!

The one I'm looking at has the JL speakers across the back and in the cockpit. I would prefer WS, but it will due for now. Just means I'd get to design a new system in the future.

Do you know anything about the onboard camera? This one supposedly has one, but I can't seem to find much info on it. I don't see a screen anywhere and I have yet to see one with it. No details anywhere on the net so far, but I'm still looking.

Keep it coming guys.

What? I would take JL over wetsounds all day every day, did you hear that JL system yet?

Not yet. My 07 VLX was decked to the T in WS, and I loved it. I'm not going to give up on JL just yet. It would be a while before any changes were made either way. I may end up loving the JL. Who knows.

One thing I'm disappointed about is the ballast in the 2011 21V's. Only 1200lbs. Website states 3200lbs, but that is supposedly only on 2012's. I don't get why they are waiting till 2012 to nearly triple the ballast in this boat. Epic's have been known for a long time to have a ton of factory ballast, so this is a bit disappointing. I'm becoming an old fart, so it may not really matter, but it's definitely something to consider. I don't like the idea of having to bring out sac's when I'm ready to surf.

Then again, can you pass up on an incredible deal bc of ballast? Still making that decision.

The wake is very good on the 21v with the 1200lbs, You will be happy.

You are probably right. It's funny though because every website that is listing these 2011 21V's is making a rep that it has 3200lbs of ballast. I have an email straight from the factory to my dealer confirming that the boat has 1200lbs, so not sure why they are still being sold like that.

The one you see on the pics has 3200lbs...

... it's suppose to be!!!

Ya, I thought so at first as well, then the bomb was dropped. I'm not sure if there are a few different phases of the 2011's, and they started small and moved up as they progressed. I would try and confirm.

This email was from November 2010 from the factory to my dealer:

"here's the specs, preliminary but close, we will be sending out the final specs and prices soon. only diff is that the current 21v's are more like 1500 lbs ballast, zero off gps speed control is standard, bimini is included, cover is included"

I guess they ended up closer to 1200lbs from what I've been told. Again, this is just going off of what I have read and received from the dealer. I wish there was a way to confirm.

Some of the epics coming out of the factory might be 2012's

Ya, but I'm just trying to confirm whether or not all true 2011's come with 1200 or 3200lbs of ballast. Everywhere I see them advertised as 3200lbs, so not sure if they made some with 1200 and some with 3200, or all of them are 1200. I just emailed the factory to see what they say. I'll report back.

Wow, fast response from the factory. His response: Early 2011's have 1200 to 1500lbs, and they found a way to rework the system and bump up to 3200lbs on the 2011's built later in the year. So, it is very possible for a boat to have one or the other, depending on when it was manufactured. I would definitely check each boat individually. I am awaiting spec's on the one I am looking at.

Do you know if they have worked on any off the issues of the 23 in the 21? Wake symmetry and twitchyness, spray off the nose?

No clue. I'm not 100% aware of all of the issues the old 23 footers have. Partially why I started this thread. Looking for as much info up front as possible. I'll let you guys know what else I find out.

In the meantime, any additional pro's/con's are helpful.

The issues I noticed with the epic is the following:
To keep the wake clean you need to add an extra 500 pounds to the front + factory front fill & 3/4 in one rear tank 1/4 in the other, then run at 25-26mph.
That means when you are stationary the boat noticeably leans to one side.
While both wakes are mostly clean with set up, left and right sides are slightly different shape.
Any slight shift in passenger weight will cause a fluffy lip. The boat reminds me a lot of the SAN220 which has similar issues with finicky wake when loaded. Both these boats are long and skinny and tend to have a steep wake, when the gods align the wakes are awesome but a lot of the time you are chasing the perfect setup for consistent wake performance.
The nose sits pretty low with this much weight in the front and due to the slab sided design in the front when you come off the plane the spray shoots up quite high and into the boat if there is any breeze.
I don't want to blow these issues out of proportion but for someone who is fussy about wake set up it would put me off buying one. I also find it annoying that you have 4000 pounds of ballast but can't use it all due to hull design.

Chance - I think you will like the JL's. My buddy has an '07 with the 7.7" JL's and it is so freakin loud with unbelievable clarity. I have been very impressed with the JL's. It even looks impressive when it's not in the boat.

I'm sure they are great, but still haven't heard them yet. I found out the boat I'm looking at is in TX (not Louisiana like I thought) and close enough for me to go look at. But, I'm awaiting on confirmation of exactly where it is so I can run out there Saturday morning and check it out. Trying to wait patiently, but I may be moving on if I don't hear something soon...

Your profile says that you are in Dallas...the factory isn't that far from you, it's in Vivian, LA which is just north of Shreveport. You should just order one and then go and watch it be made!

I was planning on going to the factory this weekend until I found out the boat was in TX and only an hour away. I am willing to make the journey to the place I think the boat is at, but I don't want to guess and be wrong, and have to drive back without seeing the boat. This boat has already been built and is a little cheaper than a custom new build. I'm not looking to go overboard and was never even planning on buying new, until I came across this good deal. We'll see, hoping I hear from them today or tomorrow.

I also spoke to the Houston Epic dealer and I must say, that is the first and last time I will ever contact them, no matter if I am right in front of their shop and have a major issue. The salesman I spoke to was a complete a-hole and was more worried about quizzing me than answering my questions about the Epics they had in stock. I really hate dealing with crappy dealers. You would figure that they want to earn your business, not turn someone away because of their terrible attitude.