On Saturday I got a chance to see and ride the 2018 Fi23. This boat is a new design that incorporates the technology from the Ri models at a lower price point. It has less freeboard and can't carry quite as much weight as the Ri models but is an awesome boat that fits exactly what I'm looking for.
Jerry from Centurion along with their pro-rider Travis took 4 of us out for a couple hours of surfing and demo. The boat was pre-production so some of the details weren't fully finished but it was complete from a performance standpoint. And wow did it perform. Some notable impressions:
Loved the interior and overall size of the boat. The bow is super roomy and so it the main cockpit. Unlike some 23' boats I've been in it didn't feel too big. I've got an 08 Xstar and while it was definitely bigger inside, it wasn't overwhelming like say the Ri237 or G23 which feel huge by comparison. I also liked the lower freeboard. It felt like being in a boat rather than a vessel. Its a great looking boat, relatively sleek compared to most of the competition. And while it has lower freeboard we never took any water over the bow or stern and there were a couple of other boats surfing in the same cove. We were running ~5000# ballast between the ram fill and sacs.
This was my first time surfing a Centurion and it didn't disappoint. The wave was big and long with picture perfect curl. While I was surfing they kept telling me to go farther back and it took some time to get used to that. Its remarkable how far back the wave goes and still has push. The video I posted is of Travis and it gives a good Idea of the wave but its bigger in real life. Travis is a big guy (6'+).
Jerry said this boat as equipped with most of the options you'd want is ~$110k MSRP. It has ram fill, plug and play, down fire stereo and very nice clamping board racks. The engine is a 450 hp 6.2 and according to Jerry gets excellent fuel mileage.
Also worth mentioning is that a semi-pro-level wakeboarder I know took a set behind it and said it had a great wakeboard wake and he is a die-hard Malibu guy.
Many thanks to Jerry and Centurion for the fun demo. This is now at the top of my list as my next boat.
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