Looking to buy my first wakeboat

Hello all. New to the board.

I am currently shopping for my first wakeboat and was looking for help. My current boat is a 2012 Yamaha ar190. Love the boat but want something more geared for wake-surfing and other water sports. I'm happy with everything else about my 19 foot boat other than water sport capability and it only being rated for 8 people. I'm really looking for a boat that can do it all as I do a lot of recreational (nonwater sport) boating on weekends with water sports on weekday evenings.

I'm looking for something around $40,000. Really want a 21-22 foot boat. Something somewhat modern. Plug in ballast tanks (sick of doing the bags) I looked at an 07 vlx wakesetter. Was ok with the size wise but really disappointed with the storage space. Has less storage then my 19foot Yamaha with the space the ballast tanks take up. I'm leaning more towards a mastercraft x15 but I haven't been in one yet (seem kind of rare). These boats seem like they can do it all, ski wakeboard wakesurf which would be idle. They also have a lot of storage and seating space from what I heard. Do I have any other options that will give me everything in a 21-22foot boat? I don't want to pass over anything I hadn't been looking at.

Get a 23' boat. 10 people on a 23 footer is packed....even though it's rated for 16.

Also, unless your getting a G or something similar your storage space = your ballast space.

Frankly, surfing is to much of a pain in the butt to really enjoy. Once you have 3800 lbs of lead and water you can get a good wave but at the cost of a low speed tractor prop and all your storage space.

Anywho....get a 23 footer

MB= factory sub floor ballast, 580's under the seats, rear storage and observer seat and front seats all still have storage. Add a surf device and boom. Best boat for family use and surfing and boarding!

Another vote for 23' .... you'll be glad you did.

I would look for:
Wakesetter LSV
X-30 / X-45
Super Air 230
MB Tomcat / B52 23V
Epic if you can find a nice used one without the 8.1l
Axis A22 or T23
Moomba Mobius XLV
Super 24v

I would look into a Centurion Avalanche or Enzo SV230 if you want something surf oriented. Either can be found in the price range you're looking for and both will make a great surf wake.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need thousands of pounds of ballast to surf and have fun. I get that as watersports people we always want more. It is not necessary though. If you find the right boat, you can get away with 500lbs on one side all day. We do it all the time. If you need more, either your boat doesn't surf very well, your board doesn't surf very well, or you don't surf very well. I think a lot of people have lost sight keeping things simple.

That being said, I run around almost exclusively in Tiges. My 22i, a friend with a 21v, and another with a 22ve. There is never more the 500 on the surf side of any of them and we surf them every time out all day long. I have been behind topazsurfer's Tige 22v with somewhere around 4k in ballast and it's fully legit but I would never want to deal with that much ballast. Sure, it's amazing but for a normal boating family it's just not realistic nor is it necessary to just go out and have fun.

I should clarify. I am looking for something 22feet or smaller for weight as I would be near the weight limit of my tow vehicle. I don't want to drive a larger vehicle around just for towing the boat and don't want to deal with another vehicle.

I can take a look at the avalanche again. A lot of the ones I have seen in my area were older and well below what I was looking to spend.

Stretch your budget a little and pick this up. Tons of storage, 10 people is no problem, 22.5 ft, fantastic residual values the list goes on.
http://www.onlyinboards.com/2012-Moo...ine-63220.aspx

I know supra/moomba has stepped up their game up lately. just can't see throwing done 50 for one

OP - I made the switch from a Yamaha SX210 to an MB F22 last year. The Yamaha was 100% reliable for the 4 years I owned it and was a good all around family fun boat. That said, I couldn't be happier with my new boat and am glad I made the change. Aside from having a lower top speed than my Yamaha, I find my MB to be more enjoyable in every other way. In terms of watersports, there's just no comparison. I will not talk bad about the Yamaha, but for my family in my opinion our new boat ride/drives/sounds/coves/is built better than our Yamaha....of course that is also reflected in the difference in price. The one thing I miss about the Yammie is the ability to back in close to the beach and get in and out over the platform without ever getting more than knee deep in the water.

With your budget and restriction I would really consider a Moomba.
Very great deal and bang for the buck.
If you wanna go 21, 22 it's really ok haha.. people here really like too extrapolate don't really know why..
Don't forget it's your first boat! And most of first boat are moomba's simply because it's not expensive, well built, simple and good overall boat.
Should avoid wakesetter or mastercraft. Just because they are good and expensive boat so you can have better deal and newer boat for the same price.
MB is a great choice too, really good boat. But Yamaha I'm not a big fan.
Avoid old Tigé too, too much electronic.
And for your concern i have a '13 chevy avalanche And no trouble towing my 2016 Tigé z3 ! I think the tow limit of our truck is 7 000pounds..

Don't discredit the older Tige's (I am sure to get beat up for this), especially if you are planning to surf. For whatever reason, I am guessing something in the hull design - maybe the "ConvexV Hull" - the Tiges tend to surf well. We had newer boats for a while ('13 Tige Z1 followed by a '14 G23) and finally got tired of the payments. Did some research, wanting to stick around $35K so we could buy it outright and found a nice '07 Tige 22Ve. It already had upgraded ballast, so we just filled the side and front and surfed it. There had been ALOT of issue with Tige's SpeedSet, however another Tige Owner has built a replacement electrical panel for this and sells it for about $250. We didn't have any issue with ours, but I did buy the panel so that if we have an issue I can fix it same day. Here is a link to the thread about the SpeedSet replacement
http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...light=speedset

In addition to that, we added a NauticLaugic GPS adapter to give the old boat a GPS speed control upgrade. Whatever you get, I would highly suggest this upgrade over using the paddlewheel. Here is there info
http://www.nauticlaugic.com/

I would also suggest looking at the Centurions. I think everyone knows that their hulls with the DeepV design will put out a good wave. I am not familiar with their older line up, but hop on CenturionCrew.com forum and do some searches or ask around. They seem to be a very good group over there and quite helpful. The first time I was introduced to wakesurfing was behind a 2007 Centurion.

I just looked back and see that you are from MN (I am in the St. Cloud area). Check out Faction Marine (up in Alex), they have a 2005 Centurion that may fall into your price or they just took in a really nice Supreme 226. Jason and James have a reputation for being GREAT guys and will take the time to actually help you set up the boat and take you out to make sure you are familiar with how everything functions. I would seriously suggest giving these guys a call:
https://www.factionmarine.com/used-boats

As mentioned, MB seems to be well received for surfing, however their dealer network is lacking in several areas. I for one would like to see this change over time. I think they would do much better in the marketplace if they had a stronger dealer network.

Do you homework, check out some of the brand forums and keep in mind that each forum is going to have one form or another of "brand goggles" on. Hopefully you can get some good dealers/owners to take you out and demo the boat to let you see what it can do. If needed, invest in a pump and some ballast bags, that way you can add ballast if needed to see what kind of wake it can put out. Most likely you could then use those bags in a plumbed in ballast system in your new to you boat. If you find yourself looking at an older Tige, I would be happy to meet up and give you a run behind our boat...its not perfect, and I am sure it is not perfectly dialed in, but it would give you an idea...but seriously, contact Faction!

Good luck and enjoy the search!

Really great post from dandy haha and that beat up part !
I'm a tigeowners too, but I had few issues with old tige's.. and costy so maybe not my first choice if I had to buy a 10years used boat.

But Tigé was, are and always be the top1 surf boat, they are built for wakesurfing (surely gonna get beat up for that haha)

Beside! I don't know if you had noticed but since 6months people who was bashing Tigé are less violent haha. I used to keep my mouth shut here in wakeworld because I own a z1 and love Tigé but I've noticed that people seems to accept a little bit more haha finally

Totally true MB dealer are lacking in location and that's exactly why I turned out from them.

I had a 98 tige 2200v that I used for 7-8 yrs before I sold it last summer. Great boat with a very versatile wake. Any older boat is going to require more maintenance and fixing though.

Tiges get a bad rap because they are sensitive side to side, don't have the best low speed wake and are sometimes approaching nautique when it comes to pricing. Personally, I love my Z3...but I got a great deal on it. If we were talking a few thousand $$ difference I'm sure I'd have a GS22.

But, the good news is that they do build a nice boat and great deals pop up. Do not be afraid of older Tiges if the price is right and it's well taken care of.

Definitely talk to James over at Faction. It would be worth buying a boat from him just to have him surf behind it. There's only a handful of people in the world that are in the same echelon as him when it comes to wakesurfing. Also a real nice guy with a good head on his shoulders. Also grew up riding behind a Tige 23v.

Originally Posted by fence_sence

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need thousands of pounds of ballast to surf and have fun. I get that as watersports people we always want more. It is not necessary though. If you find the right boat, you can get away with 500lbs on one side all day. We do it all the time. If you need more, either your boat doesn't surf very well, your board doesn't surf very well, or you don't surf very well. I think a lot of people have lost sight keeping things simple.

That being said, I run around almost exclusively in Tiges. My 22i, a friend with a 21v, and another with a 22ve. There is never more the 500 on the surf side of any of them and we surf them every time out all day long. I have been behind topazsurfer's Tige 22v with somewhere around 4k in ballast and it's fully legit but I would never want to deal with that much ballast. Sure, it's amazing but for a normal boating family it's just not realistic nor is it necessary to just go out and have fun.

Love the 22v and other Tige's. A couple of my buddies run them and they are fine surf boats. However, your ballast statement is balderdash. 500lbs will not cut it in many boats. There are a bunch of factors and oftentimes it's hull shape and crew size are the most important.

My Enzo has 1500 lbs per side and it has a world class wake. The same quality of wake can't be achieved with a mere 500lbs of ballast. That much weight may allow a child or a small woman to go wireless. Everyone else would be screwed.

I never said 500 would produce a world-class wake in any boat. I said 500 can produce a perfectly surfable wake. If you believe it can't, at least in an older tige, you're sorely mistaken. Like I said, we do it all the time. Actually, my two close friends with the 21v and the 22ve only run 400s on each side. The 21v is new to the group as of last year and we're gearing up to plumb a system in but he's just keeping the 400s for now. The ve is mostly just a Tahoe cruiser and he's never done a damn thing to it since he bought it new. However, I have surfed it many times with no problem. Are they world-class wakes with that paltry amount of ballast? Not even. Is it possible to go out and have fun? 100% yes.

To the OP, sorry for the hijack.

I wouldn't over look a Tige for a good all around family surf machine. They're very well built. They are easy to surf on basic ballast and if you really want to tinker with it, it can be great. They're good on gas. Good storage. The 21v is kinda low on freeboard but 22v is much deeper. The early-ish ones are easy to work on. There's a great forum community with a lot of really knowledgeable folks (not me) who are always willing answer questions. Like they say, "If it has **** or wheels, you'll have trouble with it."

If it we're me, I'd be looking for a clean, unmolested 21v or 22v that I could make my own. No ballast, no tower, no stereo, no PP. Straight grandpa boat. 30hrs p/yr booze cruiser. Drop the left overs on modern ballast, FAE, Samson Razor, PP, stereo, and a new board.

If you just want to one and done it, I'd look for a 22ve with an FAE on it. It should have some sort of workable system. Just about any factory system of that era is ready to be replaced with newer, better equipment.

2007-2008 Nautique 210

As new as you can afford Ski Centurion Avalanche

Ok so a 2010 axis popped up for sale around me. I'm looking to either pull the trigger on an 06 mastercraft X15 or the 2010 axis A22. I'll primarily wakesurf but night ski and wakeboard as well. Both seem to be about the same size and layout. Thoughts?

You should surf them both if that's going to be their primary function.