Boat comparisons

[svt_gEEk]

Ok guys, since my time on these forums I've seen numerous arguments and questions on the subject of towers, inboards, I/O's, outboards, wakeboarding specific boats, etc....and whether or not you need or whether or not these things make a huge difference.

First off, I would like to point out that a wakeboarding specific boat DOES make a huge difference. Is it going to make you as good as the pros?...no. Here's the difference from my perspective. I've ridden behind almost every type of boat......bass boat(outboard), 19' sea ray I/O, 21' Caravelle I/O, 19' Larson I/O, 22' Ebbtide I/O with Tower, 2 different sea doo's...one with adjustable trim and one without, and today I got my first experience behind a Mastercraft X-2. Now let me break these down for you.

waverunner with auto trim - teeny tiny wake, extremely hard to get up behind, when edging the pwc tends to move around and the driver has to compensate by turning the opposite way. You can wakeboard behind this and is great for beginners due to the small wake, but will not be able do big tricks...obviously.

waverunner with manual trim - same deal here except the wake can be cleaned up and made slightly bigger. Still wont' be able to do much as far as big air tricks are concerned.

bass boat - still hard to get up behind but a little easier. Much larger wake which will allow you to do some tricks. The one I road behind had alot of trouble keeping a steady speed so I had to edge out and wait till the speed was in my comfort zone to do anything. Also not a very clean wake.

I/O's with no tower - no easier than the bass boat to get up but most do hold speed extremely well compared to the bass boat. Depending on the lenght and weight in the boat, the wake is larger than the bass boat but still has problems with white wash depending on the boat. You can do some tricks and go wake to wake....can be fairly difficult on some.

I/O's with Tower - The 22' Ebbtide I rode behind had a steep wake and it was pretty clean at the length I was riding at about 21mph. The tower made alot of difference though. Getting up was effortless, no more downward pull while I was in the air causing me to tip forward sometimes, much more lift created when popping off of the wake. Very good setup and has room for ballast which would make it even better.

Now for the Mastercraft X-2
What can I say, it was a Mastercraft......I never dreamed it would be that much of a difference. Some people on this forum had me believing there wasnt much at all but I would like to take this moment to say don't let these people fool you. The wake was clean and had a defined crest, the shape was perfect, not too steep, not too flat, also nice and solid feel. This wake combined with the tower made for a great experience. Getting up behind this boat was also effortless. I will now never be satisfied with anything less, this boat has ruined me....I'll wakeboard behind what I can get a pull on, but no I/O will ever live up to greatness of the Mastercraft.

I am by no stretch of the imagination good at wakeboarding. I've went wake to wake behind a waverunner a few times and got a few grabs in. I landed on top of the Mastercraft wake a couple of times but never wake to wake because I was scared to hit it as hard as I should have. I have never went wake to wake behind an I/O...once again, because I'm scared of the wake, I'm gruadually getting farther and farther out there...I hope next week I will be clearing the wake completely. So this is coming from a newbie. I'm sure some big tricks can and have been done by many people behind I/O's, but I guarantee those people can do alot more behind a Mastercraft X-2 with 1500 pounds of ballast. Take this how you want to, like I said I'm no expert but I have ridden behind a variety of boats.

[pooser]

nice post


***star***
this would make a good sticky.

[Blake]

svt_gEEk, I thought you had problems going wake to wake anyways... Am I wrong? People are saying their isnt a difference between a i/o and a true inboard, but rather stating for most it wouldnt matter. An I/O with ballast of any kind and a tower can take you pretty far. I ride behind both an I/O and a SAN and naturally the Nautique does better, way better, but most noob riders can handle an I/O for well over 5 years before they should need anything of that calibur.Good post though, it was a joy to read.

And for the record, you dont have to edge out far at all on any true wakeboard boat with filled balast... 10 feet out, cut in and that should easily boot you wake to wake with about 6 or so feet of air!

[svt_gEEk]

I do have trouble going wake to wake, but it's not because of my form...it's because i'm scared to hit the wake as hard as I need to. I can go wake to wake behind a wave runner and I landed on top of the wake behind the Mastercraft. Like I said, I'm no expert, but the towers definately do help and the wake that the mastercraft puts out is perfect in every way and sends you skying without much effort. I just wanted to explain the difference that I felt being a noob. Yes, you are right, a noob doesn't need any of this because they won't be doing anything that requires huge air. But it does make a huge difference.

[Blindside_137]

yea, i just wish i had the opportunity to wakeboard behind a wake specific boat because i know i would be much better. when im older im making money, moving to a lake, getting a nice centurion, and really start enjoying the sport.

but for now i have to settle with a sea ray, but atleast i can wakeboard and have fun...

[svt_gEEk]

Yeah, maybe one day I will be able to afford a Mastercraft or something similar, but for now I can have fun wakeboarding behind anything. I just got lucky this weekend and saw some guys that were boarding behind their X2 and they were nice enough to let us get a few rides in.

[wakeagu]

hey, i have a 150 hp OUTBOARD with a tower and i can almost do backrolls (enuff height, not good edging) 360's and stuff, and i know people that can do tantrums with 180 or roll to reverts with shittier boats. So dont get things mixed up people, you DONT need a wakeboard boat to start, in fact sometimes is even better to start with a "shitty" boat coz u need to REALLY get the edging and standing tall to get good height.... Then, move to a wake board boat, (luckily in 2 years) and then SHAZAAAM!!!

[Blindside_137]

wakeagu, i agree

the size of a wake from a wakeboat would probably be very intimidating to a beginner. but getting comfortable edging behind an outboard then moving to a wakeboat, they would feel much happier

[Ian_82]

i completely agree with pretty much everything you said. i am in the same boat (no pun intended) as you.

i learned to ride behind a '04 Yamaha Waverunner 800XLT and fell in love. this was what i ride behind the *most*.



also, i have ridden behind this boat:



it threw a decent wake, but was pretty washy, and wide as all hell. not the funnest to ride behind, but in a bind, it worked fine.

then one day i was at the beach chillin, havin some brews, and i noticed this boat trolling the shore with one person in it:



a 2002 Sanger. as it turned out, the driver was one of my good buddies cousin. i called up Johny_WA and he came out, we hopped in the boat, and picked up some other people. it was heaven.

it wasnt till the 3rd time out or so with it, i actually got comfortable enough to charge the wake hard enough to clear it. once i even made it all the way to the flats. i just carved out, and yelled at myself "just f-ing do it pu--y!" and it seemed to amp me up enough i guess.

heres a little wake comparison:

the waverunner: (on a choppy day, lol)



then the Sanger:



i dont have a pic of the chapparell boat wake on this comp, sorry.

[svt_gEEk]

Yeah, I wasn't trying to say you need to start on a wakeboard boat. It's actually probably best to start behind an I/O with a small wake or a waverunner. This way you will learn correct edging and not be as intimidated by the wake. If you can find an outboard that keeps it's speed very well it would work just as good. But if you have trouble getting up, find a boat with a tower, it makes a ton of difference getting up.

[Fast351]

I own a 19' Glastron with a Monster Tower. My coworker who I ski with 3x/week has an X7. Both of us can get serious air behind either boat and have no problems going W2W. His boat was almost double the price of mine new, and is a much truer "wakeboard" boat, but the Glastron works just fine.

Differences:

Can't wakesurf behind the I/O because of the lower unit.
Need a little more water for the I/O. (I need about 4' to run safe, he only needs about 3)
Takes a hair longer to pull a skier out using the I/O, because it has 220 HP and the X7 has 310.
With the fatsacks full, the X7 has a bigger wake. Looking to rectify that with fatsacks myself in the I/O.
The I/O you have to play with the trim to get a perfect wake, the X7 is always right.
The I/O has a slightly harder time maintaining the same speed which makes it a pain for a newbie driver, but once you're used to it it's fine.

All and all, just small differences between the two. As far as the riding experience, I like either boat and have no strong preference for either one. Of course I saved almost $20K.

[surfersarah]

i rode behind an x-star and its spoiled me now!!

[phantom268]

Great post! I grew up skiing on the water behind a very old 70hp outboard runabout. As i got older I practically had to abandon the sport cause it wouldn't pull me up, but then luckily kneeboarding and wakeboarding hit the scene and I could somewhat get up riding those. And I've boarded behind all kinds of boats from bass boats, I/Os, slalom oriented inboards and now wakeboard inboards. I think outboards and I/Os can be great to start learning on, even up to some fairly advanced moves depending on the boat. In my experience the inboards just make it so much nicer or easier. The little things that go a LONG way like HOLDING SPEED, wake shape, tower, pulling boarders outta the water, and stuff like that. I've dreamed of owning an inboard for 1/2 my life and just about a month ago I finally did it and couldn't be happier. I went out with some friends on their I/O a few days ago and had a blast, but forgot what a nightmare trying to hold a steady speed on one of those things can be. We were either going way too slow or way too fast, but it actually had a pretty solid wake which surprised me for just an 18ft boat with no ballast. Basically I say if you love boarding, then its good experience to try a variety of boats and enjoy it no matter what is pulling you. Here is a pic of our new toy.

[Oasis137]

I normally ride behind my 4 winns and the wake is kinda washy on one side. Yesterday i rode behind a mastercraft x-9 and it was amazing. The wake shape and feel was perfect and jumping the wake was so easy. Wakeboard specific boats are amazing.

[Blake]

svt_gEEk, I know what you mean man... I know with the school I teach at, students that are used to their i/o's at home hate the super air their first rides... The wake is just pure steep... I have found that new riders who dont really know what the hell is going on, eat it up. Many of the local students sign up for multiple camps so they can just ride behind the '05 SAN more... Again, its fun on whichever type of boat you are on... If you let it be fun that is. I know when my buddies and the ladies pile into my Sea Ray, the best times are had only going 5 feet in the air or watching the ladies and friends catching a bad edge and faceplanting.

[jayp]

I started last summer on a Prostar 190 without any ballast. Went in on an X2 in December and was wakeboarding in Februrary in a drysuit. It was night and day. The X2 with around 1600 lbs of ballast literaly beat the crap out of me. From what I was used to it was huge! I remember crossing the wake for the first time and thinking to myself "This wake is insane" I'm 5' 6" and it looked half my height. When I hit that wake for the first time it bucked me up, out and headfirst into the water. I got the crap beat out of me by that wake many times. I love it now and I still enjoy boarding behind boats with smaller wakes, but I love the X2.

An example of how different the wake can be. Just today we went boarding. Had a guy on the boat that could do tantrums and other inverts. He had never rode behind an X2. Mostly I/O's. First two times he hit the wake he lost it. His comment was something like "Man that wake kicks you up" . Once he got used to the wake he was landing some good tricks. He didn't learn behind a great wake but from what I can tell he really liked it. You don't need the greatest wake but it is nice.

From a beginners standpoint a large wake may be a bad thing. Last summer on the Prostar we had many people that came out and rode. This summer behind the X2 they come out once, get beat up on the wake and never come out again.

[Chad H]

Phantom,
Isn't that Honeycomb?

[LFevo138]

ive only ridden behind two boats, 93 four winns and and mastercraft x-9, obviosly i prefer the x-9 but like most people have said wakeboarding is wakeboarding and if your a noob like i am there is always something to work on, if you have a nice boat you can work on your pop and wake to wake if you have a seadoo, simple surface tricks like 180s and butterslides edging and ollieing

[phantom268]