X2 vs 211 vs X30 vs 226

[TerryProII]

Just discovered this forum last night (for 4 hours of reading). Great group of folks. We're making a final decision this weekend. Can't wait.

We're down to our final 4 boats. MC X-2, CC 211, MC X-30, and CC 226. Use will be slalom, wakeboard, surf as well as family cruising (thus the primary reason for spending the extra bucks on the 30 or 226). I skiied competitively in the 70's, kids wakeboard with friends. Have 32 nieces and nephews (and more on the way), many with no experience, so boat will get a lot of learning how to ski/board/surf experience.

I'm assuming that the larger boats will be smoother riding than the smaller and that likely within each mfr will provide a larger (and better?) wake for boarding and surfing. Smaller boats will likely have better slalom wakes.

Any thoughts anyone has, particularly if you've been behind 2 or more of these would be greatly appreciated. From reading various comments on here it sound's like CC has a bit of an overall edge in terms of slalom, boarding, and overall build quality. Two people mentioned the MC's as having a bit of a nasty curl at the top of the wake for boarding that could be particularly troublesome for newbies. Also several comments that the wake on the CC's could be bigger (extra sacs are really needed in this boat) but otherwise not bad.

Thanks,

[holdsworth]

i've ridden behind all of them, but in all different water so it's hard to tell. we have an '03 x-30 and i love it (my dad doesnt though, but he's 6'2" 230 and likes to ski and barefoot). it has a lot of interior space and has a great wake. without the ballast, it has a decent ski wake. i've tought a couple people to board behind it as well and they did pretty well with the wake. we tought a 6 year old and he handled it very well at the low speeds.

the x-2 is a nice boat, but if you have that many people going with you, it gets a little tight. the wake on it is good, but it sucks when you're riding in 5 feet of water i knew it was good in deeper water though.

i would tell you more about the 211 and 226 but i don't have much experience with the nautiques. i rode behind and in them at tournaments, but i can't remember much about them. they have really good wakes and ride well, but i never have liked the interior of a nautique. just not my style.

[TerryProII]

Thanks. Yeah, I think the interior of the Nautiques is kinda different because of what they did for the walk-thru transom. Gain the walk-thru but loose a couple of people seats. Was your dad's complaints about the 30 that the wake was too big compared to direct drives?

[Erik]

The X-30 is an absolutely beautiful, and well designed boat. But the 211 is a popular, versatile, less expensive, and very well supported (for a loooooong time due to how many they've sold) boat with a solid future. So if I were you I'd narrow it down to those two. Little shy about the 226 right now as I am not sure about it's long-term place in the CC lineup, but it too is a good boat.

I simply dislike the X2.

[scott a]

Well that explains the lack of goo in their towers.

[BSBell]

I use to have a 211 and the wake with the ballast tanks full was pretty amazing, especially for a cross over boat, I also like to slalom but you really have to haul ass (33-36mph) to get the wake to flatten out enough to where you dont get airborn when crossing it.

The 211 is more of a wakeboard both than it is a ski boat. The only reason I got rid of it was I want to hold more people.

[TerryProII]

BSBell, what boat did you get to replace your 211? How does it compare for slalom, wakeboard, surfing? Other amenities?

Thanks,

[TerryProII]

Some Impressions from test runs, each w/ 4 of us and 1 sales person.

X-2: Slalom was difficult due to big wake. Couldn't cross the wake without getting airborne. This X-2 did not have the trim plate so not sure how much diff that makes. Sales rep didn't seem to want to make too many promises about how much it would smooth things out. Wakeboarding was pretty good with all of the ballasts full. A bit of a lip on the top of the wakes but didn't seem to be an issue. Emptied Port, added 500lbs Fatsac to Starboard and surfing was good. Overall ride was very smooth.

211: Best of the 4 boats for slalom. Still nothing like a 196, but doable. Very surprised how much difference their hydro-gate made. We were split on wakeboarding with some liking the X-2 better and some the 211. Wakebaording was all with factory ballast (625lbs?) The 211 seemingly has a bitter wake but maybe not as steep. Maybe it depends on style. Emptied a ballast, added 350lbs of Fatsac to the other side and surfing was pretty good. About the same as X-2. Overall ride was about same smoothness as X-2 though handling of 211 seemed tighter. Zero-off blows Perfect Pass out of the water. We didn't seem to be as much on top of each other though not sure if this was boat or just circumstances. Bow is much more comfortable than X-2 because most people can stretch their legs out.

I thought the extra seating in the X-2 would be a big issue, but I can't imagine having more than 6 or 7 people at most in either boat when skiing. 5 was a lot. I think the wake on the X-2 was definately cut down on how often I'd want to slalom though it is doable to slalom behind it. My wife really likes the seating/storage of the 226 or X-15 or X-30, but I fear they might just about eliminate slaloming though the Nautique rep said that he'd bet the 226 would slalom better than any of the MC's including the X-2.

[Josh R]

[holdsworth]

is zero-off the gps edition of perfect pass? if so, do think about the situation if you are in a river of some sort or even wind resistance on the boat...the speed will be off. i disagree that it blows perfect pass out of the water because i'd rather have actual water speed, not actual ground speed.

also note that the new MFD on mastercrafts is pretty badass! but with the x-2, it is only a 20 foot long boat, compared to the x-30 being 23 foot with much more space for storage and a killer wake.

TerryProII, do you normally slalom through the course? or do you just do it for fun?

[BSBell]

[boarditup]

With the wake plate at 20%, the slalom wake is decent, but not great at 34 mph at 15 off in the slalom course. You have to adapt to it, but you can progress as a slalom skier behind it.

The X-2 wake with the plate is similar to the 211. Neither will be a 196 or 197, but you don't have the elephant in the living room, either.

The X-2 does make the turn in a 200-foot wide lake at 30 mph with a slalom skier in tow. I have not driven the 211 in my lake, so I cannot comment.

[Josh R]

I haven't owned one, but I've spent a solid week trailering one around and filming behind one, as well as using one for a chase boat for the same amount of time on another occasion. We had to work real hard to get a decent enough wake out of it.

To be honest it's one of my most disliked boats, I really hated the layout and lack of freeboard, along with a bunch of other little things that made it an un-enjoyable place to be.

[scott a]

Josh R, keep in mind that BSBell also thinks that you don't need 2000lbs over stock to get a nice wake out of a boat.

[Ralph]

[TerryProII]

Does the X-2 do significantly better wakes than the 211? How do the 226 and X-15 or X-30 compare wake wise? I'd assume any of the 3 larger boats would blow the tips off the smaller ones?

[TerryProII]

Here's how we've rated them on a 1-5 scale with 5 being good but not necessarily a 196 slalom or X-star wakeboard. Slalom was 15 off @ 32mph.

Slalom:
211 - 4
X-2 - 3
226 - 3
X-15 - 2.5
X-30 - 2.2

Wakeboard:
211 - 3.5
x-2 - 3.5
226 - 4
X-15 - 4
X-30 - 4.2

Accurate?

[Paul W]

The 05 or older X30 had a ok slalom wake, had one for 4 years. If you added an extra600 to 800 lbs the wakeboard wake was good. I have the XStar now and love the Wakeboard wake. Very nice long ramp with no kick at the top, it just launches you into the air. I have only skied behind it 2x in 2 years. Not a slalom boat.
Use the X15 last year for a weekend. A lot of room inside and a nice wakeboard wake. I did not ski behind it though.

[Erik]

[TerryProII]

[boarditup]

The obvious best choice is to demo the boats - especially with an owner that you can spend a full day or several days with.

The X-2 has a wake that some people hate, but a lot of people like. After having ridden behind most of the MC, Malibu, and CC boats, I bought the X-2 as an all-around family boat. It is not the best at any particular sport, but it does quite well at what is important to my family. We even use it for show skiing because it can pull almost all of the acts - except the very large pyramid acts.

The 211 and the 20' Malibu V-drive were both close seconds. I have an outstanding relationship with Action Watersports so the MC was the obvious choice.

Get you family out on the various boats.

[BSBell]

[scott a]

[ohdoor]

I rode behind an X-30 quite a bit this past weekend and wasn't a fan at all. The wake seemed incredibly wide even at 23mph and anything below 20mph or so it would start washing out (full ballast + several people). It was also very rampy which is something I'm just not used to at all and after riding behind it several times didn't think I ever could get used to it. The friend who owns the boat kills behind it though so it could just be me .

[TerryProII]

All, thanks for all of your input. We went with an '08 211 team edition. It had the best slalom of any of the boats we looked at. Getting any better wakeboard or surf or room required significant reduction in slalom capability. Got a couple of fatsaks to add to the stock ballast that I'm hoping to integrate into the overflow instead of manually filling them.

Thought the 11 people limit in the X-2 would be good for it, but in reality you can fit 9 people more comfortably in a 211 than in either the X-2 or VTX so that became a non-issue from a family standpoint. Larger boats were very tempting for 'lets go for a ride in the boat' but they all pretty much eliminate enjoyable slalom.

Removable rear seat to free up space in 211 is very handy when it's just 3 or 4 skiing or riding. Can't do that in the X-2. Minnesota law enforcement also has a thing about life jackets ALL being out where they can easily be reached and tripped over so stuffing them under the open space under the rear seat is a good solution so no effective loss of storage.

In the end the X-2 and VTX/VLX provided no real benefits to us over the 211 but the 211 had the best slalom wake. Wife thinks 211 is lacking in storage, but with the in-floor ski locker I'm not so sure. X-2 can easily integrate sacs into the overflow and I'm not yet sure if the 211 can so may have to stick with manual.

Thanks again for everyone's input. Now back to the Tour De France on Versus.

[BSBell]

[Erik]

Congratulations and I think you did smart research and went with the right boat given your needs and the needs of your big family. Now we need pics of this beauty.