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Boat decisions


Dunski

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I know we are on a Malibu forum and we have been long term Malibu owners but would like your thoughts on a couple boats.  We purchased a used 21 LX about a decade ago.  A lot has changed and we don't fit as well in our beloved little ski boat as we use too, so we are looking to upgrade.  Obviously because of the price points, I started my search with the Axis and Mastercraft NXT line.   My wife doesn't care for the Axis styling and booted the idea almost immediately. We we're drawn to the size of the NXT22.  Unfortunately we were a little underwhelmed with its interior. So we just spent some time back at the Malibu dealer.  I was headed to view the 21 VLX but once again I received a veto from the wife for its size considering the money we will be spending.  She absolutely loved the 22VLX.  We haven't test driven one yet but I feel, now the price point has increased, I would like to also evaluate the Mastercraft XT22.  Would love to hear your thoughts on the performance of each.  I have surfed but nothing intense as our boat was not really inteded for it.  Both my wife and I wakeboard and I still enjoy slalom skiing. I don't plan to stop that, so we aren't looking for a dedicated surf boat but I think our growing family would really enjoy getting into the rapidly growing sport.  Thanks in advance! 

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Can't speak to the Mastercraft but as far as the 22VLX goes, I cant say enough great things about the boat!  We are approaching 60 hours and the boat has been nothing but awsome.  The fit and finish are great, the performance top notch and the surf and wakeboard wake are easy to set up and nothing but fun!  I wouldn't hesitate to go the VLX route.   

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How many in your crew?  Since you mention you enjoy slalom, have you considered the VTX?  It's shorter at 20' but still feels really big inside due to the width.  It'll ski better than anything else in Malibu's V-drive line, and with where they priced the 21 VLX, you might be able to find a bunch of these floating around at dealerships here at the end of the year for a song.  It feels like the 21 VLX ate a bunch of the VTX's market with its price/performance ratio.

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We also LOVE our 22VLX!  At least for us it is a great combo of size (the 102" beam make a surprising difference) and capability.   We are now addicted to surfing.   

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Submit your requests for info or pics now, I'll be on a 15'vlx tomorrow.

i don't ski, (except for shredding Norris behind a G this year) but the wake and wave of the VLX is solid. 

Coming from a DD you will love the space and storage.  

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If I were new boat shopping 22vlx 23lsv xt22 xt23 would all be on my "need to demo" list.  

If space is that important can you do a 23lsv?  I'd rather have a gently used malibu than a new axis.  

The 22vlx wakeboard wake is legit. That's the only boat in this thread I've ridden. 

 

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I thought the VTX would be a great option but my wife, and I do agree,  wants a larger boat.  We aren't a big group.  We have 2 young daughters but we usually have my Dad in tow as well.  Our guess is in the next few years our girls will start bringing friends.  We don't tend to buy and sell things quickly, so I believe the VTX will quickly become to small.  I'm excited to get behind some soon to see what's like behind a bigger boat.  I usually ski no slower than 36, so I'm hopeful that I don't complain too much.   

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I've done the 22vlx, owned the 23LSV, and spent a week on a 25lsv.

my buddy has a 14'x30 . I really like the fit am finish of the mastercraft boats, tip of the cap to MC. But I do prefer the Surfgate wave. I wish BU would do reversalble pumps in their ballast system.

22vlx is solid, but I prefer the room and slightly larger size of the 23. 

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We should head back and view the 23lsv too I guess.  I was just basing the others we viewed off of the manufacturer's websites still saying they produced a slalom wake.  

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Like Edwin said above, test drive/ski/surf them all. I dont think Malibu's interiors can be beat. There's a couple 23lsv's that roam our lake. I haven't skied behind them. But they surf, barefoot, ski, wakeboard them. Works of art.

Best of luck in your search,

Steve B.

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Big fan of my 22VLX.  If I were to do it over I would go 23LSV because their wasn't much of a price difference.  I bought the 22 because I thought it would fit in my garage.

I am in no hurry to trade it in for a 23LSV.. I am happy with it.

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I figured none of these bigger boats were great for slalom, especially on course.  Just looking for acceptable considering the added sports. 

We also store our boat at home in the garage.  I need to get some detailed deminsions to see if the 23lsv is an option. I hate to kick the truck outside.  We live in Austin TX.  Basically anything left outside turns to sh$t in a couple short years.   I am amazed to see the extent of the sun damage to boats in our area.  Especially after the money people drop to purchase them.  Would make me cringe.  

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When I asked the sales person about the wake vrs diamond hull and he advised us to go wake.  His response was the diamond hull only slightly increases the ski wake while dramatically reducing the surf wave.  Where the wake hull dramatically increase the surf wave while slightly worsening the ski wake.  Would you guys concur with his advise?

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No no no to the nxt. It’s not even comparable, I’d look for an older Malibu over that. 

I surfed a loaded out 22vlx last week and boy oh boy was I blown away by the wave.

just be prepared to kiss your ski wave goodbye, manufactures say you can get both but you really can’t get both at the same level.

Edited by Cole2001
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6 hours ago, Dunski said:

When I asked the sales person about the wake vrs diamond hull and he advised us to go wake.  His response was the diamond hull only slightly increases the ski wake while dramatically reducing the surf wave.  Where the wake hull dramatically increase the surf wave while slightly worsening the ski wake.  Would you guys concur with his advise?

I had a 21 VLX with the Diamond and loved that boat. Went with a 2016 VLX with the wake for resale. Never bonded with the boat and it porpoised way to easy. When selling it in my area everyone wanted the diamond. Bought a 2017 LSV with the Diamond. Handles better at speed with zero porpiosing even with the aft tanks full. Slalom wake is better than the VLX and can't tell any difference in the surfing wake from a LSV wake hull. Boarding wake looks great but have not compared. 

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7 hours ago, Dunski said:

I figured none of these bigger boats were great for slalom, especially on course.  Just looking for acceptable considering the added sports. 

We also store our boat at home in the garage.  I need to get some detailed deminsions to see if the 23lsv is an option. I hate to kick the truck outside.  We live in Austin TX.  Basically anything left outside turns to sh$t in a couple short years.   I am amazed to see the extent of the sun damage to boats in our area.  Especially after the money people drop to purchase them.  Would make me cringe.  

We may have just found your limiting factor. If you're storing this in your existing garage be sure and measure the door opening as well.  

We plan to build a detached 23lsv sized garage in the future. My boat is nowhere near fitting in my attached garage. So it's outside during the summer and we pay for indoor winter storage. I don't have texas sun though.  

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7 hours ago, Dunski said:

When I asked the sales person about the wake vrs diamond hull and he advised us to go wake.  His response was the diamond hull only slightly increases the ski wake while dramatically reducing the surf wave.  Where the wake hull dramatically increase the surf wave while slightly worsening the ski wake.  Would you guys concur with his advise?

That is the exact opposite opinion of what I see expressed most.  The boats weigh so much that the diamond hull doesn't really make much of a difference, especially at surf speeds.  Keep in mind that lift increased squared with velocity.  So if you double the speed of the boat, the affect of a lifting mechanism will be quadrupled.  So you ski at approximately 3 times the speed as you surf.  That means the benefit of the diamond hull for skiing would be about 9 times greater than the detriment to surfing.  That said......4300 pounds is a lot to push through water, so the boat isn't going to be very good for skiing.

 

That said, I love our 22VLX.  3 kids in my family, and we often have some other friends, as well.  I would personally rather be skiing than anything else, but the whole family thing wins, so for my family, the VLX is a great boat.

 

I'm curious to know which Axis you looked at that had your wife veto immediately?  The A series boats are not all that graceful looking (I had an A22, I'm not knocking them, just saying II can see diverging opinions on it).  If it is the lines in the gelcoat, play around wiht it on the boat builder, maybe even do a solid boat.  My A22 was solid dark blue, and it was freakin' sharp.  

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^What 67King said^

There was a lot of discussion on this a couple years ago and the overwhelming informed buyer and dealer conclusions upon trying them back to back was that the Diamond didn't effect the surf wave.  At speed the difference in the hull wouldn't show an effect until >24-25 mph was achieved iirc.

I'd start taking the opinions of that salesperson with a heavy amount of doubt now after a statement like that. 

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Gavin17,  our garage is tadem in the middle bay.  It gives me about 38 feet deep and 10 feet wide.   Did you have trouble getting in the 7 ft door opening or was it the depth?  I haven't done close measuring on the boats yet.  Just the generic length posted.  Will the 23LSV collapsed fit in a 7 ft opening?  Sales guy told us the 22VLX should buy couldn't provide me with measurements. 

67King & Slurpee.  Thanks for the great intel on the hulls.  That's why I always come to this site for information.  It's been great help over the years.  

I do agree on the size for the family.  I love to ski but the total happiness outweighs the perfect ski wake.  Just want something doable.  I'm not ready to retire the stick yet.  

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I had a 15 A22 and a couple slalom jockeys were really surprised at how well it worked.  I had my A22 for 2 years and never had a problem with the boat.  loved it. surfed the heck out of it.   probly 8000 lbs when surfing.

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I just got a 2017 mxz I have son and daughter and they usually bring a friend so we love the room mxz has. It's has a great surf wave but the ski wave is on the large size. This is my first Malibu I have owned two TIGE we loved those boats but we got into surfing and Malibu has the best surf wave. They drink ALOT more gas and I wish they had ride leveling tabs but other than that 👍🏻🏄

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Update.  After another visit to the dealership, we found that none of the line up fits in our 7' opening.  21vlx was roughly 7'4".  It was the smallest and the largest was the 2018 23lsv 7'10"(at least the boats we viewed). So...looks like we are going to modify the garage to a 9' door.  Should open up room for anything with the tower collapsed.  We are set up to test drive the 2018 23LSV and the 22VLX.  For starters the re-design for the LSV was awesome.  The storage they created with the deeper boat looks amazing.  Plus a few new features that caught our eye. He says they will offer a 3' extension for the Bimini.  For those with kids I think this is huge.   I asked if they will update the 22VLX to match the new 23LSV.  He said probably in 2019.  So next summer.  This might be a little rediculous but I hate to buy the last year of a design.  Slightly date the boat 12 months after purchase.  We will see.  I'll try and throw up a review once we've demoed both. Last thing.  This dealer also said they sell 98% wake hulls.  He advised against the diamond.  The info I've received on this thread seems reasonable.   I'm not sure what to think.  We went to two different Malibu dealers.  

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