2007 Rumors...

[VinRLX]

Surely you must be joking. I heard you answer to anything. Man, I picked a bad day to stop huffing gas fumes.

[doughickey]

Doug & others,

Maybe your experiences are what make you say that, but there are those of us out there that are just a little more conscientious with our "Suburbans-on-the-water" than you describe. Please don't lump us in with the Wally's out there. FWIW, I've seen enough dumb@sses out there in every type of boat (yes, including ski boats) that I've come to the conclusion that no one group has the monopoly on stupidity or lack of manners.

Tracie et al: My response in this thread (2007 rumors and the fact that the 247 is following a trend towards bigger and bigger) obviously hits a sensitive spot. Yes, there are selfish and irresponsible folks in every sport, in every business, in every vehicle, in every boat.

I'm not saying skiing is "better" than boarding. I'm also not saying that all wakeboard folks are selfish, and that all ski boaters are model citizens.

There are, however, a couple of simple facts.

1/ On the water, a 500+ watt stereo system (the latest trend in large wakeboard boats with towers and mega speaker systems) gets heard (sound travels VERY far over water) by everyone within a 1/2+ mile radius. The folks in the boat and the person behind the boat may think this is wonderful..... but the fact remains, everyone on the lake may not want to hear that choice and volume of music. For folks to "force" others to put up with their (wonderful or not) sound of music is simply.... selfish, by definition.

If riders want to get pumped with music to help their ride.... go get the latest waterproof MP3 players advertised by Parks..... and let the rest of the lake enjoy whatever sounds they want to hear.

2/ Wakes: Regardless how "responsible" a wakeboard driver is the fact remains, the hole they make in the lake is huge and travels for miles until it hits the shore. Those huge wakes eventually affect the entire lakefront......so any boats moored at docks feel it. Erosion. Environment. Etc etc etc. Bigger the boat.... the bigger the effect. The simple fact is that Suburban's at low speeds with fatsacks and a dozen people have a much greater affect on every mile of shoreline vs a boat with a 2" wake.

So..... take 2 very courtious and responsible boat drivers and their boats. Put them on the same lake. Let them run their boats far from other boaters. One is a 20' skiboat at 35 mph. The other a 24' wakeboard boat with full tanks, a dozen people, and 18 mph. Tell me they have the same affect on the shoreline and other people. No way. Tell me that the boaters who think they are being courtious have polled every property owner along the shore and asked how they feel about the sound/wake action. Don't think so.

What am I missing?

Edited May 21, 2006 by doughickey

[VinRLX]

What am I missing?

The thrill of wakeboarding. People want to enjoy the sport. The responsible ones take steps to be courteous and don't see harm in what they are doing. The irresponsible and selfish ones don't care about any ill effects. The exponential growth of this sport will result in increased regulation, mark my words. And, unfortunately, ski boats will be guilty by association.

[TTUWATERSKI]

This thread has totally digressed....

Is this RLXV just a rumor or is there some real information about its potential release?

To make it truly cross functional it needs to have an option for internal ballast, front and rear. A higher freeboard would help for wakeboarding purposes. The nose gets very low when weighted and requires an attentive driver to keep the water out.

Some one made the comment that an RLXV would just be a more expensive Vride. When I priced the Vride at the dealer it was quite a bit more than the RLXI with similar options that we ultimately purchased. V drives seem to experience a mysterious markup.

Edited May 22, 2006 by TTUWATERSKI

[doughickey]

My apology for the hijack.

[Mbrown]

What am I missing?

The thrill of wakeboarding. People want to enjoy the sport. The responsible ones take steps to be courteous and don't see harm in what they are doing. The irresponsible and selfish ones don't care about any ill effects. The exponential growth of this sport will result in increased regulation, mark my words. And, unfortunately, ski boats will be guilty by association.

No Doubt. Skiers better understand that all their hate could ultimately be turned into division then on to elimination of all boats from precious lakes with vulnerable shorelines. There are plenty of people who want internal combustion removed completely from lakes. If you keep getting upset over wakeboarders just remember they may be standing next to you at some public hearing that will determine whether you get that building permit or boating allowance for your favorite home lake. And besides is 500 watts that bad? That would only run my tower speakers, barely.

As far as rumours did any one hear about the employees of Malibu trying to buy out Bob Alkema. I heard for 125 mil, which was the same price that some outside investors offered for the company. MC I heard was offered a price for their company as well, several old Brunswick folks and some guys from Crutchfield the stereo company. Can you believe the stereo systems that could end up in X-stars in the future. Not kidding, but curious.

[BlastRlxi]

I think many skiers are more worried that the public hearing you mention will occur because of insensitive wakeboarders and their big wakes and loud stereos. Then they will ask the skiers to stand up beside them and defend them because of the "we're all in this together" argument.

As far as Malibu being bought out by a larger company, I sure hope not. Usually, when a large company comes in and buys out a smaller but well established one like Malibu, the quality of the product and the service goes way down. Look what happened to Harley Davidson when they were bought out years ago. It took them a long time to recover their image.

[RoverOn]

What am I missing?

Maybe the fact that the wakes put out by even the biggest surf machine are smaller and at a smaller frequency that the waves produced by a more common wind storm.

Secondly, if the home owners did not remove all the natural vegitation from the shoreline and replace it with sand or groomed grass, maybe they would have natural protection from a wake.

Finally, depending on the size of the lake, the wake put out by a wake boat is MUCH smaller that of the cruisers running just under plane...

I would bet that it could NOT be proven that a wake boat would lead to any incremental erosion unless you happened to live in a place with no wind.

How bout we start talking about what the lake shore home owners have done to the lakes overr the past 50 years with nitrogen fertilizers and not controlling run-off??????

Dave

PS...didn't even mention ice heave on northern lakes.

[GoldschlagerVT]

Maybe the fact that the wakes put out by even the biggest surf machine are smaller and at a smaller frequency that the waves produced by a more common wind storm.

Secondly, if the home owners did not remove all the natural vegitation from the shoreline and replace it with sand or groomed grass, maybe they would have natural protection from a wake.

Finally, depending on the size of the lake, the wake put out by a wake boat is MUCH smaller that of the cruisers running just under plane...

I would bet that it could NOT be proven that a wake boat would lead to any incremental erosion unless you happened to live in a place with no wind.

How bout we start talking about what the lake shore home owners have done to the lakes overr the past 50 years with nitrogen fertilizers and not controlling run-off??????

Dave

PS...didn't even mention ice heave on northern lakes.

On a larger lake, yes. But on smaller lakes, that are more fingers and stuff, you don't have wind storms generating 2ft waves. We have a house on the water, with a dock, and boat going by slowly will put out a much bigger wake than any wind storm we've had.

2nd, vegetation doesn't grow at the waterline. If you remove it from well above the waterline, then yea, you're asking for your bank to fall in. But it's the bigger waves that make that area around the waterline where vegetation won't grow even bigger, thus more erosion.

Your comment on cruisers is valid, but like above, many many many smaller lakes do not have cruisers driving around.

I know our lake has rules about what you are allowed to use on your lawn. Plus, if you live on a lake, you usually dont' need to. Put a good sprinkler system in, that draws from the lake, and you have an unlimited amount of water to put on your lawn, and it all runs back into the lake.

Having said this, I don't think it's the wakeboard boats that area a problem. The waves that are usually the biggest are from guys whipping around at full speed to pick up a fallen rider. When you put these boats on their side and whip around, they dig deep into the water and throw a huge roller. Also, if you look at the good wakeboarding boats, they don't need to have a HUGE wake. Just a very nice looking/shaped wake.

Being on the Easy coast, the surfing craze hasn't picked up like it has on the east coast, so we dont' really have a problem with this. But I've seen the wake kicked up by boats going slow by our dock. It's huge, I can only imagine someone who's trying to get a big wake. They'd put it up over the top of a lot of docks.

[LXIONE]

I found this webpage : Says That They will show a 20' sunscape in 2007 on the Tri State Recreational boat Show!!!!!

Look at the Attendee Information

www.rocklandexpo.com/boat-show-exposition.htmT

Edited May 22, 2006 by LXIONE

[1FootDan]

I heard, from a very reputable source, that they were going to make a 247 surfing edition. Its going to have a blown big block 8.1 with dry exhaust (thats supposed to be louder then a 747 on take off). Its going to come stock with 4000 lbs of ballast, and a 360 degree stereo on the tower featuring 8 horns, flashing lights, and a PA system. The surf wake is rumored to be over 6' tall and can easily knocks boats off of their lifts...unfortunetly for us that live here in the US we will not be seeing this boat. It is a Canada special only

AH CRAP!! Please bring back the Sportster!!!

[1FootDan]

I found this webpage : Says That They will show a 20' sunscape in 2007 on the Tri State Recreational boat Show!!!!!

Look at the Attendee Information

www.rocklandexpo.com/boat-show-exposition.htmT

Here is the correct link http://www.rocklandexpo.com/boat-show-exposition.htm

[Mbrown]

I think many skiers are more worried that the public hearing you mention will occur because of insensitive wakeboarders and their big wakes and loud stereos. Then they will ask the skiers to stand up beside them and defend them because of the "we're all in this together" argument.

As far as Malibu being bought out by a larger company, I sure hope not. Usually, when a large company comes in and buys out a smaller but well established one like Malibu, the quality of the product and the service goes way down. Look what happened to Harley Davidson when they were bought out years ago. It took them a long time to recover their image.

As I stated it's running gas burning engines in drinking water reservoirs that could end boating not wakes and stereos. Stereos can be regulated by noise ordinances, wakes have been regulated in some lakes by ordinances, boats have been flat banned from water because of pollution problems. And that is where we're "in this together". Besides if everyone liked Snoop would the stereo really be a problem? Free Tookie

[bigD]

I'm just catching up and had a question or comment really,

People still ski? LOL!

J/K

[stusumm]

I'm just catching up and had a question or comment really,

People still ski? LOL!

J/K