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Is This The Future?


minnmarker

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If not THE FUTURE it's certainly going to have an impact on wake sports and inboard water sport boat design and marketing.

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I think they had 4 different sizes with surf gates and forward I/O drive at the show, and an additional 2 or 3 models with the 3 tab system (like Moomba) and forward I/O drives at lower price points.  This was the smallest model with surf gates.

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This is the 227 at $84K.  Length includes the platform so its really equivalent to at 21 foot inboard.  The biggest one was 27 feet (25 foot equivalent) and I think ??? it was about $160K.  That was with a head, small bar, and more storage space than I've ever seen in a boat that size.  All of them had single huge midship ballast bags.  The one in the 227 looked like 2000+ lbs - just guessing based on comparing it to my 1100 bags.  No idea about the one in the 27 footer but the compartment was huge.

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Edited by minnmarker
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I too am fresh out of the boat show, in Kansas City, and saw that same boat you have pictured. Pretty crazy looking but great evolution as the industry demands. Another manufacturer that I had never looked at is Centurion, their style is a little too busy for me but they have some pretty cool ideas. The Ram fill is a legit idea, coming from a guy that has to manually fill fat sacks. My father though still has a rough time with the idea of filling our boats with water.. similar to a person that thinks jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is a bad idea....:lol: The video says new for 2014, but I hadn't heard of it so I figured I'd share.

 

 

 

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The future of what, the I/O market? Sure, that's part of their future.

The future of the tow boat/wake surf market? Sure, part of that too.

It's certainly not a replacement for inboards, and there will be market crossover like there always has. Both drive systems and boat designs still have their pros and cons, and both will survive. V-drives will still have more consistent pulling power and hold speed better while towing, and I/Os will still be more efficient for cruising. These forward drives certainly negate the shallow water capability that I/Os had in the past though. All of this has been through the discussion wringer here before.

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1 hour ago, minnmarker said:

This is the 227 at $84K.  Length includes the platform so its really equivalent to at 21 foot inboard.  The biggest one was 27 feet (25 foot equivalent) and I think ??? it was about $160K.  That was with a head, small bar, and more storage space than I've ever seen in a boat that size.  All of them had single huge midship ballast bags.  The one in the 227 looked like 2000+ lbs - just guessing based on comparing it to my 1100 bags.  No idea about the one in the 27 footer but the compartment was huge.

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I guess you get all the extra niceties you mention for that price, and that may sway some significant others, but these are costing every bit as much as the expensive tow boats we all love here. And I still don't want a head on my boat unless there are beds too.

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Haven't surfed one, but friend who has says the surf wave disappeared when they turned the boat in any direction (think that might have been a pre surf gate model).  Problem here is that the lake is shallow around the docks.  One of the first ones sold here has already been back in the shop with the lower unit torn off.  Trailering is very difficult (requires special trailer and a lot of caution).  Inside storage in the marina's here is unworkable because the prop sits so far forward.  All in all, not sure why you would go for this boat instead of a similarly priced or lower priced Axis, unless you were on a huge lake and needed the rough water performance.

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8 hours ago, NWBU said:

What were the prices like for those boats?

Price wise,  if all else is equal, an I/O should cost more than an inboard.  It's a more sophisticated/complex drive system the crude inboard system.

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1 hour ago, MadMan said:

Why is this?

Torque.  The gearing is different. You have a large prop with serious torque equals major pulling power.  Tow boats lose in speed races to nearly anything though. An I/O with a V8 can be a screamer.  

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8 minutes ago, ejj said:

Torque.  The gearing is different. You have a large prop with serious torque equals major pulling power.  Tow boats lose in speed races to nearly anything though. An I/O with a V8 can be a screamer.  

I just checked and the gear ratios available are 1.95:1, 2.14:1, 2.32:1, seems like plenty of torque multiplication.

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Ive been really watching these... My lake is big, it gets rough. If I could get a good surf wave out of something like this, and be able to get around on the big part of the lake with less stress I might do it. 

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13 minutes ago, RyanB said:

I spoke with the Regal dealer regarding their "surfboat".  He quoted me $110,000 for their 25' boat.  So, that seems pretty much on par with a 23LSV.

And some 25lsv  I have seen! With a G4.. 

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9 minutes ago, Levi900RR said:

Ive been really watching these... My lake is big, it gets rough. If I could get a good surf wave out of something like this, and be able to get around on the big part of the lake with less stress I might do it. 

Dealer I spoke with said, "it is a good wake" but won't replace the real thing for the hardcore groups.  He pitched it as adding utility to an otherwise limited use boat.  He feels it will push casual boaters into watersports and hopefully then they jump into a Bu'.  Malibu was smart, I have said it since the beginning.  Go after the people who a) are on too big a lake for a wakeboat or b) don't want to make the jump into a "towboat" to get them hooked on surfing and then have them look to a towboat.  

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1 minute ago, BadgerBoater55 said:

Dealer I spoke with said, "it is a good wake" but won't replace the real thing for the hardcore groups.  He pitched it as adding utility to an otherwise limited use boat.  He feels it will push casual boaters into watersports and hopefully then they jump into a Bu'.  Malibu was smart, I have said it since the beginning.  Go after the people who a) are on too big a lake for a wakeboat or b) don't want to make the jump into a "towboat" to get them hooked on surfing and then have them look to a towboat.  

And take in some side dough while their at it! 

The next phase of surf boats will be 120" beams.. and tons more weight.. I can see a 108-110" beam stepping stone...  But it needs to happen soon.. the room would sell it alone.. 

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2 minutes ago, The Hulk said:

And take in some side dough while their at it! 

The next phase of surf boats will be 120" beams.. and tons more weight.. I can see a 108-110" beam stepping stone...  But it needs to happen soon.. the room would sell it alone.. 

I can't see wider beams as being much of a thing.  At least not where I live.  Nearly impossible to trailer.

Perhaps it is regional, but everywhere I have ever been, it seems like the vast majority of individuals trailer.  At least part of the time.

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Coming from one of the fishing capitals of the world we see tons of oversize aluminum fishing and crew boats all the time. They just have a custom trailer and a wide load sign. It would all depend on the market area for the buyers. Most likely there won't be a big enough demand for it to be worth while. 

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I took this exact same picture on Saturday.

The boat was nice, but definitely not something we were interested in. I had a Malibu shirt on and the first words out of the reps mouth was "you ready to trade that for a Chapparal shirt?" They haven't had one out and tested surf gate yet, so they didn't have a lot of info on the surf wave or personal experience.

I agree with the poster above that they will definitely get more people into water sports, but I don't see many inboard owners making the change.

 

Edited by MikeDe
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