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Huntsville Boat Show; 22 MXZ / XT 22 / GS 22


gordon20mxz

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Went to the Huntsville Boat Show last weekend really excited to take a close look at the 22 MXZ.  I have a 2013 20 MXZ and I really like it a lot.  For a small boat, it seems to make a reasonable surf wave, although I know for me as 180-pound adult the pocket is not very long.  Also the 2013 is the first year of Surf Gate so the actuators are slow and there is really no way for my son to get to cross to the other side (I wouldn't be able to do it even with fast actuators!).  I've had a little desire to get into a boat with a slightly bigger cabin area, the 20 MXZ is small,  even though my usual crew is small, me, my wife, my son and a dog.  We have tested a 2016 22VLX and a 2016 Mastercraft X20.  And my feeling about either of those was just "so-so" and not worth the cost and the trouble of changing.

So I really wanted to see the new 22 MXZ where they have seemed to take some styling features from the M235.  The videos and the pictures on the internet look great.  Well, just being honest, when I saw it and sat in it I was not impressed with the interior, in fact, a little disappointed.  All of the cushions seem thinner, less deep and stiffer.  The angle between the backrest and the seat cushions seemed to be right at 90 degrees and the seat cushions don't have a very high thigh bolster area, so I thought it was a little difficult to feel like I was sitting comfortably.  It seems like all of the back cushions are squares that are straight and designed mainly to be easy to bolt on during the manufacturing process, not having ergonomics or comfort in mind.  The only cushion with any curves are the two front/angled cushions in the bow.  See the pictures.

Looking at the other boats there in the 22-foot class I looked at the Mastercraft XT 22 and the Nautique GS 22.

Regarding costs, these are some round numbers with the boats as they were at the show.

Rambo Marine 22 MXZ $115,000 without the trailer.

Skiers Marine MC XT 22 $110,000 WITH the trailer (standard analog dash).  No surfer controls (wristband)  to switch sides, MC does not offer it.

Russell Marine Nautique GS 22 $113,000 without the trailer. (with one engine size upgrade over the stock engine - ZR 6.0)

Dashboards and controls:

22 MXZ.  When I first tested the 22 VLX with the 2 touch screens and the analog control dial I was impressed.  But now I am thinking there are too many options and redundancy.  Two touchscreens, the analog control dial and then you can add the upgraded steering wheel.

GS 22.  I was really impressed with the single, low and to the right touch screen, and the Rotary Helm Dial.

XT 22.  The boat (XT 22) at the show did not have the new completely electronic dash.  But they did have it there in another model (X 23) where I saw it.  The new completely electronic dash on the Master Craft comes with a package that makes the upgrade cost $10,000.  Right now the center dash is basically just an LCD screen, it is not a touchscreen, but the dealer said it is already manufactured to be a touchscreen in the future.  I did not get a chance to play with the touchscreen controls on the big panel to the right.

I am going to look at them all again.  And I will test them this summer and get a feeling for the surf waves, although I am not great at judging the wave.  We do not care about big wakeboard wakes.

I have really loved the Malibu products, but I just have to say, to be honest, that the Mastercraft and the Nautique just looked WAY BETTER on the inside, to me.  I was really impressed with the fit and finish of the Nautique GS 22.

I am not trying to be negative on Malibu, I am just reporting my first impressions.  The difference was surprising to me.

I am not trying to start a surf wave comparison argument with this post.  I am sure there are some differences, but how much, who knows.  I think Mastercraft not having the ability of the surfer to switch sides is going to be an issue at some point.  I think they will need to add it.

Other thoughts from those who have made it to a boat show yet.

Gordon

22 MXZ.jpg

XT 22.jpg

GS 22.jpg

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As always, water test them... but I was not impressed by the GS22 wake or wave when I tested it last April/May. Could have been the setup (basically stock), but we actually cut the water test short because we had no intention of downgrading the wave from our current boat.  The fit/finish are nice, but not what we were most concerned with. 

The new MXZ (Gen 2) (we have Gen 1) has a good wake and wave.  I rode behind it a few times last year and was impressed with just the stock and plug in play.

I have not ridden the XT22.

 

Good luck!

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hunter,

Thanks for your comment.  That is good information.  The Mastercraft dealer told me that he sold a XT 23 to a person (I "kind of " know this person) out of his Birmingham location.  He said the guy tested a GS 22 and a XT 23 on the same day and the guy decided on the XT 23 almost immediately.  So your experience may be right on.  I am not in the market to purchase this year.  Maybe next year and maybe by that time Mastercraft will come up with some kind of surfer remote control.  That seems to be something they are lacking this year.

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I tested a Gs22 , owned a 210. We went with stock wake, I wish I would of brought sacs( I liked that it had sub floor ballast, but what is the point if you need to fill the storage with bags again), wave was terrible. I then tried the wake board wake, was not impressed. I would rather have a 210 than a gs22. We decided to look at a supra sa and then ended up with a supra sl. We paid around 118 k usd. I would of loved to try the Mxz as well looks like a sweet boat, but the dealer here wanted way to much for one.

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Shock,

Great comment, thanks.  You are someone else not impressed with the GS wake, interesting.  My Mastercraft dealer is also a Supra dealer, I haven't really even given those a look, but I guess I need to.

One thing that I do like about the Malibu boats is the tower and the bimini design.  The Malibu's have a lot of square footage of bimini in the cabin area for people to get out of the Sun.  The bimini is more equally distributed.  The Mastercraft and Nautique bimini tops seem to sit more forward on the boat.

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I’m not sure I’d put much thought into the surf remote effecting your decision...... well, not until they are actually reliable in the boats that have them. I have found it more of a downside to use a remote and have it not respond sometimes. 

Last I knew, Malibu and Tige were still having issues with signal reliability, and Nautique chose a watch platform that is no longer in business.... and they aren’t saying anything yet about even offering anything as a future alternative. 

I did have good luck with the single button smurf remote on my G, but would have rather had the full functionality of the watch features on a better watch that worked more reliably.

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On 1/17/2018 at 12:01 PM, gordon20mxz said:

hunter,

Thanks for your comment.  That is good information.  The Mastercraft dealer told me that he sold a XT 23 to a person (I "kind of " know this person) out of his Birmingham location.  He said the guy tested a GS 22 and a XT 23 on the same day and the guy decided on the XT 23 almost immediately.  So your experience may be right on.  I am not in the market to purchase this year.  Maybe next year and maybe by that time Mastercraft will come up with some kind of surfer remote control.  That seems to be something they are lacking this year.

I think if anyone compared a GS22 and the XT23 they would run out and buy the XT23 if they are looking for a surf boat.  Not similar boats.  The XT23 is more a pig style deep boat like the G23, M235 and the GS is a lower profile.  

On 1/17/2018 at 1:35 PM, gordon20mxz said:

Shock,

Great comment, thanks.  You are someone else not impressed with the GS wake, interesting.  My Mastercraft dealer is also a Supra dealer, I haven't really even given those a look, but I guess I need to.

One thing that I do like about the Malibu boats is the tower and the bimini design.  The Malibu's have a lot of square footage of bimini in the cabin area for people to get out of the Sun.  The bimini is more equally distributed.  The Mastercraft and Nautique bimini tops seem to sit more forward on the boat.

Looking carefully at the G series, the tower does not bend forward and the bimini gives plenty of shade for most of the passengers.  The tower is also placed more towards the rear of the boat to begin with.    The G series bimini is a home run for me.   It would not surprise me if the same cockpit area is shaded by the Malibu bimini, not any more.   An outfit from Salt Lake City called Sewlong makes a  Nautique bimini that does start a couple of feet back from the tower which would even cover those in the very back seat.

The Axis I looked at surprised me that the stock bimini only went forward from the tower, and the tower is mounted as far forward as possible, which is farther forward than most because of the lack of a side windshield.  That gives super great shade for the driver and that is pretty well it on the A24.  I would have to go aftermarket.  

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9 minutes ago, TallRedRider said:

Looking carefully at the G series, the tower does not bend forward and the bimini gives plenty of shade for most of the passengers.  The tower is also placed more towards the rear of the boat to begin with.    The G series bimini is a home run for me.   

When I was in the market last year, I was really, really wanting the Nautique to be a solid option.  The tower / bimini became the no go decision for me.  My challenge is that I need to drop the tower to raise my boat lift fully.  Because of the way the Nautique bimini folds, it requires way more clearance to fold vertically before the tower can be lowered.  All I could envision was having to pull the boat out of the slip to mess with the tower / bimini, then pull back it, and raise it all the way.  

I'll say, it was a 'unique' shaped bimini but it sure looked like it would provide significant shade for a bunch of peeps.  My boat dock was the limiting factor.   Oh, and the $4k list price for the bimini was a tad much to swallow too.   

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Thanks to all of the responses.

Yes, I think I should test a G21 this summer.

I will have to do more research on the more recent complaints about the connectivity problems with surf remotes.  As difficult as it is to surf, in general, I don't see that my family would be looking at our wrists to do anything other than hit a button to change the side of the wave.

I have to look more carefully at the G biminis and how the stow.

 

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7 hours ago, edwin said:

When I was in the market last year, I was really, really wanting the Nautique to be a solid option.  The tower / bimini became the no go decision for me.  My challenge is that I need to drop the tower to raise my boat lift fully.  Because of the way the Nautique bimini folds, it requires way more clearance to fold vertically before the tower can be lowered.  All I could envision was having to pull the boat out of the slip to mess with the tower / bimini, then pull back it, and raise it all the way.  

I'll say, it was a 'unique' shaped bimini but it sure looked like it would provide significant shade for a bunch of peeps.  My boat dock was the limiting factor.   Oh, and the $4k list price for the bimini was a tad much to swallow too.   

 

You aren't actually supposed to flip the Bimini up before folding the tower down. You definitely need a lot more overhead clearance if you do it that way, but that is also a much harder way to fold the tower down. I had to learn the same thing (for the same reason as you at the time).

The way you are supposed to fold it is-  Release the wing support rods on each side, and secure them with the Velcro straps. Spin out the two retaining knobs. Release the tower latches, and fold your mirror down. Stand next to the helm seat and grab the tower with one hand, and center support rod on the Bimini with your other hand. Pull the tower towards the front of the boat, and just support the Bimini  to keep it horizontal as it goes out over the bow and the tower comes down..... you'll sort of walk/crouch down into the walkway as it comes down.

kinda hard to explain....., but once you've done it a couple times, it's really easy, and you don't need a bunch of extra clearance. 

I felt like a pretty big dumba$$ until I knew the correct way to fold it.

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46 minutes ago, TenTwentyOne said:

 

You aren't actually supposed to flip the Bimini up before folding the tower down. You definitely need a lot more overhead clearance if you do it that way, but that is also a much harder way to fold the tower down. I had to learn the same thing (for the same reason as you at the time).

The way you are supposed to fold it is-  Release the wing support rods on each side, and secure them with the Velcro straps. Spin out the two retaining knobs. Release the tower latches, and fold your mirror down. Stand next to the helm seat and grab the tower with one hand, and center support rod on the Bimini with your other hand. Pull the tower towards the front of the boat, and just support the Bimini  to keep it horizontal as it goes out over the bow and the tower comes down..... you'll sort of walk/crouch down into the walkway as it comes down.

kinda hard to explain....., but once you've done it a couple times, it's really easy, and you don't need a bunch of extra clearance. 

I felt like a pretty big dumba$$ until I knew the correct way to fold it.

Your description makes tons of sense, and I need to forward your write up to the Nautique dealer.  He's a great guy that was fairly new with selling their boats.   

FWIW, I'm very happy I went the MC route.  Dropping / putting up the bimini and tower takes less than 30 seconds in either direction.   

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30 minutes ago, edwin said:

Your description makes tons of sense, and I need to forward your write up to the Nautique dealer.  He's a great guy that was fairly new with selling their boats.   

FWIW, I'm very happy I went the MC route.  Dropping / putting up the bimini and tower takes less than 30 seconds in either direction.   

Ya, MC definitely has the best setup for folding the Bimini and tower. 30 seconds is taking your time. It can probably be done in 8 seconds.....

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16 hours ago, Cole2001 said:

Tige rzx2:whistle:

I am not even a Malibu owner anymore and think that is a pretty dumb, troll post.  Tige was not in the list of options, and given he went to a major boat show, it would be if it had anything that inspired him. 

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1 hour ago, TallRedRider said:

I am not even a Malibu owner anymore and think that is a pretty dumb, troll post.  Tige was not in the list of options, and given he went to a major boat show, it would be if it had anything that inspired him. 

By the way, there were 2 Tige dealers at the Huntsville show.

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I did not mind getting the Tige recommendation at all.  I went to the boat show excited to look at the 22 MXZ, but then was not impressed.  I saw the Tige boats there and spoke to Marty Cole from Tims Ford Powersports who is now a dealer for Tige and he had boats there.  I know him because I bought a SeaDoo GTI from him and a SeaDoo jet boat in the past.  I just did not go over and look at his boats.  I also had to spend time looking at new PWC's with my son and I was helping some neighbors shop for a pontoon boat.  So I was getting pulled in a lot of directions.  I wish I had looked at them.  I have already done some research about them on line and I have  local dealer that is closer than Marty.  I might go over to that dealer tomorrow and take a peak at them.

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5 minutes ago, gordon20mxz said:

 I might go over to that dealer tomorrow and take a peak at them.

I may sound like troll to some but the rzx2 won the boating industries top product award. New touch screen that’s huge, power tower, and a hull that does it all. Definitely upgrade to the 2-1 transmission with the raptor 400 

 

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On 1/18/2018 at 9:45 PM, gordon20mxz said:

Thanks to all of the responses.

Yes, I think I should test a G21 this summer.

I will have to do more research on the more recent complaints about the connectivity problems with surf remotes.  As difficult as it is to surf, in general, I don't see that my family would be looking at our wrists to do anything other than hit a button to change the side of the wave.

I have to look more carefully at the G biminis and how the stow.

 

I’m sure Daniel at Russell marine would take you out anytime.

Edited by sChamblee
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