Wakeboard Wake Comparison

[eubanks]

How do you guys think the 25LSV wakeboard wake compares to the 23LSV?  I love my 23 but considering moving up to the 25.  I know the surf wake is supposed to be a larger/longer version, but I wasn't sure about the wakeboard wake.  Typically moving up to a bigger boat the wakeboard wake suffers unless you are going to dump a ton of extra weight into it.

[hunter77ah]

The 25 is bigger and better than the 23.  We rode the 25 for the Malibu Just Ride tour.  I am not sure how it was weighted aside from the 10 people we had in it, but the wake was clean and huge.  If my truck could pull it, it would fit in my garage, and I had the money, I'd have one.  I consider the 23LSV to be good, but the 25 is great.

[CJAY]

My days of wakeboarding are far behind me, but a good friend of mine has ridden my 25 lsv fully ballasted and he said it was massive, much larger than my lsv or vlx and super wide.  The negatives I noticed as a driver was the rooster tail was massive and it was harder to clean up than on my smaller boats.  we were running about 4k in ballast, wedge at about 3, and 8 people in the boat.  I honestly think it's more a surf boat, but it can put out a scary wake for wakeboarding when needed, just takes a little more work than smaller boats

[TenTwentyOne]

My experience with the new 25 was limited to one set, and I have only taken a couple sets behind a 2015 23LSV..... so take it with a grain of salt.

ballast and pnp was full, and we had to add about 500lbs up front to get it to plane. I think standard config is to run less in the pnp so you don’t have to add up front. Not sure of the wedge setting. The dealer rep was driving.

I found the 25 LSV to have a bigger/taller wake, with a much longer transition. Timing was off on the first couple of hits because of the long transition, but I got used to it really fast. The wake was also a bit wider, so I bumped the speed up 1mph (to 22.5) for the second and third pulls.

Both great wakes, but I’d say the edge goes to the 25. 

[asnowman]

2019 25 wakeboard wake is taller and a bit wider than the 23. It does require a bit of extra weight up front, in the port side to balance out the prop torque. Also we found that just a touch of steering cleaned up either side of the wake to make a nice crisp lip.

The 2019 23 required less effort to clean up and was a little smaller, and not spread as wide. The difference was relatively small by my opinion, but i wasn't the one behind the boat, i was driving or a passenger.

[Raleigh]

Stupid question. Is the bigger wakeboard wake better? I was on a a22 and I thought that wake was about perfect. For surfing, obviously bigger is better, but is it the same with wake? I’m considering a 25 and am thinking about getting back into wakeboarding after years away from it. It seems like the bigger wake would make the distance between wakes bigger. It would seem more difficult to jump wakes etc. Thoughts? 

[asnowman]

Its certainly wider than it was on our vtx. I am a horrible wakeboarder, so i am not qualified to answer that. 

[CJAY]

9 minutes ago, Raleigh said:

Stupid question. Is the bigger wakeboard wake better? I was on a a22 and I thought that wake was about perfect. For surfing, obviously bigger is better, but is it the same with wake? I’m considering a 25 and am thinking about getting back into wakeboarding after years away from it. It seems like the bigger wake would make the distance between wakes bigger. It would seem more difficult to jump wakes etc. Thoughts? 

Depends on your ability level.  I think learning to get good on smaller wakes makes your ability to go huge on big wakes that much easier.  Wider wakes do make it harder to clear and not case the wake, but you can ride a shorter line to help with that until you're good enough to clear it.  The big part is how rampy the wake gets.  You can do a 25 with very little to no ballast and be fine

[Raleigh]

6 minutes ago, CJAY said:

Depends on your ability level.  I think learning to get good on smaller wakes makes your ability to go huge on big wakes that much easier.  Wider wakes do make it harder to clear and not case the wake, but you can ride a shorter line to help with that until you're good enough to clear it.  The big part is how rampy the wake gets.  You can do a 25 with very little to no ballast and be fine

What effect does rampyness have? Is the angle of the ramp on the 25 less or more? 

[granddaddy55]

7 hours ago, CJAY said:

Depends on your ability level.  I think learning to get good on smaller wakes makes your ability to go huge on big wakes that much easier.  Wider wakes do make it harder to clear and not case the wake, but you can ride a shorter line to help with that until you're good enough to clear it.  The big part is how rampy the wake gets.  You can do a 25 with very little to no ballast and be fine

Wedge plus crew for most is enough snd wedge plus stock and a crew is awesome on these boats at any size , sure you can make it even better/bigger/rampy  with pnp but how many have the skills to need that?

wedge, 800 stock, 700 lead plus driver on my 20 footer is awesome sauce but no it’s not huge, rode my full sac ballasted wake once   and it felt like I hit a wall 

power wedge , 2000 + lbs stock? And crew on a 25 should be unreal as heavy as they are making the hull now as nd s as short line cures a lot of ills 

Edited October 24, 2019 by granddaddy55

[hunter77ah]

14 hours ago, Raleigh said:

Stupid question. Is the bigger wakeboard wake better? 

It seems like the bigger wake would make the distance between wakes bigger. It would seem more difficult to jump wakes etc. Thoughts? 

Not necessarily, but it is more fun when you are able to use it.  

The MXZ line generally has a wider wake than the LSV line.  Width is a personal preference.  I like the wider wake because I'm not a big fan of landing in the flats but like the extended hang time.  When I ride behind a LSV, I generally ride 5ft further back than I would ride behind a MXZ.  As Granddaddy said, you can just shorten the rope to make it narrower. FWIW- My wife thinks that our MXZ wake is too wide, but she absolutely loved the 25LSV wake.

I can throw my entire bag of tricks behind a smaller boat/wake, but I just can't throw them as big.  Big wakes are fun and can usually be dialed back.   If you are trying to decide between a 23 and a 25, I'd go with the 25.

[JustinHarrelson]

I've ridden both, a lot. The 25LSV is just an expansion of 23LSV wake. It actually scales pretty well. If you like the shape of your 23, you will love the wake on the 25. You aren't going to be blown away, but it is definitely just as good only a little bigger.

I'd like to add that the 25LSV is my favorite all-round wake, if it didn't exist, the 23 would be. I am moving from a 23LSV to a 23MXZ this year. I've never been behind a 23MXZ, but I am not worried. It is a malibu wake. All sizes and all models are easy to ride. Where the rubber hits the road (consistency, amplitude and tricks I can do) there is not much difference between all of the Axis/Malibu boats. I can't say that about any other brand. 

Edited October 24, 2019 by JustinHarrelson

[bbattiste247]

21 hours ago, CJAY said:

My days of wakeboarding are far behind me, but a good friend of mine has ridden my 25 lsv fully ballasted and he said it was massive, much larger than my lsv or vlx and super wide.  The negatives I noticed as a driver was the rooster tail was massive and it was harder to clean up than on my smaller boats.  we were running about 4k in ballast, wedge at about 3, and 8 people in the boat.  I honestly think it's more a surf boat, but it can put out a scary wake for wakeboarding when needed, just takes a little more work than smaller boats

The rooster tail is massive when you have the wedge engaged, but with just ballast, there rooster tail is barely visible and the wake is still phenomenal. I have found that the wake is cleaner and a better shape with just ballast. But if you have little to no ballast and employ the wedge, then you get a rooster tail and a similar wake, just not as clean. Just use ballast!

Edited October 24, 2019 by bbattiste247

[Five Cent Worth]

4 minutes ago, bbattiste247 said:

The rooster tail is massive 

Love cruising around with a tail.  Makes me feel like I have number 6's hanging off the back of a 38 Top Gun...LOL. 

[asnowman]

you can't even see the wakeboarder behind the rooster tail on the m240. The 25, isn't nearly that bad

[CJAY]

3 minutes ago, asnowman said:

you can't even see the wakeboarder behind the rooster tail on the m240. The 25, isn't nearly that bad

When running full ballast mines probably about that bad.  I can't see the rider if he's riding between the wakes.  We have to use the wedge, need it to get on plane when running as heavy as we run