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Cobalt with Surfgate dropped


lonestar

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Cobalts are great boats.  Well executed, solid performing boats.  I figured it was only a matter of time that we would see the R Surf series boats with Surf Gate.  Malibu got the fold down swim step and Cobalt got surf gate out of their marriage.  I think it's great to see for the brand as Cobalt is now the only I/O brand that I'm aware of that's offering a real surf system.  They are also costly.  The R6, not the surf version, can run between $130-160k approximately.  Add the surf system with all it's goodies and I would think the price would jump a bit.  Either way, the R6 and the R8 surf boats look great.  I'm interested in hearing how they perform.  Not sure I'd ever be in the market for one....I happen to prefer an inboard tow boat.

  

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49 minutes ago, Slayer said:

 I think it's great to see for the brand as Cobalt is now the only I/O brand that I'm aware of that's offering a real surf system.  

  

Chapparal has had boats with surfgate for years. 

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it is a really nice boat but a lot of under-seat storage is taken with high mounted ballast hard tanks.  i understand there was stern storage i didnt discover but i thought that was a bit odd, guess shape of hull moved the tanks up

ridiculous big bimini and great side stern walkthru

the co captain chaur is a really neat hinge allowing forward and rear facing by simply pushing or pulling the seat back firward or back, same i think for the stern facing wake seats 

Edited by granddaddy55
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I want to see the wave vs. a 23LSV.  There are obvious pros to having a I/O boat with that type of hull when it comes to ride quality, but when we demo'd the Penta drive boats, they just didn't generate the kind of surfable wave we get with our bu....but if the Cobalt manages to put up a nice wave, then it become a real "one size fits all" solution.

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59 minutes ago, RyanB said:

Sacrilege here, but if it surfed as well as my 23LSV, I would be first in line to buy one.

I think it is a matter of time until they tweak the hull, ballast and gates to make it a reality.  

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1 hour ago, RyanB said:

Sacrilege here, but if it surfed as well as my 23LSV, I would be first in line to buy one.

If I can’t find a lake property in the next year or two, I will have no choice but to get one of these. Our local lake is large and gets crazy on weekends (the norm is 30-60’ cabin cruisers/yacht). Not much fun in an inboard unless we are off the water by 10am.

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I taught a few lessons on a cobalt with surf gate this summer. Wave was pretty steep and not a ton of length to it and needed to find that perfect list angle for it to completely clean up. Of course if I spent some more time in it, I believe it could get a lot better. Beautiful boat that's for sure and rough water ride was AMAZING. Was a not so great day and I was on 3 other surf boats, RZX3, G23, RI237 and it was night and day difference with the IO

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1 hour ago, Pnwrider said:

If I can’t find a lake property in the next year or two, I will have no choice but to get one of these. Our local lake is large and gets crazy on weekends (the norm is 30-60’ cabin cruisers/yacht). Not much fun in an inboard unless we are off the water by 10am.

If you don’t mind me asking what lake is that?  Only one I can think of with boats that big is Billy. 

Edited by dwc032
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4 hours ago, Cole2001 said:

I taught a few lessons on a cobalt with surf gate this summer. Wave was pretty steep and not a ton of length to it and needed to find that perfect list angle for it to completely clean up. Of course if I spent some more time in it, I believe it could get a lot better. Beautiful boat that's for sure and rough water ride was AMAZING. Was a not so great day and I was on 3 other surf boats, RZX3, G23, RI237 and it was night and day difference with the IO

You were on the SG equipped Cobalt this summer or just the previous Cobalt surf series that had tabs?

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On 12/9/2020 at 9:25 AM, jcon44 said:

Chapparal has had boats with surfgate for years. 

Licensing agreement between Malibu and Chap in August of '16. It hasn't been that many years!

Malibu bought Cobalt in '17. I'm surprised that it took them so long to integrate the SurfGate technology into the line. 

Lastly, Cobalt/Chap are both killer boats. So is the Malibu line all the way across. They are just not the same category of boat and they don't necessarily attract the same buyer yet. However, I'm on a lake that you can grab lunch at a place that is 45 miles away. The time and fuel commitment of the LSV line is significant. I could see the benefit of a day that consists of 1/2 surfing on a killer wave, and 1/2 cruising around the lake at 50MPH+. I am interested in how killer the surf wave is on the Cobalt line. It must be pretty solid. Those boats are big and heavy.

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Buddy of mine surfed on an I/O (reverse drive) and a suck gate.  He said the wave was really nice, but the boat itself was NOT great.  The pitch was so high that the driver was forced to stand up to see over the bow.  As a surfer, he said it was great.  As a passenger, he said it was really uncomfortable.  Understanding the boar wasn't specifically set up as a "surf" boat, it would be interesting to see how the Cobalt's drive while surfing. 

Edited by Texan32
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2 hours ago, BigCreek said:

Licensing agreement between Malibu and Chap in August of '16. It hasn't been that many years!

Malibu bought Cobalt in '17. I'm surprised that it took them so long to integrate the SurfGate technology into the line. 

Lastly, Cobalt/Chap are both killer boats. So is the Malibu line all the way across. They are just not the same category of boat and they don't necessarily attract the same buyer yet. However, I'm on a lake that you can grab lunch at a place that is 45 miles away. The time and fuel commitment of the LSV line is significant. I could see the benefit of a day that consists of 1/2 surfing on a killer wave, and 1/2 cruising around the lake at 50MPH+. I am interested in how killer the surf wave is on the Cobalt line. It must be pretty solid. Those boats are big and heavy.

Cobalt makes a fantastic boat.  A friend has an R8 and it's a very nice boat.  

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ahopkins22LSV
31 minutes ago, Cole2001 said:

I believe it was a surf gate equipped. 

Unless it was a factory early build I doubt I had surf gate. Colbat had its own surf system they used up until this announcement. My guess is they didn’t switch over immediately after Malibu acquired them due to contracts with the suppliers.

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46 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Unless it was a factory early build I doubt I had surf gate. Colbat had its own surf system they used up until this announcement. My guess is they didn’t switch over immediately after Malibu acquired them due to contracts with the suppliers.

I believe you’re correct. Been on way too many boats. 

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I haven't surfed behind one, but drove beside a buddy's, helping him try to dial the wave in a bit.  One thing I did notice was how easy it was for him to shape the wave by trimming the outdrive.  Seemed to work a lot like the wedge did in that respect, without changing the fuel efficiency as much as the wedge would.  

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26 minutes ago, hethj7 said:

Did anyone notice the swim step is now powered?  Coming to a Malibu near you soon......

Great to hear! I was concerned about how cheap this option is...

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There's definitely a market for this boat around some of the bigger Midwest lakes. Cobalt is already extremely popular with people on lakes like Grand & TRL for their build quality and styling, so adding another ace to the deck with a strong performing surf boat certainly won't hurt their sales. 

Also, I hope Malibu keeps the Cobalt presence in Neodesha, KS. While you may not ever know that's where they're built as you drive through the small town, there's something to be said about the ownership that the community takes in their work at Cobalt. Heck, I'm hoping some of that build quality finds it's way to TN :Tease3:

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