What do we want to see for 2023 and years to come?

[CaptainMorgan]

1 hour ago, justgary said:

OK, so I just dug it up and looked at it.  It is piecewise linear foil shaped, but definitely not just a flat plate.

The big problem with a big foil is trailering.  The functional part of ballast is that you can put it where you need it, so replacing that with a foil system means that you need several foils and an active control system to go with them.  That means more actuators, which are probably underwater, and that means more trouble with maintenance.  If you thing a few pumps and hoses are bad, wait until you have more underwater actuators that are exposed to hitting underwater things.

As far as I can tell, Malibu is just starting to recognize that salt water use is a thing.  Marinizing everything on the boat and trailer is a win for everyone; even those in fresh water.  So I guess that's my big wish:  Galvanized or aluminum trailers for all boats, and full marinization for the boats.  They are close already with closed cooling and lots of stainless parts, but engine mounts and a few other things are still lagging behind.

i give. parade officially rained on LOL.  i was thinking of an even more complicated retractable, tunable, giant foil...which yeah, you're right is even more of a pain when it is submerged and dealing with heavy loads (not to mention this idea could go dangerously wrong with wrong settings at wakeboard speeds).  i won't delete the post, rather just leave it here for public record as a bad idea/cautionary tale

+1 for better saltwater tolerance

[CaptainMorgan]

2 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

Re the foil thing, didn't centurion take a shot at steerable tracking fins a few years back?  Basically as a way to make the boat crab as an alternative means of delayed convergence?  I never hear much about that anymore (granted I'm pretty partial to the malibu/axis ecosystem) so I'm assuming it didn't go far...?

i saw a recent JB Oneil youtube video that showed some adjustment knob to cleanup wakeboard wake without shifting weight on his Centurion RI230; i think was a slight tracking fin adjustment.  no idea if it'd do anything meaningful for surfing, but slightly cleaned up left vs right for his wakeboarding.

[BlindSquirrel]

Yeah, does Mastercraft still have those little fins around the prop to make it back up in a straight line? Used to hear about those... but not much any more.

[Cole2001]

Malibus surf gate patent forced centurion to pay big royalties for the adjustable tracking fin (cats). As well after 2017 with the new hull design it wasn’t as necessary to have. But it definitely was nice to crab the boat over and clean things up a bit. 

[Jhucke]

Return of a family oriented direct drive. At least something with a trunk and a bit more storage than any of the current DD offerings. This can't be that difficult. 

[shawndoggy]

12 minutes ago, Jhucke said:

Return of a family oriented direct drive. At least something with a trunk and a bit more storage than any of the current DD offerings. This can't be that difficult. 

I think that kinda ends up being like a sporting station wagon... something enthusiasts SAY they want but when it comes to buying, they won't spend money on.

[06malibu]

-A better fitting oem cover, also a oem cover that has an integrated platform cover instead of a separate cover.

-Possible on-board/integrated vacuum system?

-Modernized/new Sunsetter/direct drive

-Modernized Flightcraft

[COOP]

15 hours ago, Cole2001 said:

I agree, M260 just sounds more realistic. Crazy how much boats have grown over the last few years. I am waiting for one of the manufacturers to go wider, fishing boats are 110" beam on the regular. I have a 25ZX and even that feels like a normal size, yet it is the largest in the offering. Regularly driving an ri265 doesn't help either as it doesn't get much bigger than that. 

I dont know much about bass boats, but isnt the widest you can tow with out permits 102 inches?

Quick google search, a bit old but could still be accurate:

What is the widest bass boat?

Made to tackle big waters, the 522D stands at a 22' 7” in length with a 100 ½” beam. As their largest bass boat ever made, Ranger Boats has given consumers more features than ever before.Feb 26, 2016

[COOP]

3 hours ago, Jhucke said:

Return of a family oriented direct drive. At least something with a trunk and a bit more storage than any of the current DD offerings. This can't be that difficult. 

Probably not difficult, just no demand. Probably not cost effective to tool up just to make a few boats. 

[CaptainMorgan]

what is the early verdict on Surf-Gate-Fusion from the M240?  is that a tech we should be rooting for to slide into rest of the lineup or is regular Surf Gate enough?

[bigskydoc]

1 hour ago, CaptainMorgan said:

what is the early verdict on Surf-Gate-Fusion from the M240?  is that a tech we should be rooting for to slide into rest of the lineup or is regular Surf Gate enough?

From a functional standpoint, there isn't any real difference.  Cosmetically, it does look kind of cool.  Not sure why it isn't available for the premium M220 package. 

I would love to see pass through storage make a return. I hate the cave.

[dalt1]

Dedicated anchor storage in the fore peak. Anchor locker, who does not carry an anchor?

[Surf4FamFun]

1 hour ago, dalt1 said:

Dedicated anchor storage in the fore peak. Anchor locker, who does not carry an anchor?

me 

[hethj7]

3 hours ago, bigskydoc said:

From a functional standpoint, there isn't any real difference.  Cosmetically, it does look kind of cool.  Not sure why it isn't available for the premium M220 package. 

I would love to see pass through storage make a return. I hate the cave.

Pass through storage?  Like through the observers compartment?  Don’t most of the newer models have this?

 

When does the helm get redesigned again?  A move to more Garmin screens now that Axis has them?  2023 is probably too early for a refresh   

Some would hate the idea, but my crew would love a second screen for stereo control by the passenger seat like Supra.  But, with a lockout function from the helm.

Anchor storage up front would be nice but with the hull construction methods now, I am not sure where it would go   Maybe in the helm box using a deeper tray - someone on here modified theirs to work that way a few years back.

 

 

[Cole2001]

7 hours ago, COOP said:

I dont know much about bass boats, but isnt the widest you can tow with out permits 102 inches?

Quick google search, a bit old but could still be accurate:

What is the widest bass boat?

Made to tackle big waters, the 522D stands at a 22' 7” in length with a 100 ½” beam. As their largest bass boat ever made, Ranger Boats has given consumers more features than ever before.Feb 26, 2016

Bass boats will all be under 102”. More referring to the closed bow cruiser style boats found up here in the NW. I believe you can get a yearly oversize permit and you’re good to go. But for the most part I hear of a lot of people not bothering with it and have had no troubles. 

[justgary]

11 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

Re the foil thing, didn't centurion take a shot at steerable tracking fins a few years back?  Basically as a way to make the boat crab as an alternative means of delayed convergence?

Interesting.  I don't want a wake, so I didn't hear about this.  I would assume that changing the angle of the tracking fin might also try to heel the boat over (roll-yaw coupling) in an uncomfortable way.  It is also possible that they wound up having to make the fins so large that they wouldn't trailer anymore.

"Delayed Convergence" is a made-up marketing term that still cracks me up.  Plowing through the water with the hull at a different angle changes the shape of the wake.  They aren't delaying anything.

[RyanB]

AIS/ANS is a big thing out west.  I have to spend an hour decontaminating my boat anytime I go out of state, or don't have a tag from a "clean" lake.  I'd like to see some system that would eliminate this need and keep quagga and zebra mussels from spreading.

And, as mentioned, a move away from the Medallion screens.  I don't trust them and wouldn't buy another boat equipped with them.

[Tanglin]

Option of a Vee-Drive that has output rotating the other way. 95% of people who surf with us are regular side and we would love to have the prop rotation the other way to get the same perfect  wave we currently have on the goofy side.  Time to also enable the wedge to be properly equipped  for lift at ski speeds (i.e 32mph )on the smaller boats 20-22ft as it would really improve the crossover claim. Being only brand with the wedge would give Malibu a huge advantage in this space as creating lift at back of boat makes a big difference to slalom wake and most people in the 20-22ft range are looking for a cross-over boat.

[Slayer]

9 hours ago, Tanglin said:

Option of a Vee-Drive that has output rotating the other way. 95% of people who surf with us are regular side and we would love to have the prop rotation the other way to get the same perfect  wave we currently have on the goofy side.  Time to also enable the wedge to be properly equipped  for lift at ski speeds (i.e 32mph )on the smaller boats 20-22ft as it would really improve the crossover claim. Being only brand with the wedge would give Malibu a huge advantage in this space as creating lift at back of boat makes a big difference to slalom wake and most people in the 20-22ft range are looking for a cross-over boat.

This would be awesome!!!  In my family, I'm kind of the odd one.  I'm one of 2 out of our 6 member family that surfs regular. 

 

[bigskydoc]

11 hours ago, hethj7 said:

Pass through storage?  Like through the observers compartment?  Don’t most of the newer models have this?

Anchor storage up front would be nice but with the hull construction methods now, I am not sure where it would go   Maybe in the helm box using a deeper tray - someone on here modified theirs to work that way a few years back.

 

 

Yes, I'm talking about the large locker underneath the passenger's side of the dash.  My '17 22 MXZ has an access from the bow, making it a passthrough, but all the boats I've seen since 2020, or so, don't.  There was no front access anymore in the M240s, M220s, and 24 MXZs that I've been in.  Instead of a passthrough, you just get a big cave.  Annoying that they took out this functionality.  I suppose Malibu's argument would be to keep that locker dry.  We do regularly see water getting in through the front access.

My MXZ has a great little anchor storage area in the nose, but I think Malibu eliminated that door too.  

2 steps back.

[oneramirez]

Native Navionics App on the touchscreen to monitor depth, obstacles, user-generated notes, etc.  Used this app on my phone on Lake Powell last summer and it 100% saved us from wrecking the prop multiple times.  Having it native and tied into the boat's GPS would be awesome (why does my dad's pontoon boat have this and not my 2021 VLX??).

https://www.navionics.com/usa/apps/navionics-boating

 

[Slayer]

2 hours ago, bigskydoc said:

Yes, I'm talking about the large locker underneath the passenger's side of the dash.  My '17 22 MXZ has an access from the bow, making it a passthrough, but all the boats I've seen since 2020, or so, don't.  There was no front access anymore in the M240s, M220s, and 24 MXZs that I've been in.  Instead of a passthrough, you just get a big cave.  Annoying that they took out this functionality.  I suppose Malibu's argument would be to keep that locker dry.  We do regularly see water getting in through the front access.

My MXZ has a great little anchor storage area in the nose, but I think Malibu eliminated that door too.  

2 steps back.

Well, my 2021 23LSV had pass through storage, as does my 2022 25LSV.  My 2017 22 VLX did not. 

[bigskydoc]

Maybe they have made it an LSV thing. I haven't been on an LSV. 

[COOP]

19 hours ago, CaptainMorgan said:

what is the early verdict on Surf-Gate-Fusion from the M240?  is that a tech we should be rooting for to slide into rest of the lineup or is regular Surf Gate enough?

From what Ive heard that really changed the way the wave formed and was a bit of a pain to make it do what they wanted. 

[Jhucke]

20 hours ago, COOP said:

Probably not difficult, just no demand. Probably not cost effective to tool up just to make a few boats. 

People tend to gravitate towards the Nautique and MC for the DD, but I'm pretty sure those build slots are completely sold out and have been the past several seasons. How is that not demand? Maybe there is no demand for Malibu because they refuse to update it for the last however many years and the others have completely surpassed its performance. 

23 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

I think that kinda ends up being like a sporting station wagon... something enthusiasts SAY they want but when it comes to buying, they won't spend money on.

It is a sporting station wagon because there is a rear trunk? Theres been many, many models of all brands that had at least SOME storage in the boat...