2010 Tigé RZ2 Wakesurf Review

[ragboy]

That other thread was getting a bit messy. Here is part 1 of my review:

First, thank you very much to Ben Pigeon and Tigé boats for giving wake9.com this opportunity. We really appreciated it. We have been proud Tigé owners, and it sure was a pleasure to review a boat that represented so many improvements that have been suggested by their customers. It's nice to know they listen.

So I will be writing up a review here but will also be editing a video review over the next few days to release in our podcast and youtube.com. Stay Tuned!

As many of you know, RJ and I started a quest to either find or build the best wakesurf boat for our family. We documented out quest HERE. This video and blog is a good read/watch before this review because it lays out what our criteria was for what Wake9 considered a GREAT wakesurf boat. After all, you can wakesurf behind many boats, but we had some very tough criteria. Here is our criteria, slightly updated:

• Clean and steep wake with a well defined lip for launching
• Wake plate or some type of device to allow adjustment for shape of wake which accommodates both SURF and SKIM riders. *
• Long pocket for recovery and momentum for tricks
• The quality of the wake should be NEAR competition level to allow for practicing for upcoming competitions.
• All ballast should be water and hidden away, no sacs other ballast material on the floor or in main cabin of boat
• When in Surf mode, the boat must retain enough storage for a large family like ours.
• GREAT Goofy wake.
• GREAT Regular wake, in other words, a great wake on BOTH sides. The wakes on each side should be as similar as possible.
• Quick automated ballast pump system so that the boat can be switched from Regular to Goofy duty in approximately 15 minutes or less

*We host a lot of riders, and we have noticed that surf riders prefer the steep wake and well defined lip for launching. Skim riders seem to prefer a flatter wake, not as steep. This was bought to our attention when we hosted Sean Cummings behind our boat and then a few others.

Well, that's a tall order for any boat. And at the time, RJ and I (and mom) came up with this criteria, and we didn't know of any boat that you could buy that fit this list. We knew that we were going to have to modify our Tigé 24Ve or buy another boat and modify it. My hope is that manufacturers would continue to take notice of the great sport of wakesurfing and someday build a boat that you could buy from the showroom that accomplished most or all of this list, with little to no modification. Sometime in the early summer of this year, I had a chance to speak to Danny Gutz the Senior Designer for Tigé. As I understand it his responsibilities include product development. He talked to me specifically about how we weighted our boat and asked me about our swim deck and other questions pertaining to wakesurfing. Danny said Tigé was working on a new SURF option for the 2010 line, which of course perked me up. I didn't hear much after that about the surf option but heard rumors of the new 2010 boats and exciting touch screen and all. Then when the SURFEXPO hit, pictures surfaced and I was very excited to hear of the new ballast options including the surf and pro options. I even emailed a dealer that was on the floor with the 2010 boat and asked specifically about the ballast and the swim deck.

I heard back pretty quickly from this dealer, and he told me about how the surf option ballast included two in hull tanks, one on either side and a fat sac in the v-drive compartment that actually tucked away when not in use. Wow, that sounded VERY innovative and something I never thought about. But he also gave me what I considered bad news. He said that the swim deck was NOT smooth underneath and still had the LIP on the bottom. The new deck was definitely smaller than the 2007 RZ2 deck in order to not negatively impact the surf wake; but it still had the lip. If you have followed our quest, you will know that we found that the big 1.5 inch lip on the bottom of our stock swim deck created nasty turbulence in our wake and altered the lip of the wake. Our new smooth underside aluminum deck resolved this problem. I was a bit dissapointed, but hey, they did so much great stuff. I could always make some decks for these boats and possibly sell them through wake9.com.

So all of that leads me to where I was yesterday when I heard the boat was coming to me. It seemed this new RZ2 was going to be much closer to my Wake9 Wakesurf Boat Checklist than any other boat I knew of but still not quite there. So I prepared by calling my dad to help me out by being ready to tweak this boat on the ramp. I wanted to test it stock; then I wanted to modify it to be at the level of my 24Ve. I pulled my 24Ve out of the water and put it in the wake9 lab. I pulled the swim deck off and found my wood prototypes for my deck. I figured that either I would use the aluminum deck or if that wouldn't work, I would attach one of the wood prototypes to the RZ2. Another problem we had on the 24Ve is that when we weighted it with our 1000lb custom sacs and surfed, it would cavitate. You could feel the prop slip with this setup quite frequently. I called ACME propeller, and they suggested the ACME 1235 custom prop. Wow, what a difference it made. My boat handled better, and the cavitation was virtually eliminated. So I pulled this prop off of my 24Ve to be ready to throw on the RZ2. I also planned on bringing a 750 lb sac to stuff in any empty space in the VDrive locker since the pro ballast didn't seem to be quite enough ballast. So I formulated our test plan:
\olist{Meet my Dad (the mexican MacGuyver) at 7:30am at Wake9 HQ and make sure we had everything ready: boards, tools, decks, prop, wetsuits, whatever.
Ben comes in at 8am, and we would check which deck we would use while at my shop.
Hit the lake at 9am and get out the pontoon boat for chase and setup all of our cameras and stuff to document the testing/review.
Run wakesurf tests on goofy and regular sides with the stock setup, possibly add more ballast to this stock setup, we will see.
Get the boat out of the water and then swap decks on the ramp, and retest.
Get the boat out again, swap the prop and then add full ballast and see if we could then get this thing to the same level as we have with my 24Ve.}
So that was the plan, and I had to get Ben off to Sacramento by 2-3pm. It was going to be fast and tight, but we were up for it. My whole crew had prepared all summer for this kind of review, we were ready. I also felt comfortable with adding more ballast because the way the Tigé was setup, it would seem you could buy this boat and just order a custom sac to fill every nook and cranny in the locker and the side of the boat and replace the current sac. You would retain all automation and convenience, just have more weight. It was clear from the pictures I had seen that the Tigé definitely left room for a bigger sac in there.

So 8am rolls around and Ben shows up. In the words of my 4 year old, "Wow, what a sexy beast."

The sexy beast shows up.


Even the cover was beautiful.


We actually told Ben to leave the cover on. It looked incredible with it on. Here is a couple more.

baby got back


The other side


Here are a couple of pictures of us checking out our wood prototype deck. We had already determined the aluminum deck wouldn't fit because the brackets were too wide.

Our deck shape is about same size. Ours has the corners cut.


rear view of the deck with prototype


Well, it was time to hit the lake with the wake9 crew in the Yukon XL, my dad in his utility truck, and Ben with the RZ2. Stay tuned for part 2 and hopefully final part of our review, but it could take 3 parts. I should have it done by tomorrow. This will include lots of pictures and some video. Then the full video review will be done in a few days. Here is a sneek peek photo. Check back in the next couple of days!

Yes, the conditions were THAT good

[dingleberry]

Nice water! Look forward to your findings.

[Guapo]

Ragboy...thanks for doing this. Great info...

[loudelectronics]

Sweet looking forward to it.

[ragboy]

Sugar Coated and Dressed to Kill

In 2007 when we purchased our 2007 24Ve and it was very much a family decision. We went to many dealers and sampled several boats. We knew we wanted an inboard wakeboard boat, and we thought we needed a 24ft boat, or a boat that at least held 16 people. We have 8 in our family and frequently take guests with us so this new boat had to accommodate two families comfortably. For various reasons we settled on 3 boats. The Malibu 247 LSV, the Mastercraft X45, and the Supra 24SSV in that order. We had no Tigé dealer anywhere in our area so even though the 24Ve was on the short list of online research, we didn't consider buying one. My family didn't like the playpen bow of the Supra which is just a preference issue, but a biggy for the girls. We were looking hard at the other two and were ready to pull the trigger until we heard of a new Tigé dealer within 2 hours so we headed out. We settled on the Tigé 24Ve mostly due to function. It was a versatile boat, and we liked the TAPS system and convex V hull and other features. However, even from the beginning we knew we were giving up some of the frills. The "Sugar Coating" which isn't so important when you are 25, but when you get older those things are nice. There is no question that the Mastercraft and the Malibu had a fit and finish that outdid the Tigé. Snap out carpet, beautiful and seemingly more durable vinyl upholstery, there was a polish to the interiors that was noticeable. The vinyl and interior on the Tigé seemed to suffer. Our Tigé is built like a tank and has been incredibly reliable. We have almost 500 hours on our Tigé and I have only had to change the oil and perform regular service. Its been a great boat and has served us well, but at times we have missed some of those niceties, especially the upgraded upholstery.

All that to say, the first thing I noticed when stepping into the new RZ2 was the fit and finish and the beautiful, supple vinyl upholstery. Combine that with the snap out carpet, sculpted dash and touchscreen, black alpha z tower and matching graphics, this boat had the Sugar Coating AND was dressed to kill. You know what I mean? Form and function. Here are some pics of the RZ2 interior:

Tige Touch Screen Dash


Tige 2010 Cockpit


I also noticed that the floor of the inside of the boat was reinforced. Being the big guy that I am (400lbs) I can usually feel the floor move beneath me when I move around. Not in this boat, it was rock solid. I also noticed that at 6'2" I could walk under the tower. I must admit that my hair does scrape the tower, but I don't have to bend down. So we gassed up the RZ2 and started heading out. Since Lake Oroville is so low the 5 mph zone is almost a 20 minute ride out. So I got out the ipod and decided to take the touch screen out for a spin. For a geek like me who has purchased each iPhone as they were announced, I LIKE IT. Very cool. I love the audio controls that are always accessible and the ability to have so few gauges but have a multitude of information at your fingertips. What do you want to know? Its all there. When I finish editing the full video review you will get a better look at what I mean about the touchscreen. I had no problem reading the screen in full sunlight without the bimini and was able to hook up my ipod and instantly traverse my playlists from the screen. Me likey.

So what about the ballast and the wake?

OK, so I know that is what you are all waiting for so let's get to it. First I hit the "Switches" button on the touch screen and then "Ballast". This boat has the PRO ballast option which is 4 separate zones totaling 2000lbs. I have learned over the last couple of years that on the Tigé hull you just want all the weight in the corner for wakesurfing. So I just turned on the fill for the goofy corner and nothing else. Here is where it starts getting interesting. I had spoken on the phone with Tigé about this ballast system of 2 in hull tanks on each side in the rear, and in the surf and pro ballast options a 350 lb fat sac in each vdrive locker in addition. This whole time I thought the in hull tanks were 450 lbs each and the sac was another 400 lbs. This would give 850 lbs in the corner which seemed adequate to me since I have about 1000 in my 24Ve which is a bigger boat. The truth is that the in hull tanks are only 250 lbs each and the fat sac in the vdrive locker is only 350 lbs. This means there is only 600 lbs of water ballast in the corner. I actually didn't realize this until AFTER the entire demo. Here is a picture of us after the tank is filled and we are about ready to go:

Ballast Ready


I feel stupid admitting that to everyone, but I think it was for the best. Remember that I was ready with pumps and an additional fat sac, a prototype swim deck, and a custom prop to FIX the wake on this boat to my pleasure. So we start riding as is, only 600 lbs of additional ballast in the corner and HOLY CRAP, the wake is almost perfect. There is a VERY minor cut in the wake from the corner of the deck, but it is not hurting the lip and is just producing some extra whitewash at the top. The wake is virtually the same shape as my 24Ve and the same size. RJ comments to me that it is about the same size, maybe a TAD bigger but he thinks it is definitely a little longer. How can it be longer? Wouldn't the 24 foot boat produce a longer pocket? I am no hydrologist or whatever, but it doesn't make sense to me that this RZ2 (22ft) wake would be longer than my 24Ve (24ft). How can this wake be longer with only 850 lbs of ballast in an empty boat? This boat had a coast guard kit in it. It was empty other than what we brought on. And remember, it ACTUALLY only had 600 lbs of ballast in the corner, but I was ignorant of that. Here are a couple of pics of RJ on the goofy side:

RJ Boosting


The wake was about waist high


clean pic of the goofy wake


Here is a good pic of the boat that shows the weight of just the 600lbs and people (I know, I make good ballast) and you can see the boat is riding with the rub rail just in the water and the bow high. The weight is adequate and doing its job. Nice long pocket as well.

Good shot of wake and boat


So T-Bone gets a try then we do the big test from side to side. 8 minutes 45 seconds. I had Ben hit drain and fill and start the motor to keep the volts up and I timed it on my iPhone. Yes, there's an app for that. 9 minutes is almost too short. Not enough time to take a swim in the summer, which is what we usually did. We have ballast puppies in our 24Ve which work great, but a bit slow. Not to mention only 600 lbs of water is pretty quick to move. So we throw Ashley out. She says that the wake is the same size, or she can't tell if bigger but she also thinks it is definitely longer. What the @!#$#! How can that be? I always expected the RZ2 to be easier to weight for a good size wake, but I also always expected that the 24Ve or RZ4 would have a longer pocket. Doesn't seem to be the case. It was VERY easy to notice in this boat that it was more sensitive to weight than the 24Ve. When I moved from side to side the boat moved much more than my Ve moves. But only 600 lbs to make the same wake as my 24Ve? I still am amazed at that. The pics on the Regular side came out even better. Ashley doesn't slash up the wake like RJ so it stays pretty clean. You really get the "waist high" perspective from this side with Ashley. Ashley is 5'7" and RJ is 5'9". The Convex V or "Non Planing" hull seems to be doing a great job at sinking in that corner with less weight than you would think.

check out that butter


waist high and long pocket


the pocket pic


So I decided to not add extra weight, there was no need. And I also decided with RJ that the minor cut in the wake was negligible and didn't warrant a custom deck. Here is a picture of the deck on the 2010 RZ2 and you will see that even though there still is a lip, Tigé made an attempt to fill it in so that the lip under this deck is VERY small, only a half inch or so.

Very small lip on deck

[ragboy]

continued . . .

So we 86'd the extra weight and we 86'd the prototype deck. What about the prop? Well my 24Ve would cavitate/slip with the stock prop when I weighted it the way we do, about 1000 lbs per side. The RZ2 didn't slip or caviate ONCE. Even with the 1235 prop the 24Ve will still slip on occasion. The RZ2 was rock solid and I never noticed a single issue for the several hours we were out. The boat also handled great unweighted with that PCM 409 powerplant. Ben pointed out that my 24Ve could have the issue as a combination of the MP 340 and the stock prop, it might not just be the prop setup. Who knows, all I know is this boat doesn't need another prop with the way we were using it. And we were using it just like we would our 24Ve.

So I expected this boat to do well. And I expected this boat to come as close as I have seen to my Wake9 Wakesurf Boat Checklist, but I didn't expect it to actually meet all of those expectations without ANY tweaking or additional weight of ANY kind. This is the first time I have ever been discontent with my 24Ve. This boat handles better due to the smaller size and creates at least as good a wake, probably longer and better with almost HALF the weight. Amazing. Take a look at this pic.

its all about the wake, isn't it?


The Gripes

So I have to admit I want one now. Going to have to start working on the wife. So are there any shortcomings? What DON'T I like?

• I admit the alpha z tower is growing on me, but I am still on the fence about it.
• The speakers on a reverse arch tower like the alpha z are too far forward. You crank them for the rider's enjoyment, and blow the ears of the people sitting near the back of the boat. This is especially true when wakesurfing and sitting in the ballast boy seat.
• I LOVE the bow, its huge and roomy. My wife and kids want it. But the way it points down, its like a shovel. This boat is more likely to plow some water then a Ve.
• The goofy side will NOT allow sacs up the side of the boat. The ice chest is now just behind the driver. This leaves VERY little room on the goofy side for a custom sac. On the plus side it is very nice not to have to get up from the most comfortable seat in the boat when a drink is needed. Also, you could put a sac on the regular side from the vdrive to the bow, its all open. If you are a DJJamez style surfer, you could really sac this side out.
• The TAPS gauge doesn't move fluidly, it moves in steps. The TAPS plate still moves fluidly so it is difficult to make minor adjustments.
• I don't like the mirror on the windshield. I am tall and have a huge noggin. I put the mirror up and only see my head. I would have to find a custom alternative.
• The PCM power and throttle is jerky at take off, where my MP setup seemed liquid smooth.
• The deck would be PERFECT if they just cut the corners off.
• Carbon Monoxide seems just as bad as my 24Ve before the Fresh Air Exhaust.
• If you install the middle 2 speakers, watch your head.
• I don't have one yet.

Those are my only gripes. Overall its a great boat that exceeded my expectations. 16 thumbs up. If you have the means and you like to wakesurf, go buy one.

Lastly, we will be posting our video review soon, but here is a quick video we did that speaks no words and just shows off the wake. Enjoy. (I didn't embed for a reason. This link will take you to the HD version of the video, which I can't embed.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XMLI-cjRME&hd=1

The entire set of pictures can be found at http://wake9.com/blogs/.

[tigesinaus]

wow, that looks amazing!! a lot of effort on your behalf!! great review!!

[tigesinaus]

wake looks superb on the video!!

[Carter13]

Great write up and an awesome looking wake.

[loudelectronics]

Wow, that is exactly what I wanted to hear. After I saw the RZ2 at the factory with the new interior, touch and new ballast I fell in love. Just was not wanting to give up anything that my 24V had in the trunk with its awesome boarding and surfing wakes.

The 6.0l motor is great too. I love mine, it seems to be fuel efficient for my standards at only $15-$20 an hour depending on whats going on. (Canadian dollars). Always has enough power and I never feel it cavitate plus the closed loop cooling kicks. If I ever get a new boat it would have the 6.0L again.

[ragboy]

Thanks. One of the goals I had at wake9.com was to do thorough reviews. None of these boattest.com or magazine reviews that just tell you the same thing about every boat. Obvious advertisements. I wanted to be the "Ars Technica" of the wake world. Thorough and honest.

Cudo to Ben and Tige for letting me do that. I told them from the get go that I was going be completely honest about what I liked and didn't like and that I wanted to make any mods on the spot that I felt necessary. They told me to "treat the boat as if it was your toy". Ben Pigeon was with us and on the boat all day and only answered questions. There were times when I was filming and saying stuff like "never really liked this tower" or talking about the old vinyl and I could tell he was biting his lip a bit but he didn't say a word. He just let me do my thing. He only let me know if he felt that I said something inaccurate, which was only twice I think, and it was welcome. So cudos to Tige for the great boat and giving us the opportunity and leaving us alone.

[ImaPigDog]

Ragboy,

Awesome write-up!

Unlike the RZ2, there is not a built-in cooler on the 22Ve (but this may have changed for 2010). So, the Ve should still allow for a custom sac to run up under the seats.

With the 22Ve, we have thrown a Pro X Series Fat Sac™ - W707 (dimensions: 50 x 20 x 20 weight: 750 lbs.) in the storage along with the 250 lb. hard tank and get a decent size surf wake. I would estimate that we are able to fill the sac about 85%-90%. With the Pro Ballast option, it appears that it may be very simple to swap out the 350 lb. sac with a larger one.

One other challenge with the Alpha Z tower - there is only the option for one board rack on each side.

Do you recall what speed & TAPS setting you were running at? Was it the same for regular & goofy?

[da.bell]

Reason why I went from my 24Ve to the RZ2.

Great write up Ragboy. I did talk with Ben on Sunday after your outing. Ben was so pumped and wanted to take the RZ2 out for a spin on Sunday with my family. However, time didn't permit that unfortunately.

I think Ben will be taking back to Tige a ton of useful information that will only enhance the newer models on Tige.

[talltigeguy]

Nice write up, Ragboy!

"The speakers on a reverse arch tower like the alpha z are too far forward. You crank them for the rider's enjoyment, and blow the ears of the people sitting near the back of the boat. This is especially true when wakesurfing and sitting in the ballast boy seat. "

I have always said that. But I know a guy who might be able to get you an aftermarket Samson tower...Oh wait, you are that guy!

Now I just have to wait for a year to have someone sell a gently used one near my price range.

What is the MSRP? And how much off of that should a person realistically expect to buy it for?

Please tell me someone also wakeboarded in that butter!

[Timmy!]

Nice write up ragboy! Another 24Ve -> RZ2 Convert!