That's what she said...

[ragboy]

So we picked up the new RZ4 last night, and its sitting in my driveway. Its this one:



I pulled the 24Ve up to it because it needs service at CMS, and I was picking up the RZ4 from CMS. The RZ4 is huge. I have seen them before, but I don't know, the angle or whatever, looking at this thing next to the 24Ve, and then behind my truck at the gas station, its ginormous.

Here is a text conversation when I saw the boat, to my 16 year old son RJ that many of you know:

Dad: Its ginormous.

RJ: So how is the boat?

Dad: No serious, its huge!

RJ: That's what she said.

Dad: Serious, its bigger than the 24Ve.

RJ: This is getting embarrassing, your making me blush.

At that point I gave up. We should be going out on Wednesday, should be fun. The metal flake on the boat, like the Z3, is stunning.

[jbort]

Okay RJ - way to pull Dad's chain!!

[robert theisen]

The boat is beautiful.Congrats Ragboy!

[jwanck11]

OK - I'm confused (not tuff)!

You have a Z3, 24Ve and a Z4?

[NiceOnes]

You're right Ragboy. The RZ4 is huge. I had it parked next to my 22i at the end of the season and it made the old girl look like a canoe!

You're going to love it. Can't wait to see what you get out of it. This couldn't have worked out better for me because now I can just mimic your setup once you get it perfected.

[smuurph84]

OK - I'm confused (not tuff)!

You have a Z3, 24Ve and a Z4?

if this is true (will you adopt me?)
j/k

[IDBoating]

I'm interested to hear how the RZ4's wave compares to your 24Ve's wave. Tige claims the wetted surface of the hulls are the same, but there may be some differeces in how ballast can be located. Also, the different swim platform size and shape may have an effect. Please keep us informed!

[ragboy]

I am interested too!

The Z3 was a prototype, and just didn't surf as good as an RZ2 or 24Ve. This boat has to be able to tow pros and the West Coast Open competition, so it has big shoes to fill. Tige still has some changes to make on the Z3. I will say this, we loved the interior of the Z3 and the rear end improvements. Just getting in and out of the Z3 to the water was a joy.

[IDBoating]

I will say this, we loved the interior of the Z3 and the rear end improvements. Just getting in and out of the Z3 to the water was a joy.

As I said in another thread: If Tige revised the deck outfitting of the 24Ve and RZ4 to match the Z3's, I bet there would be a lot of upgrading. Not that I don't love our 24Ve's interior, but to hear you rave about the Z3 makes one wonder....

[ragboy]

Well, my 2007 24Ve interior could use some work. ;-)

Compared to my 2010 RZ2...

1. Love the cooler in bow, wasn't sure, but really liked it. No one has to get up. Not in the way of sacs.

2. The center walkthrough vs side walkthrough is HUGE improvement in my book. That cushion for the side fill in just gets lost. On the Z3, its always there, you just turn over that middle piece, and its either sea deck, or cushion, brilliant.

3. No more ball buster tow. Z3 has a hook town on transom, no more pole to break the nuts.

4. steps on rear to center walkway, and diamond pattern vinyl is safe, easy, nice. I am REALLY going to miss this.

5. When you lean back in ballast boy seat, that handle can dig in your back, not in Z3, looking forward to checking on Z4.

There are other things, but hoping to see that type of interior walkthrough on more boats. The 2010 RZ2 interior was great, the Z3 was just a step up for me.

[IDBoating]

1. Love the cooler in bow, wasn't sure, but really liked it. No one has to get up. Not in the way of sacs.

I like that no one has to get off a seat. The ones I really feel sorry for are the RZ's that have the cooler behind the driver. That really messes with the ability to make a ballast system symmetrical. On my 24Ve (yours too?), the cooler is opposite the driver so the underseat arms of the ballast sacs can be almost identical in length.

2. The center walkthrough vs side walkthrough is HUGE improvement in my book. That cushion for the side fill in just gets lost. On the Z3, its always there, you just turn over that middle piece, and its either sea deck, or cushion, brilliant.

Single best improvement IMHO. I'd absolutely love to have a center walkthrough instead of a side one. I'd never install the cushion at all (we don't even now).

3. No more ball buster tow. Z3 has a hook town on transom, no more pole to break the nuts.

As you may have seen, I added a custom grab handle on the transom for inflatables. It would be nice if the waterski tow pole were removable or retractable, but at least it is a handy target at which to throw the handle of the wakesurf rope {grin}.

4. steps on rear to center walkway, and diamond pattern vinyl is safe, easy, nice. I am REALLY going to miss this.

Part of the overall center walkthrough IMHO. Should be standard on every model.

Speaking of improvements in that department: Have you seen the sundeck seats on some of the Mastercrafts? The sundeck cushion is integrated into seatbacks that fold down horizontal when you want a sundeck. But if you lift up the seatbacks, you get two rear-facing seats right on the swim platform. The walkthrough passes between them. Absolutely perfect for coaching or filming wakesurfing, and if you're using "human ballast" it puts the person even farther toward the rear.

[ragboy]

Yeah, thats funny, I was thinking about how I WOULDN'T want that, cuz it would prob make the lockers smaller, for less sacage. But then I thought, dude, if I sat there, what a wake! LOL

[Duncan]

So we picked up the new RZ4 last night, and its sitting in my driveway.

Does it have the new style smooth swim platform? I am interested to hear how it works with the RZ4 given the issues on the Z3.

[ragboy]

Good question, so I had maddie take some quick pics. The underside of deck is same as our 2010 RZ2.

[majestic]

Let's re-cap;

The 24 Ve came back from Wakemaker's awesome, 2 new Tige's in less than a month to play with, and a new truck.... It's not even Christmas yet