Help the New Guy Decide on a Boat!

[RyanMact]

Hey Tige forum, new guy here.

I have been looking to buy a boat for some time now, and have been following the Tige forum too.

I have come to like both the 20i, and 22i. I would like to get some feed back on the pro's and cons for these models.

The new boat would be trailered as there is no cottage in the family.

I am looking for a good all round tow boat. Ski/wake board, tube kids, never surfed but looks like a blast.

Seating in the 22i looks to be a big draw, but are there any issues with this boat.

Tige boats seem to offer a lot of value vs. price. I notice that Nautique Sport 200 and Mastercraft x14 are very exspensive. What can I learn before test driving and making that big decission.

I am full of questions, but will start with a few.

Any constructive opinions and observations would be sincerely appreciated.
Thank you!
Ryan

[lalhc]

Are you looking to buy new or used?

[laserfish]

Why the DD? V-drive is a lot more family friendly. Unless you are a hardcore skier, take a look at the v drives as well. Not a bad recreational wake for a skiier, but can wakeboard and surf much easier.

[TigeTrojan]

I have a 21i and it is a great all around boat. You can ski, board, surf and tube without any problems. If I had kids, I think I would lean towards a V-Drive just because the layout gives a bit more room.

The Direct Drive is very easy to work on and there are other reasons I like it, not trying to convince you to go with a V, but like laserfish said, I would think that the V is more family friendly.

[ereed969]

I have a 21i. I love it. But knowing what I know now I would have got a v-drive. We mostly surf so after having fat sacs everywhere there is not alot of places for the kids to sit. But still it was cheaper than a v-drive.

[LovinPowell]

I have a 21i also, but unlike previous posts, I would buy a direct drive again. Surfing is the best. We most ski and surf, some wakeboard and wakeskate. The 21i (similar to the 22i) is so versatile, others might disagree, but with the smaller beam of the 21i, it takes less to weight it down for a good surf wake, than the wider v-drive boats. You do lose space, but it's a give and take proposition, and I give up room and take more versatility. Just my

[zad0030]

How soon are you looking at buying a boat? Within the next few weeks or month or not until next year? If not for while, I would encourage you to get out to a boat show this winter and just look at everything. Every manufacturer has something different to offer. This will be especially good if you are on the fence about Vdrive and Direct Drive. It will give you a chance to get in the boat and get a better feel about how you will make use of the storage spaces etc.

Issues with boats are mostly year specific and not so much model like you might find with cars. If there is a recurring issue with one component chances are it affects all the boats.

Obviously the biggest difference between a DD and VD is engine placement, everything else is gravy. Really the biggest deciding factor for anyone that wants just "an all around tow boat" can't go wrong either way. It will just come down to which arrangement you feel comfortable in.

We could all lists pages and pages with pros and cons for each but what it all just comes back to what you plan on doing.

[Bruizza]

I've never had so few people out I wished I had a smaller boat. There are plenty of times I've had a big crew out and wished I had a bigger boat.

[Wickedcummins]

Bayliner lol

[RyanMact]

I have grown up around boats, and would not even use a sunken Bayliner as a dock anchor.

All kidding aside, I am looking for my boat now.

Zad0030, thanks for the well put together reply. I live close to Toronto Canada (eh!) and went to the boat show this past winter. You would have thought with 10 million people living in a 75 mile radius of Toronto that some manufactures would like to be well represented by their dealerships. Well Mastercraft and Correct Craft were, but the others only brought 2 or 3 examples. There was only one Centurion. All in all pretty disappointing.

Will have to hit up a different show I guess. I hear Miami has a killer boat week, could make a vacation out of it.

Sooooo for now I have been doing the online shopping thing.

I agree with you Tige Trojan; there is something appealling to me about the the simplicity of the direct drive.

Anyone know much about the closed cooling system?

[TigeTrojan]

Closed cooling is a great thing to have if you are planning to put the boat in salt water. I have not had much luck finding boats with the closed cooling option, but I am in Southern CA and assume that has something to do with it. My guess is that you would find more closed cooling boats in FL because you would actually be able to use these boats in the ocean out there. (Maybe another reason to go to the Miami show.)

The raw water cooling system that most of us have is very simple and pretty easy and cheap to maintain. Just an impeller swap once a year, which is a 15 minute job including drinking a beer at the end, and an occasional check to make sure there are no weeds in the intake. I am obviously not as familiar with the closed cooling systems, but I imagine there is going to be more maintenance, and probably a higher cost when things go wrong.

Are you planning to use the boat in salt water?

[NICKYPOO]

D-drives are nice for working on, thats for sure. I've done all the maintenance on mine.

The 22i is really more of a V-drive in D-drive clothing. It's designed to be a wakeboat first. If you're serious about slalom at all (course skiing), I would consider the 21i. You can still stuff it down a course without your Nautique buddies laughing at you and it'll still wakeboard and surf better than any pure slalom machine.

If you're just recreational skier, I would look more towards a V-drive. The ease of which you can get a nice surfwake while getting some freeboard between your family and the water is worth the sacrifice in slalom performance.

What are you looking to find out about closed cooling?

[Allan Kendall]

I love my R20 and if offered I wouldn't exchange for any other model. It skis well, has barefoot speed, the wakeboard setup is frikin scary for me and well...the surf wake...well is ok (just kidding I think it may be the biggest out there on a 20 foot platform). Looking back I'm glad we upgraded the motor (PCM343) and cooler, surf system. Price is right as well and it has the same design tech as its bigger RZ brothers.

Good luck and whatever you get, shred and make memories....

[jake's02-22i]

I like my 22i but I wish I had a V-Drive. I'm Starting to surf a lot more and it is hard to find a place to put 1,000 lbs. on a 2001 and up 22i. Fly High makes a custom Sac for the back lockers but it is only around 530lbs.

[rushin]

We had a 22i and loved it. Storage is ample and the seating arrangment is awesome. I do believe it is the widest DD out at 102" if not one of them.

The only draw back we saw to it was the bow is a little low so you have to be careful at times.

Highly recommend one.