Brand new Z3.

[ajbpilot]

Thanks.
Ok, now I am confused. I looked up the CWB Benz it says it is a skim style board it is definitely not flat as it is an epoxy board. I guess the real question is do we want an epoxy board or the other type (composite i think)? It seems the epoxy board is lighter and more maneuverable and might be the next step up from our 5 year old tsunami. I'll bet a new tsunami is even better than that old thing. Our goal is to start getting a little more aggressive with tricks (I'm really talking about my 13 & 14 yr olds) and take advantage of this stellar wake machine. And my older son wants to impress the chicks. Ahh, how I remember those days. Good thing he has such sucker for Dad.
I am dying to replace this mouse with a billet throttle!!!

[NICKYPOO]

Get that Lakewakes skim. It's gonna be great for the boys. Some of the new popouts ate getting decent reviews but, I would still be very leery of them. The lakewakes is a handbuilt product. If your boys skateboard, this is the direction you should head. Personally, I wouldn't buy a wakesurf board from a wakeboard company. Those popouts are going to be heavy and slow but, quite durable. The lakewakes might not be as durable but, it should outperform any popout on the market by a long way.

[Bogdog]

that is the best looking Z3 I've ever seen, what an awesome colour scheme. Congrats and enjoy.

[ajbpilot]

Thanks Bogdog. We wanted something that would look current and classic 5 yrs. from now as we will be almost 50 by then. I tried the upgraded paint schemes but I kept taking everything off to make it more conservative. The lower priced option turned out great. I even let my wife pick the graphics! The whole combo really pops in person. I put the extra money into tower and Speaker LEDs and a heater for mama. Yes a heater in Texas. You've got to give to get you know.

[sotexwake]

clean boat. Congrats. I love the Dallas area.

[Roostergolf]

This boat loves ballast. Fill front a back full! The off side back 25-50% depending on the size of the wake and people on the boat! More for longer of course.

[Bruizza]

That is one absolutely gorgeous Z3!!!

[JohnZ3]

Sweet Boat dude!

[viking]

Dead Sexy boat! Love it.

[ajbpilot]

JUST GOT IT OUT FOR THE FIRST DRIVE. Anybody on the fence... Buy it! Exceeded my expectations on driving experience, thank goodness. We played with the ballast a little just testing systems really. Cruised with little effort with a nice smooth ride in basically smooth conditions with a little chop (LEVEL 1-2 OCCASIONAL 3). Crossed our own wake at speed with ease and not a rattle to be heard. No ballast wakeboard wake looked clean and crisp from 15mph up to 22 mph with no change in TAPS. This hull seems to move effortlessly through the water with smooth acceleration and held 25-30 mph with no effort. I have the 343 motor and it is plenty. Six people and full ballast with full fuel and it jumped out of the water with little effort. (Another relief moment.) Made a real nice surf wake but a bit of a hassle getting the sacs to empty. You really have to stand in the locker and hold the bag up to get all of the water out. Not a big deal really but but i guess i didn't expect that. We keep a lot of life jackets in the boat, because we carry so many different age people, and you have to unload the locker to fill the surf ballast. Minor issues but I didn't have to do that with the 22v with hard tanks.

Can anyone tell me what the surf ballast option consists of again. I thought I knew but when I went to the ballast page to fill the tanks I only had the front and the surf bags. I could have sworn there were other tanks/ bags in the floor under the surf bags but I didn't see that option. Thankfully, at our level of wakeboarding, I think just filling the front will be enough to get a good size without having to mess with the surf sacs just to wakeboard. Surfing will obviously be more involved but worth the effort.
I bought this particular boat for versatility. Wakeboarding at different speeds/ skills, surfing, driving, floating, music, style, space, safety in big lake water conditions (think ride and the depth of the seating/ freeboard? i think they call it), and the ability of TAPS to affect the nose while in motion on a bigger lake. So far i felt like I made the perfect choice. I'm sure other brand owners think theirs is the best but if you aren't happy with a Z3 then you are at a level of picky I don't understand.

Thanks for all the feedback. When you spend this kind of money it's nice to know others see it like you do. ...and Nickypoo, I looked at the LakeWakes boards and they looked very cool but couldn't decide what to do yet (ignorance really). I think I am just going to use the current equipment until we focus our needs. Thanks.

[rensink]

JUST GOT IT OUT FOR THE FIRST DRIVE. Anybody on the fence... Buy it! Exceeded my expectations on driving experience, thank goodness. We played with the ballast a little just testing systems really. Cruised with little effort with a nice smooth ride in basically smooth conditions with a little chop (LEVEL 1-2 OCCASIONAL 3). Crossed our own wake at speed with ease and not a rattle to be heard. No ballast wakeboard wake looked clean and crisp from 15mph up to 22 mph with no change in TAPS. This hull seems to move effortlessly through the water with smooth acceleration and held 25-30 mph with no effort. I have the 343 motor and it is plenty. Six people and full ballast with full fuel and it jumped out of the water with little effort. (Another relief moment.) Made a real nice surf wake but a bit of a hassle getting the sacs to empty. You really have to stand in the locker and hold the bag up to get all of the water out. Not a big deal really but but i guess i didn't expect that. We keep a lot of life jackets in the boat, because we carry so many different age people, and you have to unload the locker to fill the surf ballast. Minor issues but I didn't have to do that with the 22v with hard tanks.

Can anyone tell me what the surf ballast option consists of again. I thought I knew but when I went to the ballast page to fill the tanks I only had the front and the surf bags. I could have sworn there were other tanks/ bags in the floor under the surf bags but I didn't see that option. Thankfully, at our level of wakeboarding, I think just filling the front will be enough to get a good size without having to mess with the surf sacs just to wakeboard. Surfing will obviously be more involved but worth the effort.
I bought this particular boat for versatility. Wakeboarding at different speeds/ skills, surfing, driving, floating, music, style, space, safety in big lake water conditions (think ride and the depth of the seating/ freeboard? i think they call it), and the ability of TAPS to affect the nose while in motion on a bigger lake. So far i felt like I made the perfect choice. I'm sure other brand owners think theirs is the best but if you aren't happy with a Z3 then you are at a level of picky I don't understand.

Thanks for all the feedback. When you spend this kind of money it's nice to know others see it like you do. ...and Nickypoo, I looked at the LakeWakes boards and they looked very cool but couldn't decide what to do yet (ignorance really). I think I am just going to use the current equipment until we focus our needs. Thanks.

The surf ballast consist of 1600lbs dispersed with a single U-Shaped 400lb in the bow and 1200 in the rear. The rear is 250lb hard tanks with 350lb sacs on the floor when you go to fill the rear in the TigeTouch you click on the rear sac it fills the hard tank and bag under one command there is no individual screen or switch for the hard tanks. As far as draining make sure the pumps and hoses are free and not being kinked when draining. The freeboard on the Z3 is awesome there is a lot of room there. You mentioned you played with the testing a little just remember that not enough bow weight will cause the boat to porpoise if going back and forth from surfing to wakeboarding and so forth. I generally noticed it the most when there wasn't enough bow weight or to much rear weight and running with the taps to high while up on plane moving to a different area and not emptying the weight and running aroudn 30mph.

[mnpracing]

the pro ballast comes with two separate bags in the bow. Not sure why they didn't do that for the surf ballast option.

[tommy1005]

They did do 2 bags on surf ballast for 2013

[rensink]

They did do 2 bags on surf ballast for 2013

That's not true the only way to get two separate bow sacs is by going to the pro system where are you seeing the surf is two seperste sacs?

[chpthril]

They did do 2 bags on surf ballast for 2013

That's not true the only way to get two separate bow sacs is by going to the pro system where are you seeing the surf is two seperste sacs?

This may very from boat model to model. So you both may be right.