Are the guys talking crap not Tige owners??

[masongardner]

Hello all,

My name is Jason, I am obviously new to the forum. I have and have had boats my entire life. Just sold my Bayliner to step up to a boat with the capabilities of wakesurfing. I do wakeboard and water ski with my friends and family, but surfing is calling my name. On another forum (sorry), I kinda asked about the boat I was looking at and received a lot of negative responses. I am looking at a 1998 Tige, can be seen here, http://denver.craigslist.org/boa/4080075221.html. People are saying that adding the weight to make it surf worthy will make it also VERY prone to taking water over the bow, pretty much making the bow seating unusable during surfing time. I figured the best place to get a good answer is with the people who own these boats. So please, let me know your thoughts. PS. I boat on a smaller reservoir where we do have a wetslip and can bail out from the lake in about 10 mins max. Thanks and happy boating!!

- Jason

[boardman74]

Most of these ski boat with ballast and or people in the bow can be prone to "dunking" the bow. Especially if you are not used to driving an inboard boat. That boat is an older more designed ski boat and does have a very low bow. An inexperienced driver can easily dunk that boats bow without weight or people in the front.

While that boat will surf with some weight, its not going to be well suited for it. If you are really looking to surf your best off to look for a Vdrive.

[boardman74]

Just out of curiosity what other site did you get alot of negative responses on.

[talltigeguy]

That boat is simply a great ski boat. Ski boats are good because they are lighter and in order to make them lighter, they cut down on the freeboard. Low freeboard in the front means that you will dunk the bow sooner or later.

For a budget of around 12,500, I am not sure what else to recommend, though. There are going to be a few trade offs. I would see if a 2000-2002 V-drive pops up around where you live. They would probably be more 15-20K, but I think you would be much happier with it in the end.

[masongardner]

iboats, and from googling. I dont know if negative responses was the right word, but I think the common consensus was not to get this boat for surfing. What kind of boat around these years or price anyways should I be looking for?

[masongardner]

well, I dont know if this is real or not, but this looks like a great price for a boat like this. http://denver.craigslist.org/boa/4109467721.html My question is, why is a v-drive better as far as dunking the bow than a direct drive boat. Deeper hull??

[NICKYPOO]

The thing is, you don't need any front ballast to create a respectable surf wake in that boat. Yes, it is very low in the front and even I take one over the front (called stuffing the bow) but, its rare any more for me. It takes some practice but, its not a big deal. Even if you do stuff it, its just water. I've seen people do it with their V-drives many times.

That particular boat surfs very well for D-Drive. I've taken mine a bit further than most.

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...ballast+thread

[NICKYPOO]

You can fit more ballast in a V-drive.

[boardman74]

That boat is a great price if its for real. But its likely a scam at that price.

Like said Vdrives tend to have more freeboard and also more places to put ballast out of sight. Also with the engine in the very back it puts the weight where you want it for surfing.

Like Nicky said that boat will surf, but you are going to have sacs all over the floor to make that happen. If your Ok with having sacs all over the place that boat might work for you.

Lastly I wouldn't think too much about what people over on Iboats are saying about inboard boats. You are surely in the wrong place looking for info on inboards. I'd disregard such sights as you disregard your I/O Bayliner.

[TeamAllen]

Welcome to the site Jason. The key word that stuck out to me was you water ski. That is the reason I bought my Direct Drive (DD) over a V-drive. Of course, surfing has come along since we bought it 16 years ago.

We are able to surf, like others have said. We do put sacs all over the floor when we do. Nickypoo has worked his extra ballast into the stern of his boat, as you can see from the link he posted. For me surfing is just one of the things we do and when we are done we put the ballast away to make some turns with the ski. Most people don't slalom ski anymore or it's not the #1 priority for them. That's why you see more V-drive models. Different boats for different reasons and people. What are your priorities for use?

You will stuff the bow, but you will get it under control.

[masongardner]

Welcome to the site Jason. The key word that stuck out to me was you water ski. That is the reason I bought my Direct Drive (DD) over a V-drive. Of course, surfing has come along since we bought it 16 years ago.

We are able to surf, like others have said. We do put sacs all over the floor when we do. Nickypoo has worked his extra ballast into the stern of his boat, as you can see from the link he posted. For me surfing is just one of the things we do and when we are done we put the ballast away to make some turns with the ski. Most people don't slalom ski anymore or it's not the #1 priority for them. That's why you see more V-drive models. Different boats for different reasons and people. What are your priorities for use?

You will stuff the bow, but you will get it under control.

My priorities are a multi task boat with the capabilities of surfing. Nothing profession but just fun goofing around and stuff. I have kids. 3 of them. So tubing and playing around is still a must. I love skiing. And I love wakeboarding. Surfing is the next step for us. I would love to spend 30 thousand on a newer vdrive but thats just not in the budget. 13000 or so is probably my max. Luckily there is all winter to search. I have seen a few nice 2000 or 2001 ski nautiques. A couple of supras. And then a few really beautiful tige boats. Near me right now are 2 tige boats. A 1998 21i. And a 2000 22i. Im not in a hurry to buy, just would like to know what direction to be looking. Thanks for all the input so far. I said it in a previous post but also am not a some huge lake or river so I dont know that taking water over the bow is as big as a concern in maybe a larger area. Thanks for the input all!!

[boardman74]

For that budget you are going to be strictly in direct drives. I really doubt you will see a V drive that low and if you do its going to need lots of work which still would break you budget.

Just FYI..99% of the waves/wakes your going to dunk your bow on will be of your own making. Size of the body of water you are on doesn't matter much! You will usually do it when a rider falls and you are idling back to them, turning around, etc.

[skippabcool]

Even at Cherry Creek or the like you will take over water until you get the hang of it. My two cents would be to wait and save for a v drive. Some may not agree but I know several of my buddies that bought dd then wanted vdrives and lost money in the exchange. I started with about the same budget but then started to look at boats and possible maintenance issues and raised my budget. The last thing you want it to drop even $13k then find out it was a mistake or that you have to drop more money to enjoy your investment. More realistic, IMO for this area, would be the low $20k's for a vdrive. There is lots of information to be had on this site and others.

[kx250frider617]

I would look for a more wakeboard specific direct drive to save money. Like the 22i or the malibu's. Do the research and find out what direct drives have the same hull as the v-drives. I tried to surf behind to flat bottom ski boats, one of which was the exact same as the OP boat. Both had bad prop cavitation when leaned over or with heavy weight. The flat bottoms just arn't designed with ballast in mind. I think it might be the combination of a flat bottom with the spray pockets causing turbulence infront of the prop. I owned a 97' ski centurion elite which had an identical running surfaces as this boat, and it too had bad cavitation. That was with a 750 pound sack in the rear locker and 500 up front.

[lancehon]

I had a 97 pre2150 for my first boat and it was not a surf boat. I thought I would hate skiing behind my 08 22ve, after my first few turns I fell in love skiing behind it!!! The wake is so much softer