Help finding a new boat

[freeheel4life]

Welcome bobcat. I work as tech at a dealer the sells all 3 youve mentioned. I have biases and opinions like rveryone else but I will throw in my .02 as well.
As others have said, I think the r21 will have a better surf wave than the Mondo(still havent been out in a Mondo but have surfed a Craz a bunch).
You didnt mention which MC you were interested in but Im assuming you are looking at the NXTs. I think that the NXT line is a BIG step down from the XT and X series(to be expected in a budget boat) but I think if you are doing an apples to apples comparison of all 3 "budget" boats you mention the NXT is at the bottom of the list for fit anf finish. Like others said, go sit in one and hopefully get on the water. I think the overall interior in the r21 is way better than the NXT. The one thing the MC does have for your needs is the tower folds back and would make that bridge a bit easier to navigate, but in my mind thats the only win for the NXT.
Is the Helix not on your list?? Decent wave(would still give the nod to the r21 tho) with a LOT more freeboard and in turn it gets you a bit more storage in a short boat.
Theres another thing Id consider. Unless the holdover 18 is rock bottom priced Id consider ordering a 19. Especially if theres anything about its gel coat, interior vinyl colors, and options you dont like. Not sure if Indmars going to do it again this year but theyve done 7 year warranties on boats ordered during boat show time of the year. Tige is killing it with the R series and now you can option the boat out as much or as little as youd like when ordering. So with your season in WI coming to a close I think you could get the boat you really want instead of the holdover 18(unless you really love it and you are getting a deal).
Lastly, yes some new boats have warranty issues, and some dont. Happens in all brands we carry. I will be 100% honest and say that Moomba has the least amount of warranty work that comes through my bay. BUT Tige stands behind their boats and are probably the easiest to deal with for warranty work on the dealer side and will often go above and beyond to get parts to dealers and get customers back on the water. Moomba and MC are a bit slower in my opinion. So if you have warranty work and a good service department at your dealer Id say Tiges going to get you back on the water faster.

[bobcat1973]

Welcome bobcat. I work as tech at a dealer the sells all 3 youve mentioned. I have biases and opinions like rveryone else but I will throw in my .02 as well.
As others have said, I think the r21 will have a better surf wave than the Mondo(still havent been out in a Mondo but have surfed a Craz a bunch).
You didnt mention which MC you were interested in but Im assuming you are looking at the NXTs. I think that the NXT line is a BIG step down from the XT and X series(to be expected in a budget boat) but I think if you are doing an apples to apples comparison of all 3 "budget" boats you mention the NXT is at the bottom of the list for fit anf finish. Like others said, go sit in one and hopefully get on the water. I think the overall interior in the r21 is way better than the NXT. The one thing the MC does have for your needs is the tower folds back and would make that bridge a bit easier to navigate, but in my mind thats the only win for the NXT.
Is the Helix not on your list?? Decent wave(would still give the nod to the r21 tho) with a LOT more freeboard and in turn it gets you a bit more storage in a short boat.
Theres one last thing Id consider. Unless the holdover 18 is rock bottom priced Id consider ordering a 19. Especially if theres anything about its gel coat, interior vinyl colors, and options you dont like. Not sure if Indmars going to do it again this year but theyve done 7 year warranties on boats ordered during boat show time of the year. Tige is killing it with the R series and now you can option the boat out as much or as little as youd like when ordering. So with your season in WI coming to a close I think you could get the boat you really want instead of the holdover 18(unless you really love it and you are getting a deal).

Excellent, thank you.. yes, the R21 is a 2018 pretty optioned out.. lots of stuff. the Mondo is a 2019 build with every option except underwater lights including 900lb bags in the deal with auto flow, flo 2 (surf package).

The r21 is a little more money but not much. Easily handled. And no, it wasn't the NXT.. it was the XT20 (2017 w/20 hours) dealer demo boat. This one is loaded as well and only 7k more than the others are brand new. The NXT is a joke as far as i am concerned. I would not entertain that boat at all. Yes, its MC, but that's all it is. The helix is terribly ugly in my opinion, can't get into the looks.

[freeheel4life]

Excellent, thank you.. yes, the R21 is a 2018 pretty optioned out.. lots of stuff. the Mondo is a 2019 build with every option except underwater lights including 900lb bags in the deal with auto flow, flo 2 (surf package).

The r21 is a little more money but not much. Easily handled. And no, it wasn't the NXT.. it was the XT20 (2017 w/20 hours) dealer demo boat. This one is loaded as well and only 7k more than the others are brand new. The NXT is a joke as far as i am concerned. I would not entertain that boat at all. Yes, its MC, but that's all it is. The helix is terribly ugly in my opinion, can't get into the looks.

Glad thats how you feel about the NXT. Agree on the Helix. Its a big square blocky boat. Some people look past it in lieu of cost (monthly payment winning over preference)

Just fyi, I decided to edit my post a bit and added a bit about warranty consideration. Good luck

[KyleRass41]

Anyone else a little annoyed by some of this? We bought a 2006 24v and was an amazing boat. We were the first to have a tige on our lake. now there are around 8 to 10 tiges on our lake. All say great things. We now have a 13' z3.....again few little things to fix with buying it used but sure enough tige has always came through for me. That is why I will always buy.

"I am VERY unfamiliar with Tige. But to be honest i haven't heard anything good about them in most conversations." Thanks
"My dealer handles most brands. MC, Tige, Malibu at different stores " "The dealer for moomba has a good rep and was mentioned on this post. Seem to know their stuff."- you would think there would be more tiges on your lake then if he sells tiges, so find them and park next to them....and talk to them......but yes you only know one person that has one, thats one opinion, depending on if he likes it or not. I absolutely hate dealers that talk bad about other brands. its so annoying. Better ways of selling your own brand.
"like i said, i am here to learn. I know nothing about them" - Yup....We saw that.
"They seem to have a bad reputation" - Thanks

"Never considered Tige so i didn't get into details with him." - Yuuuup......we know
"never even been in one. ----- Yup......we know again Usually not mentioned in most wake boat conversations." Thanks for throwing salt on the wound.....



We really like our Tige and everyone on the lake that we hang out with that have them love them. Sold me after all the great customer service. No reason to change but you won't hear my say anything bad about any others. Out of all the boats, they stand out to me!

[chpthril]

My dealer handles most brands. MC, Tige, Malibu at different stores.

Nuff said

[bobcat1973]

The lake that i am on, doesn't have a tige dealer just to clarify. My dealer where i live however is close. We trailer on the weekends or leave our boat on our lake 3.5 hours north of us. That's why we don't see many tige's.. its mostly Bu on my lake because of a close enough dealer. Right now, i don't want to spend that kind of money on a malibu. Their pricing keeps going up while most of the others are trying to earn my business. My experience with malibu hasn't been that way.

Any thoughts on the R20? My dealer has 2 very nice 2018's he is letting go for reasonable price. I looked at the R21 and it was a very nice boat. Probably better than the MC that was sitting close by. The layout, the storage, was very well done. It also had the built in cooler which i thought was a clever idea.

But the R20 looks really nice too. We do have to deal with some lake restrictions but most people don't follow it and its not enforced but as someone that follows the rules i want to look at the R20 as well.

thank you Freeheel4life.. hearing from someone who works on them is a big help.

[Rbuss4]

The lake that i am on, doesn't have a tige dealer just to clarify. My dealer where i live however is close. We trailer on the weekends or leave our boat on our lake 3.5 hours north of us. That's why we don't see many tige's.. its mostly Bu on my lake because of a close enough dealer. Right now, i don't want to spend that kind of money on a malibu. Their pricing keeps going up while most of the others are trying to earn my business. My experience with malibu hasn't been that way.

Any thoughts on the R20? My dealer has 2 very nice 2018's he is letting go for reasonable price. I looked at the R21 and it was a very nice boat. Probably better than the MC that was sitting close by. The layout, the storage, was very well done. It also had the built in cooler which i thought was a clever idea.

But the R20 looks really nice too. We do have to deal with some lake restrictions but most people don't follow it and its not enforced but as someone that follows the rules i want to look at the R20 as well.

thank you Freeheel4life.. hearing from someone who works on them is a big help.

My RZR is the same boat as the R20, just the "tricked out" model. That's the way Tige did it until recently. We love our boat. Sure its a bit smaller with slightly less storage than a 21 footer or bigger boat would be, but you give a bit when you have to trailer it. We trailer ours about 2 hours north similar to what you describe. One aspect of towing that no one has mentioned. These boats act as wind tunnels when towing them. What i mean is we used to load up the Mastercraft Prostar with all of our gear to bring it with us up north. The Tige does not work well for that as the wind whips over the front end and through the windshield walkway. If you order or have the option for one with the door between the windshield-GET IT>

[Rz22013]

Here's my 2 cents... I live in wisconsin, milwaukee area. I have a few dealers to choose from and I have dealt with most of them. I owned a moomba and had great service with the dealer in Lauderdale lake, their other store, same owners was a bunch of *** holes. I did my research and really wanted to get a tige. But I gave everyone a fair shot and many eliminateed themselves with poor communication or just didn't care attitude. I finally got my RZ2 from skipper buds in Pewaukee. My experience with them was ok, salesman Was good, sales Manger not good but most importantly the service manager was good. I love my tige and want to upgrade to the new RX20. Tige makes a great boat, prices across the brands suck in my opinion but people pay as I did. I'd say most dealers around here aren't the greatest. I fortunately do all my maintenance and services now. I did have good warranty work done that went relatively smooth. I feel in wisconsin that we don't have much choice and have to go to dealer that only sells the brand we want and they know that. However I am very happy with tige and will continue, I love their boats and have had lots of fun on my boat.

[D&P Powell]

...the upgrade bug will hit eventually

He speaks the truth!

[cltTige]

If you order or have the option for one with the door between the windshield-GET IT>

You mean they make boats these days without that option?!?! that's stupid. 100% windshield helps. First boat I had I trailered with the window up and guess what, the rear cover flew open. (Side note still happened on my Tige w/ window closed but that's cause the latches holding it down also broke and I was unaware) So yeah that's a legit concern esp with your long hauls.

[bobcat1973]

you guys ever have a concern with the draft? seem to be a big more on the Tige at 29". Is this a true 29". i know seems like a dumb question, but i have a bay i need to park in that is about 36". More worried about stirring up the bottom and picking up gunk off the bottom.

[sandm]

I boated with a guy a few years ago in a z1 over in stevens point that had 100yards or so of 2.5-3ft shallows before you would get out to the lake. he knew the path and always idled out until it dropped off a shelf. there were spots that I am sure the prop was only a few inches off the bottom.
if it was me, bumping the throttle every 50ft or so will get you in nice and slow and shouldn't disrupt it too much.

i'd have a bigger concern if the prop is close to the bottom, you have rocks and it's just anchored to a dock. first surf wave rolling by could slam prop into rock. $125 repair and a spoiled day of surfing due to this several years ago and made me choose parking spots closely.

[KoolAid]

You mean they make boats these days without that option?!?! that's stupid. 100% windshield helps. First boat I had I trailered with the window up and guess what, the rear cover flew open. (Side note still happened on my Tige w/ window closed but that's cause the latches holding it down also broke and I was unaware) So yeah that's a legit concern esp with your long hauls.

He is talking about the walk through windscreen. Sits below the windshield walk through door and fills the walk through area up to the bottom of the windshield door. I personally always tow with the cover on when going long distances. Would rather buff any scratches later than risk the boat getting rained on, dirty interior or rock chips in the windshield.

[BLucas86]

you guys ever have a concern with the draft? seem to be a big more on the Tige at 29". Is this a true 29". i know seems like a dumb question, but i have a bay i need to park in that is about 36". More worried about stirring up the bottom and picking up gunk off the bottom.

I have an RZX3 that we load down regularly and has lead stashed and we have 3' to work with to get out to the river. The key is knowing the path, knowing what the bottom consists of, and being gentle. Id say with a crew, 400 lbs of lead and full tank of gas, im at 29". The smaller boat will be a bit more weight sensitive, but load ppl into the bow if your concerned. Some of the manufactures fib their draft #'s, so be cautious and check them in the real world.

[bobcat1973]

I have an RZX3 that we load down regularly and has lead stashed and we have 3' to work with to get out to the river. The key is knowing the path, knowing what the bottom consists of, and being gentle. Id say with a crew, 400 lbs of lead and full tank of gas, im at 29". The smaller boat will be a bit more weight sensitive, but load ppl into the bow if your concerned. Some of the manufactures fib their draft #'s, so be cautious and check them in the real world.

yah, that's what i was thinking. It looks a little more from swim deck to bottom of the rudder. I know people who have measured it to the best of their ability. I can't see the boat in the water as the dealer already winterized. Trying to get an accurate picture. 29" draft with 36" to work with concerns me a little. Hitting bottom is one of my phobia's