All,
Every year we attend the Minneapolis Boat show, has pretty much anything and everything that can float or move on water. Of course I am like a moth to a flame when it comes to wake boats so I will share only those thoughts. This is of-course just my opinion!
In general: nothing earth changing or incredible this year from anyone. It was interesting to see different manufactures trying to fit into what they feel is their niche. Some do it better than others, that is what I will address... Most if not everyone is going with sub-floor ballast, that was the biggest trend along with touch screens for everything.
Personally, I really like what Tige, Nautique, and Moomba are doing this year. Tige has really stepped up their game in the last few years, I like the more conservative styling (no more hot pink crap) and the ZX, RZX, and R series of boats are a little of something for everyone. I thought the 55K R20 was the best deal of the show! That is a lot of boat for that price.... Consider this, we looked at some 20' Glastrons that were the same price. And in my mind, you get a lot more boat for the money with the Tige. Tige also was extremely smart in how they set up the helm, one touch screen, nothing else to fix or to complicate things. Very intuitive, and straight forward. Nothing flashing, just simplicity and I like that a lot and so does my wife! Tige checks the boxes in so many areas that are important to us such as: Race car style Captains seat ( I hate the cup style seats ). Single touch screen for simplicity, power tower which is great because we go in and out of the lift a lot, good sound system, LED lights, good looking interior, underwater LED's, ect.
Nautique just knows who they are and who their customers are... They make no bones about being extremely high end, have really nice interiors (like being in a yacht, but you pay for it). The G23 set the benchmark for that size of boat, and they added the power tower to the G-series so that was a nice touch (of course Tige did it first). They really don't have a "value" boat but they don't really try to tap that market anyway. So, if you have 200K stuffed under your couch and need something to buy, Nautique should be your first stop.
Moomba - (Skiers Choice) just knows who they are and who buys their boats. Matt Brown is the guy who designs boats for Moomba and he gets it and really knows who his key audience is. I think they did a great job with the new helm, autowake is the ONLY thing I wish my Tige had, it just works. The color choices and affordability make Moomba a really good choice if you are not Warren Buffett and still want to wake-surf on weekends.
Centurion new Fi boats were nice but they didn't seem to have the fit and finish that the other boats had in the same price range.
HEYDAY or what I call the WTF boat... My two cents - this thing is so ugly it's fugly. If you want something that looks like a tractor, and you want to use your IPAD as your helm, be my guest, the one at the show was 65K.
Varatti - made by Floe Intl... OMG - this thing was so low to the water it literally has zero leg room up front, your knees would be up to your nose. Very shallow in the back as well. I thought to myself - okay... if this is a value boat its okay, I would shop around but okay. Then I asked what it was selling for... 115K!!!!! I about hit the floor. If they sell 10 of these things all year I will be shocked! PS... I do not want to be the first person to be sitting in the bow when the driver accidentally turns into his own surf wave, she will go down.
Mastercraft - same old, same utility looking silver towers, more touch screens... not much else
Malibu - didn't spend a lot of time here. They look okay, some strange color combinations, still don't like their towers, friends have one and it doesn't impress me, always hitting our heads on the speakers. Lot's of what I saw last year, not a lot of changes.
There you have it... My two cents! Hope this helps those who couldn't get out to a show this year...
NG572
Every year we attend the Minneapolis Boat show, has pretty much anything and everything that can float or move on water. Of course I am like a moth to a flame when it comes to wake boats so I will share only those thoughts. This is of-course just my opinion!
In general: nothing earth changing or incredible this year from anyone. It was interesting to see different manufactures trying to fit into what they feel is their niche. Some do it better than others, that is what I will address... Most if not everyone is going with sub-floor ballast, that was the biggest trend along with touch screens for everything.
Personally, I really like what Tige, Nautique, and Moomba are doing this year. Tige has really stepped up their game in the last few years, I like the more conservative styling (no more hot pink crap) and the ZX, RZX, and R series of boats are a little of something for everyone. I thought the 55K R20 was the best deal of the show! That is a lot of boat for that price.... Consider this, we looked at some 20' Glastrons that were the same price. And in my mind, you get a lot more boat for the money with the Tige. Tige also was extremely smart in how they set up the helm, one touch screen, nothing else to fix or to complicate things. Very intuitive, and straight forward. Nothing flashing, just simplicity and I like that a lot and so does my wife! Tige checks the boxes in so many areas that are important to us such as: Race car style Captains seat ( I hate the cup style seats ). Single touch screen for simplicity, power tower which is great because we go in and out of the lift a lot, good sound system, LED lights, good looking interior, underwater LED's, ect.
Nautique just knows who they are and who their customers are... They make no bones about being extremely high end, have really nice interiors (like being in a yacht, but you pay for it). The G23 set the benchmark for that size of boat, and they added the power tower to the G-series so that was a nice touch (of course Tige did it first). They really don't have a "value" boat but they don't really try to tap that market anyway. So, if you have 200K stuffed under your couch and need something to buy, Nautique should be your first stop.
Moomba - (Skiers Choice) just knows who they are and who buys their boats. Matt Brown is the guy who designs boats for Moomba and he gets it and really knows who his key audience is. I think they did a great job with the new helm, autowake is the ONLY thing I wish my Tige had, it just works. The color choices and affordability make Moomba a really good choice if you are not Warren Buffett and still want to wake-surf on weekends.
Centurion new Fi boats were nice but they didn't seem to have the fit and finish that the other boats had in the same price range.
HEYDAY or what I call the WTF boat... My two cents - this thing is so ugly it's fugly. If you want something that looks like a tractor, and you want to use your IPAD as your helm, be my guest, the one at the show was 65K.
Varatti - made by Floe Intl... OMG - this thing was so low to the water it literally has zero leg room up front, your knees would be up to your nose. Very shallow in the back as well. I thought to myself - okay... if this is a value boat its okay, I would shop around but okay. Then I asked what it was selling for... 115K!!!!! I about hit the floor. If they sell 10 of these things all year I will be shocked! PS... I do not want to be the first person to be sitting in the bow when the driver accidentally turns into his own surf wave, she will go down.
Mastercraft - same old, same utility looking silver towers, more touch screens... not much else
Malibu - didn't spend a lot of time here. They look okay, some strange color combinations, still don't like their towers, friends have one and it doesn't impress me, always hitting our heads on the speakers. Lot's of what I saw last year, not a lot of changes.
There you have it... My two cents! Hope this helps those who couldn't get out to a show this year...
NG572
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