LA Boat Show

[Coach]

Anyone going? I am heading down around 3 today (Feb 3rd). I love checking out all of the boats every year.

[yearroundboarder]

Going Friday, the 9th.

[David Baker]

I'll be there this afternoon

[jsz]

Usually this is the best show around so. cal. I love looking through the enormous housboats. Are any there this year? Last year I think they only had the standard Royal Crown Renter housboat.

[spharis]

There was a show in Lafayette today....it left much to be desired. Someone from Texas Tige was there in a black OBS Tahoe with a winch, but I don't think it got used. There was a homemade winch running for the "qualifying" wakeboard indoor (which was outdoors ???) comp contestants, all 4 of them. I think the Mardi Gras festivities took some of the crowd away.

You'll probably have a much better turnout in LA......

The was a super nautique there, and i swear my 10 year old Tige' has more room in it than that thing did....man it was tiiiinnnnyyy, but real deep. I was not impressed. There were 2 towboats total, and a few I/O....most everything was fishing....go figure!

[Coach]

Here is a breakdown of what I saw at the LA Boat Show. First off this show is huge every year. Every major maker is there and showing off most of their line.

Mastercraft- They had a PWT X-Star there and it was very nice. This is their riders edition of a boat. It was black and red but anyone who does their boating in weather over 90 degrees may have some problems with all of the black and bright red accents with the interior. Mastercraft has mostly the same lineup as last year they did have the new X-14 DD which was nice, and they had the Fishing / Wake boat there strange niche to get. Overall MC makes a great boat and they think of everything but the price tag is what gets me. The Boat Show special for the X-Star was $77K! The other thing that MC is doing this year is offering the Z5 Cargo Bimini's on many of their boats, I really like this bimini and wish Tige would jump on board.

Correct Craft- I don't get the whole Natique thing. They over do the funtion for any sort of style with their boats. I looked mostly at the 236 which is new for them this year. To me every time I see a CC they look like they are 10 years behind and have a swiss army knike aproach to a boat. Overall I am not a big fan of them and wasn't overyly impressed.

Malibu- As all ways BU is making a very nice boat. The 247 DD is huge. You have 2 giant bullpen's for seating. They did lots of little things for their line this year for their 25th anaviserary. Mostly little bling items but they do make the boat look good. Overall not much has changed with BU this year but the boats are nice.

MB- The Tomcat looks much better in person than photos. I was actually very impressed with the overall look of the boat. It is very roomy and has some very cool features. On of my favorite features is the entire rear hatch and open up with an electric hatch but can also open up on the sides like a normal ski locker. The tower is still strange to look at but does fit the boat well. It was a very well thought out boat and I think MB has a winner.

Epic- The only boat was jacked up in the air so you can't get a good look at the interior. I am not sure about the Epic. First the nose is cut off and blunted and to me just looks funny. The hull is very deep and they have the vector rudder system (2 rudders). The transom sound system has a plastic grill that seems like it could break easily is someone slammed a board against it or if a wakesurfer got loose. It sounded and felt flimsy. Overall I was unable to see much of the boat and wasn't overly impressed with what I did see.

Centurion- Didn't spend much time looking. They seem to want to get the specialy market with the NASCAR boats and now a Metal Mulisha Boat.

Supra / Moomba- They have really step up their line this year and the new 22 SSV looks great. I am not a big fan of the rear seating in the 22 or 24's. The Gravity Games boat is killer as always and sells for a great price ($60K). The limited graphics that look like brick sucks, all the other graphics they offer are very nice but that one will date the boat in less than one year. The new dash is nice looking. The gages are almost identical to the Tige. Overall the Supra's are making a big push in the market and think we will start seeing more of them on the water.

Tige- We all know about Tige, but I think Tige has done a good job of shrinking their line down to just a few boats and really focused on the quality of the boats. The RZ2 is sweet as is the entire line. Tige Water Sports does the Xplosion towers on many of the boats but the Z tower is kick ***. The Boat Show Special RZ2 was $60K. After seeing the MC and Supra's with the Z5 Cargo Bimini I hope Tige makes a push to have it as an option. I really like the concept and funtion of the Bimini.

As for Sanger and any others I didn't really look.

The Hotboats are awesome and the trend this year with them is a vinyl that has a carbon fiber look to it but in colors. Almost everyboat had it but the best looking custom boat is DCB. He is making a killer product and the new 26 sport deck is killer. Plus there were more hot chick around that booth then anywhere else (Ultra was a close second).

Overall I was there for about 3 hours and didn't get to see everything. I might be going back later in the week to check out more stuff.

As for products- CWB line is very nice and I am going to get myself a Faction Board, they are set up the way I like with 2 fins but it has a large continues rocker and looks killer. Ronix stuff as there in full force. They have some good products as well and the wood board is different. I was disappointed in a complete lack of Wakesurf boards or anything else wakesurf related. All of the shops have some wakesurf stuff but very under represented for a major show.

Cool new stuff- Boat Bling has some new products that I picked up. They have a new spray was and new hand wax. They also have a conditioner for the vinyl. If you haven't used Hot Sauce their flagship boat cleaner you need to. It is for when you pull your boat and need to do a quick wipe down. It gets rid of all water spots and leaves a nice coat of wax behind. American Outdoor Soft Coolers has some new materials and some smaller bags that are good for a single person or 2.

I am sure there is a bunch of stuff I missed but 3 hours is just not enought time.

[Coach]

Here are some Pics.

[Coach]

Here are some more

[Coach]

and even more for ya

[Coach]

and some more

[Coach]

And for the bad johnny's.

[Tequilasun]

I am flat out digging that MC CSX. I guess with that butcher block though, they can't claim 100% wood free. It just looks like it would be fun to drive.

[spharis]

Just saw the pic w/ 4 blowers......I got chub....and the V-10 is nice...I would think that would be more common due to the better RPM range in marine.

Is that a Dale Earnhardt edition in there.....lol....that thing would fly out of the showroom down here.

[zad0030]

What boat has 2 rudders on it?

[David Baker]

http://www.epicboats.com/