Tige owners opinion Please !

[bob gronotte]

I am looking at purchasing a Tige boat. What would you guys recommend for an active family that spends the summer at the lake and loves to wake, ski, surf, ect. Please comment on driect drive or v drive, and other thoughts you may have. I have owned other boats for many years and would like to step up to what I consider the Caddy of boats.
Thanks
Bob

[ragboy]

I would say vdrive for a family. IMHO, the taps on a vdrive still allows you to bring that wake down at skiing speeds, even on my big 24Ve with lots of people in it. Then, its your budget, and how big you want. I think the 22 foot boats are a real nice fit, nice and roomy, but not too huge. I went 24, cuz I have six kids, and have a need for huge. 22 is more sport also.

Next is do you want the Ve, or the RZ? Surfing is a BLAST, and will take over a ton of your time it is so fun. Make sure you ask about wakesurf issues with the RZ swim step, and consider that. Otherwise, if you like that picklefork, and the extra coin is ok, get the RZ. If you are on a more busy lake, where you have to cope with rough water a lot, you may want to get the Ve, the bow seems to pearl less, from experience seen on this board.

Of course, the best thing would be to test drive the Ve and the RZ on your own lake if that is possible.

Oh, get the ballast. Just trust all of us, get it. You will be glad you did, especially when you surf. Don't buy the "you don't need ballast" line.

[bob gronotte]

Great info, thanks.
Can you clarify the differences between the Ve and the Rz. Dosen't the ballast come on both boats? We will surf alot, board and course ski on a mostly calm lake.
Also would you buy used?
Bob

[ragboy]

Tiges hold up pretty well, so used can be good, especially a boat just a year or 2 old, save a lot of money.

The Ve has pointed bow, RZ is pickleforked. RZ has capacity for 1 more person in the same size. Both have ballast. The only issue is the RZ has a cornered swim step, vs the rounded corners on the Ve swim step. When you weight down and list the boat over to surf, the corner of the RZ platform will dig in the water, and mess up the wake. So on the Ve, you can weight it more, and list more. Most people find the RZ to be just fine for recreational surfing. But once you start doing it, you want a big wake, its more fun. There have been rumors that Tige is working on a fix for this for RZs, but nothing concrete. I like the RZ4, and I think I will trade up in 2009, but I def want that issue fixed first. Other than that, I think it is more styling preference. Do you like soft, more rounded lines, or hard, more angular lines? Do you like the picklefork or the standard bow?

[CP3]

If I were you and wanted a good surf wake you might want to look into an aftermarket ballast system with fat sacs. tiges tanks are realatively small and only 900 lbs total.

The RZ has the sharper lines and the pickle fork. The ve is more flowing and subtle. a 22ve or rz2 may be better than the 24 if you are a die hard skier.

You can buy used, its all preferance, and what you are looking for price wise

[ragboy]

Here is an RZ2 that has been displayed on this board, with a pretty decent deal, there are others out there.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=2531989&cat=&lpid=

CP3 makes a good point, but I have spoken to RIVAL ballast systems, and they can sell you stuff to make your stock ballast system bigger, while using your stock pumps and switches.

[CP3]

yes rag I almost said that. One choice is to buy the stock ballast and remove the tanks and add fat sacs or add on to it. I think that if you want a fast system tho, the only way is to go after market

[ragboy]

Agreed, you must be pretty impatient. ;-)

[bob gronotte]

That clears things up. Now it's time to shop. Anyone have a boat for sale too!
thanks

[CP3]

That clears things up. Now it's time to shop. Anyone have a boat for sale too!
thanks

again that depends on what boat you are looking for

[ragboy]

Tell where you are from, and I am sure people will have recommendations for dealers in your area.

[LadiesMan217]

what about the 22i that seems to be the best floor plan for family fun?

[ragboy]

I am def partial to the vdrive. So you will have to take over on that one.

[chpthril]

Tige's 22Ve is the best seller for Tige. It seems to be a great fit for most families. It's big enough to handle a rough lake, but not so big that you need a semi-truck to tow it. All Tige boats will handle choppy water better then any other tow boat of similar size, and even most bow-riders. Very deep, heavy hulls.

Like Rag and CP3 said, the RZ, with picklefork, and the Ve with porpoise nose, are the same running surface, just different top deck. The both handle great, and the 340hp engine is more then enough for them.

If you order new, I think you can get it plumbed for ballast, and leave off the tanks.

Good luck

[ragboy]

One thing to add about the tanks, I know in the 24s, not sure in the 22s, but the tanks in the 24s are hard, and BEHIND your lockers. So you get 800lbs of weight, way in the back, without taking up space in your lockers, which I think is very cool. You could always add more weight then IN your lockers, or just feel great about having ballast and all your locker space.

From what I understand from my dealer, if you have the hard tanks back there, they move the battery and stuff into the bottom of your locker, but still less room than a 400lb bladder.