22i or Z1

[Kito]

Im looking at getting a 22i or a Z1 but i'm not sure witch way to go. My wife and I ski mostly but we are makeing the transition into doing a lot more wakesurfing. Our dealer in Montana anly gets a small amout of boats so it's pretty hard to get to demo one. It looks like our kids will be ready to get after the wakeboarding pretty soon as well. Does the Z1 have a wake that will be satisfactory to ski on? I currently have a direct drive with a great wake to ski but not so good for surfing and wakeboarding. Is the Z1 a good crossover boat like tige claims it is? Thanks for the help.

[larryueckert]

the cross over boat would be the 22ve not the best ski wake but it will work

[Carter13]

For what you want to do the 22i would work well. I would look for some used ones. There are some smokin deals out there it you look.

[billspin]

This is from a 2004 22i
This is no ballast 30 MPH Taps on 1

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/atta...1&d=1194132222

This is from the same 2004 22i
This is 850 pounds of ballast 22 MPH Taps on 8

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/atta...1&d=1193018018

[rogersbm82]

Someone posted before, I don't remember who but had a great quote.
"It's a lot easier to turn a ski boat into a wakeboarding boat than it is to turn a wakeboarding boat into a ski boat."

[tigesinaus]

ive skied behind our z1 and the wake at about 35mph and taps 1 was about the same as our direct drive response, which is impressive given the weight of the boat, however its no slalom boat, its good enough for a social ski but you do get lifted hitting it at any sort of speed.

however with taps on 7-8 (even without ballast) its a great wakeboarding wake, and with the factory ballast full its huge, we dont usually board with ballast in.

i guess it will depend how important the ski wake is to you and your style of skiing, but it is a reasonable cross over boat.

[Kito]

That really helps. Has anyone else skied behind their Z1? Maybe I need to look closer at the 22ve.

[chpthril]

I have not skied behind the Z1 yet, but from the boat, the wake looks friendlier then my 22Ve, which is actually kinda nice if you are a rec skier like me.

I guess it depends on how hard-core of a skier you are. The 22i will ski the best, wake board ok with ballast, and seems to be surfable. The Z1 will have the best surf wake, a good solid wakeboard wake, and probably ski ok.

[da.bell]

Someone posted before, I don't remember who but had a great quote.
"It's a lot easier to turn a ski boat into a wakeboarding boat than it is to turn a wakeboarding boat into a ski boat."

That was Zad.

[dogbert]

ive skied behind our z1 and the wake at about 35mph and taps 1 was about the same as our direct drive response, which is impressive given the weight of the boat, however its no slalom boat, its good enough for a social ski but you do get lifted hitting it at any sort of speed.

however with taps on 7-8 (even without ballast) its a great wakeboarding wake, and with the factory ballast full its huge, we dont usually board with ballast in.

i guess it will depend how important the ski wake is to you and your style of skiing, but it is a reasonable cross over boat.

Sounds a lot like my 21v. There's a noticeable bump when you're going across the wake at 34 Mph, but it's surprisingly skiable for a boat of this size and heft. It skies better than my previous runabout that weighed 1400 lbs less and was a foot shorter.

It's obviously no comparison with a Malibu Response, but that boat is primarily a ski boat.

[flyguy]

I'm no course skier, but do slalom behind my Z1 and find the wake to be fine in the 30mph/TAPS 1 range for rec skiing. We also surf and wakeboard, so the Z1 is working well for a crossover boat for us. One of these days, I'll try and remember to get a pic of the slalom wake.

[Kito]

that would be great to see what the wake looks like above 30mph. I've seen lots of picts for surfing and wakeboarding and it looks awesome.

[canuck]

I own a 22i and if you weigh it down it has a very good wake board wake. After all I do not believe that there is a very big difference in hall design between the V-drive vs. the direct drives so the main difference is the weight of the motor.

For wake surfing we've actually found that you can't just put weight in the back to get the best wake you also need to weight down the front. This give us the longest surfing wake.

The 22i has two fairly good sized locked in the rear to put you fat sacks in.

When you want to ski or just drive around. Take out the fat sacks and put taps to 1 and it handles like a sports car.

[jwanck11]

I am with canuck. I also have a 22i and the ski wake is more than decent at 27mph, taps at 1-2. The versatility of the 22i is unreal. Also for a DD, definitely check out the interior space. I have a family of 6 and we get around the place no problems at all - there is plenty of room. We have had 10 on it a few times (albeit 6 are kids) and there is still loads of room to move around. The seat on the back of the engine is killer. Sounds like wither way you go, you will end up with a great boat.