24 V vs. all comers

[ilovetrains]

Thanks for your comments, I am hoping to have a better idea after tomorow.

My first reaction to the weight difference was the same, however I could not figure out why the Tige, with a thicker hull or whatever makes so much more weight would be louder. It seams that the opposite would be true.

I was very concerned about the Wegde thing after reading some of the posts on Wakeworld. But after looking at them, it realy does not hang down that low, and you would only use a small percentage of the time. Honestly I think it is a fresh approach to getting a hull lower in the water without adding water ballast. That gets back to weight difference. The Wedge is probably only sinking the Malibu hull to the level of the Tige because of the weight difference.

The weight difference seamed like a good thing to me at first, heavier boats are going to be safer. However that much difference is going to make a difference in fuel economy both with my tow rig and on the water.

While I am buying the boat for wakeboarding, I doubt that even 50% of the total runtime will be actually boarding. For example, getting from Kimberling City up to Cape Fair or down to Arkansas on Table Rock burned more fuel in the round trip with my boat than the day of boarding did. Add to that the Friday nights we go out on the local lake to just ride around and watch the sunset, my boat spends a lot of time cruising around.

Ultimately it is the dealer thing that really hangs me up. A few years ago I would have said who cares where you buy it, mine has run 8 years and never been to the dealer. But then I bought a Dodge Durango that was an absolute lemon. The dealer worked for 11 months, supplying rental cars to the tune of 700 bucks while it was in the shop and finally could not make it right. They bought it back and sold me another brand truck. We probably buy our next two vehicles from that dealer. So now I appreciate how important having a good dealer is. Here the Tige is the clear winner. This descision gets harder and harder.

[Tequilasun]

Think about all that extra hull strength and weight when you are on Lake of the Ozarks or Tablerock when it is busy! Makes for a much better ride, keeps the kids dental work in place! That should compensate for the extra fuel costs!

Oh, and whatever your decision may be, let us know...

[Barry Winterland]

I am considering the same two boats as well and have the same issue relative to dealer location, however, the Malibu dealer is much closer to me relative to the Tige dealer. However, I vacation at Table Rock and I assume Skier's Wharf would be able to help out with any problems that I may have while I'm there.

While dealer location is a consideration, my bigger hangup is which boat is more versatile relative to being able to do wakeboarding, slalom and some cruising. From all that I've read the Tige would appear to have a leg up in the versatility category.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

[Tequilasun]

Barry,

I think the literature explains it well, but Tige's are indeed great for slalom as well as Wakeboarding. My 22v (as well 24V's I have ridden in) throw very faint wakes at slalom speeds and excellent wakes for wakeboard, weighted or not. The Taps 2 is phenomenal for tweeking the wake at both ends of the wakesport spectrum. As far as ride, I have had our boat in some pretty ugly chop....as ugly as Tablerock gets, and it is extremelly solid. I am sure Skier's Warf would treet you right while you are in our neck of the woods! They do a great job.


And if you have a family, there is no comparison in the amount of space in a 24V and ANY other wakeboard/ski boat on the water.

[smendez]

Bruce at Skiers Wharf is a great guy. We vacation in Table Rock once a year during what may be the busiest week (4th of July), and Bruce has always taken the time to take care of us.

Last year, over the Labor Day weekend, he offered to meet me at his shop in the middle of the night to fit me with a new propeller since mine got all banged up. He offered to do this while every other inboard dealer in the state had closed their doors and were taking time off.

This guy rules!

[Barry Winterland]

I haven't had the opportunity to ride in a Tige, but it's great to hear that the Taps2 works as well as the literature says it does...is the optional ballast system necessary? I'm a slalom guy, but my 15-year old son and his friends are really getting into wakeboarding after boarding behind a friends X-Star all summer, so the Tige sounds like it might be the way to go. Either the Malibu or the Tige would be a huge step up for watersports relative to my 25' Baja, although the speed will be missed.

Glad to hear someone else thinks as highly of Bruce at Skiers Wharf as I do. He and his staff are great. If he treats his boat customers half as good as he treats his watersport customers, he is way ahead of the game relative to most boat dealers.

The closest dealer to me is Stateamind in the St. Louis area, does anyone have any experience with them?

[David]

It's been said, I agree with it, and I'm sure most others do, that Tige's are one of or maybe the most versatile boat out there.

The Wedge was a good invention, I'll admit that. But, like I said before there is always that small percentage of a chance of your knocking off your transom by hitting a submerged object. And I know It's no big deal, but between each set or whatever, going to the back, lifting up the hatch, messing with the pins in the wedge to get it back up or down, would seems like a hastle to do every single time.

And the another thing about the wedge, since It has a downforce, the turning is very weak and when pulling a rider, it takes a while for the boat to plain out on the water.

Some say that it is a close decision but the Tige dealer is better. If it is so close you can't decide, look towards the dealer. They will play a huge roll at times with you and your boat and the best dealer out there would be the way to go.

Ilovetrains - We spend a ton of time just cruising on the boat like you said you would. Yes, It may be wasting gas but Malibu really isn't that far behind. I know gas is important, but if your going to be cruising alot look to the boat with the most comfort and storage and with that being said we thought Tige had the best comfort and knew it had the best storage.

Good luck on your purchase.

[smendez]

Barry:

I purchased my boat from Stateamind Water Sports just over 1 year ago. I've known Joel Raulch and his dad for a long time. They're a great boat dealer.

I first connected with them almost 8 years ago at a local show in St. Peters. They kept in touch ever since. Through the years, they would invite us to demos and clinics and not once tried to corner us to sell us a boat.

Joel is a great guy. His shop (Steve) services our boat and does a great job every time. They always have our best interest in mind.

They're a class act shop and treat you 1st class every time.

The reason I had to call on Bruce last Labor Day weekend was because Stateamind was closed for the weekend. That was a bummer, but I realize that just like me, they have to take a day off as well. I understand that.

I hope this helps

Saulo

[Tequilasun]

Barry,

The only thing I know about Stateamind is that they waved to me when they passed me on their way home! They were towing an awesome looking all black tige, I guess they noticed my Tige decal on the back of the tow rig.

And yes Bruce Rocks! If you guys know him, you have probably met my wife and sister-in-law, they both have worked for him for years.

And it sounds like we might have the makings of one heck of a Tige reunion on Tablerock!!

[smendez]

Draginass:

A Tige reunion in Table Rock sounds like a great idea! Count me there. Maybe we can get Stateamind (they love Table Rock as well), Skiers Wharf in Table Rock and the dealer in KC to organize it!

I think we should ask for free boats to all attendees and let them talk us down to free beer

[ilovetrains]

Well we rode the Bu LSV and the 24V yesterday. Unfortunately we also looked inside the Bu 25 and my wife really liked the idea of having a potty on board. Oh boy. As for the LSV and the 24V, we rode the Bu first. We were surprised at how small it looked from the outside after having the 24V. The storage was ample, but clearly not as much. We loved the way it drove, very smooth linear steering effort, no push or pull and plenty of power. The interior layout was excellent and the little things, like grab handles right where you reach out for them were also excellent. The feal of the seats was great, and my wife really liked the bow seating area. The illusion tower looks great, not sure about the new blade tower.

We then went to the Tige dealer. The 24V looked downright huge in comparison. We hooked it up to my truck and it pulled very well, although it is heavy. We went through the storage and while it has a lot, it lacks small areas inside the seats for sunscreen, towels etc that the Malibu had. You could argue that is keeps people from putting small stuff all over the boat, but truth is I can never get people to stow stuff where I think they should anyway, so that is a lost battle. The power to weight ratio is the killer. The 24V even with the most powerful available motor just felt lackluster. It powered nicely out of the hole, but just did not have much left over 20. Top speed was 41, which might have been affected by wind, it was very windy. Howver the Bu, with 40 less HP got to 47 quickly, and felt like it could do it all day. It was the 30-35 mph performance that was so disapointing. The Tige just did not run that fast without making a lot of noise. We spent some time on the phone with the Tige factory distrubuter (tells you the kind of dealer, great guys) and he suggested that the rudder needed some alignment (we noticed a lot of hard pulling problems) and that at least one fin was probably out of alignment as well contributing to the noise problem (a distinct vibration that gave the impression things would rattle over time). I also noticed that with the taps set to wakeboard position the bow rose enough that the fins began to leave the water making it hard to run a true line with a boarder pulling.

When we got done we both agreed that we liked the Malibu better. It just drove better. Ironically, to someone leaving a sterndrive they would probably be more comfortable in the 24V because the boat itself felt more like a sterndrive in the way it ran and the generally safe unflappable feeling it gave. It rode more like a 4 door sedan, large waves were there, but could be ignored. You could pick a line accross a lake in this boat and just run it without thought of whatever else was around. But we both agreed that the Bu just felt more responsive to us. It was quiter, more sure of itself. I looked for all the qaulity things each dealer says about the other, but could find nothing on either boat that did not seam to be the highest qaulity.

Of course, now my wife likes the 25 footer. This will never end. In any event, thanks to you gusy for all your input on the Tige. Our decision is not final, and we still like the Tige dealer much better. But the worst thing in my mind is to take the boat out on the lake the first day and see another boat and think, I wish I was driving that.

[Barry Winterland]

Ilovetrains:

Were you able to test the 25 bu? How did speed / handling compare to the 24v?

[ilovetrains]

We are going to schedule a test drive of the 25Bu. It weighs the same as the 24V but has the 8.1 450 horse engine which should help the power to weight ratio. It looks bloody huge sitting on a trailer but may feel more manageable on the water.

[akdoc]

i love trains:

My in-laws bought a Tige Switch V from Skiers Wharf Extreme in Osage Beach at the KC boat show last spring. The boat has been great, no problems and we have 110 hrs on it. The dealer however has been very unorganized. The depth finder that they installed has not worked since they delivered the boat, and they have been out to service the boat twice and have not yet fixed that problem It took them 2 months to get out to do the 70 hr service. The communication in their shop is terrible. My in-laws left a message at their shop saying we were close to the 70 hrs so could they service it. Well, the message was never passed on and then they kept saying they would be out, again, it took 2 months.
They just opened the Skier's wharf in Arkansas this summer I guess, and they are working on a new shop in Osage Beach, so I am hoping that the disorganization is because they were just thin on manpower this summer.
We boat on Lake of the Ozarks and the Switch V actually handles the rough water very well.
A guy that frequents the same ski cove as us has a 25ft. Bu and he loves it. THe wake is massive, and the boat is beautiful. He used to have a Tige but went with the Bu in June. He has had zero problems with his boat. They live at the lake and his 16 year old son is a great rider. He says the boat handles the rough water great.

[zeda]

25' Bu

That's a big engine that will consume a bunch of gas. I would suggest one of the smaller boats (22' or 23') with a smaller engine so you don't feel like you are spending endless amounts of cash on gas. The smaller boats will have better multi-sport performance. However, if you're anything like me, your wife will have the final say. Good luck and buy the boat that you like. PS.....you will always look at other boats and say what if, no matter what you buy. I have a 22V Riders Edition (which I love) and find myself admiring all of the other boats on the water. The top brands all look great and perform well. It all boils down to personal pref. and dealer.