How's the slalom wake on the RZ2?

[viking]

Been lurking now and then as a guest. Thought I'd start asking some ??'s.

Looking for feedback on the ski wake behind the RZ2.
Looking to purchase a 2010 or newer RZ2 for ALL sports. Like to wakeboard, surf and slalom. Coming from a DD.

I've read and heard alot on the surf and wakeboard wakes but not the ski?? Just wondering if anybody has any feedback on the ski wake?

Thanks much.

[skippabcool]

From what I have read it is ok for recreational skiing. It is not going to be the same as a DD. Disclaimer - I have not skied behind one.

[viking]

Thanks skip.........i'm not expecting a DD quality wake. Getting too old and don't run the course anyhow. Just wondering if it's decent from anybody that has (or been pulled by) one.

[Booms]

We slalom behind our 08 RZ2. My wife is pulled at 25mph. At that speed the boat is designed to have a wakeboard wake. So she just carves hard up to the wake then puts the brakes on. When I slalom I get pulled at 30 and the wake is better but is still big. I have accidentally launched myself of the wake before forgetting to let my knees absorb the wake.
It is a good wake for the casual skier. But is world class for surfing. We usually surf all day then after a few cans of liquid courage we strap on the ski or the ski seat.

[Joeprunc]

How fast do you ski? The faster the better, and if you are running the course I assume you are cutting thru the second wake which should help with the "bump". What percentage of the time are you going to be slaloming, wakeboarding, & surfing? In my book after getting spoiled skiing behind a ski boat I have a very hard time putting a ski on behind anything else. I've seen a few threads of people skiing behind a Z1, they say the wake is noticeable and quite firm, but more than do able for recreational skiing, and I heard Tige is trying to re design the hull to mimic more of what the Z3 has to improve the wakesurfing side.

Where are you at? Maybe there is an owner in your area who could give you a pull.

[viking]

I usually ski at 34mph behind my DD. I don't run any courses but I do cut all the way through on most of my playtime. I'm not expecting the same quality wake from any V-drive. Really just wanted to know if anybody has and experience with them. The more I look around at boats I'm leaning towards the Z3 Tige or Malibu VTX w/diamond hull.
I like the size of the Z3, surf wake, and features of a 23ft. boat. For that matter, the 23LSV Malibu is in the cards too and I need to demo them both. I don't expect anything other than a recreational slalom wake to be in my way
The Malibu VTX would offer the best slalom wake of them all and a great crossover boat for everything. With surfgate, I could go from ski to surf in a matter of minutes. That I like. But it's a smaller boat so you have to compromise somewhere.

Plan on doing a demo of the Z3 and malibu's this summer and see exactly what it's like behind each ride.

Thanks for any input tho on any real world experience and opinions you have!

[NICKYPOO]

I've surfed that diamond hull on a 23lsv and a 21xti and a 23xti (although the 23xti was a demo) and it sucks. No push, no transition. I hated it. Now, perhaps someone has a setup for it but, of the three I've surfed, they all sucked equally bad. I've spent a bit of time on the 21xti and the slalom wakes are fairly unimpressive IMO. Quite large. I've yet to have the chance to ski it myself but, I have towed a very good slalom skier (the owner) with it and I was surprised at the sheer size. It did look kinda soft but, without actually being behind it, I can't say for sure. I'm gonna do some comparisons between it and my boat here in a couple weeks and I have a sneaking suspition my boat skis and surfs better. My boat certainly doesn't ride anywhere near as nice in big water but, that factor is way down on my list of priorities. I'll take my old D-Drive any day of the week. I was also very unimpressed with the thickness (or lack thereof) of the hull. The 23lsv I surfed got put into a dock and before he took it in for repair he showed it to me. F'n scary how thin it was. You could push on it and was flexing a good 3-4" in on a section maybe 12-14" wide that had completely separated at the seam. He didn't even notice there was any damage since he didn't hit very hard. It pushed in when he was washing it. My buddy's wife did the exact same thing to his Tige and knocked a softball size hole in the side. Absolutely no seam damage. I'm not sure what they have done to improve this issue but, I certainly hope they have something.

Not sure what the surfgate does for the diamond hull but, at this time, it appears that Malibu went the wrong way with that as well. I've tried my hardest to like Malibu but, since I could give 2chits about wakeboarding, there's not much that I like about them. They're pretty nice looking. I've liked the dashes for years now. Uhhh....?

To the Malibu guys here, tall, thtrog, no offence. These are just my experiences. If somebody has a bitchin surfwake on their Bu, I will gladly surf it and claim it as nice. If they have rammed a dock and not had the screwed together seem rip apart, please tell me the one I saw was an isolated incident.

[JLG]

I see that this thread is old but will still put my 2cents in. I owned a 01 20i for several years and loved the slalom wake behind it. Could literally turn the corner and not slow for the wake. With the family growing and tired of babysitting the front end so it wouldn't take on water I started slalom skiing behind other models. I skied several times behind and rz4 which weight and size wise would be comparible to the z3 your looking at. In my opinion your crazy to get a boat that big if you primarily slalom ski. I had to ski around 37 to 40 mph to somewhat enjoy the wake behind it and it still was a huge wake to cross!! and at that speed crashing and you will bury the tip over the wake at least once and it sucks!! So after testing it i talked to several ppl about the 22ve and that is what I finally bought and absolutely enjoy skiing behind it at around 15 off and somewhere between 32 to 37mph with the taps set around 2.5. The wake is obviously larger than my DD but if your like me and have family needs etc something has to give. My wife slaloms around the 26 to 32 range and doesn't complain about the wake anymore than she did with or 20i. The 22ve is all around nice as it throws a good slalom or wakeboard wake straight off the assembly line. With this being said the Rz2 and 22ve should have similar wakes as far as i've heard and i don' think you would be disappointed with either model if you haven't already purchased a boat.