Thoughts and demo rides of wake / towsports boats: Moomba Max, Axis A22, MB Sports

[Pinhacker71]

@haknslash

 

[haknslash]

@hacknslash. How easy is it to get a nice wake out of the box on your max? I am looking at different boats and don’t want to have to add a bunch of extra ballast to dial in a wake. Is it pretty much plug and play? Any info would be nice. Spent some time at Mastercraft today and cannot get over the insane pricing.

Depends on your crew. The Max is a big deep boat which needs to sit deep to make a killer wave. Stock the wave isn't bad but to get the most out of the boat you will need to add some weight one way or the other. If you trailer you may want to go with midship bags but if you don't trailer you can run a lot of lead and retain all the storage. The 2020 Max will have an additional 1,000 lb option which is a pair of 500 lb midship bags piggybacked off the rear bags. Basically the same setup as the Wakemakers kit but less ballast. They will also come with a cover making them hidden / subfloor at the cost of losing some of the storage height. 500 lb bags still leave plenty of storage in there. Adding midship bags to a Max is a simple as connecting some hoses and putting the bags in the compartments. I'll eventually get some midship bags plumbed in with my rests to make it all work off the system but for the time being ill just use the spare 750 lb fatsac I have and put it in the midship side. I could buy another but I don't want to manually fill two of them with the tsunami pump.

This is what it looks like with a single 750 lb bag added midship surf side. Going to try this next time out. Not my Max.



Here’s my Max when I put the 750 bag on the floor in front of the rear sliding seat. Made a big difference with just this single bag. Keep in mind pics or vids never show the wave size that great and the Max is a deep boat which makes waves look smaller than behind most boats. Wave looked amazing in person and can’t wait to run about 4,500-4,700 lbs!



I wouldn’t worry about adding midship bags. Even if you filled the midship compartments you would still have super deep storage in the rear lockers and bow.

 

[Pinhacker71]

Ok. Thanks. Just shopping around now. Need to sell my Yamaha first.

 

[haknslash]

Ok. Thanks. Just shopping around now. Need to sell my Yamaha first.

If you lived close I'd say come meet me for a day on the water to see how you like the Max. We love ours! Handles chop and big rollers great with the tall freeboard. Tons of power too. I personally think it's one of the best sub 23' boats you can get per dollar. I may be biased though but you'll hear or read the same from others who demo it. I would just say to try and demo all the boats you're interested in and don't forget the dealer is a huge factor to think about. Mine has been amazing handling any issues I've had. If you're looking at the NXT I would skip them. They are not built anything like the "real" MasterCraft lineup. Just real plain Jane and for what they cost just doesn't seem worth it for the NXT. Of course they redid them this year so perhaps they are much nicer in person but previous year NXT just didn't excite me at all. IMO Skiers Choice has been hitting it out of the park the past 2-3 years with their new models.

 

[Pinhacker71]

I plan to test drive several before end of summer and hopefully make purchase over winter. All depends on sale of my boat.

 

[swatski]

Ok. Thanks. Just shopping around now. Need to sell my Yamaha first.

I'm sure you know that but just in case, in many states private sale can work the same as trade-in for tax purposes - as long as it is all done within 3 months, basically you pay tax on the difference between the purchase price and the trade-in, or private sale.

Also, I wouldn't rule out Mastercraft NXTs completely, they are no-thrills but solid wake boats. A friend of ours purchased one last year, a new leftover MY, I think he paid just over 60k... No kidding.

--

 

[haknslash]

This was first time trying to surf behind my Max with a buddy driving so only one person on the boat. Still didn’t know much about what to do with the surf tab settings or center plate that day but gives you an idea of size for stock wave with only one person on the boat. Pay no attention to my horrible stance and form lol.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Ok. Thanks. Just shopping around now. Need to sell my Yamaha first.

I would highly recommend finding owner forums for the brands you are considering and spend some time on them. Several manufacturers are making phenomenal out of the box surf boats without having to spend mastercraft or nautique money. In addition to Moomba, check out MB, Supreme, and maybe Axis.

 

[haknslash]

Here’s a list of updates for the 2020 Moomba lineup:

• New Driver's Seat (all models)
• Height adjustable seat (optional)
• Revo stereo option (upgrades entire boat and amps)
• Flow 3.0 (comes with 6 pump ballast) - N/A on Helix and Max
• Wireless Charging
• STD Bow Filler
• STD Captain's chair bolster
• STD Seat behind driver (could only get with reversible bench back-rest option last year)
• New Prism Gel Scheme and graphic (Craz, Mojo)
• New Arrow Gel Scheme and graphic (Craz, Mojo)
• Brown interiors on Max and Helix
• STD walk-through/over transom on all models
• Updated armrest in Craz/Mojo (similar to Pro model last year with phone holder)
• Copper Rush, Black Cherry, Midnight Blue, and Steel Blue flake colors
• Self Calibrating Ballast Timers (they average your fill and drain times and adjust)
• 400 with 1.76 transmission

 

[Pinhacker71]

No mb or supreme dealers around here. Moomba Supra Mastercraft and centurion. Axis is close but not crazy about the look of them.

 

[d_coyne1984]

No mb or supreme dealers around here. Moomba Supra Mastercraft and centurion. Axis is close but not crazy about the look of them.

I agree with you on the Axis boats. If Axis would put a tower on that doesn't look like a cheap after thought cost-cutting measure, I think they would look SO much better. I think Correct Craft is missing out on such a big opportunity to sell more boats with the Supreme brand, but I get the impression that their factory is at capacity already and since the margins are so much higher on the Centurions they really don't push and market the Supremes well. The new ZS boats blow most other "value" class out of the water as far as wave from the factory goes right now.

 

[Pinhacker71]

If I trade in I just pay the difference in tax. We are at 6% here. I would like to sell though so I can have the freedom to shop around T boatshow. I really love the 2017 used MasterCraft x23 that is loaded. 112,000 a little steep though.

 

[haknslash]

If I trade in I just pay the difference in tax. We are at 6% here. I would like to sell though so I can have the freedom to shop around T boatshow. I really love the 2017 used MasterCraft x23 that is loaded. 112,000 a little steep though.

Don’t forget that there is a good bit of wiggle room on these boats. Less on the budget boats compared to the high end boats but there is still meat on the bone to help offset your trade-in if you buy new. Not like buying a Yamaha where dealers don’t like to work with you and try to push MSRP + throw in goodies tactic. If buying used then that’s a different beast altogether. I was able to get a decent chunk off to help offset my depreciation on the Yamaha. That and plopping down a considerable down payment helped to.

 

[MattFX4]

Here’s a list of updates for the 2020 Moomba lineup:

• New Driver's Seat (all models)
• Height adjustable seat (optional)
• Revo stereo option (upgrades entire boat and amps)
• Flow 3.0 (comes with 6 pump ballast) - N/A on Helix and Max
• Wireless Charging
• STD Bow Filler
• STD Captain's chair bolster
• STD Seat behind driver (could only get with reversible bench back-rest option last year)
• New Prism Gel Scheme and graphic (Craz, Mojo)
• New Arrow Gel Scheme and graphic (Craz, Mojo)
• Brown interiors on Max and Helix
• STD walk-through/over transom on all models
• Updated armrest in Craz/Mojo (similar to Pro model last year with phone holder)
• Copper Rush, Black Cherry, Midnight Blue, and Steel Blue flake colors
• Self Calibrating Ballast Timers (they average your fill and drain times and adjust)
• 400 with 1.76 transmission

The 1.76 with the 400 is a nice update. A lot of people are torn between the 400 and 450 and this makes getting the 400 an easier choice. Aren't most other manufactures already using a 1.76 or 2:1 vdrive to help with the heavier ballast loads?

 

[d_coyne1984]

The 1.76 with the 400 is a nice update. A lot of people are torn between the 400 and 450 and this makes getting the 400 an easier choice. Aren't most other manufactures already using a 1.76 or 2:1 vdrive to help with the heavier ballast loads?

Supreme has had a 1.72 gearbox fr quite some time, but also has it mated to a 5.7l as their base engine rated at 370 ft-lb to the Moomba's 400 ft-lb. That said, I don't feel under powered when fully loaded for my 21' boat (4200lb boat + 3000lb ballast + 43 gal fuel and high altitude prop). Too much more than that and I think you would feel it though. That 400 ft-lb to a 1.76 should be awesome in anything south of 23'.

I wish they would publish torque and HP curves with the engine options so you can really tell where the advantages/disadvantages are. A large motor with a hi rev peak torque isn't going to be much better if at all than a smaller motor with a very low peak torque so spending $3-7k for an engine upgrade might not be worth it.

 

[OrangeTJ]

No mb or supreme dealers around here. Moomba Supra Mastercraft and centurion. Axis is close but not crazy about the look of them.

I think you will be impressed by what Moomba is putting out these days. The other brands in that list you are probably going to either be over $100k new after dealing or looking at several years used. Nothing wrong with a top quality used boat but if you go back more than three or four years, many may not have integrated surf systems.

 

[haknslash]

 

[haknslash]

Supreme has had a 1.72 gearbox fr quite some time, but also has it mated to a 5.7l as their base engine rated at 370 ft-lb to the Moomba's 400 ft-lb. That said, I don't feel under powered when fully loaded for my 21' boat (4200lb boat + 3000lb ballast + 43 gal fuel and high altitude prop). Too much more than that and I think you would feel it though. That 400 ft-lb to a 1.76 should be awesome in anything south of 23'.

I wish they would publish torque and HP curves with the engine options so you can really tell where the advantages/disadvantages are. A large motor with a hi rev peak torque isn't going to be much better if at all than a smaller motor with a very low peak torque so spending $3-7k for an engine upgrade might not be worth it.

The 400 is plenty capable and no slouch. The people wanting the 450 are usually those who live in higher elevations and plan to wakeboard heavily ballasted above stock. If you’re surfing then 400 is plenty even with the 1.5 trans. Don’t forget with the 400 you still run 89 octane but not the case with the 450 and 575. No issues at all getting on plane or to wake boarding speeds. I mean sure I’d be the first to tell you I’ll never turn down more power and would love a 450 or 575 just for the hell of it but like @d_coyne1984 mentioned I’ve never felt underpowered. You boat at near sea level like I do so 400 with 1.5 or 1.76 would likely be fine.

 

[haknslash]

2020 Max. Really wished I had those stomp pads on the engine / storage hatch and on the sliding seat. Also like the backrest that comes standard.

 

[Pinhacker71]

Definitely leaning towards Moomba. I want to see the Kaiyen and I like the max. Would like to buy during boatshow season. Not sir I would get a great trade in during that time.