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

[Lynkage]

Thanks to both @haknslash and @d_coyne1984 for your replies! I certainly understand the nature of these boats. I was just hoping to find one that will go 35ish without being at the top of it's RPM's. We can easily travel 100 miles in a day on Lake Powell so that is my reason for asking. I am also not going to miss the 8500 RPM's of the Yamaha powering down the lake either. The other reason for a used boat is we plan on this one to be an intermediary for our next purchase. We will seriously consider a high end boat as a boat to keep until we do not do it anymore. This next boat will most likely be with us for about 3 years until we finish paying off our house. We prefer to own our toys outright so that we can better budget for future expenses. My truck is an F450 so I don't expect to have any issues there.

I just stumbled onto a Chaparral boat called a Wake? Have any of you heard good or bad about this boat? I will do some searching about this boat as well.

Thanks again for all of the valuable info you have provided.

 

[haknslash]

I’ve not heard of a Chaparral Wake but I know they make a Surf model. It uses the Surf Gate system owned by Malibu/Axis boats. It has a forward facing outdrive. Those boats don’t make as good of waves and wakes as dedicated v drive wake boats but are for people that still want an I/O for family but with a forward facing prop setup on the outdrive so it would be safer to use than traditional I/O because prop is under the boat as opposed to just under the swim platform on a regular outdrive.

 

[suke]

Thanks to both @haknslash and @d_coyne1984 for your replies! I certainly understand the nature of these boats. I was just hoping to find one that will go 35ish without being at the top of it's RPM's. We can easily travel 100 miles in a day on Lake Powell so that is my reason for asking. I am also not going to miss the 8500 RPM's of the Yamaha powering down the lake either. The other reason for a used boat is we plan on this one to be an intermediary for our next purchase. We will seriously consider a high end boat as a boat to keep until we do not do it anymore. This next boat will most likely be with us for about 3 years until we finish paying off our house. We prefer to own our toys outright so that we can better budget for future expenses. My truck is an F450 so I don't expect to have any issues there.

I just stumbled onto a Chaparral boat called a Wake? Have any of you heard good or bad about this boat? I will do some searching about this boat as well.

Thanks again for all of the valuable info you have provided.

https://www.chaparralboats.com/Chaparral-Boat.php?id=525&action=tab_std_opt

Woah! Never realized this existed! What a weird concept.

 

[haknslash]

There are a few I/O boat manufacturers that have the same forward facing outdrive for surf models. Cobalt makes one as well.

 

[Lynkage]

I’ve not heard of a Chaparral Wake but I know they make a Surf model. It uses the Surf Gate system owned by Malibu/Axis boats. It has a forward facing outdrive. Those boats don’t make as good of waves and wakes as dedicated v drive wake boats but are for people that still want an I/O for family but with a forward facing prop setup on the outdrive so it would be safer to use than traditional I/O because prop is under the boat as opposed to just under the swim platform on a regular outdrive.

Yes, sorry, I thought it said Wake, but you are correct it was the "Surf" model.

 

[OrangeTJ]

From what I've seen the forward drive equipped I/Os like that are their own set of compromises (just like every other setup). Yes, they can surf but at this point not at the same level as a v-drive wake boat. They definitely can run faster, though, with their trimmable drives.

Regarding cruising speed, our MB F22 tops out at 39 - 40 but we almost never run there and never for more than a minute or two at a time. Owner's manual recommends maintaining sustained engine speeds not above 80% of redline, so for our boat that equates to a fast cruise of about 30 mph, propped as we are for being able to surf with 5,000 lbs of ballast in the boat. In truth, we typically cruise between 26 & 28, which is just a sweet spot for our boat overall. It turns out that cruising at 28 vs 35 mph doesn't really amount to all that much addtional time in transit - about 15-20 minutes over a 50 mile run (not being exact here). For us, the longest non-stop rides we do are point to point on Lake Tahoe, which is about 18 miles from the Keys to either Skunk Harbor or Sunnyside. There, the time to destination difference between our friends who were cruising at about 32 in their Cobalt and us cruising about 28 in our MB was litterally just a few minutes. Long enough for them to find us a spot, drop anchor and open a beverage. Not long enough to worry me in the least.

 

[DavisAR195]

Thanks to both @haknslash and @d_coyne1984 for your replies! I certainly understand the nature of these boats. I was just hoping to find one that will go 35ish without being at the top of it's RPM's. We can easily travel 100 miles in a day on Lake Powell so that is my reason for asking. I am also not going to miss the 8500 RPM's of the Yamaha powering down the lake either. The other reason for a used boat is we plan on this one to be an intermediary for our next purchase. We will seriously consider a high end boat as a boat to keep until we do not do it anymore. This next boat will most likely be with us for about 3 years until we finish paying off our house. We prefer to own our toys outright so that we can better budget for future expenses. My truck is an F450 so I don't expect to have any issues there.

I just stumbled onto a Chaparral boat called a Wake? Have any of you heard good or bad about this boat? I will do some searching about this boat as well.

Thanks again for all of the valuable info you have provided.

I have a Mastercraft NXT22 with the 5.7l Ilmor which is the smallest motor Mastercraft offers. Running the stock prop the boat will run 40 mph. I just swapped out for a surf/wake prop through Wakemakers which drops my rpms and tops out at 38 mph. However I use to burn about a half a tank a day and now it’s only about 40%.

 

[Lynkage]

From what I've seen the forward drive equipped I/Os like that are their own set of compromises (just like every other setup). Yes, they can surf but at this point not at the same level as a v-drive wake boat. They definitely can run faster, though, with their trimmable drives.

Regarding cruising speed, our MB F22 tops out at 39 - 40 but we almost never run there and never for more than a minute or two at a time. Owner's manual recommends maintaining sustained engine speeds not above 80% of redline, so for our boat that equates to a fast cruise of about 30 mph, propped as we are for being able to surf with 5,000 lbs of ballast in the boat. In truth, we typically cruise between 26 & 28, which is just a sweet spot for our boat overall. It turns out that cruising at 28 vs 35 mph doesn't really amount to all that much addtional time in transit - about 15-20 minutes over a 50 mile run (not being exact here). For us, the longest non-stop rides we do are point to point on Lake Tahoe, which is about 18 miles from the Keys to either Skunk Harbor or Sunnyside. There, the time to destination difference between our friends who were cruising at about 32 in their Cobalt and us cruising about 28 in our MB was litterally just a few minutes. Long enough for them to find us a spot, drop anchor and open a beverage. Not long enough to worry me in the least.

Thanks for your reply @OrangeTJ !! BTW do you have an Orange TJ? If so..... I live in Moab...

I think we can live with around 30ish mph. We did a trip down lake last week of approximately 50 miles to Rainbow bridge then played some and came back to Halls Crossing 50 miles return. Used 3/4 of a tank in the AR230. 2ish hours vs 1.5 (each way) should not be that big of a difference as long as we get the kids moving just a bit earlier LOL!

 

[Lynkage]

I have a Mastercraft NXT22 with the 5.7l Ilmor which is the smallest motor Mastercraft offers. Running the stock prop the boat will run 40 mph. I just swapped out for a surf/wake prop through Wakemakers which drops my rpms and tops out at 38 mph. However I use to burn about a half a tank a day and now it’s only about 40%.

Hello @DavisAR195 !

I just looked at a 2020 NXT22 today. Man the options are crazy expensive! The boat, as configured, was 105,000 MSRP and they were selling it at 90,000. I still think it could come down from there but I don't know.... The seats seemed really hard compared to the Yamaha, is that normal? Is there a reason for this, better or worse? It had the Ilmor 6.0 in it. It did have lots of storage, compared to my Yamaha. The prop info is good to know. I really appreciate it! Thanks!

 

[DavisAR195]

Hello @DavisAR195 !

I just looked at a 2020 NXT22 today. Man the options are crazy expensive! The boat, as configured, was 105,000 MSRP and they were selling it at 90,000. I still think it could come down from there but I don't know.... The seats seemed really hard compared to the Yamaha, is that normal? Is there a reason for this, better or worse? It had the Ilmor 6.0 in it. It did have lots of storage, compared to my Yamaha. The prop info is good to know. I really appreciate it! Thanks!

We were at the boat show looking at the 2020 models and they just happened to have a left over 2019 for 69k compared to 85k they wanted for the 2020. Coming from a 2017 AR195, I have been very happy with the NXT. The 2020’s have hinged seats, 6.0l ilmor, rider profiles and a few other upgrades. I will say that Mastercraft comes with a five year warranty that it amazing. For example I had the thread break in the stitching on the deck cushion and they just ordered me a whole new cushion no questions asked.

I upgraded the rear piggy back ballast bags from the stock 400lbs to 710lbs and added 600lbs of lead to fine tune the wave. This is common and with the stock prop and the 5.7l, most people wanted more power which lead to the upgraded 6.0l for 2020.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Thanks for your reply @OrangeTJ !! BTW do you have an Orange TJ? If so..... I live in Moab...

I think we can live with around 30ish mph. We did a trip down lake last week of approximately 50 miles to Rainbow bridge then played some and came back to Halls Crossing 50 miles return. Used 3/4 of a tank in the AR230. 2ish hours vs 1.5 (each way) should not be that big of a difference as long as we get the kids moving just a bit earlier LOL!

I used to have an orange TJ ( actually "amber fire metallic") but kept the name. Have a rhino JK now.....I've been to Moab but never with my Jeep. Would LOVE to wheel there, though!

I highly recommend narrowing your search to a few boats you are interested in and then getting an on-water demo. Standard practice for these in the sales process.

 

[Lynkage]

We were at the boat show looking at the 2020 models and they just happened to have a left over 2019 for 69k compared to 85k they wanted for the 2020. Coming from a 2017 AR195, I have been very happy with the NXT. The 2020’s have hinged seats, 6.0l ilmor, rider profiles and a few other upgrades. I will say that Mastercraft comes with a five year warranty that it amazing. For example I had the thread break in the stitching on the deck cushion and they just ordered me a whole new cushion no questions asked.

I upgraded the rear piggy back ballast bags from the stock 400lbs to 710lbs and added 600lbs of lead to fine tune the wave. This is common and with the stock prop and the 5.7l, most people wanted more power which lead to the upgraded 6.0l for 2020.

Thanks for the information. I did like the quality of the boat. The hinged seats that stay open are really nice! Lot's of storage. no matter what boat I come away with I prefer to not get audio because I used to be a master installer way back when and I feel I can do a much better job given the money they charge for the audio system.

 

[Lynkage]

I used to have an orange TJ ( actually "amber fire metallic") but kept the name. Have a rhino JK now.....I've been to Moab but never with my Jeep. Would LOVE to wheel there, though!

I highly recommend narrowing your search to a few boats you are interested in and then getting an on-water demo. Standard practice for these in the sales process.

Ha! Well... since you come to Moab, let me know if you happen to be down this way. We run RZR's and they are rock crawlin machines!

I will certainly try to pick out around 3 or so. We are in Denver right now so we should have some decent choices. Tomorrow my wife and I will go look at a few places to get an idea of what she likes. That is the biggest question!

 

[Lynkage]

Well.... went to a boat dealer just a bit ago and there was a 2017 Axis T23 with the 450 Monsoon full JL audio dual 12”subs wetsounds wake tower pods 175 hours one owner boat looks like the price could be about 75k. What do people think. It was well taken care of and is very clean. As far as I understand, it comes with all the lead and it has 4500lbs of ballast. A 750 was up front in the bow.
Thoughts?

 

[DavisAR195]

Well.... went to a boat dealer just a bit ago and there was a 2017 Axis T23 with the 450 Monsoon full JL audio dual 12”subs wetsounds wake tower pods 175 hours one owner boat looks like the price could be about 75k. What do people think. It was well taken care of and is very clean. As far as I understand, it comes with all the lead and it has 4500lbs of ballast. A 750 was up front in the bow.
Thoughts?

The downside to Axis and Malibu are the side deploying surf tabs and power wedge create a huge amount of drag. They produce a nice wake don’t get me wrong but your fuel burn will be much higher than a boat with surf tabs.

 

[OrangeTJ]

I don't know......my buddy's Malibu 23 LSV with surf gates doesn't seem to burn more fuel than my MB with GSA tabs. Some of that is probably because I run 1,500 lbs more ballast than him, but then I need to in order to create a great wave. Regarding the Axis in question, I'd just say that the price seems a bit high. I'd be trying to get it in the high 60s. At $75K, you could probably get the same year Malibu 23. Since you're in the west, you might also want to add the MB B52 23 to your shopping/looking list. 2018 is a great year and should be somewhere in that price range.

 

[Lynkage]

I don't know......my buddy's Malibu 23 LSV with surf gates doesn't seem to burn more fuel than my MB with GSA tabs. Some of that is probably because I run 1,500 lbs more ballast than him, but then I need to in order to create a great wave. Regarding the Axis in question, I'd just say that the price seems a bit high. I'd be trying to get it in the high 60s. At $75K, you could probably get the same year Malibu 23. Since you're in the west, you might also want to add the MB B52 23 to your shopping/looking list. 2018 is a great year and should be somewhere in that price range.

Thanks OrangeTJ for the info. I am looking to see an MB as well. I will keep an eye out for the Malibu as well. I will update everyone with my findings.

 

[CanTex]

If you consider the used boat market, be sure the remaining warranty is transferable (MC provides a 5 year warranty but only allows 1 transfer - they charge a $500 fee).

 

[Lynkage]

If you consider the used boat market, be sure the remaining warranty is transferable (MC provides a 5 year warranty but only allows 1 transfer - they charge a $500 fee).

That was one of the questions I had and it is transferable and good until April 2022. Thanks for bringing that up @CanTex

 

[Lynkage]

Well.....

There just are not many boats for sale this year! The T23 I was interested in, decided that he had another interested party before me. I understand this however he asked me to put a deposit and then said someone else had already put one down. Frustrating to say the least. But it is what it is.

In the meantime my wife decided to look at an A24. Now she is really in love with the amount of room it has, can't say as I blame her. So we are looking at a new 2020 A24 with the M6di engine. It is a really nice boat for sure..... It is however a 105K :O I would need to keep this boat for at least 5 years to have it make sense. I don't mind but what will I need to buy on top of a new boat to set it up properly? Questions.. Questions... humm