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

[PaulyB]

That thing is beautiful! I'm also on Lake Anna! I have a 2015 AR210. Really loving some of the newer Moomba's though. Working on convincing the wife that we need to upgrade. Which dealer did you talk to?

Thanks! I love Lake Anna. If you want to buy a new Moomba, you have to go through Rob at “The Boat Shop”. They don’t have many options right now, and don’t have many available builds for 2021 unfortunately.

 

[swatski]

so I went to the other side, I was looking to have a 2021 Moomba Makai built, but my local dealer didn’t have any build slots, and due to territory restrictions I could not buy one from another dealer. I had to settle to for this used 2020 Supra SL450. I drove to Atlanta and picked it up Friday.

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Goodness gracious! that thing is STUNNING.
Now, it just needs one more mod, a stripper pole. I believe @Sotally Tober has blueprints for that.


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[sleek98]

Just got word that our Mojo is being dropped at the dealer on Thursday. I was hoping they would have sent some pictures to him so I could at least see it.

 

[anmut]

so I went to the other side, I was looking to have a 2021 Moomba Makai built, but my local dealer didn’t have any build slots, and due to territory restrictions I could not buy one from another dealer. I had to settle to for this used 2020 Supra SL450. I drove to Atlanta and picked it up Friday.

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Like a dream not of mine! Amazing!

 

[sleek98]

Boat showed up to the dealer. Getting its prep done.

 

[anmut]

I finally found a tow boat that my wife and I can agree on:

2020 Tige 23-ZX - SkipperBuds - Sequoit Harbor - J0120 - SkipperBuds

2020 Tige 23-ZX - SkipperBuds - Sequoit Harbor - J0120 - New V-Drive Tow Boat boat for sale in SkipperBuds - Sequoit Harbor.

www.skipperbuds.com

I told my wife that, for the price of this one boat, we could buy another Yamaha and have two. One for weekdays, one for weekends... UNREAL how expensive these things are! I still just don't see where the extra $80,000 is in this boat vs. my 212? Yes it has better vinyl, software, better stereo, some unique things like a camera, surf plates - but in the end, it's still a fiberglass boat! Is there really $80,000 more in the engine/electronics/interior compared to my Yamaha?

 

[swatski]

I finally found a tow boat that my wife and I can agree on:

2020 Tige 23-ZX - SkipperBuds - Sequoit Harbor - J0120 - SkipperBuds

2020 Tige 23-ZX - SkipperBuds - Sequoit Harbor - J0120 - New V-Drive Tow Boat boat for sale in SkipperBuds - Sequoit Harbor.

www.skipperbuds.com

I told my wife that, for the price of this one boat, we could buy another Yamaha and have two. One for weekdays, one for weekends... UNREAL how expensive these things are! I still just don't see where the extra $80,000 is in this boat vs. my 212? Yes it has better vinyl, software, better stereo, some unique things like a camera, surf plates - but in the end, it's still a fiberglass boat! Is there really $80,000 more in the engine/electronics/interior compared to my Yamaha?

Well, I know it seems that way - at almost double the price, but... if those boats are actually spec-ed side by side the tige, apparently, looks like a bargain! Or maybe it wasn;t a tige, but another premium brand, same difference - someone did this here, and I was surprised to see it but it is pretty strait forward calculation. Obviously not apples to apples, but the simple logic here is the summation of components they use plus labor.

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[anmut]

Well, I know it seems that way - at almost double the price, but... if those boats are actually spec-ed side by side the tige, apparently, looks like a bargain! Or maybe it wasn;t a tige, but another premium brand, same difference - someone did this here, and I was surprised to see it but it is pretty strait forward calculation. Obviously not apples to apples, but the simple logic here is the summation of components they use plus labor.

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Must be the labor that causes the price increase. I'm guessing that Yamaha is more efficient at building boats.

 

[anmut]

Honestly, at these prices, I would be happy to just purchase the 252XD and be done with it. But that wave looks sooooo weak.

 

[haknslash]

They don’t make these boats in the same volume as Yamaha does. To give you an idea of volume comparison Skiers Choice only makes about 1500-1700 boats a year. That’s for both Moomba and Supra combined. The largest volume wakeboat manufacturer is I think Malibu/Axis. They went public a few years back so that they could pump out lots of boats a year. Last year Malibu produced 7,362 boats (not sure if that included Axis or not). That alone can be a huge factor in pricing. Then add in the quality upgrades, options, surf systems, do-dads etc it all adds up. There is also a hot demand for wakeboats so as long as there is a demand you can expect mfg’s to take advantage of it from a business standpoint. In terms of surfing from these boats to a jet boat it’s a whole different level mainly from all the customization and ability to carry a lot of ballast with a hull that is specifically shaped for this sport. Yamaha also has a bit of an advantage when it comes to powerplant and technology. A lot of the boat stuff is trickled down from the Yamaha PWC's, sometimes visa versa, and that helps on manufacturing costs and R&D investments. At the end of the day typically custom build, low volume boats with a high demand are going to be more expensive than a Yamaha. I will say though that with Yamaha's pricing now they have put themselves in a much more diverse market. We've seen this coming for the past few years.

 

[swatski]

What I was trying to say ^^^, I guess, some of those premium wake boats are actually a bargain compared to Yamaha JBs. Given quality and cost of components and labor involved. When spec-ed for component prices plus labor, Tige is a better bargain per foot of boat than a Yamaha Wake Series.
I love my Yamaha, but... Yamaha jet boats are relatively inexpensive to mass produce, and they sold at, or above, MSRP.

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[anmut]

What I was trying to say ^^^, I guess, some of those premium wake boats are actually a bargain compared to Yamaha JBs. Given quality and cost of components and labor involved. When spec-ed for component prices plus labor, Tige is a better bargain per foot of boat than a Yamaha Wake Series.
I love my Yamaha, but... Yamaha jet boats are relatively inexpensive to mass produce, and they sold at, or above, MSRP.

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That's fair. I'm also reading about how much more maintenance and repairs can be. Knowing that my Tige dealership is an hour and a half from me one way that makes it difficult. I think in just need to move someplace warmer and surrounded by premium boat dealerships.

 

[haknslash]

Also consider some dealers will throw in maintenance and service if you work with them on the deal. I haven’t paid a penny on any scheduled service, maintenance or oil changes since owning the boat. That has been a nice savings and when the freebies run out I will still get discounts on service and products. By comparison my Yamaha dealer offered zero extras to sweeten the deal.

The maintenance costs itself isn’t going to be that much more expensive than a dual engine Yamaha jet boat. There is a little more involved since you have to drain water amd good to replace the impeller each year but it’s not overly complicated. It is certainly a DIY if you want to save costs and travel time to the dealer.

 

[haknslash]

Boat showed up to the dealer. Getting its prep done.
View attachment 137308

It looks great! Is that pacific blue you went with? Interior color scheme is similar to mine so it should be fairly easy to keep clean and also not get too hot. Well the white sections at least. The light graphite can be a scorcher on a sunny day but looks like your placement of light graphite won’t be an issue. Congrats! You going to get it wet or just store it ready for the spring?

 

[sleek98]

It looks great! Is that pacific blue you went with? Interior color scheme is similar to mine so it should be fairly easy to keep clean and also not get too hot. Well the white sections at least. The light graphite can be a scorcher on a sunny day but looks like your placement of light graphite won’t be an issue. Congrats! You going to get it wet or just store it ready for the spring?

Yep, pacific blue/graphite. I am hoping to drop it in the water we do a layup from dec 1 through april 1, but its going to be 48 tomorrow and Sunday. Hoping it warms up one day next week so we can drop it in the local pond just to give it a drive. I originally wanted to do the opposite but after I saw you say it was going to be super hot so we switched it. Figure we can throw a towel down to take the sting out of it.

 

[ripler]

@anmut
There is a misconception about maintenance on a V-drive, there is no way my boat is going to be more expensive or more time consuming than my Yamaha was. I won't have to suck oil out using an extractor and I won't miss laying over a hot engine trying to remove 2 oil filters. I simply remove the rear seat and everything is right in front of me, they put hoses on the manifolds so all I do is remove a plug and drain the water. They put a hose on the engine to drain the oil and it was designed so I can run it through the rear drain plug so I don't have to worry about spilling oil in the cockpit. The oil filter sits in front and is easy to access. The manufacturer of the engine in my boat. Ilmor, does not recommend fogging, so I don't have to do that. As far as being more expensive to fix that's also BS, most boats use Chevy of Ford blocks and a lot of parts are the same as you would use in your car or truck. Ilmor's factory warranty on their engines are 7 years or 1000 hours, so I'm pretty confident their engines are reliable. I'm sure my dealer would have given me free maintenance if I would have asked but they are 1 1/2 hours away from me and it wasn't worth it.

 

[anmut]

@anmut
There is a misconception about maintenance on a V-drive, there is no way my boat is going to be more expensive or more time consuming than my Yamaha was. I won't have to suck oil out using an extractor and I won't miss laying over a hot engine trying to remove 2 oil filters. I simply remove the rear seat and everything is right in front of me, they put hoses on the manifolds so all I do is remove a plug and drain the water. They put a hose on the engine to drain the oil and it was designed so I can run it through the rear drain plug so I don't have to worry about spilling oil in the cockpit. The oil filter sits in front and is easy to access. The manufacturer of the engine in my boat. Ilmor, does not recommend fogging, so I don't have to do that. As far as being more expensive to fix that's also BS, most boats use Chevy of Ford blocks and a lot of parts are the same as you would use in your car or truck. Ilmor's factory warranty on their engines are 7 years or 1000 hours, so I'm pretty confident their engines are reliable. I'm sure my dealer would have given me free maintenance if I would have asked but they are 1 1/2 hours away from me and it wasn't worth it.

Damn, 7 years/1000 hours on the motor? That's a good warranty!

 

[sleek98]

Using the ford 6.2L 1,000 hours is not much on them, I am glad they are realizing that and offering it as a standard warranty.

 

[anmut]

Using the ford 6.2L 1,000 hours is not much on them, I am glad they are realizing that and offering it as a standard warranty.

I remember reading last night some of these close loop cooling motors go 2500 hours without a rebuild. If general consensus is that 1 hour = 100 miles, that's reliability like a diesel motor.

 

[haknslash]

Boating just put out a video on the new Mondo. Nice that the Pro tower allows it to get into a garage less than 8’.

Moomba also put out a video of the Mondo today...