Crossover boat

[Zumawater]

Looking for feedback on best/great 23’ crossover boat. Kids love skiing, tubing, wakeboarding and eventually will start wakesurfing. 35-60k range. Thanks!

[skimtb]

You may be on the wrong forum. Both for boat size and function / intended use.

Suggest going to Mastercraft teamtalk, and nautique and Malibu forums.

[BraceMaker]

That's kind of an interesting question - most of the older boats aren't going to be 23 footers - and 23 footers mostly are going to be surf/wakeboard oriented. Of the current line up I think that'd be the MC XT23 - but that's going to be newer and start around 1.5x the budget.

 

 

[thager]

No such thing!

[jakecuz23]

I agree with @thager, there is no such thing as what you are wanting. With that being said, I have skied behind a Mastercraft 214v and it was surprisingly good for free skiing when there are few people in the boat. I would not classify the 214v as a real ski boat and would never expect it be be like a prostar to ski behind. But, it is still a solid boat for cruising, tubing, and having fun free skiing behind.

[6balls]

Malibu VTX. 2013 is first year with built in surf system which will be at the top of your price point.

 

Prior to that year you will be cheaper but need an attachable wake shaper via suction cups to oppositie side of intended surf wave.

 

Look for DIAMOND hull (there were two hulls), wedge, under floor rear ballast, rear plug n play ballast, and bow ballast tanks.

 

It's not 23''...but as mentioned above you go to 23'' surf boats and good luck on a ski wake.

 

 

[LoopSki]

Dont have any use in one, but take a look at the malibu xti.

[unksskis]

NXT 22, they're on sale right now

[skihacker]

Sounds like an i/o???

[BraceMaker]

@skihacker not if you really want to surf.

[Dockoelboto]

sport nautique 200 is sort of a crossover, not 23' but has a decent non course ski wake, good for wake boarding, surfing, maybe...

[UWSkier]

If you find an older Malibu 23 LSV on a Diamond hull, or the XTI 23, you can get an OK ski wake for just bombing around free skiing. I'm talking about 2003-2007ish timeframe. After that, the freeboard got higher, the V got deeper, and they just turned into surf behemoths that just don't ski well at all.

 

If buying new, you won't like skiing anything other than probably the aforementioned VTX which is only a 20' boat.

[mmskiboat]

I spend time over on MC TT and what I see is that once people start surfing that is all that they want to do. So I think you should find one boat to start and then switch to dedicated surf boat later as one boat will not do everything well.

[escmanaze]

I have to imagine that an old 23 XTI would be the best 23 foot ski boat ever created? It would also fall right in the price range mentioned right?

[dvskier]

Bayliner!

[vtmecheng]

Definitely the wrong forum. Any wakesurfing boat is the wrong boat.

[LoopSki]

I doubt it would sell or make sense. But it would interesting. Turn your ski boat into a wakeboat !

 

 

 

 

[buechsr]

I'd look for a 01-04 sunscape lsv (or a wakesetter VLX on the diamond). Other than the vtx to follow, best vdrive ski wake there is. Plus its longer than a VTX and easily surfable with added ballast, and is under your budget. Still have one in our family. Great all around boat.

[immikerowley]

 

 

FWIW I have a Sport Nautique 200 , and while its a bit shorter than u looking for I must say as a cross over it does the job.

 

Wake is not as good as an all out Ski boat DD but its not bad either.

 

Does the Wakeboarding and surfing too.

 

I

[BraceMaker]

@LoopSki I've always thought someone could engineer a different swim platform. Custom to the hull molded plastic and built like a kayak. Remove the factory brackets and have it clamp to the U bolts and tension on - then it could have its own ballast tanks inside, deployable wakeshapers etc. a foam deck on top. Surf your prostar 1500$ to buy - a few minutes to float it onto the back of the boat. Then when you're done drain the ballast pull the pins and float it to shore and you're back to skiing with no other boat mods.

[ejj]

As mentioned, you are asking for something that is quite special

 

Budget: Any 22+ v-drive is going to be costly. That’s a big boat. Why do you need this much size? In general, small boats are better for skiing and larger boats are better for surfing, purely from a displacement basis. Also, do you have a truck to tow the big boat?

Sports: any boat can tube. Skiing and surfing are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Most boats built for both are not great at either. Have you skied in the course? Or are you more rec/open water minded? Surfing—as mentioned, how do you feel about suck-gates and large bags of water on a seat/floor of your boat? The more money/newer the boat, the more likely these are hidden and somewhat automated.

[Fast351]

My Nautique 211 was a decent crossover boat. Ended up selling it to buy a 196, and the 196 definitely has a much superior wake, but the 211 was doable, especially at 32+.

 

Wakeboarding was great with built in ballast, surfing required a fat sack in the walk through transom (440#) and having a couple extra people on board was always welcome.

 

I don't think you're going to find a crossover boat with a significantly better ski wake unless one of the newer (2010+) boats that I'm not familiar with fits the bill.