teamproshop

Thanks @6balls, it really is a special boat that was kind of ahead of its time, I really would've never believed that a 23' long, 4500lb V drive could possibly ski that well if I hadn't witnessed it first hand. Now that ski-able V drives are becoming a thing with the Nautique GS series and Malibu advertising a multi-sport hull on the 2018 LSV, hopefully Gekko will be able to capitalize on the unique versatility of their V drives and get more of them out there. They have new manufacturing for 2018 with some yacht builder who's name I can't remember and the boats look better than they ever have. I actually have a really nice used 2001 REVO 7.1 on consignment on my lot right now that we originally sold new back in '01 or '02. It has a 6.2 Scorpion with only 120 hours on it and a nearly flawless interior. If it doesn't sell soon I may have to start crunching some numbers and figure out if I can buy for myself.

The best skiing V drive I've ever been behind hands down is the Gekko Revo 7.1. It has the same hull as their DD slalom boats, just scaled up in size, which has tunnels on either side that channel the chine spray under the boat to create lift at higher speeds. We were a Gekko dealer for many years and I own a Gekko GTR22 that skis fantastic. When they first released the Revo 7.1 (originally called the G3) back in the early 2000's, we took one out to ski behind it and the consensus among everyone in the group was that it was amazingly good. We added a hydraulic trim tab to one for a customer one time and the wake looked even better at skiing speed, but I never got behind that one. These are prettyy large, high sided boats that are very roomy inside, they displace a lot of water at low speed and have a lot of space in the compartments for some pretty large ballast bags. I've surfed quite a lot behind the 7.1 and it surfs very well, but once you get the speed up around 28mph and higher, the crazy hull takes over and the wake flattens out very nicely. I've only been behind the 7.1 (23 footer), but they make a 6.7 (22 footer) as well. Surfing and skiing definitely demand exact opposite characteristics in a boat, but I'd never have believed that this one boat could do both this well if I hadn't experienced it first hand. There aren't a lot of Revos out there but they're generally priced really well if you can find one.