Dispel the FUD

[csherbo]

So I went to the local boat show this weekend, and I am pretty close to pulling the trigger on a '17 G23. I looked at all the competition for education and fun. I was surprised at some of the FUD from a couple of the competitive dealers. I have demoed a '16 G23, and didn't notice any of these items, so please help me dispel these issues.

1) Nautique uses bags, if they aren't full in the hull, the boat is subject to porpoising.
2) Nautique doesn't put any foam in their hull, they are the noisiest boat around.
3) You can't turn a G around very sharply, it takes too long to get back to your rider, you can't turn a double-up in the narrower part of the lake.
4) The H6 is underpowered if you have full stock ballast and full crew.
5) The new hull mods to improve the spray and surfing, impacted the wakeboard wake negatively.
6) The surf wave isn't very adjustable, you only get one shape.

I know they are knocking them because they are the boat to beat, but it doesn't hurt to understand everything.

Thanks in advance.

[72Miles]

LOL - surf boat of the year and wakeboard boat of the year for how many years in a row now?

1-Never once experienced porpoising with my G23.
2-This one is funny. I have a boat full of teenagers with a 450 engine roaring and X Ambassadors cranked up loud enough to shatter plexiglass a mile away. Haven't noticed the noise. I'll address that when I'm an old(er) fart driving a cabin cruiser.
3-Bull-oney.
4-No idea on this one.
5-No idea. If I go out on a real windy day, we are all getting wet.
6-See #3.

[Cpan13]

1)Yes they use bags. Not sure why bags vs. tanks would cause porpoising. Either way just set the NCRS to auto and it never porpoises.
2) I've got the 550 in mine and it's probably the quietest boat I've ever owned. Surf pipe is awesome.
3) It won't turn like a ski boat but they turn better than most wakeboard boats out there. I ride on a man made narrow lake and double ups are no problem. I have a G21 but can't imagine the G23 could be that much worse.
4) Don't have experience with the H6 but general concensus here is that power is great.
5) Again I don't have experience here but I doubt it.
6) This has to be the biggest load of BS I've ever heard. 0-5 for NSS and NCRS plus unlimited ballast adjustment. It probably has the most adjustable wake in the industry.

[72Miles]

6) This has to be the biggest load of BS I've ever heard. 0-5 for NSS and NCRS plus unlimited ballast adjustment. It probably has the most adjustable wake in the industry.

Yep. Compare it to the "adjustability" of the Wakesetter surfgate for example.

[LakePowellMan]

There wouldn't be anything written here that would scare me away from pulling the trigger on a new G. My 2016 with the 550 is the quietest boat I've ever owned...two Mastercraft's previous...

Can't speak for the 450, but I do know my dealer (Croft Marine in Utah) generally only brings in 550s. Keep in mind we're at elevation and it's not uncommon to be at 5,000 ft. above sea level on any given day. I know there are plenty that have said 450 is plenty of power though...

[Jeb1974]

1. False: We've never had issues with porpoising
2. The motor always seems to be the noisy part in the boat. With the silent exhaust this is the quietest boat I've been in. I don't think foam has much to do with noise.
3. A little truth here. The G does handle like a pig at slow speeds and does turn wider than most. It's never an issue for double ups. Turning radius probably only matters if you're on a private ski lake. A good boat driver can compensate for the handling.
4. We have the old 450 and never have issues with wakeboarding full ballast at 3,300 feet. I've heard the H6 is much better than the old one - the dealer we bought from is ordering more H6 than 550's now when it used to be the other way around. A bigger motor is better if you're adding weight but 2,850 stock is a lot. This also really only applies to wakeboarding - the 450 is probably fine for surfing for 99% of the people.
5. I don't know but will find out next week - riding some 2017's.
6. I've heard the Centurion Ri is the ultimate boat for being able to adjust the surf wake. I figured out what I like on our G23 and haven't changed it. I'm not a die-hard surfer though and a surf snob might think different.

[charlesml3]

3. A little truth here. The G does handle like a pig at slow speeds and does turn wider than most. It's never an issue for double ups. Turning radius probably only matters if you're on a private ski lake. A good boat driver can compensate for the handling.

I didn't want to say this first but Jeb is right. One of my buddies has a G23 and he nicknamed it "The Walrus" due to the slow-speed handling. Don't get me wrong, I love the G23 and it's by far the best surf boat I've ever been around but there are compromises. When that much ballast is added it's going to negatively affect the slow-speed handling. It would be impossible to build a boat that surfed like a G23 and handled like a 200 CB. They're radically different boats for different uses.

[csherbo]

Thank you for all the responses. I know the sales guy is just trying to create FUD. If I have time, I am going to try and demo the other brands as well, and then likely demo the G again, so I have a straight up comparison. It is difficult to imagine me changing my mind.

The only items that gave me pause, were the quality of the wakeboard wake, particularly at low speed, and the H6 at load. When we demoed, we only had three adults and maybe half tank of fuel. It was effortless to plane with full ballast. We are not at elevation. The dealer only brings in the H6 on stock boats. I don't think we are going to add ballast, other than maybe some lead I already own to balance out a smaller crew.

As far as turning, I expect a weighted boat to be sluggish at idle speeds, so no surprise there. But I do want to turn a rider on Lake Austin if necessary. I have to imagine that would be fine.

[Kmayotte]

I will say my G took some getting used to driving at idle speed. It's much slower to react when docking than my previous 04 SAN. Bigger boat, slower to react to adjustments and more likely to keep momentum.

At speed, no issues turning sharp under power & heavy load. NCRS helps out in this regard. Still it's a big heavy boat so there are trade-offs.

One of the first time out in our G I drove across a very wide open part of our large lake (71 square miles) through a 30 mph cross wind. It handled the 3-4ft chop nicely for a 23ft non v-hull and the drivers seat and passenger seat were completely dry. I couldn't imagine if we had one of the "other" brands with the windshield does not have the sides. I never understood that, true style over function in that regard.

To say the wakeboard wake suffered from the hull change is pretty funny. About 1% of wakeboarders can use the G wake or any other flagship boat's wake to it's truest potential.

Here's a vid to show planing speed of a 2016 G with the H6. Full ballast,I think their were 6 adults in the boat. I count about 10 seconds and it wasn't close to pinned.
This was one of our first sets behind the boat so we had not dialed the weight left to right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ceJX7Rs5o&t=52s

[Jeb1974]

Thank you for all the responses. I know the sales guy is just trying to create FUD. If I have time, I am going to try and demo the other brands as well, and then likely demo the G again, so I have a straight up comparison. It is difficult to imagine me changing my mind.

The only items that gave me pause, were the quality of the wakeboard wake, particularly at low speed, and the H6 at load. When we demoed, we only had three adults and maybe half tank of fuel. It was effortless to plane with full ballast. We are not at elevation. The dealer only brings in the H6 on stock boats. I don't think we are going to add ballast, other than maybe some lead I already own to balance out a smaller crew.

As far as turning, I expect a weighted boat to be sluggish at idle speeds, so no surprise there. But I do want to turn a rider on Lake Austin if necessary. I have to imagine that would be fine.

The quality of the wakeboard wake is absolutely the best thing about this boat. With empty ballast it's clean down to 19 mph on both sides and with full ballast it's clean down to 21 mph. The only boat that I've been behind that is clean at slower speeds is a Malibu but it's not as big and the transition is much smaller.

If you don't add additional weight you'll never need more than the H6.

I don't think I'd trade my G23 but the new Supras are pretty sweet. Good luck with your search!

[NWSurfer]

Most of my boating is on Malibus, both my 2008 LSV and newer LSV's with surfgate, and even I can call BS on most of those points after demoing a 2017 G23 w/H6. Demo them all and buy the one you like that also has a great dealer.

2) Quietest boat I've been on, with an engine that is. Surfpipe is part of it but the engine compartment is designed to reduce noise as it's quieter than some other brands with surfpipes.
3) I've heard this rumor too but maneuverability with stock ballast at surf speeds was quite good (relative to any weighted surf boat).
4) H6 seemed to have effortless power with full stock ballast and crew of 5 (low elevation).
6) The surf wave is very adjustable. While the Ri's wave has more adjustability, some people are really having trouble dialing in that wave because of all the adjustments.

[OKWAKEBDR]

Okay...from someone who owns a '17 G23...me...

1) Nautique uses bags, if they aren't full in the hull, the boat is subject to porpoising. - Never experienced ever in any year model G I've ever been in.
2) Nautique doesn't put any foam in their hull, they are the noisiest boat around. - Absolute quietest, most solid boat around, bar none.
3) You can't turn a G around very sharply, it takes too long to get back to your rider, you can't turn a double-up in the narrower part of the lake. - NCRS is actually very helpful with turning and getting back to speed, it turns very well for as big as it is. We can do it on our very narrow river although we do it very rarely. NO POWER TURNS!
4) The H6 is underpowered if you have full stock ballast and full crew. - Ridiculous - I've been in a '17 G23 with full people and 2k lbs of extra ballast plumbed in (probably over 12k lbs of total weight including the boat). It still got on plane no problem. This engine is incredible.
5) The new hull mods to improve the spray and surfing, impacted the wakeboard wake negatively - I've ridden every year model G and there is very little difference in the wakeboard wake from year to year.
6) The surf wave isn't very adjustable, you only get one shape. - Also rediculous. My wife likes a much more mellow wake. I turn down the NCRS to 0 from 5 and dial it in just like she likes it. I like the wake much steeper - NCRS on 5 for me.

They're just reaching trying to be salesmen. The price difference between the G and the other big boats at my boat show were negligible anyway...the M235 was higher.

One other thing. Resale on a G is going to be significantly better than ALL the others.

[Sailfun]

I have demo'd several G's but do not yet own one. I have in the past been a Malibu guy and have a 2016 VLX. There is not a boat around with 2500lbs of water plus crew that is not a pig at slow speed including my Malibu. My Malibu will porpoise badly with any rear weight bias. Two people sitting on the bench seat forward of the engine will do it. Because of that I really looked for it in the G's. I could not make either the G21 or 23 porpoise despite trying. The G21 had to much spray for me so it was dropped from my search. The 23 actually overall handled better then I expected. The boat was quieter then the Malibu and the stereo stock verses stock was night and day better. The surf wave on the 23 was slightly better then my Malibu however that's comparing the Malibu with two 800lb sacks in the back and 650lbs in the bow. That leaves me with no bow seating and virtually no storage. The G23 was stock ballast only.
One last point to consider. The G's both exhibited almost no bow rise. My Malibu and the 23 LSV have a ton of bow rise when weighted for surfing to the point of being dangerous. My wife has to stand to drive the boat at surf speeds. Really loved the visibility out of both G's at all speeds.

[jjackkrash]

Little things that make three-event skiers chuckle:

I've got a 23' boat thats loaded down and weighs 20,000 lbs. and I'm worried its going to turn like a pig a slow speeds.

Just try and run for cover when when the witch of November comes stealing'. Hehe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A

[csherbo]

Job well done everyone, thank you so much for the excellent experience sharing. Many great points made here. Hopefully I'll be an owner soon, and be making regular contributions.