To Upgrade or not GS20

[jondavis08]

I have the opportunity to get a decent deal on a 2017 GS 20. I currently have a 2014 210 that I am very happy with. However, the GS20 may fit our needs a little better. I Wakeboard first, ski second and surf last. I'll wakeboard as long as I can but as age catches up with me I don't need the biggest baddest wake but I would like to have it at least close to my 210. I honestly don't mind skiing behind my 210 but wished it had a ski pylon.

Questions on the GS 20. Will this really feel like an upgrade? From what I read it seems like you need to add some weight to the rear to get the wake right. Has anyone found a way to piggyback these?. Curious since it's subfloor ballast. What's the thought on the wakeboarding Wake? Anything else that puts the GS20 above a 210?

Thanks for any input!

[Evening Shade]

I can't speak to how much of an upgrade a GS20 would be from you 2014 210, but it definitely felt like a substantial upgrade from my 2011 210. The
GS20 just feels more solid and its rough water/chop ride is WAY better. With factory ballast the wakeboard wake is better and surf wave is much better than my 2011 210.

You can piggyback extra ballast in to a GS20, but it is very hard to get the over flow hoses off the through hull fittings because the fittings are so far forward. Maybe if you took the rear corner seat back cushions off it wouldn't be too bad, but I wasn't willing to do that so I didn't piggyback my extra sacks.

This may not matter to you, but one of the biggest things that put the GS20 above the 210 for me was the fact that it will easily fit under the 7' or 7.5' garage door at my lake house with the tower down.

[tmb]

I thought the GS0 was an upgrade from my old 2012 210 in every way except slalom wake and visibility. There's more storage, I liked the way it handled, looks, bow seating, surf wave, but I couldn't get over how poor the slalom wake was compared to my 210. I'm by no means a great skier, I run 15off at 34mph and the GS20 slalom wake looked comparable to the 210 but didn't behave the same when my ski hit it. Had a friend ski the GS because I thought maybe it was me and it was crazy to watch his ski bounce when it it the wake. I encourage you to ski one if that is something you really like to do. Maybe you will have a different experience. I ordered a 2018 210 instead.

[Evening Shade]

I forgot about the visibility. I agree with tmb. The visibilty through the windshield from the drivers seat was better on my 2011 210. For me the seat is too high or the windshield frame is too low on the GS20. The top of the windshield frame is almost right in my direct line of vision. I feel like I have to hunch down a little in the drivers seat to see through the windshield.

[jondavis08]

Shade, that's a good point about the garage door height. Currently, I have to get the jack as low as it can go and turn my tower speakers sideways to get my boat in. Not too much fun to push the trailer in by hand! I test drove a GS20 the year it came out and I was concerned about the windshield height as well. I'm 6'4 and couldn't find the right spot to look through. I'm surprised how much this is an issue for most boats..