New boat

[Freestyle]

Guys just sold my Centurion and about to order a Nautique for 2019. We primarily wake surf with occasional wakeboarder. Torn between the G21 and 230. You can read into may things but the conclusion I have come up with is the 230 is great for wake surfing? Comments? Ballast concerns?

[Austin179]

You are in the exact same situation that I was just in...
All I can say is that I called my dealer to order a new 230 and ended up ordering a new G21.

My reasons maybe very different than yours, but it came down to storage (piggy back pro ballast on the 230 takes up a lot of space), and number of new 230s vs G21s sold each year (resale value/demand).

I also believe that the GS series will be replacing the 210/230 in years to come. JMO

Both boats are awesome in my opinion and you can get a great wake and wave out of both.

[markj]

I've recently been surfing both boats back to back. Hands down the 230 surf wake is much better IMO, but it requires aftermarket ballast that eats storage. I've been loading both boats about equally. In other words, the G21 weighs about 9300 lbs and the 230 weighs about 9700 lbs fully loaded. The simplest way to describe the difference is the G21 has a steeper wake with a shorter pocket. Like trying to surf the side of a square curb. No matter how we placed the weight, changed the speed or modified the NSS settings on the G21, we couldn't make up for the two foot shorter length of the boat. It matters. The 230 has a much longer pocket with the perfect amount of push and steepness. If storage is king and you don't care about having a relatively short wave, go with the G21. One other thing worth considering is if you're into surf style or skim style, but that's another discussion.

If wake boarding is important, the G21 is ALL OVER the 230. Not even close. The G21 is like the OG 210 on steroids, but better.

As for the GS series replacing the 210/230's, that's garbage. They just retooled the whole dash on the 210/230's. That ain't cheap to do and the 210/230's fill a void: they're the "affordable" Nautique and the only one's that don't have the hideously fugly front end of the G/GS series.

[Kenv]

MarkJ hit it correctly. I have a 2015 G21 and the surf wave is exactly as he described above. We surf, wakeboard, tube, kneeboard......so I don't need a "Pro" surf wave...but yeah....the 230 wave is a tad better overall to surf. But I liked the fact I didn't need to add an ounce of weight to the G21 to surf basically un-listed all day long on both sides of the wave. My rear lockers are full of boards and life jackets and bumpers. I "might" get some lead carry sacks in the future...but that would only be to share with my buddy so he can use the lead on his Malibu when I'm not using them. Both boats have great qualities and you can't go wrong with either.

[sbaird4000]

After surfing behind my friends 2017 Malibu LSV 23 my wife and I decided to buy our own boat. I've always been drawn to Nautique as a result of their styling and reputation for quality. My friends LSV 23 produces a HUGE wave and I initially had hopes of replicating it in a Nautique 230. Being that I've always wanted a Nautique and people tend to have nothing but positive things to say about them, my wife and I purchased a new 2017 230. I opted to have the 400 pound pro wake bags replaced with 650 pound exact fits, add a 550 pound bag under the bow seats and also add 500 pounds of lead spread throughout. I will say, this boat will never NEVER produce a wave as tall as my friends Mailbu. But I will say, however, that the 230 when weighted properly produces a very respectable wave that has an immense amount of push extremely far back from the boat. Not to take anything away from Malibu but my opinion is that the 230 produces a much longer wave that has quite a bit more push when far back. The wave is also more customizable than the Malibu but setting up the wave takes quite a bit more time than the Malibu. Once dialed in, the 230 produces an extremely fun to surf wave that is good for all ability levels and can be customized to anyone's preference. I never question my decision to buy the 230, even though the wave isn't as tall as the Malibu. The waves are completely different from one another and what it boils down to is a matter of preference. Here are a few pictures of the wave my 230 produces. Hope this helps.

[markj]

sbaird4000, FWIW, you're only running 1300 lbs over stock (or 3400 total ballast). You're gonna need more weight if you want it taller than your buddy's LSV. I run 4750 total ballast and it's near perfect.

[sbaird4000]

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[sbaird4000]

Any chance you have a few photos of your wave with all that weight? I’m not opposed to buying some more leadwake if it makes that much of an improvement.


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[Freestyle]

Very good information. Thank you all for the feedback. sbaird4000 nice wave. With adding all additional ballast how much storage will I be losing? We also have a family divided. Wife and daughter loves the Malibu 23 LSV and me nautique. Storage was a big issue with my centurion so that is one of our big items.

[sbaird4000]

Both rear lockers in my 230 are almost completely full when the 650's are full. My buddy is running 750's in the rear of his lsv and the lockers are almost completely full. The under seat storage in my bow can be used if I have people sitting up front. When I'm running a small crew and no one up front I use the bow bag which takes up all the under seat storage. The Malibu has a hard tank under the bow seats and when my buddy fills his 750's, engages the wedge and has a small crew he needs to use his 1000 pound bag which sits directly on top of the bow seat rendering it 100% unusable. Mid ship under seat storage in the Malibu and 230 are similar and I wouldn't dare to give the edge to one over the other. Leadwake takes up far less space than water ballast if storage is a huge concern to you. The downside is, the weight is always in the boat. Not a big deal for me because my boat stays at the lake and I remove the leadwake the few times I tow per year. Both are fantastic boats that produce completely different surf waves.

[Freestyle]

So may be leaning toward the G21. Read in another forum and was told by a friend that you need to add 250 lbs of ballast to the port side in the G21?

[GMLIII]

So may be leaning toward the G21. Read in another forum and was told by a friend that you need to add 250 lbs of ballast to the port side in the G21?

Yep probably so for prop rotation . I have 250 lbs of steel shot bags under port side observer seat in my G23 to help with prop rotation effect

[markj]

Any chance you have a few photos of your wave with all that weight? I’m not opposed to buying some more leadwake if it makes that much of an improvement.


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I’ll work on getting a current pic. FWIW, I notice a big difference when I don’t load it all the way. If you want to experiment, invite a bigger group out one day and try it.

[sbaird4000]

Adding extra people to the equation isn't a variable that I always have control over. Meaning that sometimes I can run with a crew of 10 and other times I'm limited to 4 depending on availability. I'm sure your wave is nice..... I really just want to see what it looks like with 4750 of ballast because that's a constant variable I can add to my equation. Not to mention that the ballast stays where it's placed. People don't always do that and I don't want to be labeled "the wake police", lol.

[markj]

Unfortunately, this is all I have right now. My friend is 6’2” or 6’3” for reference.