Tweet
I have a fantastic relationship with my dealer. About a month ago he visited me and said: "Gregg, do you trust me?" And of course, I enthusiastically said yes. Because after purchasing 5 G23s from him we have reached a very solid understanding of each other. He said he cannot disclose why, but that he knew I was going to want this new 2021 G23. So, give me your colors and configuration. I will have a boat for you in mid-July and you can choose to purchase it if it meets your needs. I said OK and we put together our configuration.
Of course after seeing the release of the new 2021 G23 I realized he did me a great favor. But he went even further. Yesterday he picked up my 2020 G23 for resale and loaned me a 2021 Paragon until our 2021 G23 arrives! He said let me know what you think about surfing the Paragon compared to the 2021 G23 when it arrives. What could be more fun! So, over the next few weeks we will put the Paragon and G23 through their paces and write up a review of the two boats. After surfing with the Paragon last night for a few hours here are my initial impressions:
The Paragon is beyond my expectation. It is simply incredible!
In the 1990s I lived in Florida and spent over a decade, totaling over 3500 hours of training as a competitive tournament water skier, AWSA boat driver, and judge. After so many years I developed the ability to drive a Ski Nautique with great precision. I still remember my first impression many years later when we purchased our first G23, I thought "wow this boat will take some adjustment to drive with the accuracy I expect of myself". The freeboard of the G23 was so much taller and the mass of the boat demanded a new set of skills to be proficient, especially in a strong wind. Yesterday I had that same feeling when I first drove the Paragon. The boat feels massive and it is. While of course it is not longer than the G23 it is much heavier with a taller freeboard. The boat demands the driver stay ahead of that mass. It took me some time to adapt my technique to pick up my surfer within a few feet like I easily do on our G23s. And docking requires a bit more planning. This is largely because the prop pitch on the Paragon is 13.5" while the G23 uses the 17" pitch. The lower pitch of the prop results in MUCH less prop walk force. So, when docking the Paragon stern does not pull to the starboard as much as the G23. One had to dock with a shallower angle of approach than the G23. The mass of the boat means it also turns with a noticeably longer radius so one has to stay ahead of the boat when maneuvering. In my opinion, this is clearly a boat I would not purchase without a thruster.
But that wave! Oh my, that wave is by far, I mean by far, the most powerful wave I have ever surfed. It is difficult to describe how transformational that wave will be to the sport of wake surfing. After a small adjustment to its shape because it is different than the G23 wave I felt right at home on the Paragon wave. The best way I could describe it, would be a combination of a heavily weighted G23 and a heavily weighted Centurion Ri257. It has greater mass and is shaped somewhat like the Ri257, with the rear curl of the G23 but with MUCH, MUCH more push. We were hitting tricks we NEVER hit on the G23 and when one fell back into the wave it was like a bulldozer pushed you back into the game! It is a profoundly better wave!
We love the fit and finish, the new dash layout, the steering feels like power steering in a car and stays in the same direction, no matter the configuration of the boat. You can take your hands off the wheel when surfing and the boat stays dead straight. The other thing that impressed me was the performance of the ZZ8 engine. While the boat maneuvers slower than the G23 that ZZ8 engine is a BEAST. It accelerates the Paragon much quicker than the ZZ6 does in the G23. It is incredibly fun to accelerate!
We surf about 300 hours each year in our G23s and spend about $8,000 per year for fuel. So, I am genuinely concerned about fuel burn. While this is a small sample, we surfed for 1.8 hours last night, and ran back to dock for about 10 minutes. After that use, the boat took 12.8 gallons of fuel for fuel consumption of about 7.0 gallons / hour! And the engine is still breaking in so this could improve over time. I closely monitor the fuel burn of our G23s, keep a spreadsheet of fuel burn for each season and we regularly burn about 5.8 - 6.0 gallons / hour with the ZZ6 while exclusively surfing. From this small sample it appears the ZZ8 is impressively efficient. I will continue to monitor fuel performance and summarize it when we have more time on the boat.
In summary, it is difficult to describe just how impressed I am with this Paragon! The term Game Changer gets bandied around too much for me, but in this case, I feel completely justified in saying the Paragon is a genuine “Game Changer”!
Of course after seeing the release of the new 2021 G23 I realized he did me a great favor. But he went even further. Yesterday he picked up my 2020 G23 for resale and loaned me a 2021 Paragon until our 2021 G23 arrives! He said let me know what you think about surfing the Paragon compared to the 2021 G23 when it arrives. What could be more fun! So, over the next few weeks we will put the Paragon and G23 through their paces and write up a review of the two boats. After surfing with the Paragon last night for a few hours here are my initial impressions:
The Paragon is beyond my expectation. It is simply incredible!
In the 1990s I lived in Florida and spent over a decade, totaling over 3500 hours of training as a competitive tournament water skier, AWSA boat driver, and judge. After so many years I developed the ability to drive a Ski Nautique with great precision. I still remember my first impression many years later when we purchased our first G23, I thought "wow this boat will take some adjustment to drive with the accuracy I expect of myself". The freeboard of the G23 was so much taller and the mass of the boat demanded a new set of skills to be proficient, especially in a strong wind. Yesterday I had that same feeling when I first drove the Paragon. The boat feels massive and it is. While of course it is not longer than the G23 it is much heavier with a taller freeboard. The boat demands the driver stay ahead of that mass. It took me some time to adapt my technique to pick up my surfer within a few feet like I easily do on our G23s. And docking requires a bit more planning. This is largely because the prop pitch on the Paragon is 13.5" while the G23 uses the 17" pitch. The lower pitch of the prop results in MUCH less prop walk force. So, when docking the Paragon stern does not pull to the starboard as much as the G23. One had to dock with a shallower angle of approach than the G23. The mass of the boat means it also turns with a noticeably longer radius so one has to stay ahead of the boat when maneuvering. In my opinion, this is clearly a boat I would not purchase without a thruster.
But that wave! Oh my, that wave is by far, I mean by far, the most powerful wave I have ever surfed. It is difficult to describe how transformational that wave will be to the sport of wake surfing. After a small adjustment to its shape because it is different than the G23 wave I felt right at home on the Paragon wave. The best way I could describe it, would be a combination of a heavily weighted G23 and a heavily weighted Centurion Ri257. It has greater mass and is shaped somewhat like the Ri257, with the rear curl of the G23 but with MUCH, MUCH more push. We were hitting tricks we NEVER hit on the G23 and when one fell back into the wave it was like a bulldozer pushed you back into the game! It is a profoundly better wave!
We love the fit and finish, the new dash layout, the steering feels like power steering in a car and stays in the same direction, no matter the configuration of the boat. You can take your hands off the wheel when surfing and the boat stays dead straight. The other thing that impressed me was the performance of the ZZ8 engine. While the boat maneuvers slower than the G23 that ZZ8 engine is a BEAST. It accelerates the Paragon much quicker than the ZZ6 does in the G23. It is incredibly fun to accelerate!
We surf about 300 hours each year in our G23s and spend about $8,000 per year for fuel. So, I am genuinely concerned about fuel burn. While this is a small sample, we surfed for 1.8 hours last night, and ran back to dock for about 10 minutes. After that use, the boat took 12.8 gallons of fuel for fuel consumption of about 7.0 gallons / hour! And the engine is still breaking in so this could improve over time. I closely monitor the fuel burn of our G23s, keep a spreadsheet of fuel burn for each season and we regularly burn about 5.8 - 6.0 gallons / hour with the ZZ6 while exclusively surfing. From this small sample it appears the ZZ8 is impressively efficient. I will continue to monitor fuel performance and summarize it when we have more time on the boat.
In summary, it is difficult to describe just how impressed I am with this Paragon! The term Game Changer gets bandied around too much for me, but in this case, I feel completely justified in saying the Paragon is a genuine “Game Changer”!
Comment