2021 G23 or Supra SL450

[HAWKS2842]

I'm getting ready to buy a new boat, I really love the Nautique g23, love everything but the price of course. I have spoken to a couple of guys that have urged me to get into a new Supra Sl due to the price, new tech, standard features not included with G23 and changes they've made over the past 2 years. Ive been told that the new Supras have increased their level of fit and finish. my problem is this, nearest supra dealer is 3.5 hours away, no one has them on the ground to look at. I really have been set on the G until this past week. Anyone have any experience between the 2?
The New G with the paragon hull looks awesome, performance of the g has always been great but the more I read it seems like they may not be the best out there anymore.
At the tune of 186k out the door without the features included in the Supras, (power tower etc) im not sure if It makes sense. Got priced into a supra at 159k.

thanks in advance

[NautiqueJeff]

What is included in the Supra that isn't in the G? Just curious. I am not very knowledgable about Supras. Is it just the Power Tower? That was standard in 2019 on the G, and people complained and wanted the option of the standard, non-powered tower, so Nautique made the PT an option starting in 2020.

[teamolson]

It’s an interesting debate. I have a 2019 230 but have long wanted the G23. This past fall I was blown away by the look of the Supra SA at the boat show. So, this summer I went and test drove one and really took the time to test every latch, seat hydraulic, battery switch etc. I was prepared be all in.

I came away thinking that it’s just simply not in the same league as the G. Fit and finish honestly wasn’t even close. Great boat yes, but not a comparison. More akin to a Centurion, Tige or MB. For me, I would wait until I could get a G. X24 might be a better option against a G, but doesn’t help with the budget side however.

You could get into a loaded SA for $140-ish, which might create a big enough gap to make it more palatable. But again, I’d just be thinking of a G, which isn’t where I want to be when we’re on the water.

Not sure it helps, but that’s my $0.02

[greggmck]

The Supra SL is a solid boat that would make my short list. I have driven it and surfed the boat extensively. It has a shorter steeper wave than the G. Fit and finish are lower tier but still nice. The SL I surfed was a 2019 so I don't know if they have changed the hull since then But a properly weighted 2021 G23 has an amazing wave, far better than most every other boat SL included.

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[99bison]

“Dealer 3.5 hrs away” would be a downside unless you regularly go that way anyway.

[Johnny_Rock]

I had a second demo on a 2021 G23 yesterday. (First time out was on the stock wave. It was considerably softer than my 2016 G23 with 500lbs of lead.)

Yesterday dealer had added 400lbs of lead in the bow and a 750lb sack in each rear compartment; so according to him 1900lbs of extra ballast over stock. Difference was unreal. He seemed to indicate that he thinks Nautique scaled down the stock ballast to get ahead of all the pressure about all the surf ships out there generating crazy giant waves on all the lakes.

He's telling me that his Nautique rep says there is enough room to plumb the additional bags under the floor.

[Dustin11]

Every year supra redesigns one of their boats. 2018 was when the supra SL came out with a new supra hull design. Then, in 2019, they redesigned the SE and put the new hull on it. they then did the same thing in 2020 to the SA. Given that theyve almost made it through their entire boat lineup you wonder how long before they do a big update on the SL. In my opinion one of the big benefits of the 2021 G is the new redesign with the new surf system. i was debating between a 2019 SL and a 2019 G when i bought mine and ended up going with the G. My nautique dealer was giving a much bigger discount at the time than the supra dealer and their prices were almost identical. i ended up selling the G for a little more than i bought it for this summer and ordered the new one. The resale of the G is also something to consider

[HAWKS2842]

Thank you all for the input. I really want the G. the dealer being 3.5 hours away scares me when it comes to any potential warranty work. I'm, glad to hear that some others have seen the new supra and experienced it and not been more impressed than by the G. I know the resale of the G is better than almost any other surf boat on the market, I suppose that speaks volumes in itself. fit and finish is my biggest concern. budget isn't really in my equation right now and at the tune of over 150k+ what's 25k right for a better boat that will resell at a higher rate than a supra.

[FireBreathingRubberDucky]

I spent some time behind a 2020 Supra SE 550 (Keeping in mind it's different from the SL450) this summer and was really impressed with the surf wave. It was long and easier to customize. I found from a skim boarding stand point it was easier to do spin tricks and the length of the wave made it quite forgiving. With that being said, once I got my 2020 G23 wave dialed in with about 800 pounds of lead from the mid ship forward, the wave length difference wasn't as noticeable and allowed me to take my NCRS down to 1-2 and slow down to about 11.3 making; which dramatically improved the skim board experience. I realize the SE550 is 24.5 feet, which also accounts for the wave length difference but I've never been behind a G25, so I can't compare to this. When I switched to surf style I didn't like how soft the Supra wave was. I kept asking my buddy to maki it steeper, hoping this would firm it up but there was never much of a difference. For some folks this may be a plus but I found it a little more challenging to adapt to at first and was a little more difficult to get those crisp airs off the lip. The fit and finish of the Supra was nice but not on par with a G23. The Supra I was on had the Supercharged Raptor engine and could pass everything but a gas station. And crikey did that thing guzzle the gas. They had to fill up every trip, as to where I could get 2-2.5 trips on one tank of gas. Overall however, I will say the Supra is a high quality boat and I really did enjoy switching things up. If they had a dealer nearby it may be a consideration if they could ever figure out a way to lower the engine noise to a dull roar and improve their fuel efficiency (which should be better on the engines without superchargers I imagine). The Mastercraft X24 is a solid boat but I've build a great relationship with my local Nautique dealer and am ordering the 2021 G23 hull design next week. The Mastercraft dealer closest to me has poor customer service and overcharges for their product. I did some shopping on the X24 and found an out of network dealer that was willing to sell me the same boat for about $20k less. Didn't make me feel too great about someone trying to screw me over. Mastercraft was going to let me buy from the out of area dealer when I expressed my displeasure with the local dealer but the distance to the other location is too much to overcome. Hope this helps.

[FireBreathingRubberDucky]

Just figured I'd write a quick follow-up. I rode behind a Supra SL450 today and was completely underwhelmed. Based on some of the hype I heard about the wave it was frankly one of the most disappointing waves I'be been behind in the mid - high end wakesurf boat segment. I talked to my buddy with the SE550 (which I had the complete opposite experience with earlier this season, as the quality of the wave completely surprised me, which doesn't make a ton of sense, as I would have honestly thought the shorter boat would have an easier time displacing water and generating adequate push) right after the demo and he was certain something had to be wrong with the boat or the dealer just didn't know how to set up the wave. I couldn't get any push (especially when compared to my G23 and the X24 I just rode behind) and there was no length to the wave at all. Now the dealer did text me about 2-hours after leaving the lake and apparently he had rectified all my concerns by recalibrating the Autowake setting (should have just went to manual and turned off auto wake to begin with). So who knows, maybe it could be better? I did ask to run the boat without lead as I wanted to compare apples to apples, as I'd just come off an X24 2-hours before with just stock ballast. The X24 wave was long, which was a blast for surf style and had plenty of push back into the curl (even in choppy/rolling water conditions). It doesn't have the steep peak the G23 has for airs off the wave and at times felt a little soft, though some of this was likely attributable to water conditions. Some people may see the reduced peak of the X24 as a perk so I guess it just depends on preference. Overall I did find the wave to be very customizable however. The X24 handles exceptionally well for a big boat and the vinyl finish and interior design was very well done. But it severely lacks storage for such a big boat, especially when compared to the G23. Both the G23 and X24 are leaps and bounds ahead of the Supra in almost every category (with the exception of the stereo system. The Klipsch is a disappointment relative to the JL Audio). The engine in the Supra also sounds like it's going to blow up most of the time and you have to yell at the person across from you. Beautiful boats from a design standpoint and with the proper setup and some extra weight is likely much better than my experience today...however, since this is all I have to go off of, my recommendation would be to just spend the extra money and go for the G23 or X24.

[astilley]

I've never surfed a Supra but I know that the G's have a great wave and you can't beat the fit and finish on a Nautique.

[RDT-G23]

This is comparing apples and footballs. Yes, they are both boats. The quality and waves are not really comparisons.

[Infinity]

I have surfed behind every year of the Supra SL since they came out in 2018, I was on a 2020 SL last weekend and go again this coming Friday, my good friend owns it and competes in the pro division. I am blessed to have friends with every brand out there (except Mastercraft and I have heard from friends that have surfed them that the X22/X24 put out great surf waves).
The surf wave on the SL has great push (if set up right) and is easily adjusted from skim/surf style and its nice that ballast is all sub-floor and you can get a pro-level surf wave with 500lbs of lead bags and without adding any additional PnP bags so you keep storage and can fill/empty ballast quickly, I actually like everything about that boat EXCEPT for the Raptor power plant. The new ones don't have quite as much engine/gear noise but its still quite loud compared to PCM regardless of if it has FAE. While Autowake is a good tool for newer people who want to just push buttons and go, it certainly does not put out the best wave possible and I have seen many people come away from demo's disappointed and thinking a certain boat isn't that good... when really that boat is capable of a great wave and is just being operated by someone who doesn't have the knowledge they should. It happened to me in 2017 when I went on a demo of an RI237, the person from the dealer just didn't know what to do and the wave had a huge trough with a washy wave face. I have another friend with a Moomba Craz who kept telling me their wave sucked (2nd season of owning it) and after dealer couldnt show him a better way he was ready to sell and take a bath on depreciation cause he was so disappointed, I dont know if the dealer didnt know how to properly set it up or was just hoping he would buy another boat. Anyway, I took him out for an afternoon on his own boat and showed him how to use AutoWake as a reference point but then turned it off to finish the wave setup. He came away from that surf session with a huge grin on his face and still owns the boat after another 2 seasons.
IMO, every brand on the market is capable of a great wake now (even the WT Surf Heyday has a respectable wave that is fun to ride) with some of them being better than others at certain things, many require extra weight for the best surf wave if you are someone looking to progress and are an intermediate/advanced surfer. I think the differentiators on each brand drive individual preference since they all have certain driving characteristics (IMO Supra handles better than the G due to design), style, fit/finish, storage, free board height, etc. Those things sell WAY more boats than the actual wave capabilities. In fact I have seen 2 people this season decide to not buy a certain brand cause they did not like the gelcoat style design, so they bought a boat that to them was "prettier". People like us on these forums who are knowledgeable or looking to become knowledgeable are in the vast minority, I would say 85-90% of people buying a wake boat today don't know or really even care about anything they cant easily see in front of their face.

Went a little off topic, my apologies for that. To the OP:
I agree that the Nautique will hands down have the best resale, to me that is a big consideration when you drop that much coin. To compare against the G, the SE is more in its league than the SL when it comes to fit/finish & options but to me the nod still goes to the Nautique. While the Raptor reliability is better now (compared to some of the O2 sensor & cat exhaust issues Raptor was having in 17-19), I still believe the PCM is by far the best power plant on the market today for multiple reasons and its WAY quieter and more fuel efficient. On the surf waves, since I have been behind both boats many times I would have to say they can be very comparable depending on setup, but they also have different wave face shapes due to much different surf systems so IMO that boils down to wave preference. I ride surf style and have a blast behind them both without a single complaint! I love being able to experience every style of wave out there and think it has made me a better surfer since I am used to adjusting my style depending on the wave.