G21 Hull / Ballast Comparison

[BasaltRMK]

All,

I posted this question before, but received a sum total of 0 responses. I know there's got be some G21 love out there, so I'm trying again. (I talked to a dealer salesperson and he was clueless, didn't believe me that they reduced the total ballast.)

Can anyone provide a comparison of the following items with the change in hull design and reduction of total ballast weight on the G21 (I have a 2020, the last year of the 'old' hull, and am considering ordering a new one next year):

- Surf wave (quality, height, length, etc.)
- Wakeboard wake
- Bow spray when going against the wind (this is pretty bad on the 'old' G21 hull
- Any other changes in performance with the change in hull shape and reduction in total ballast

Thanks!!

- bob

[swatguy]

I have spent a lot hours surfing and wakeboarding behind both the og G21 Hull and revised g21 hull.

My review has one major caveat. The average water depth is 7-12ft. River life at its finest. One minor caveat is that the boat has 800 lbs of pop bags scattered throughout to overcome the depth issue. I a a surf style surfer , have 3 dialed and some airs, the standard surf crew we ride together with are also Surf style riders . We dable in skim , but when we want to go skim with buddies or have a surf crew with half skim riders, we always take the Bu 23LSV

The reduction of spray off the bow is worth it. It’s a completely different boat in that aspect. On windy days in the OG G21 the spray off the bow boat during surf sessions is obscene. I can’t believe they even made that a design with a Nautique badge. The driver and anyone in the bow was toast . It was really bad ion windy days. Tolerable in perfect weather. But we don’t surf on calm days , so there’s that.

As far as wakeboard wake … I am a primary wakeboarder so I am pretty in tune with the wakeboard wake difference. I still wakeboard 90% of my time behind the boat. Both gen boats were setup identical as mentioned above with an extra 800lbs of pop bags scattered . Even with the ballast reduction the updated G21 kicks out a better wakeboard wake. The lip and kick is as hard as an OG San 210 . It’s a brick wall with crazy pop. The original Hull G21 had a nice peak , but it is not nearly as hard and knee buckling as the newer version. You get booted with huge snap. Intake everything to flats and I’ve actually had my buddy dump ballast out . The older G21 inner felt I needed to dump any out. It wasn’t nearly as hard at the peak/lip and had little longer transition. I prefer the newer G21’s wake tho. Massive pop even with less ballast on paper.

Surf wake

I’d say it’s about identical with the newer hulk giving you just that bit of extra pocket space. I’d argure the og G21 was almost too steep and short. At its most aggressive setting. Made skimming dam near impossible. The newer hull gives you better smoother transition to mellow out and ride compared to the older version.



I’ve been in. G23 with the less ballast and it was very noticeable. The G21, at least to me and our crew, who’s had both new and old styles, doesn’t seem to take a huge hit on performance.


I’ll add this sidebar . The wakeboard /surf guys are all in love with their G21’s, the wakeboard wake is completely underated and every guy that upgraded to the new hull is happy they did and the 2 guys left with old hulls wish they could . However guys that are transitioning after 20plus yrs of wakeboarding knees, most all those in Nautiques , to straight surf only, have all ditched their G21 Nautiques for 23LSVs and have zero regrets. Not that I am telling you to do this, but if your primary is surf only oriented or leaning that way , might be a detail you’d be interested in from fellow previous G21 owners.

[swatguy]

Side note , I’d be curious what your dealer said about the S21 vs G21. Have zero experience or seen any S21’s on the water.

[bird_dog0347]

Another thing you could do is go back on Nautique's Youtube channel and watch the overviews for the years your interested in as it's usually going to have the info you want to compare. I bet you could also email Nautique as well to ask them directly.

[BasaltRMK]

swatguy - thanks so much for the detailed reply, exactly the information I was looking for. Some follow up responses and thoughts:

- Yeah, the bow spray in the wind is terrible. I was being polite, but man it's bad. Our lake gets consistent windy afternoons, and we either have to be okay with getting drenched when we head back from one end of the lake or putter back that way and do one-way surf sessions. Really psyched to hear that they've addressed this.

- I'm getting older, so I surf more than I wakeboard. And I've never been more than a beginner wakeboarder. I only do wake-to-wake jumps and 180s and similar; too old to learn inverts and don't really have anyone to teach me other tricks. I do love wakeboarding though and plan on keeping it up. I ride 55-75% ballast, and embarrassingly slowly... I've read a lot of other folks that agree that the G21 wake is underrated, so glad to hear that that hasn't changed.

- For surfing, I split pretty evenly between surf and skim style. I gotta say that I love our wave for both! I get big airs on the surf style with that steep wave and defined lip, but also get pretty easy 360s by popping the rear to release the fins. On the skim board, I have no issue with 360s, shuvs, 180s, etc. Side to side transitions on both style, etc.

A lot of my love likely is because I'm used to my wave (500+ hours on the 2020 G21, similar cadence on the previous 2018). I do hear a lot of people talk about how short the wave is on the G21, but I can drop a mile back by walking up the board. And i've spent a lot of time on friends' Axis, Tige, and Mastercrafts - I haven't been overly impressed. There's brand bias on my part and of course every setup is different, but I expected the X24 wave to be a lot longer than it was, and the lip was washy. I also ride a buddy's 2019 G23, the wave is different than the G21 for sure, and maybe it's his setup, but again I wasn't envious at all. I haven't ridden the 23 LSV or any Bu's.

FYI, we typically surf 100% belly, 90-95% port, 85-90% starboard (depending on crew size), with an additional 600# lead bow and mid ship. Run NSS @ 1, NCRS @ 3 or 4, I surf at 11.6 mph. I'm split pretty evenly between regular and goofy, toe and heel side.

- A 21' boat is the perfect sweet spot for us. We have to launch from a ramp every time we use our boat, there's no housing / docks on the lake. So the ease of towing and launching a 21 footer is great. Plus we generally ride with small crews, 2 - 6 folks. Not saying I wouldn't consider a 23' boat, but we _love_ the 21' segment.

- Haven't ridden, seen, or heard anything about the S21. I don't love the styling, and I absolutely want the upgraded creature comforts and bling of the G series (or equivalent), so the S series isn't really on our shopping list. Would be interested to hear opinions though for sure.

- Very curious about the impacts of the depth issue. Our home lake is 215' deep, and we go to Powell and Flaming Gorge, so we're exclusively deep water.

- We've really fallen in love with our G, and our previous 2018 G21 (even though it had some issues). Not saying we would never switch brands, but I'd need some really convincing reasons and/or a screaming deal.

All that said, any other thoughts as we look around? Again, really appreciate all your input!


bird_dog0347 - appreciate your response as well. We have watched all the walkthrough videos every year, I'm more interested in on-water feel than feature set. We're about 6 hours each way from our dealer, so test rides are difficult to set up. I do like the idea of directly emailing Nautique, we'll try that.

Thanks again!

- bob

[bird_dog0347]

Oh I think I might have misunderstood then, my bad. I thought you were asking about stock vs. stock feature sets which I figured would be easy to find online, but yes, personal experience is far different.

[BasaltRMK]

bird_dog0347 - No worries, I appreciate your response all the same! But yes, I'm looking for first-hand knowledge of how the the G21 differs (better/worse) with the new hull design and reduced total ballast capacity.

Thanks,

- bob