New GS22

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Love the tow rig, must be harsh on the highway though... Beauty of a boat, have fun!!

Ha ha, yea there is alot of tire noise and top speed is like 14 mph. It does have cruise control though!

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Correction---- just re-read my post. The Port side surf wake was the wake my son rode. It was really good right away with no adjustments. The starboard wake (drivers side) had some wash that needed to be cleaned up with ballast shift.

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Here are pics again.

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Wow. That's awesome! No way I could do that with my GS20. At least not on the starboard side.

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I POSTED IN GENERAL DISCUSSION AS WELL (GS22 VS 230)

Have now put close to 20 hours on the GS22 so I now have some knowledge of the boat that I can share with a reasonable amount of accuracy. Might help for those to know what I'm coming from. Most recent family boat that we traded in was a 05 Mastercraft X-star (pickle-fork). I have owned 6 Mastercrafts and 3 Nautiques. I am a slalom skier but I also like to surf, wakeboard, sky-ski. My boys are wake boarders but will surf as well. I am trying get them into slalom skiing. They are starting to get into it at age 21 and 23. My daughter(age 17) is surf first but will slalom when encouraged. I didn't buy the GS22 for slalom because we own a Ski Nautique 196 that we use for slalom. I bought the GS22 because I saw it as the best for our needs. The super deep freeboard and massiveness of the G23 was simply too much and was afraid of not feeling the openness while on the boat. We don't need world record wakeboard or wake surf wakes. However my sons are full into wake boarding- they are doing inverts etc that I hardly know the names of. I was very nervous about getting rid of the x star as it was a proven wakeboard boat that some say has the perfect wakeboard wake. Surfing behind the Xstar was less than perfect but could be done with the wake shaper device I made and some fat sacs. Fac sacs were also needed for wake boarding as the x star only had 800 lbs of internal ballast.

So for the GS22. It has taken some time with the NCRS to figure this feature out. The two aspects of its use that it influences right away are the 1. the sensitivity of weight R and L thus making one think this thing sure tips easily from one side to the other which it does if the NCRS is set incorrectly(lower numbers 0-3). 2. Tracking as influenced by #1. One might first think this boat doesn't track well or like my other boat but that too is a result of too much NCRS influence. After realizing that NCRS setting of #5 is the least amount of plate activation and that this setting is best for higher speeds as far as ride quality and tracking(I know that seems opposite of what you'd think) and best for wake surfing and wake boarding. Lower settings are the most plate activation. The lower settings are best for getting bow down and boat on a plane. There is not much need to use these lower settings while underway unless maybe slalom. The auto mode of NCRS is absolutely awesome. This boat planes off like none I've ever seen- wouldn't surprise me if it is as fast as our 196 out of the hole. NO struggles getting up and on plane with 13 in the boat and full ballast. We did empty belly ballast after a while as the ladies up front were a little nervous of water over the front. We even lowered the port and starboard to about 50% each and surf wake was still very very good. We have also logged time with 3 people in the boat, more ballast needed but still very surf able. My conclusions on wake surfing are this-- an inexperienced surfer will struggle no matter what surf wave your boat throws. I think too many inexperienced surfers are becoming the judges for what a good surf wake is based on personal struggles. My reasoning is that we had all levels of riders in the boat this weekend and the ones who could adapt and learned how to work the wave had no trouble staying on the wave no matter what configuration we were running. Others without the experience or abilities struggled. I hate to say experience because often times an inexperienced rider did better than some who had done it before- they were just better at it.

NSS was also experimented with and it seems that a setting of 0 is the best for us while surfing. Confusing that a setting of 0 is actually a setting at all. Seems that 0 would mean that it is not activated at all (but it is). Higher setting creates a more vertical wave and a tendency toward wash but the vertical wave is cool but harder for the less experienced riders. The surf select is very cool and works fast but a tricky move for someone to go from one side to the other. Going to be a trick to work on. Rider ability plays a big role in that move. We never tried any speeds other than 11.2 (factory setting).

Driving this boat is one of the best features for me. I am the driver maybe 70% of the time. I started by being overwhelmed with the Linc Panoray but am now at home and its incredible. They have thought that thing out and its really really good. My sons took to it in minutes where it took me a few days. Millenials minds! Controls are easy, visibility is incredible. I took note that some say the windshield frame was in their line of sight and that the mirror wasn't right. So here is my take. I'm 6'1" and at idle speed the frame can be in my line of sight some depending on where i'm looking-close to boat I'm looking below the frame, far way horizon, the frame was in my line of sight. While underway on plane the frame is a non-issue for me. My thoughts are this will be different for each person. Never was a concern for me. The mirror is great- right where it needs to be. I am a mirror snob as well. I put the ptm edge mirror on my ski nautique 196 so I expected to be disappointed but I was not. I love the mirror and where its placed. Never needed the booster seat and glad because I don't like having to mess with a booster seat.

The wakeboard wake was perfect according to my son. He loved the shape of it being a little more steep or lippy than the x-star. No problems with washiness even with a lot of folks in the boat. He boarded at same speeds as before- just a little longer rope. He had no complaints at all. X-star was always a pretty wide wake so he liked the wakes being a little narrower making wake to wake easier at longer lengths.

General rough water ride was remarkable. Once we put NCRS at 5 and kept belly tank less than full spray up front was no longer an issue. You must be careful with belly ballast full and people up front as they will get wet if NCRS is set to auto. Because getting on a plane is straight ahead and rough water will splash you. So my take here is no auto mode in rough water or enjoy the spray if its warm enough. With auto mode to off and NCRS set to 5 its no problem. This had me very concerned at first, until I figured it out. Wife was not happy. "Our other boat didn't get you wet like this" I figured it out, changed the settings and all is well. X-star was a very good rough water boat as well. Not sure who wins this one but both are very good.


The GS22 is very good around the dock, easier to manage than the x-star. Good size. Very easy to get on the trailer-- we put in and take out every day. Love the Boatmate trailer- quality piece of equipment that raises the enjoyment factor-- I know that sounds crazy but it does. I've had trailers that are frustrating. First comments from all those who had spent considerable time in the x-Star was "this boat is bigger right?" Actually the GS22 is 3" shorter than the x-star and has 15 person capacity vs 12, has 1500lbs more internal ballast at 2250lbs, has 59 more horsepower, same beam(100"). Almost every single category I favor the GS22 over our x-star. I do miss the clamping board racks on the x-star. I also miss the folding windscreen in the walk through. However the people space, seating, creature comforts, visibility, stereo, and more go to the GS22. I love the interior space in the GS.
Bimini top is very different as well. Unlike any other bimini we've had. It offers more shade when fully deployed and an intermediate shade when folded up. There is not an option for no shade unless you remove it which I don't think is very easy to do. I am now a big fan of the bimini as I don't care for the no shade option. It is very well built. Some have complained about the shortness of the tower. I have hit my head on the bimini bracket arm and on the speakers but I did that on my x-star as well. I don't see them being any shorter than what we had. I believe that I hit my head because I don't wear my reader glasses in the boat and I don't see close objects until they hit me. I can walk center aisle without hitting at all, only when I deviated to the side did I hit.

These are my first takes off the top of my head. I can give more and will do so if anyone wants.

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Here are two videos of port and starboard surf wakes. 13 people on board. 50% ballast port and starboard. 0% ballast belly. NSS at 0. NCRS at 5. 11.2 mph

https://youtu.be/M8mxdrE5taI

https://youtu.be/sJAlhZPqN8w