CATS on the Fi23?

[wakedadof4 0]

Hey everyone, 

I'm new to the "crew" but I'm excited to get some thoughts. I'm putting in an order for an Fi23 (yes, I'm unbelievably excited!) We will be primarily surfing, but will definitely do some wakeboarding too. So I've added the essentials like QuickSurf, RAMFILL, Silent Stinger, and p-n-p, but I'm wondering about CATS. With the new hull design I'm wondering how much impact CATS will have and if I'll regret not having it.

I know that there's not a ton of experience with the new hull design but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks in advance!

[lovetosurf 48]

Congrats & welcome! Coming from a 2015 FS33 I was all about CATS because of the dramatic effect it had on that boat. Things have changed with the new hulls, they are very well balanced and after demoing 2 Fi23’s and an ‘18 237, we confidentaly ordered ours without CATS. 

You've probably seen Boardco’s video on the Fi23’s crossover appeal: 

I got to demo that same boat about 30 minutes after they shot the video and was blown away with how clean the wakes and waves were without CATS.

My opinion is that the new hulls just don’t need it anymore unless you’d really like that extra level of fine tuning. JMTC.

Edited February 2, 2018 by lovetosurf

[RhuntIII 555]

CATS on a 2014 SV233 with no surf flappers (Quick Surf.) For surfing I run my boat listed and once I start tuning the CATS the boat will crab crawl cleaning up the wave, very similar to the effect of deploying a surf flapper. Listed the 233 is not uncomfortable to ride in. While running the boat with no weight the CATS work very similar to traditional trim tabs, the slightest adjustment you can trim the boat to ride level on the water and I really like that.

From what I have read and double check this, If you plan on weighting your boat level for surfing the Quick Surf will be the better option. CATS may really not be needed with this configuration. I do not think you will be able to use Quick Surf like traditional trim tabs while under way. 

This is where we should wait for the others who run a newer boat to chime in on the above.

I personally have no problem listing my boat, I like the way she looks leaned over and love the way she throws a wave even more. After coming from a 2002 Avy ran heavily listed the CATS is a pretty rad upgrade. Heck, all these new Centurions are pretty rad.

Good luck in your search.

[h20king 794]

We just got our fi23 and went with cats. I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.  My thoughts are why would you not want the extra adjustability? You don't need it to get a clean wake but use it to adjust the shape and the lip of the wake. Without it you get what the boat puts out and that's it. Centurion is pushing for no cats so they don't have to pay a royalty to Malibu.  My advice don't fall for it. Cats does not cost that much and can't be installed later so spend the  $$ now

[h20king 794]

Another thing to consider is resale. When selling you will be competing against boats with cats listed for the same price. When ordering a boat  I always get some options I don't need or use often knowing they will help resale down the road. I am on my third new boat in 4 years and have broke even or close to it with all of them so far. I have found picking what I think are the right factory options, adding some upgraded aftermarket options that in my eyes are better than factory and will save some coin and combine that with safe color choices make for a super easy sell 

 

[Darkside 248]

Yes get CATS!  especially if you wakeboard.   Yes the hills are balanced,  but CATS will solve the 3 people on one side 2 on the other.   Plus it does provide an extra level of adjustability even on the Opti V hulls.   I use it all the time on my 257

[wheels 151]

Darkside and h20 hit it right on, especially resale. I will add my favourite part about cats is being able to Cruise with a level boat no matter where my crew is sitting, no more driving down the lake leaning to one side or asking people to move. 

[wakedadof4 0]

Thanks for all of the input guys! I really appreciate it. Are there any other options you would consider “must haves” besides the ones I mentioned in my o.p.?

[InfinitySurf 302]

I will be very interested in hearing how CATS effects the wave on the FI23. I have CATS on my SV244. I surf 95% of the time and since I run weighted level using a suckgate and have such a clean, big wave that is very consistent, I have not found that CATS makes much difference to my wave...tho I know it does on a listed wave (and I have messed with it quite a few times to see while running level) so I rarely use it. Centurion did tell me that CATS is not needed on the new hull of the FI23, but of course the royalty thing makes sense even tho I am sure they build that into the price to add it on as an option so not sure why it would matter to them on any level except principal.

I have pretty much convinced myself to keep my boat another 2yrs since I am so happy with the current wave and add GSA rather than using the suckgate since I like switching sides, riding heelside and I want to get better at it.... and my buddy with similar boat, weight and wave had GSA added and it works great. Seems to me that it will also help resale (not much but any automated system will help sell the boat faster, especially since GSA works better than Quicksurf did for 2015 since the tabs were so small that year) and I don't see my boat depreciating that much in next 2yrs with how strong the market is right now, so pretty much decided to wait another year or 2 to upgrade to an FI23 or RI237 so I wait a while to take a depreciation hit, since I don't flip every year.

[carguy79ta 67]

I agree with everybody. get the cats.   if you don't use it, having it will help resale value as previously stated.