Fi21 vs Fi23

[MBMD77 2]

Hi y'all.  New here.  Happy to find the site though.  I currently have an '08 Enzo Sv240 but am looking to upgrade to a new Fi21 or 23.  Typically only my family of 7 is on the water, but occasionally we invite another family to join.  We boat usually at 3000-5000ft elevation.  I'm just wondering if anyone has experience enough with both boats to comment on a couple of things.  21ft boats are not all created equal.  Would this be considered a large or smaller for size 21?  Also, is the wake created significantly different  between the two?  Finally, given the near 5000# ballast on these, is an upgrade to the 450hp engine necessary or a good idea?  Any thoughts would be appreciated.  

[InfinitySurf 307]

Engine upgrade depends on your elevation. In the FI21, I doubt it would be needed at all, FI23..maybe if you are 4000ft or higher elevation. I have the ZR409 in my SV244, run 5k of ballast and have no issues at all with power, elevation is 800ft

On size, you just need to crawl in them but with family of 7, I am thinking you will want the FI23 anyway you slice it...especially coming from SV40 and for sure if you want to invite a 2nd family. My boat is rated for 16 and the MOST I want is 10...8 is better. I surfed the FI21 on Fathers Day....very nice wave, I doubt they are too much different tho usually the bigger boat can get a bit bigger/longer but of course needs a bit more ballast to sink the bigger hull. I have not yet surfed a FI23. Awesome boats tho, you cant go wrong with either.

[Darkside 249]

^^^what he said!

The other notable the Fi21 is 21' 11" so only a 1' difference in reality.   I am going to be boatless for a couple years.   However when i do buy again my next boat will be an Fi21.  

[centuridude 9]

I just got back from a 4-day Lake Powell trip with my new Fi21.  It has the ZR4 409HP engine in it and it has PLENTY of low-end torque with an ACME 3145 prop and with the ballasts full.  I don't think this is the stock prop as the dealer mentioned that they swapped the original prop to this one.  Lake Powell sits at roughly 3600'.

My previous boat was an 21' Avalanche.  The bow to end-of swimdeck is actually 1' shorter on the Fi21 than the Avalanche.  I believe this is due to the blunt bow on the Fi21 versus the pointy bow on the Avalanche.  Even though the Avalanche and Fi21 are considered the same size, the Fi21 feels like a bigger boat.

We usually had 8 people on the boat (all older teens and adults).  Space was not an issue on the Fi21 for those 8 people.  I would think that it could easily handle another adult or two.  However, if you see yourself with a bigger crew than that, you may want to consider the Fi23.

BTW - I was absolutely pleased with the performance of the Fi21.  It throws a killer wake, has plenty of power, and the touch-screen display is pretty intuitive.

[wheels 151]

2 hours ago, Darkside said:

^^^what he said!

The other notable the Fi21 is 21' 11" so only a 1' difference in reality.   I am going to be boatless for a couple years.   However when i do buy again my next boat will be an Fi21.  

Boat less? And going from 25+ feet to 21 what gives?

[Darkside 249]

My 257 sold and is going to GA.  I am going to go boatless for a while, as my family rarely goes out with me anymore.   My youngest is 18, and all of them work weekends.   So it was primarily me and a couple buddies using it.  

Demoed the Fi21 in Tennessee and i could be very happy with that.   

[wheels 151]

6 minutes ago, Darkside said:

My 257 sold and is going to GA.  I am going to go boatless for a while, as my family rarely goes out with me anymore.   My youngest is 18, and all of them work weekends.   So it was primarily me and a couple buddies using it.  

Demoed the Fi21 in Tennessee and i could be very happy with that.   

Did the resale value hold upfor you? I know many of us had discussed concerns about this when we were buying. 

[carguy79ta 67]

^^I understand.  I have a 257, everybody wants to go boating... until it is time to go boating.  I can't make it...etc.  usually it is me and my wife. Fortunately in MO if you have a big ski mirror, you don't have to have an observer. My youngest is 21, they are all tackling a career, don't have time.

[InfinitySurf 307]

I am seriously blessed to have multiple friends with boats and into it like I am close by, or I would be in a similar position cause wife and kids just are not into like I am even tho they ask to go an average of 2 weekends a month. When it comes right down to it, out of the 8+ local boating friends I have, only one of them is as hardcore as I am and always ready to go out on Weds afternoon/evenings. Since early Spring of 2017, we have gone out surfing together 9 out of every 10 weeks. 6-7 of every 10 surf trips, it is only us 2 (same 180 degree mirror law here thank goodness)....3-4 out of 10 times we have another 1-2 guys come out with us. To me, its one of the few ways I can fully de-stress, so I do whatever it takes to go out. Also blessed that wife fully supports my habit, tho that could be partly selfish on her part cause I come back happy, lol.

[DrNate 426]

11 hours ago, InfinitySurf said:

I am seriously blessed to have multiple friends with boats and into it like I am close by, or I would be in a similar position cause wife and kids just are not into like I am even tho they ask to go an average of 2 weekends a month. When it comes right down to it, out of the 8+ local boating friends I have, only one of them is as hardcore as I am and always ready to go out on Weds afternoon/evenings. Since early Spring of 2017, we have gone out surfing together 9 out of every 10 weeks. 6-7 of every 10 surf trips, it is only us 2 (same 180 degree mirror law here thank goodness)....3-4 out of 10 times we have another 1-2 guys come out with us. To me, its one of the few ways I can fully de-stress, so I do whatever it takes to go out. Also blessed that wife fully supports my habit, tho that could be partly selfish on her part cause I come back happy, lol.

I, too, am lucky to have a friend just like this.  And we de-stress together

[MBMD77 2]

Bought the Fi23 after demo yesterday.  I’m speechless.  The boat is simple to operate,  stunning to look at and a smooth operator in every way.  Gone are the days of taking 1/2 day to dial in a wave and 10 minutes to get the Bimini top up.  I can’t say enough about this boat.  Thanks for all the advice.

[Darkside 249]

On 7/16/2018 at 9:26 PM, wheels said:

Did the resale value hold upfor you? I know many of us had discussed concerns about this when we were buying. 

I used it for 220 hours over 16 months and recovered 92.5% of purchase price!  So i would say that's decent.

[wheels 151]

Nice! Glad to hear, can’t ask for much more that that. 

[carguy79ta 67]

16 hours ago, Darkside said:

I used it for 220 hours over 16 months and recovered 92.5% of purchase price!  So i would say that's decent.

@Darkside

!!!   WOW   !!!  That's awesome!!!   Dont post that on TMC, or you will incite a riot.  I dont think the m235's are fairing quite as well.

[scottgresham 5]

1 hour ago, carguy79ta said:

@Darkside

!!!   WOW   !!!  That's awesome!!!   Dont post that on TMC, or you will incite a riot.  I dont think the m235's are fairing quite as well.

They aren't lol, and the funny thing is, last year when I bought the M235, one of the sole reasons is that I was worried about resale of the RI257.  Both my wife and I actually wanted the 257 more than the m235.  

[carguy79ta 67]

 @scottgresham sorry my exuberiance got away from me!!  I hope yours turned out well for you!  My malibu dealer offered me their '16 m235 that they all used and put 80 hrs on it and I was not impressed with their bottom dollar.

Edited July 23, 2018 by carguy79ta

[scottgresham 5]

The ROI on the M235 is not that good at all.  Thankfully, when I bought it last year, I got a good enough deal on it that I didn't just completely get burned last week when I traded it in on the RI257.  I sure lost more than 7.5 percent though!  That is an amazing resale price @Darkside