Fi 23 vs xt22

[Shockthis 2]

Looking at trading in our supra SL , which has been a great boat, but we miss skiing. Has anyone here Slalom skied a Fi23? I seen it on the Boardco site  but does any one have any real world experience? how bad was it? I know our SL is pretty bad , but surfing and wakeboard is awesome.

[h20king 794]

I never skied our fi23 but have suffered the sl you for sure get a surf upgrade with the fi23 

[Shockthis 2]

Well I have My Sl pretty dialled compared to Stock. We are just not into surfing as much as others not say that we aren't good at it. I just find I can't do it day after day after day. 

[BoardCo 110]

The ski wake on the Fi23 should definitely be superior to the SL. I haven't skied behind the SL but Supra wakes are pretty brutal and if the SL is like any others I'm guessing it is pretty bad.

Full disclosure the XT22 does probably produce a superior ski wake, but it will be a significant downgrade surfing compared to your SL, where the Fi23 will be an upgrade. If wakeboarding is a factor at all the XT22 will also be a downgrade from your SL where the Fi23 is probably almost a straight trade - both wakeboard great.

Skiing is difficult to determine because it is entirely based on what you are used to skiing behind and how you ski (length, speed, aggresiveness, etc.) along with what ski you are on. As far as V-Drive boats go the Fi23 is pretty good overall and quite good if you are skiing recreationally. If you are skiing at tournament level it isn't great, but then again no V-Drive out there is.

[Shockthis 2]

22 hours ago, BoardCo said:

The ski wake on the Fi23 should definitely be superior to the SL. I haven't skied behind the SL but Supra wakes are pretty brutal and if the SL is like any others I'm guessing it is pretty bad.

Full disclosure the XT22 does probably produce a superior ski wake, but it will be a significant downgrade surfing compared to your SL, where the Fi23 will be an upgrade. If wakeboarding is a factor at all the XT22 will also be a downgrade from your SL where the Fi23 is probably almost a straight trade - both wakeboard great.

Skiing is difficult to determine because it is entirely based on what you are used to skiing behind and how you ski (length, speed, aggresiveness, etc.) along with what ski you are on. As far as V-Drive boats go the Fi23 is pretty good overall and quite good if you are skiing recreationally. If you are skiing at tournament level it isn't great, but then again no V-Drive out there is.

thanks for the info, 

We are a mainly wakeboard first family, I am looking for it to recreationally ski. I did used to tournament ski and I can handle the SL personally but my wife thinks it is terrible and it make her scared to even go over the wake . We had a 2013 210 before and with a short rope we had it pretty good for Skiing. Good to know that it surfs better than the SL, we had our pretty dialled for surfing but we ran an extra 900 lbs and changed the stock settings.

How is wake at low speeds for kids?

[BoardCo 110]

If you are saying low speed for wakeboarding it is awesome - the wake will clean up with zero ballast as low as 17 mph on both sides. Lower speed than that you can easily clean up the wake on one side.

If you are asking about lower speeds for skiing it is ok (better than your SL) but the ski wake does get better the faster you go. It is simple physics here - the faster you are going the higher the boat sits out of the water and the less water it displaces.

Over the weekend we released a video comparing a Fi23 to a Nautique GS22 and you can get a much closer look at the ski wake, wakeboard wake and surf wave on the Fi23:
http://www.mmwatersports.com/boat-performance/centurion-fi23-vs-nautique-gs22/

In this video, we DID NOT have a transom bag in the Fi23 so the surf wave and wakeboard wake can actually get better than what we show here - even without more people / lead.

[Shockthis 2]

I am about to pull the trigger on a Fi23. I have  couple of questions. My dealer said I can't leave the ballast full of water while going swimming. They said it can get hyrdolocked , it this true? Also i seen that guys are finding that 3-8 gallons of water gets in there hull while use, is that true as well?

 

thanks in advance

Brian

[carguy79ta 67]

I dont know about the fi personally, but on my ri 257 with 1000 lead, I have not hydrolocked ever. My swim platform is 6 inches underwater. I generally dump ramfill before we take a swim break or tie up, and leave pnp full. One time, we floated for an hour with 4 of us on the back of the boat fully ballasted(I forgot to empty ramfill), no probs. I also have a buddy with a fi23 he put a lot of lead in the transom, and his swim platform was prolly 12in under water(he said). It did hydrolock. He pulled the plugs cranked it over to pump out the water, then put the plugs back in and it started.  He then went on to finish the day, no probs. Doing what the dealer says is no probs. It takes 60 sec or so to empty ramfill. That is our 'rule'

Edited October 11, 2018 by carguy79ta

[BoardCo 110]

We are the largest Centurion dealership in the world and haven't had a single customer of ours hydrolock a boat. I have heard it is possible to hydrolock one if you are just running stock ballast, but I imagine we would have seen it if that were the case. Every hydrolock issue I have heard of is from guys running additional weight AND having people sitting at the transom which sinks it even deeper in the water. If you aren't running additional lead you shouldn't have a problem, though I wouldn't let the boat sit for a couple hours fully ballasted. If you are running lead it's simple - just dump Ramfill or PNP at the rear before going swimming and you will be fine.

Welcome to the only downside to a boat that can pack 5,000+ lbs of ballast.

[wheels 151]

I run 600lbs of lead in the back of my ri and have never had any issues floating and the kids jumping off the back. Now I don’t  float for hours with it full but 30 minute times and I’ve never had a problem. Any longer than that and I would start the boat or dump some ballast.