Fi25 vs Ri257 - rough water ride and infrequent waterski?

DaveInTahoe · July 24, 2020

On 7/4/2020 at 8:42 PM, SCMike said:

Great looking Ri Dave! I’m also on Tahoe, I have my 2018 Malibu 23LSV with Sunnyside Marina.

I’m might be upgrading to a bigger boat for next summer, and the Ri is definitely on the list of considerations. A strong dealer is an absolute must for me, and I see you purchased your boat from Mellow Marine. So then have mechanics that can service your boat here in Tahoe, or do you have to pull the boat and take it to Folsom? I’d also love to demo an Ri, do you know if they will do that up here in a Tahoe?

Nice! I'm boating near sunnyside often as I have friends near there. You might see us wakesurfing off the shore. Our house is east of Tahoe city near dollar point.

We got some demo time in an Ri257 through charters with Justin @ Full Throttle. He operates out of Garwood Pier. 775-220-9636. Brandy @ Mellow came up for a surf session with us.

As for service, Mello sent someone up to do my "20 hour inspection" and oil change here in Tahoe. You should talk to Sally Mellow. I think they had someone trained in Tahoe for some kinds of service, but for repairs that need to be done in the shop I think it needs to go to Folsom. I have some small new boat things that need warranty service (like the fuel gauge), and I'm trying to get Mellow to store it in the winter so they will trailer it down, do little fixes and store it after. (I've never towed a boat, so I'm a bit shy of my first attempt being down out of the sierras with an Ri257)

---

I did a bunch of research that led to our decision, and here is a summary... I'm happy to chat more about it.

Over the years, i've had a few dozen surf sessions (and some driving) on our friend's blue and gold 25LSV parked a few houses south of Sunnyside, as well as dozens of days on my friend's Ri257 in Seattle. We also went out one long demo ride on a G25.

The Ri257 / Fi25 are all about the wave. In my opinion, Centurion has by far the firmest, longest, and most tunable wave -- with the least regular/goofy asymmetry. In order to get that, you compromise a bit on tech, because it uses a classic separate Clarion audio system, rather than the fully integrated audio and bluetooth controls on Malibu and Nautique.

As for the waves...

The Nautique-G boats have a shorter steep wave my wife had trouble riding -- but some people swear by it and I can see the appeal. Nautique has some clunky GoPro integration that's not worth bothering with IMO. The speed-sensitive volume is kinda nice. On Tahoe the O2 sensors on the supercharged engines frequently get clogged up.

I find the Malibu wave mellow and predictable, but a bit soft. My wife learned on it, and likes it better than the G-wave, but she rides regular and notices the Malibu regular wave is not as steep. The unique thing about the malibu is that the boat runs virtually flat (no lean port/starboard) while surfing. It's also very very easy to setup a wave.

The Centurion wave is unmistakably firmer, which we prefer. It also has a notably longer pocket, and I can drop back 15+ feet from the boat and still zip back in. The shape of the regular wave is a little different, but I can get it equally steep. I always run listed a bit, with asymmetric ballast fill... because it's a bigger cleaner wave. It's possible to run completely even ballast, and take out some of the listing, but I only do this to give people a smaller wave.

From all reports, the Fi25 offers essentially the same surf wave, in a boat with slightly different design and more sporty styling. The Fi25 is bit lower freeboard / lower to the water... more like a 25LSV.

We went with the Ri257 because I wanted the higher freeboard for big Lake Tahoe, I really like how the passenger side front-hold in the Ri257 is gigantic because the batteries are recessed into the floor, and I like some of the classier styling cues and chunky handles on the Ri257.

Covering off on the tech compromises...

I find the Centurion wave-gismo setup UI a bit less streamlined.. I'm a tech guy, so it's no problem for me to operate it, but I could see some being confused by the way it works. Once you get the wave settings setup, you just choose a named rider profile and push "go", so that part is plenty easy.

The quicksurf fins can quick-switch the wave like on malibu, but there is no wireless wristwatch control. We have never been into wave-side-switching. My friend does it on his Ri257 in Seattle.

The console tech on the Malibu is much more slick... especially bluetooth. The Centurion is a classic clarion unit, which works fine.. but it is a bit annoying in that the only way I can find to switch to a different bluetooth source is to disable bluetooth on the currently connected phone. We just leave my phone connected and always run the music from it.

There is also no built-in speed-or-rpm sensitive volume adjustment on the Clarion stereo Centurion uses (at least not that I'm aware of). This is something that's really nice in the Nautique (and I think Malibu) tech console. I bought an aftermarket "boost box" that plugs into the Clarion as a "remote" and detects the boat fore-aft tilt to auto adjust the volume, though I have not installed it yet.

These tech shortcomings were more excusable when Centurion was indepedent and the price was a bit cheaper.. but now that they are owned by Correct Craft, the prices have pretty much equalized.... but what are you going to do... once you ride the Centurion wave it's really hard to go back!

Edited July 24, 2020 by DaveInTahoe

DaveInTahoe · July 24, 2020

It's not easy to capture what the wave looks like from a camera... here is a video of one of my wife's sessions where I moved the camera around enough to see some perspective on the wave (regular side). (the audio is jacked, there must have been water in the mic)

2020 Centurion Ri257 Wakesurfing Lake Tahoe - YouTube

And here is one of my better 360 attempts (goofy side).. (have not nailed it yet, but I hope to this summer!) And I was *not* in charge of the playlist here.

2020 wakesurf 360 attempt - YouTube

SCMike · August 4, 2020

On 7/23/2020 at 9:05 PM, DaveInTahoe said:

Nice! I'm boating near sunnyside often as I have friends near there. You might see us wakesurfing off the shore. Our house is east of Tahoe city near dollar point.

We got some demo time in an Ri257 through charters with Justin @ Full Throttle. He operates out of Garwood Pier. 775-220-9636. Brandy @ Mellow came up for a surf session with us.

As for service, Mello sent someone up to do my "20 hour inspection" and oil change here in Tahoe. You should talk to Sally Mellow. I think they had someone trained in Tahoe for some kinds of service, but for repairs that need to be done in the shop I think it needs to go to Folsom. I have some small new boat things that need warranty service (like the fuel gauge), and I'm trying to get Mellow to store it in the winter so they will trailer it down, do little fixes and store it after. (I've never towed a boat, so I'm a bit shy of my first attempt being down out of the sierras with an Ri257)

---

I did a bunch of research that led to our decision, and here is a summary... I'm happy to chat more about it.

Over the years, i've had a few dozen surf sessions (and some driving) on our friend's blue and gold 25LSV parked a few houses south of Sunnyside, as well as dozens of days on my friend's Ri257 in Seattle. We also went out one long demo ride on a G25.

The Ri257 / Fi25 are all about the wave. In my opinion, Centurion has by far the firmest, longest, and most tunable wave -- with the least regular/goofy asymmetry. In order to get that, you compromise a bit on tech, because it uses a classic separate Clarion audio system, rather than the fully integrated audio and bluetooth controls on Malibu and Nautique.

As for the waves...

The Nautique-G boats have a shorter steep wave my wife had trouble riding -- but some people swear by it and I can see the appeal. Nautique has some clunky GoPro integration that's not worth bothering with IMO. The speed-sensitive volume is kinda nice. On Tahoe the O2 sensors on the supercharged engines frequently get clogged up.

I find the Malibu wave mellow and predictable, but a bit soft. My wife learned on it, and likes it better than the G-wave, but she rides regular and notices the Malibu regular wave is not as steep. The unique thing about the malibu is that the boat runs virtually flat (no lean port/starboard) while surfing. It's also very very easy to setup a wave.

The Centurion wave is unmistakably firmer, which we prefer. It also has a notably longer pocket, and I can drop back 15+ feet from the boat and still zip back in. The shape of the regular wave is a little different, but I can get it equally steep. I always run listed a bit, with asymmetric ballast fill... because it's a bigger cleaner wave. It's possible to run completely even ballast, and take out some of the listing, but I only do this to give people a smaller wave.

From all reports, the Fi25 offers essentially the same surf wave, in a boat with slightly different design and more sporty styling. The Fi25 is bit lower freeboard / lower to the water... more like a 25LSV.

We went with the Ri257 because I wanted the higher freeboard for big Lake Tahoe, I really like how the passenger side front-hold in the Ri257 is gigantic because the batteries are recessed into the floor, and I like some of the classier styling cues and chunky handles on the Ri257.

Covering off on the tech compromises...

I find the Centurion wave-gismo setup UI a bit less streamlined.. I'm a tech guy, so it's no problem for me to operate it, but I could see some being confused by the way it works. Once you get the wave settings setup, you just choose a named rider profile and push "go", so that part is plenty easy.

The quicksurf fins can quick-switch the wave like on malibu, but there is no wireless wristwatch control. We have never been into wave-side-switching. My friend does it on his Ri257 in Seattle.

The console tech on the Malibu is much more slick... especially bluetooth. The Centurion is a classic clarion unit, which works fine.. but it is a bit annoying in that the only way I can find to switch to a different bluetooth source is to disable bluetooth on the currently connected phone. We just leave my phone connected and always run the music from it.

There is also no built-in speed-or-rpm sensitive volume adjustment on the Clarion stereo Centurion uses (at least not that I'm aware of). This is something that's really nice in the Nautique (and I think Malibu) tech console. I bought an aftermarket "boost box" that plugs into the Clarion as a "remote" and detects the boat fore-aft tilt to auto adjust the volume, though I have not installed it yet.

These tech shortcomings were more excusable when Centurion was indepedent and the price was a bit cheaper.. but now that they are owned by Correct Craft, the prices have pretty much equalized.... but what are you going to do... once you ride the Centurion wave it's really hard to go back!

Thanks Dave, I appreciate the thoughtful response. I’m up in Carnelian Bay, so pretty close to you in dollar point. I actually think I saw you on the water right near sunny side on Saturday. Btw, I just saw the sneak peak of the new RI245. I’m gonna check that out for sure. Maybe they closed the gap with Malibu and nautique on the tech gap