Novice Seeking Advice

StolenPanda307 · November 1, 2020

Hey guys,

Brand new to the whole boating scene. No prior experience. Planning on purchasing a boat during the next few months in preparation for the upcoming spring/summer. Been doing a lot of research on the different boat brands and my conclusion is that Centurions seem to have the most efficient/optimized watersports system. Primarily trying to wakeboard/wakesurf. I've come across a pretty 2016 Enzo FS44 which seems ideal. Does anyone have any experience with this model/similar model? It's equipped with CATS, Quicksurf, Ramfill etc. Sharing any relevant experiences would be much appreciated!! Additionally, I have a few general questions that I would also like to pose:

1) I live in the southeast at sea level, will the PCM H6 be enough to propel the 24ft boat w/ full ballast?

2) Is there a reason I rarely see Centurions on our lake? We seem to have an abundance of MasterCraft and Malibu, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a Centurion or a Supreme boat.

3) As I said, my family has no prior boating experience, how difficult is it for newbies to learn how to use all the various systems (CATS, quicksurf, etc.)?

4) Is the deep-vee hull primarily designed for wakesurfing? Will my wakeboard wake suffer significantly? (Not trying to be a professional, just trying to enjoy family time lol).

Thanks in advance!

Troy. R · November 2, 2020

Welcome!
First, the FS44 is a FANTASTIC surf boat and a good wakeboard boat. It was probably the best surfboat available until Centurion came out with the Ri's.

1) The H6 is more than adequate for an FS44 and sea level.

2) Most likely reason is your location. Centurions/Supremes are manufactured in Norther California whereas Mastercraft and Malibu are manufactured in Tennessee.

3) I would not say they're hard to learn, but hopefully the private party or dealer that you are buying from can take you out and give you a familiarization lesson. That would be helpful. There is also a ton of info/wave setup advice on this site. Truthfully, learning how to maneuver around docks and load the boat on the trailer will likely be more difficult as with these boats you have reduced steering control at low speeds and basically no control in reverse. When reversing, the boat will always pull to the right due to prop rotation and the fact that the rudder is behind the prop (not helping in reverse). There are some good videos you can find online to give you tips on docking/loading.

4) The deep-vee is more of a wakesurfing feature, but these boats can still throw a good wakeboard wake. I have never wakeboarded behind a FS44, but my guess is it will be weight sensitive side to side due to the deep-vee and have a wide wake. You shouldn't have a problem figuring out the weight distribution to clean up both sides though. I think CATS can help with this as well.

StolenPanda307 · November 2, 2020

2 hours ago, Troy. R said:

Welcome!
First, the FS44 is a FANTASTIC surf boat and a good wakeboard boat. It was probably the best surfboat available until Centurion came out with the Ri's.

1) The H6 is more than adequate for an FS44 and sea level.

2) Most likely reason is your location. Centurions/Supremes are manufactured in Norther California whereas Mastercraft and Malibu are manufactured in Tennessee.

3) I would not say they're hard to learn, but hopefully the private party or dealer that you are buying from can take you out and give you a familiarization lesson. That would be helpful. There is also a ton of info/wave setup advice on this site. Truthfully, learning how to maneuver around docks and load the boat on the trailer will likely be more difficult as with these boats you have reduced steering control at low speeds and basically no control in reverse. When reversing, the boat will always pull to the right due to prop rotation and the fact that the rudder is behind the prop (not helping in reverse). There are some good videos you can find online to give you tips on docking/loading.

4) The deep-vee is more of a wakesurfing feature, but these boats can still throw a good wakeboard wake. I have never wakeboarded behind a FS44, but my guess is it will be weight sensitive side to side due to the deep-vee and have a wide wake. You shouldn't have a problem figuring out the weight distribution to clean up both sides though. I think CATS can help with this as well.

Troy,

I really appreciate the depth/time you spent answering my questions. We will be permanently docking it at our house so we're hoping to avoid the whole load/unload fiasco at the boat ramp. Learning how to maneuver this boat will be a learning curve I'm sure!

I was wondering what you think about a 2016 with 400 hours? Obviously, prior to purchase, we are getting a qualified/licensed surveyor to assess the boat. However, I've read that the average hours/season is in the ~50. Should I be worried that this is nearly double that? The seller said for $800 he will transfer the warranty to us... this seems very worthwhile. However, the closest centurion dealer from us is ~1hr away. Would this mean for us to get the warranty honored we would have to trailer it and take it to a centurion dealer? We don't own a truck that can tow this ~5400 lb boat lol.

Thanks again.

Troy. R · November 2, 2020

Here’s a helpful video on docking:

As for warranty, getting a dealer to come to you for warranty work is not unheard of, but also not likely. Especially considering that you presumably are not buying the boat from them. So factor in that you are likely to have to take it somewhere for service/warranty work if you don’t do the maintenance service stuff yourself.

That said, at least for drivetrain work, you don’t necessarily have to take it to a Centurion dealer. You could take it to any PCM certified shop. This would include any Nautique or Supreme dealer or possibly independent boat shops that have the appropriate certification.

Troy. R · November 3, 2020

@StolenPanda307 I forgot to answer the hours question...

400 hrs is high for a 4 year old boat, but if the price were adjusted accordingly it wouldn’t scare me away.

Now granted, these motors are under much more load than a car/truck, but if you think of 400hrs in terms of miles on a car with an average speed of 60mph, you’re looking at 24,000 miles equivalent. Again, under more stress/load, but it at least gives you a more familiar way of looking at it.

StolenPanda307 · November 3, 2020

22 hours ago, Troy. R said:

@StolenPanda307 I forgot to answer the hours question...

400 hrs is high for a 4 year old boat, but if the price were adjusted accordingly it wouldn’t scare me away.

Now granted, these motors are under much more load than a car/truck, but if you think of 400hrs in terms of miles on a car with an average speed of 60mph, you’re looking at 24,000 miles equivalent. Again, under more stress/load, but it at least gives you a more familiar way of looking at it.

Troy,

Awesome docking video really appreciate it! Yeah, it does seem like my area would be a little more difficult to be serviced via warranty. I'm going to check out what the surveyor says and take a peek at all the previous owners' service records. Looking at the hour number I'm going to drive a pretty hard bargain just because that does seem like a lot of usage. Have the unfortunate problem of absolutely loving the colorway so it will be hard to step away from it if the deal/surveyor report is not to my liking. However, such is the nature of the business, and I'm sure there will be something similar to come around. If not, might go check out the boat show in Nashville and see what's up. Trying to avoid splurging on a new one but I've heard boat shows you might be able to get a decent deal. It's honestly difficult to find used Centurions... people really seem to hang onto them. If it was a Mastercraft I could walk into any of my local boat dealerships and snag a used one.