jtryon

i've never been a fan of the older MB graphics--flames are a love/hate thing. they are good boats however, but i'd probably go centurion unless you don't get a good feeling about it once you go look at it.

Here you go...no ballast in this pic, 25 mph. I was a little heavier on the driver's side hence the wash to the port side.

i can take some tomorrow when i go out but, it doesn't interfere at all with the wakeboard wake. i also added a surf flap this year to knock the spray from the exhaust down at surf speeds which helps both the surf and wakeboard wake.

thanks, PM'ing him now.

thanks bomoseen, that's very helpful.

2006 is when they went to the 1.46 ratio from what i've heard

Example I pulled off the web....those drain holes don't look like there's much room for enlargement to support a bigger pump and hoses.

In the various upgrade threads I've been reading I haven't found anything that answered these questions. The Avy and the Tige 24V are the two possible boats that I'm looking to upgrade to next, and I know the older versions of either of these boats (I'd be buying 2003-2005ish to stay in my price range) have small ballast systems stock. With this in mind, I came across an '03 Avy ad the other day and looking closer at the stock ballast drain location on the starboard side it seems that the 3 exit holes are really close together. If I was going with an aerator pump upgrade instead of switching to an impeller system, is it possible to enlarge those drain holes to support a bigger pump and hose or are they too close together for that? Additionally, would it just be plug-and-play to swap in new bigger pumps and hoses re-using the stock switches or are electrical upgrades needed to support that as well? I'd be wanting to go with Rule 17A (3700gph) pumps to fill the Enzo sacks that would be installed.

here's a couple that i found before angling the exit tube much like yours. i think you will have an easier time getting yours to stay on--mine took a couple tries. similar to your rivet idea, i drilled pilot holes and used stainless screws through the exhaust exit ports, as well as attached a reinforcement to my trim tab. one difference i see is that i used leftover rubber exhaust manifold tubing for the first 1' or so off the boat.

awesome! i did the exact same thing out of abs last spring and it worked great all season. no issues with the heat of the exhaust water--keep in mind the boat is sitting in the water when running so the lake water cools the exhaust too. but even when running on the hose it doesn't even get hot to the touch. nice fab work!

do you mind me asking what this avy sold for?

i don't think i'd ever do that unless a fellow member was willing to check it out for you, or at minimum hire a recommended boat mechanic in that area to check it out for you. IMO it's worth the plane ticket out to look it over yourself so there's no surprises, then have it shipped once everything checks out. you could even try to get the seller to knock $500 off to cover your trip.

i don't like that tower placement very much. looks like a tower that someone put too far back because they didn't know any better

resale is going to be tough on yellow, green or purple, if you're worried about that. IMO the best looking boat you posted is the red/grey.

i would do "slappers" as the guys on the MB board call them. malibu surfgate-style gates fully automated can be done for less than half of the wavecontrol system, and is a very proven system. martinarcher on the malibu forums has a kit with everything you need for the automation other than the actuators, and tons of guys over there use it with great success. get that, actuators and some 3/4" HDPE tabs and you'll be able to switch on the fly just like the new boats. IMO the benefit of the malibu-style system is that you don't need to run as much weight as wavecontrol which means less gas burned each time out. two threads to look through if you need convincing: http://www.mbboatowners.com/index.php/topic/4331-slappers-kcso-part-1/ http://www.mbboatowners.com/index.php/topic/4348-slappers-kcso-part-2-installation/