guitarcrazy

I currently have a 2012 B52 23V and love the boat. Our first boat was a Centurion Elite V, and the B52 was a massive upgrade. I love the look, wakeboard wake is great, and it surfs really well. I added 1100s to the rear lockers, and a 400# bag in the nose. I get a steep wave that is easy to surf, but it isn't as long as some boats I have seen. Goofy wave is really nice. I now have 430 trouble free hours on the boat, but am starting to get new boat fever. I really liked the value proposition of the 2012, which made it easy to spend the money to upgrade. Looking at the 2017s, the cost of MBs have risen quite a bit. It now looks like the Supreme S238 is probably the best value boat available. Reviews say the surf wave is impressive, but wakeboard wake may not be as good as my B52. I am not as fond of the Supreme styling, and really like the look of the 2017 MB tower and gel schemes. Has anyone on the forum demo'd both the new B52 and the S238? Any thoughts on switching? I really love my MB, but I don't think I am willing to step up to $90K for a new boat.

Thanks for the replies. I think I have narrowed down to the MB B52 23V again, or the Axis A24. It seems a lot of 238 owners aren't happy with their wave and wakeboard wake isn't as good as the rest. The 226 still looks like a great wake and wave, but I don't want to go down in size.

With 4000 pounds of water ballast we can't accelerate past 6 knots unless we get weight in the nose. It just plows with a really nose high attitude.

When we surf our B52 I fill the surf side quick fill, 1200 pounds or so, fill the off side about half full, fill the 1100 pound bag on surf side about halfway, fill nose bag around 300 pounds or so, and add one or two people in nose. I don't have the trim plate so I have to have weight in the nose to get on plane when surfing. It is a really tall wave, and very easy to surf ropeless, but I definitely don't get 15 feet back. I am probably 5 to 10 feet from platform for best push. The videos of the S238 show a really long wave, but then the MB videos and photos do also. I would stay with MB but it appears you can get one for $10 to $15K less than a loaded MB. I am not sure that amount of savings is enough to trade brands but it certainly makes me consider it. Especially if the surf wave is better. We still wakeboard as well, so I don't want to get a boat that can't really make a decent wakeboard wake.

11.5 for us in the B52. But you got to see that over the 4th! Come back and see us some time soon.

I ordered a pair of Polk marine speakers for the bow of my 2008 Elite V and now need to install them. My boat is up at the lakehouse so I don't have access to it until the weekend. My rear in-boat speakers are mounted in the black plastic fairing around the cupholders, which made it very easy for the install. Does the bow compartment have the same fairing as the rear compartments? Anyone installed speakers in the bow have some advice for me? Thanks. J

I have really enjoyed our Elite for the past two seasons but with the large crew we usually have I decided to look for an off-season deal on something bigger. After going back and forth on different brands, sizes, colors, I took the plunge and bought a new MB B-52 23V. It is much larger than my Elite, with a 15 person rating, and should have at least as good a surf wake, if not better. I really enjoy the forum and all the knowledge I have gained about inboard boats and wakesurfing in general. I will probably still hang out here if that is ok. The MB forum is pretty thin, and the wakeworld site gets into so much boat bashing that it isn't as enjoyable as the CC. Now if anyone is looking for a nice Elite V with around 200 hours let me know! J

Not much winter yet, but I am afraid it will just translate into a nasty spring and later start to summer like last year! Hopefully we skip winter and go right to spring!

I have been wanting a surf style board to go with my IS Black Pearl and the Broadcast. After reading all of the threads here about how good they are I did a web search and found Calmarine had a demo board on sale. I bought it sight unseen, so hopefully I like it. I have been dreaming of getting back on the lake. It was 15 degrees below zero yesterday, but will be 39 on Sunday. Winter didn't come for a long time, but now it arrived with a vengeance! A new board, and hopefully a new boat soon. Come on Summer!

Got the Soulcraft Jetty today, and FedEx didn't disappoint. Board is perfect, and if it was used it wasn't used much. It looks brand new and I can't wait to get on it come May. It is really a light board, probably the same weight as my IS Black Pearl, but it is a much larger board. Great job on the board Jeff. J

Thanks Jeff, Summer can't come fast enough! I am an intermediate rider and wanted something to try some airs on, and hopefully keep progressing. Not sure if that is the right board for that, but it has to be better than what I am riding now. The Black Pearl is pretty good, but it is so slippery I wanted to try something a bit more surf style. From what I have read you build a fantastic board. Also, Gary at Epic Boats was very complimentary of your boards and said it should be a perfect fit for the Epic surf wake.

I currently have an 08 Elite V that I bought new less than two years ago. Two seasons of use, and we really enjoy the boat and the wake. I would like to have something a bit bigger though, as we had 12 people on the boat at times, and it was a bit crowded. I have found some good looking Avalanches, as well as some deals on MB Tomcats and B-52s. Anyone rode behind the MBs? They look to be well made with lots of good options and pretty decently priced. I am not crazy about their tower, but I guess you can't have everything. We surf, wakeboard, and wakeskate, in that order. I added 750s to both lockers, plumbed them in, 400 # under port seat, added heater and shower, and KMR-700U with remote. How will the stock quick fill ballast on the MBs compare to what I am running for surfing? I am feeling a bit crazy to be thinking about switching boats after I did all the work getting this one setup, but is no substitute for size (that's what she said!). Any advice? Thanks.

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/boa/2729360438.html

I would bet the Typhoon is a great boat, but I went into Olinger a few months back and all he did was run down Centurion. He was trying to sell me a 2004 Mastercraft and was telling me how much nicer it was than my 2008 Elite. I didn't like the way he ran down my boat to try to sell me his, so I don't think I will buy a boat there. Thanks for the heads up though.

Sometimes the clips that hold the dash screws in fall out or break. In the aircraft world we call them tinnamens. it is a small piece of spring steel with a hole for the screw to pass through. It slides over the inside ledge of the instrument panel, and then the screw passes through the dash screw hole, and into the tinnamen. If the tinnamen comes loose, falls out, or if the inside ledge breaks in that spot there is nothing for the screw to hold on to. I had that issue with my dash when the local dealer took it apart and wasn't very dilligent about putting everything back together correctly. I had to reattach it myself, but luckily it isn't that hard to do.

That's what she said! I hear you, I find no shortage of people willing to ride along on weekends. I love the Elite and I finally got it all dialed in this last season, but more room would be great for those busy weekends.

I have a 15 year old daughter and a 13 year old son so we frequently have a large group wanting to surf. It's my own fault for teaching all my daughter's friends how to surf!

I am not crazy about the tower on the MB, but the dash doesn't bother me at all. I don't find the dash on my Elite V to be that impressive, so the billet aluminum background with round dial gauges looks a bit better to me. I am mostly concerned with the room for more passengers, and surf wake. I know the wakeboard wake will be better than I can really take advantage of, so it comes down to surfing and room. I keep hearing that the MB 21 footers will feel a lot larger than my Elite, and the rated passenger capacity certainly supports that idea, but without being in one I can't say. The Avy only lists a passenger capacity of 12, can anyone give an opinion of size difference between the Elite and the Avy? I know the Avy puts out a good surf wake, but I am not sure the size difference will be enough to justify the change. Thanks.

I would love an Enzo, but I don't want to spend that much. My Elite is paid for so I don't want to take on a payment if I can help it. I have found some new MBs in the low $50s. I would love to have an enzo though!

I have been kicking around the idea of getting something a bit larger than my 2008 Elite V. I had to go to Idaho for work so I stopped in Olinger Marine to look around. He had 3 boats on the lot, a 2002 Mastercraft X30, a Malibu XTI, 2005 I believe, and an old Centurion Elite V. I wasn't too impressed with Mr. Olinger though. He was alright until I told him what my current boat was, and then he proceeded to run down Centurion. He was telling me that I should upgrade my 2008 Elite by getting his 2002 X30. He said it had more "wow" factor, and would impress more people on the water. I am not too impressed with salesmen who try to get you to get their product by telling you yours is junk. Needless to say I don't think I'll be getting an X30 any time soon. I probably don't need another boat anyway!

I have a 2008 Elite V and am currently running the 537. It works great for everything but I will probably get a 1579 because when we are loaded with 10 to 12 people and ballast full the 537 doesn't really get out of the hole as quick as I would like.

Hi BigWill, I am going to OKC for work on the 25th of July and I'll be there about 4 weeks. I'd love to buy some gas and be a third if you're still looking for someone to ride. God knows I'll be bored out of my mind on weekends in the hotel!

Shouldn't your RPM have gone up with the decreased pitch? I know I am running a 537 and at 11.5 mph I am usually around 2600-2800 rpm. I would like the rpms to be a little higher, so I am thinking of switching to a 1579 for better holeshot when running more ballast. I bought a new 537 as a spare because I felt like the prop was working well for me, but this weekend I had 10 people in the boat and 1500 pounds ballast and it didn't get up to speed as quickly as I would have liked. I either need to find someone to trade the 537 for a 1579, or get it repitched like H2O.

Unfortunately we suffered a freak occurrence while launching our boat on Sunday. We have our own launch at our lakehouse and I have launched boats there for over 15 years with no problems. This is the second season with our Elite V, and never any problems before. Our launch is gravel with some larger rocks mostly buried in the soil under the gravel. Somehow when we backed the trailer in the water it must have scooped a larger rock and held it on the trailer hoop below the prop. I started the boat and put it in reverse when I immediately heard a terrible sound. Turned off the boat, pulled it out and found my prop was not very happy. My only hope is that it can be reworked. I am planning on ordering another 537 tomorrow, unless someone knows of a better high-altitude prop for the Elite V. Thanks. J

Thanks for the replies. I ordered a new 537 from Nettle's today. I thought about trying something different but the 537 has been working great for us so why mess with a good thing. Sent the bent prop off to a local shop, hopefully have the boat back in commission for Saturday! I didn't get any good surfing in over the holiday weekend!