Best model for family surf/ski/board/rough water

[lax2685]

I can see the obvious differences in the models, size,weight,beam, etc, but is the difference between the models? We started with an old 18' Searay outboard, currently have a 22' Monteray i/o and looking to upgrade to a newer inboard. We exclusively will use the boat on Lake Powell so need something that can handle rough waters and cruising. We wake board now but want to get into surfing. I understand no boat will be the best all of these but wanting to get something that is multi purpose. Was looking at something 1-4 years old but if a new model is worth the price we could go with that. Moomba is definitely looking like more of a all around boat compared to others, like an Axis which looks to be great at surfing but maybe not the others. Thanks for the help!

[sandm]

spend 5 minutes in an axis and 5 minutes in a moomba. once you sit on the seats you will be sold on moomba and that doesn't even get into the other positives of the line. axis has, hands down, the hardest seats I have sat on in many years.

budget friendly and deep freeboard to stay dry max is a solid choice but there will be others that will happily spend your monies and have more insight into how their whip handles bigger water. wind on mead is no joke and betting powell is same way.

good luck in your hunt....

[schwan]

That new foam axis is using is way stiff, but it does break in a little, I'm on my buddies 2020 quite a bit and I don't notice it anymore. I'd be more worried about Malibu's new engine, so many problems that I've witnessed first hand and through their FB group.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

[RUGER761]

I've been in a Max and our Makai in rough water or what I consider rough. Both handled like a champ especially compared to my old DD. Id agree that the Axis foam is super stiff. I have a friend has a 19 axis with their direct injection motor that's already getting a new one put in it. Could be a limited case but seemed odd to me knowing how they take excellent care of it. They did say it threw a monster wave with the plug in play bags, I havent had the chance to ride it yet. But one thing I personally wont own is a boat without a center wake tab (most have their own names) just no adjustment in how it rides without one. And in rough water sometimes its nice to bring the bow up and other times you want it down. So while I like my other fiends wake on his Bu as its shape is awesome, I wont ever own one.

[996scott]

All of the Moomba models will do just fine at Powell. I have spent 20+ yrs on Powell and i would not be worried about any of them. The real question is how much room do you need? If you normally only have a hand full of people with you then the Craz or the Kaiyen would be great (21.5 and 22 ft boats). If you usually have a big group like 10 or more than the Max, Mojo, or the Makai (22.5, 23, and 24.5 ft ) would be great. They are all great boats and can do everything pretty darn well. None are going to be great skiing (small flat wake) like a direct drive but for surfing, wakeboarding, tubing, etc they are all great.

[lax2685]

Thanks for the thoughts, definitely leaning towards the Moomba's. They seem to have the all around package we are looking for. For sizing, I have a 22' and don't think I would go any smaller than that. So that points towards the Craz, Max, Mojo or Makai. Any major differences between those besides the sizes?

[haknslash]

Axis can make a surf wave pretty easy but the rest of the boat leaves a lot to be desired. Rides pretty rough too.

[sandm]

if you're going to do new, I'd wait for the new mojo to come out later this year. then decide.
if the rumor mill is accurate, that boat should be worth waiting for. challenge at that point will be getting a build slot.
if you have not been on an inboard towboat I think you will find a 22ft will be much larger than your current i/o as towboats don't include platform in length.

[Zog]

We just spent a week on Powell. Prior to this year we had been using Four Winns and Glastron tow boats, but my brother-in-law got us into surfing with his Supra so we bought a 2016 Moomba Mojo Surf Edition this summer. A lot of thought went into the purchase, largely due to the afternoon Powell windstorms. After looking at new Malibu and Axis boats we felt the boats left too little freeboard for managing a big storm. They have come up in depth, but still seem to be about a 6-12" short of what we have with our Mojo. Though we were looking at the newer Moomba boats, all of which seem to have great depth, we couldn't look at and purchase a new one and were lucky enough to score a great deal on the 2016, which was throwing up a monster wave in the deep water north of Bullfrog Bay. It handled every water condition we threw at it very nicely. As an added bonus, it has a better waterski wake than the tow boats we have been using before, which was important to us and greatly outperforms my brother-in-law's Supra in that regard.