Cheated on Moomba with a Tige test ride

[Guma]

After a few emails back and forth between myself and a local Tige dealer, Dom at FIC over in Largo Fl, I head over today for a test ride on the 22Ve.

After an honest oversight by one of the mechanics we end up taking the 24Ve out on the water. I gotta say I was highly impressed by this boat and the performance. Mostly notably was the TAPS and convex hull that allowed the wake to be changed from a decent slalom wake to a very nice wakeboard wake, and again to a nice surf wake without using any ballast.

There were quite a few other features that I like about the Tige over the Moomba line, but whether or they impress me enough to make up for the $15k price difference is a whole nother story. One big eye catcher about the Tige is the Alpha Z tower, I freaking love that thing!

I understand this is a Moomba board, but are there any members here who might share some experience with owning a Moomba then a Tige or vice versa?

My decision just got that much harder I do believe!

[tazz3069]

A good friend of mine had a Tige boat. He only had it for a short period of time. They hated the boat. Now they own a Malibu and love it. They always tell me that friends don't let friend buy Tige's.

[jmvotto]

Guma,

my close friends have had a tige 2300 ve since 2001 and honestly thats why i started looking at v drive boats. you are right it throwsa a great wake. their Taps system has been an issue for years though. other than that they love the boat. the local dealer stopped carrying tige aout five years ago. so now they are looking at something closer moomba, supra MC, nautique malibu

[sandm]

buddy has a '06 tige 22ve and he is very partial toward them as a brand. I have only been behind it once and it was my first time at the lake, so no feedback, but seemed to be a solid boat..
funny thing though. my perception are that tige owners are the only ones that seem VERY biased toward their own brand and are quick to point out faults on other boats. everyone else I run into that owns ski boats seems real open to other brands.

[tazz3069]

All in all I really like my Moomba LSV. Do I look at other boats? Yes. Do I regret having a Moomba? No If I had the money to buy something else? Maybe Will it be another SC product? Very Possibly Do I wish there was and option to put in a bigger engine? Yes. I enjoy driving my boat. I enjoy, not only being behind the boat, I also enjoy pulling people. I have done a few mods to to to make it a better boat. The few major projects was a upgraded prop, Z5 Cargo Rack, and most important the Ballast upgrade. I understand that SC make an affordable boat. There product is awesome. I made the boat mods for personal preference. A good friend of mine compares Our wakeboarding wakes. He has a Malibu. He says that the wake was very similar. That made me feel good. I enjoy and really take care of her. She stays in my garage covered. The only time she sees the sun is when she is in the water.

[Jeff W]

I wouldn't touch an older Tige with a 10 foot pole but they are putting out some SICK products in their 09 and 2010 boats.

If I were in the market for a serious upgrade - I would DEFINATELY check out the RZ2 and RZ4. I love the pickle fork and the TAPS. And their new interiors are really coming up to par with Malibu and MC.. Sick boats..

[skiyaker]

good friend of mine bought a Tige Z1 literally the day before I got my OBV; Funny thing is that his dealer told him that Tige is the only V drive that you can trim- so when he saw my OBV last weekend he was a little surprised by the wake plate. It's a nice boat but I'm not sure I can find the $10k extra that he spent; his factory stereo didn't come close to mine so he poured $5k on amps, speakers, etc... His ski wake isn't nearly as good as my OBV at 32 mph 15 off. Worst of all his dealer is a tool- when they put in his wetsounds equalizer they cut a big hole on the back side of his dash- he told them to fix the hole in his boat and so they put carpet over his subwoofer. If I were spending the bigger bucks I'd prefer a Nautique but that's just me.

[kaneboats]

Guma, I met that dealer a couple years ago. His sons are big skiers and ski in the demo shows and stuff. I think one worked at Cypress Gardens too. He's a great guy and very knowledgeable.

[moombadaze]

How I ended up with a Moomba

Back in 03 was looking for a skiboat. We had prevuisly had a Mastercraft prostar, So we looked for a used vdrive in our price range around 30k. We looked at about 3 used mcrafts-could find anything clean enough. Then stopped in at the local ski centurion dealer as there are some on out lake. He had a direct drive for around 33?k and made the comment its in the same price range to compete with moomba-planted the seed to go look at them. Looked at 2 new mcrafts both base models, one vdrive and the little direct drive--liked them both but felt cramped in them and the price was 15k more than i wanted and he said i could finance them for 20yrs to get to the payment i needed-That scared me. Finally stopped in and looked at the Moomba's, they had a mobius vdrive in blue with some options around 33?k. Went home and thought about it for 10 minutes and called them back and said can we go for a ride, yes was the answer just give us 10 minutes to drop it in the lake. So 9 minutes later were back and the boat is ready to go. I think after 2 minutes on the lake I knew we were getting this boat. Do I still look at other boats-yes, do I want any other brands-nope. Are there better boats out there-maybe but cost is a big factor and what I have spent on a new boat on another brand i would be looking at a 5-6 yr old used with no warranty. Big question-is there a better boat for my abilitys--nope. Am I completely satisfied--YES

[Guma]

This wasn't the first time I had stopped at FIC to look at the Tige line. I stopped and talked to Dom probably 3 months ago, right when we first started looking at buying a boat. I think both his kids worked at Cypress at one point.

I have read some of the problems with older Tiges, but from what I have seen and read they are really putting out a lot higher quality than they did years before. I got to briefly demo the Tige Touch which is their version of the Maliview. Gotta say, I really like it! Program, speed and ballast for up to 20 riders, push a button and go.

One thing to note, Dom's shop has been around since 1956 and is going strong. He took it over from his dad in 77or so, and should be around for a while to come.

I am really wondering if having so much time to make a decision on which boat to get is a blessing or a curse. I feel like a freaking woman right now, not being able to make up my mind.