Wakeboarding Magazine
2011-11-02 18:00:25 | 4338 views | 0 Comments

Boat Review

The MasterCraft X-45 is a best-selling wakeboard boat for the MasterCraft brand. Standing in the wide-open main cabin, it’s easy to tell why. From here, you can just barely make out the wake boat’s pickle-fork nose - a testament to its sheer vastness. Between the main lounge’s deep wraparound seating and the impossibly wide bow (at 80 inches, it’s the widest in our test), the MasterCraft X-45 seats 18, which makes a reality of loading up four families. MasterCraft makes the most of all that space, with billet aluminum accents and a driver’s seat that will rival the La-Z-Boy in your living room.

FAVORITE FEATURE:

The VDIG’s Second Year
MasterCraft’s Visual Digital Interface Gauge, or VDIG, was one of the standout features in our guide last year. A central command of sorts, the VDIG lets you manage your speed, ballast tanks, wake plate and tons more with its intuitive, easy-to-use interface. And it’s even better in year two, thanks to an improved LCD, which is easier to see in daylight.

SPECS:

People: 18
Dry weight: 4,950 lbs.
Fuel capacity: 90 gal.
Tower: Zero Flex Flyer
Racks: Swivel and clamping
Wake shaper: Adjustable wake plate

TEST MEASUREMENTS:

Length: 24 ft. 2 in.
Width: 8 ft. 6 in.
Bow length: 75 in.
Bow width: 80 in.
Floor to tower: 80 in.
Gunwale: 30 in.
Main lounge: 71 sq. ft.
Sun pad: 21 sq. in.
Platform: 14 sq. in.
Ballast: 1,000 lb. (one 500-lb. bow tank; two 250-lb. center tanks)

ENGINE:

Standard: MasterCraft RTP-1 5.7L 310 hp
Test prop: OJ 14.75 x 15.5 four-blade
Cruise: PerfectPass Wakeboard Pro; ZeroOff Wakeboard*
* = Optional

THE WAKES

The wake on the MasterCraft X-45 is a pleasant surprise. It has a nice transition; it’s really clean and really fun. Because of the wakeboard boat’s maxed-out, 102-inch beam, it gets wide pretty quick, but all you have to do is dial in your rope length and charge it.