80 Feet Back: Malibu Wakesetter 22 MXZ

After taking the 22 MXZ for a spin, I ­really want to take one of these home for ­myself. First of all, the size of the boat is great for the everyday wakeboarder. It’s not so small that you can’t fit all your buddies in it or load it down with ballast, and it’s not so big that you have to slam it with ballast to perk up the wake if you’re running with a thin crew. The size also puts the wake in what I like to call the “Goldilocks zone” — not too steep and not too rampy, but juuust right.

Next up is the tech in the digital touchscreen dash, which turns any driver at the helm into a good driver. Seriously, all you have to do is get your settings saved in your rider profile, get the driver to drive in a straight line, and the boat does the rest. This automation is much more than just your typical cruise control. The Power Wedge II is arguably the most impressive of the programmable settings because of the benefits it yields to the wakeboarder: You can get on plane faster and more easily than ever before with the wedge’s lifting ­position, which activates and deactivates automatically. As soon as you hit the throttle, it lifts the stern to help the boat plane out rapidly, and then, as soon as the boat planes out, the tech ­automatically sets your speed, adjusts the wedge back to your custom preset, and beefs up the wake to your preferred size and shape — all without the driver having to do a thing.

The entire wakeboarding experience on the 22 MXZ is all-out luxurious, in everything from the interior to the cockpit controls to the ballast and wake. How can a wake be luxurious, you ask? Well, aside from reaching your profile settings lightning-­fast with the lifting wedge, the wake gets up to a pro-level size with ease, and the transition shape sits in the sweet spot between vert and rampy.

Make no mistake — Malibu’s 22 MXZ is ­everything they say it is. No matter what your on-the-water goals are, you won’t be left ­unsatisfied.

HOW DID IT SURF?

The 22 MXZ is a luxury surfboat, and that means an exceptionally adjustable wave. The Power Wedge II controls the attitude, Surf Gate switches from side to side, and the Surf Band lets you control everything while you’re surfing. Weight it evenly from front to back, and you’ll have a solid surf wave.