Wakeboard Boat Review
This MB Sports B52 V23 Team Edition is bad. So bad. It has monstrous ballast that frightens children. It looks like it’s on fire with all the flame graphics. And its wakes can eat you alive. OK, OK, it’s not that bad, but this California-built wakeboard boat is soaked in attitude and performance. The 23-footer has a long equipment list full of features you just don’t see on other wakeboard boats. Part of that is a result of pro rider Cobe Mikacich being heavily involved with the boat’s development. Part of it is that MB Sports is a smaller family-owned company with special attention paid to each of the 300-plus wakeboard boats it crafts each year. As a result, this model is so good it’s scary.
Triple-Up Ballast System
Three tanks, 2,500-pound capacity. You won’t see bigger than that. New faster pumps cut the fill time.
Two-speed transmission
A rare standard feature. Boosts the low-end power to get all that weight up to speed, then shifts for a consistent pull.
Tower
Stylish tubes are built from aircraft aluminum and come standard with billet aluminum wakeboard racks.
Gelcoat graphics
Real artistry is at work here with wild custom hull graphics actually done in the gelcoat.
Rear-facing seat
Cool addition behind the driver’s seat is this mini-recliner, perfect for watching the wake show.
Wake Shape
As you’d expect with a two-ton wakeboard boat loaded with another 2,500 pounds of ballast, the wakes are ginormous. They’re a legit pro level without even thinking about adding an extra ballast bag. Wakes are very, very meaty and just as solid. Ramps are so smooth. It appears there’s a lip, but a rider never touches it since it’s kind of recessed from the crisply defined peak. You can go straight up or charge it and go way, way out into the flats. The two-speed transmission is a big help in hole shot and executing double-up turns.
Specs
Length 23 ft. Beam 96 in.
Seating capacity 12
Fuel capacity 64 gal.
Test Prop Acme 13.5 x 17 4-blade
Top Speed 43.0 mph 5,100 rpm
Accel. To 30 mph 6.1 sec. 154.6 ft.
Accel. To 36 mph 8.8 sec. 287.4 ft.
Noise levels (db) Neutral 61 D 58 R, 36 mph 85 D 88 R
Test Engine: PCM Excalibur 5.7L, 330 hp
