Boats

The Frankenboat

By Wakeboarding Magazine

Updated: May 24, 2016

What do you get when you combine a few insane features from today’s leading inboard-boat companies? The Frankenboat! In our second installment, we bring you four features from four different boats that we really love for 2016. Check them out!

[ 1 ] Moomba Mojo’s Bow

[ 1 ] Despite its value-class pricing, Moomba has a lot of things to contribute to the Frankenboat, and we’re going to call out the Mojo’s bow. Why would a bow make the list? Because it’s a hybrid between wide-nose and traditional that enhances the boat’s wake performance and compromises as well as anything else on the market. Moomba was one of the first companies to jump on the deep-boat revolution, and for good reason. There’s really no downside to a deeper hull when it comes to board sports: You get a more enjoyable ride, more storage and capacity, and room for more ballast. Moomba’s hybrid bow has enough room for passengers without spilling over into a front so big that it rivals the lounge and compromises the boat’s handling. Throw in the usuals like cup holders, speakers, grab handles, logo badging, a removable filler cushion, overall ergonomics and recessed entry steps, and you have a big-time bow that’s still part of a low-price package. WBM

[ 2 ] Axis Auto-Set Wedge

[ 2 ] We like our boats to be intuitive. They don’t have to be simple; they just have to provide effective functions that are easy to use, and that’s why we’re picking the Axis Auto-Set Wedge for our ballast enhancement. We love the Auto-Set Wedge because it’s just so easy and it gets results. Reach through the platform hatch to pinch the pins and deploy the wedge. That’s it. You’re done. The system consists of a wing that pulls down the back of the boat to displace more water and create a bigger wake, and no matter the running attitude, it will always adjust to an optimal angle. It’s a beautifully simple design. Pull the Auto-Set Wedge back up, and it automatically clicks into place when you want to trailer or run down the lake to the next riding spot. WBM

[ 3 ] Tigé’s TAPS 3 System

[ 3 ] Tigé’s TAPS 3 surf system is without question a favorite of ours because it creates a clean wakesurf wave on whichever side you choose to surf, without moving any weight. The company also innovated the Surf Remote, which puts the surfer in control of his or her own wave while riding, and now that the Surf Remote is integrated into TAPS 3, it’s an integral part of the Frankenboat. When the Surf Remote first came out, it controlled the wave’s shape and height, which was really cool, but now that the functionality is stepped up to include side-to-side transfers, TAPS 3 has really come into its own. The system is deceptively sophisticated, remembering your settings from one side to the next so you don’t have to readjust each time you hop the rooster tail. Despite all these features, however, there’s no chance TAPS 3 would have made our list if it wasn’t easy to use. The Surf Remote is waterproof and positively buoyant so you don’t have to worry about losing it, and the system automatically connects so pairing struggles are minimized. WBM

[ 4 ] Centurion Ramfill Ballast

[ 4 ] Centurion’s Ramfill ballast is next because a wakeboat without significant additional weight is no wakeboat at all. This year is a big one for Centurion because the company finally released its Ramfill numbers, which was something the boating world had been wondering about for a long time. That the system was effective was never in question; we just didn’t know how groundbreaking these numbers would be when compared to most inboards. We’re talking 2,550 pounds standard for Ramfill on the new Ri237, and when you add in plumbed ballast, you’ve got a staggering 5,100 pounds of wake-making displacement potential. To be clear, you don’t need this much weight to go wakeboarding, but for the discerning wakesurfer, it creates a wall the likes of which you can achieve only with 2.5 tons of water weight. The other notable feature of Ramfill is how it fills: An intake on the bottom of the boat fills the entire thing in about a minute and empties almost as quickly. It fills so quickly, in fact, that Centurion put huge vents on the sides of the boat because the pressure difference from filling a void that large so fast could blow out the side of the tank. WBM