MALIBU 20 VTX

Malibu designed the 20 VTX to be a boat that can do it all, calling it the “crossover king.” The key to accomplishing this lies in its hull design, which Malibu calls its Diamond Hull. Specially shaped, it helps generate respectable wakeboard and wakesurf waves, yet still allows for slalom skiing. It is able to offset the displacement needed to generate wakes and waves at slower speeds, with hard reversed chines and lifting strakes to help generate lift at the higher speeds required for waterskiing. In our sea trial of this boat, we noted that without ballast, the boat produced a soft, readily crossable wake at tournament slalom speeds.

Hardcore skiers will want to option for the center-mounted ski pylon and TXi Performance

Tower, the mounting geometry of which allows a slalom towline to swing across the cockpit. With the center-mounted ski pylon, the boat will track straight and true while a skier carves through a course.

Time to wakeboard? Deploy Malibu’s Power Wedge III—a hydrofoil that adds a response equal to 1,500 pounds of ballast—and watch the wake grow. The standard ballast system fills to 765 pounds, but you can option the ballast capacity up to 3,575 pounds.

When the crew is ready to surf, engage Malibu’s Surf Gate—vertically mounted trim tabs that help shape waves—to sculpt the waves to the rider’s preference behind the boat. The waves are clean and long, and can be ridden as long as there’s enough fuel to power Malibu’s proprietary M5Di or M6Di engines.

Many recognized world records in water-skiing have been set behind Ski Nautique models, and the builder’s G Series boats produce excellent wakes for boarding and surfing. For the rider who wants to do it all, even on the same day, Nautique offers the Super Air GS20. In its hull design, the builder features the Nautique Configurable Running Surface (NCRS), which includes an adjustable plate that automatically moves according to user settings in the in-dash Linc Panoray control system. Sensors in the NCRS help it electronically adjust to the ride conditions, similar to auto trim tabs found on many recreational boats.

With that, whoever is driving the Super Air GS20 can flatten the wake for a slalom run behind the boat and use the Linc system to set the boat for pinpoint direction and speed control. Nautique offers a pop-up ski pylon as an option to set the towrope at the lower angle preferred by skiers. (It also serves as a safer towpoint for tubing; we do not recommend using a tower to tow tubers because the angle makes the tube more prone to flying into the air and flipping.)

When you’re ready to surf or board, adjust the NCRS plate in the Linc settings and fill up the 1,850 pounds of internal ballast. While the wake and wave are smaller than those made by pro-level Nautique wakeboats, the GS20 produces a clean, quality wake for boarding or a wave for surfing. Nautique powers its boats with PCM Marine engines, and the Super Air GS20 can be rigged with a 355 hp ZZ5, 400 hp ZR4 or 450 hp ZZ6.