R3 or R3 Surf, To Surf or not to Surf

[loveoutdoors]

Looking for some advice, I have just joined this forum and this will be my first post. My wife and I have enjoyed our 21 foot bowrider (not a cobalt) for 10 years. We have decided it is time to get a larger boat and prefer the R3 over the CS23 because we do not simply want a longer boat we want a bigger boat. We are in our late 50's and just cant give up the bowrider for a pontoon. I have looked at the WSS series for a few years and love the look however now that we are ready to buy we realize the WSS is no longer just a good looking boat they now have a forward facing stern drive with ballast for a surf option. Our children now starting their own families join us at the lake and while non of us have ever surfed before we now have the option of surfing on a bowrider and this complicates the decision. Do we load up a R3 and mirror the 2014 WSS look we love and keep the duel prop traditional stern drive or do we go all in and get a new WSS Surf. We are a lake only family that loves to just take a ride and let the family tube. We will have an occasional water sports day where we break out the skis, wake-board and knee-board. My wife says we could add surfing to our water sports day but I am nervous about using a forward facing drive. We are on Lake Martin, it is a beautiful man made lake and the water level is adjusted down in the fall and raised back up in the spring. The water is very clear but thinking about hitting something in the water scares me. Just this week we stopped and pulled a 14 foot 2 by 4 out of the water. Other factors are we will find places to beach and just swim, also my dock area is to small for a boat lift so the boat sits in the water while I am at the lake and when I leave the lake 6 to 8 times a summer I will be taking it out of the water and putting it on a trailer. I know this is a long read but in order for your opinions to help I felt you needed all the information. Thank You in advance.

[AsLan7]

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Helloooo loveoutdoors.

Great to have you as part of our dysfunctional Cobalt family.

Thanks for the intro and sounds like a great setup on Lake Martin.
Unless you are leaning more toward wake surfing the majority of your time, coupled with the need for a big water boat due to larger bodies of water, I would trend more toward a standard Cobalt I/O with a wake tower. There are quite a few models available which would suit your need.

The forward facing drives are a unique animal and certainly have a market niche. They are also a unique animal to get used to when it comes to trailering, avoiding bottom debris, trimming, etc.

You'll get a range of opinions on here to help you. All we ask for are pictures once you purchase.

So glad you found us. BTW, I'm curious which 21 foot manufacturer you owned before thinking about a Cobalt?

....and welcome aboard mate!
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[Big Block Power]

Welcome. I agree with A7. Unless where you beach it has a steep drop off that's not going to happen. Is the launch deep?
If you kept it on the lift i think that may change things. Lake martin is a pretty deep lake so that helps. The debris in the water through that out it can mess up either drive. Where do you go to gas it up? Is it deep there too?
Surfing is the way to go but forward drive has its limitations I think. The forward drive guys will chime in.
Just get the 430 and captain's call! I need a new boat in ten years. Please not red or Nautis will be all over this.

[loveoutdoors]

Thank You A7 and Big Block Power, as a new member I have not figured out how to load a picture, my 2003 Crownline 202 is Red, I bought it in 2008 with 7 hours on it and we love it. Just ready for a larger boat. Most of my Toys are Red and I expect my New Boat will also be red. I am looking forward to all the advice I can get. It would be great to hear from someone using the new forward drive. Unfortunately for me I am the last boat on our slue and i have the shallow water averaging about 7 feet during the main part of the summer. Its when the process to drain the lake in Sept begins I get concerned. I am good where I fuel up at.

[Big Block Power]

Clifford. Was a great 202 but a wet one.
What a difference in ride going to the cobalt

Just click on attachments then click add.

[loveoutdoors]

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[tgrace98]

We only have a few surf owners on here so not sure how much information you will get. I know one member messed up his props pretty bad loading it on the trailer.

Personally if I were buying a brand new boat I wouldn’t get a surf model. But I don’t wake board so don’t see the need to spend the money on the forward drive.

Nice to see you are moving from a crownline to cobalt. You will not regret your decision! I’ve owned a crownline 202 and a 225. You will love the ride of the cobalt over the crownline!

[Tuscany]

IMO
Maybe I’m getting old, but I think the surf thing is a fad. I’m not quite sure what slow surfing behind a boat does for someone when you can ski or board at full speed. Seems like it would get old, and I don’t see the “thrill”. 5 minutes of going 10-15 miles an hour would become quite boring.
Personally, I wouldn’t own a forward drive as a gift. There is simply no way to trim the props up and out of trouble when trouble appears.

[Ytmsn]

Haa! I love you Tusc! You can be a grumpy ole summbitch in the morning!

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But I agree with you!

Welcome from Oklahoma, and you'll be a winner with whatever you choose. With kids and watersports you would like a surf model, but theres a learning curve, a higher risk of damage component, problems with loading, problems with lifts, problems with shallow water, ramps, lean angles on driveways, high spots in the road, yadayadayada. Not worth to me, but then that's easy to say because I dont have one. If I did I'm sure I'd be singing it praises and growling at all of haters putting a FD down!

I don't think surfing is a fad, but I suspect the forward drive may be. If problems continue with folks shelling the lower unit by simply loading onto a trailer, I can't help but think changes are coming.

Conventional drive, with a tower.

[AsLan7]

made me laugh with that caricature this AM YT.
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[Ytmsn]

Walter is my favorite!

[tgrace98]

IMO
Maybe I’m getting old, but I think the surf thing is a fad. I’m not quite sure what slow surfing behind a boat does for someone when you can ski or board at full speed. Seems like it would get old, and I don’t see the “thrill”. 5 minutes of going 10-15 miles an hour would become quite boring.
Personally, I wouldn’t own a forward drive as a gift. There is simply no way to trim the props up and out of trouble when trouble appears.

I don’t think it’s a fad. But it is for sure a niche boat. If you come down to table rock lake you will see someone surfing in almost every cove. Wake board boats, or tug boats as I like to call them are everywhere. Ask YT they had a big MasterCraft meetup going on during our CC trl regatta and we came across probably 80+ mastercrafts.

Personally I’ve tried it. Can pull myself up but as soon as I let go of the rope to “surf” I’m on my arse lol. I’ve also driven the boat to while pulling surfers and as you said it’s a yawn fest. 10mph with the trim all the way down.

The wife actually really liked a MasterCraft we saw at the boat show until I told her they are purpose boats and only do 30mph top speed.

I just realized my 3 paragraph rant has nothing to do with surf or no surf lol. Like others have said if I had shallow water or was loading it on or off the trailer all the time. I wouldn’t get one.

[Tuscany]

Haha YT, more like this.

[Tuscany]

TGrace, I think you just made me realize the difference here.
Truthfully, in my years of boating, I haven’t seen a single person surfing behind a boat...or a surf boat of any kind on the water. This area seems to ski/board.
Maybe fad is too strong of a word, and probably the wrong word.
Maybe it’s more “regional”.
We boat on a Great Lake. The most volatile lake of them all. Smaller boats that don’t encounter radically changing nautical conditions need not apply. One day, Tahoe. The next, The Bearing Sea.
I haven’t seen a surf boat on Chautauqua either. Maybe AJ has.

For me, my single most fear when boating is hitting something I can’t see while close to shore or retrieving.
You are definitely leaving your walnuts on the chopping block with forward drive exposure.
My grumpy rear end isn’t feeling a FWD drive.

[Big Block Power]

I think I would go to the cs23 because it's sleeker. They handle and ride totally diff. After having the 222 and the 220 not sure I can do a r3 yet. Maybe when I'm as old as T
But if I found one of these bad boys with a 430 you never know.