Epic Wake Boats

[Chris A]

Yeah, MB makes a great boat.  I think they really focus on their quality.  Brendella actually became Calabria, though.  They have taken a mass production is key approach to building.  Calabria sucked up HydroDyne and used a lot of their stuff in what is now Calabria.  HydroDyne was another company that focused on quality and innovation in their boats, but just didn't make enough $$$ to stay a float in a decreasing ski boat market.  They (HydroDyne) were actually approached by Toyota to buy their company when they were getting started but the owner was stubborn and wouldn't sell out.  So Toyota got their own designers and their own plant to produce.  The push towards wakeboarding is what has kept many companies alive after a bit of a shake up during declining ski boat sales, the fact that a 1980 ski boat skied about as well as a new 1997 boat didn?t help.  Anyways, I'm trying my best to get Epic Wake Boats tooled up as a company that produces high quality but can still meet demand.  It is a delicate balance, especially when you throw that little $$$ factor in there but it can be done...

[toyotafreak]

Chris, as long as you get the boats into the right hands and have enough capital or credit to ramp production up immediately, you'll be good to go.

Smellsomewhore is what we call Elsinore, mainly because we're Whiskey Tango (white trash). And the lake stinks.

[cyclone]

Chris A.
Take a hard look at Skiers Choice as a business model. They are totally committed and proactive, and make a top performing product for an entry level price. Not as cushy or obviously so well engineered as a Toyota, but what is?

 Brendella was owned by Mike Brendel, who, as far as I know, is running MB Sports. Dunno. A 2000 model MB sports looks identical in construction to my pals '91 Ski Brendella. Maybe they changed hands since then.

[Chris A]

Yeah, Mike left Brendella and started MB Sport.  I'm not sure if some of the hull molds traveled with him but they look very similar to what Ski Brendella became (Calabria).  HydroDyne was also thrown in the mix with Calabria and you can see a lot of their elements in their new boats, ie: the dash and front seating.  Mike has done his own thing in nor cal and seems to be making a pretty nice boat now a days.  And Skiers Choice seems to be very well run but being on the west coast makes it hard to find out the good dirt on how they are operated.  Thanks, for the input  

[cyclone]

Rick Tinker is very active on ski boat related boards, he will answer questions directly. He is always at boat shows, etc. and is a great guy, very interested in what people like/don't like, what they want, and why his boats have the features they do, etc. Their boats have had issues, they all do, but they step up and fix stuff. I am sure he has close ties to his dealerships, he will come down on the dealer if they try to pull something and you post it on Wakeworld. That's the power of the internet

I still like my Toyota a lot better. BUT were I to buy a new boat it would be a Mobius XLV, no question. Xstar wakes and capacity and better performance for 38k.

But, I spent 20$ or so for 5 hours of wakeboarding this week, including two or three tube runs for the kiddies and me. I still love the tube.

[Chris A]

Thanks for the name drop, I will keep an eye out for him.  What do you think of the fit and finish on Centurions/Ski Supreme?  I am considering having Brent up in Merced build for me, I just hate to have operations soo far away from San Diego...

[toyotafreak]

Chris, you know the answer to that question. Just a matter of where you want to be in the food chain.

[cyclone]

Not great. They don't sell them here in Atlanta anymore, and not cause the boat business is bad, there are new dealers opening every week around here.

Having said that, they must have improved things somewhat because they're getting more positive feedback on Wakeworld than they used to.

[brad]

My friend is on his second Centurion - he just bought the 2005 Enzo.  He really likes the boat and has rave reviews for his dealer/service technician (M&M Watersports in Utah).

He's into wakesurfing.  The new Enzo has the sideswipe exhaust system the can be changed from either side.  Pretty nice feature.  

The Enzo was designed by the gentlemen who designed for Toyota (see my notes with my initiation research in the thread concerning the EOS several months ago).

[toyotafreak]

I ride behind a friend's '03 Centurion Avalanche, and it's a really nice boat, with a very fun stock wake and INCREDIBLE ride in chop. WAY better than my S22.

They're a good value, but they're a 'value' boat, and I didn't think that's where Chris wanted to place his line. If so, I'm all for it. If not, I'm all for it. There's room everywhere.

[cyclone]

I'm glad to hear that Centurion has straightened out,. I have always liked their styling and looked at one of their huge 23 ft wakeboard boats in 2001 or so. It was ahead of it's time, huge. I liked the boat.  It almost sank on the test ride one of the ballast hoses was not connected. The poor kid salesman freaked, and threw me out of the drivers seat and put the hammer down. He beached it at about 10mph and jumped out. At the top of the ramp, he screamed at everyone that his boat was sinking and he had to cut in line. He drove the truck down the ramp at about 30 and plunged the trailer into the water. My bro in law and I just watched him, it was like a cartoon. We hopped out and he hopped in, full throttled it off the beach. He stuck it on the the trailer so hard, we heard this noise. BBBBRRRRRAAATTTTTTTT!!! That was him totally wasting a brand new OJ 4 blade by hitting the prop guard while the engine was at about 3k. There was some water in the bilge, but we weren't goin' down any time soon.  The prop looked like a modern art masterpiece.

His dad was the owner, Nice guys, real bad day.

[Chris A]

I have always likes the Centurion Line.  They were innovators back in the day and still put out some pretty nice boats.  They do cut a lot of corners in production to keep the price down, but I still think they are made to last.  I like their methods, I just think I would use better fittings, and interior elements.  I am probably going to stick with the shop down here for a while though, as they do some killer gel-coat work.  They build for Ultra Custom Boats http://www.ultracustomboats.com, it just sucks to have three different shops, glass, upholstery and rigging