Whats your Tige story

[dom w. forte]

I thought it might be interesting to here everybodys story on how they became a Tigeowner.
For me I started with a brand new 2001 pro air nautique, I was told that CC was the boat to own and being my first ski boat it seemed ok but not as good as I expected comeing from a Chris Craft that bought new.
I wanted an all around sport boat for slalomn, wakeboarding and barefooting, the only thing it did well was wakeboarding.
After lots of warranty issues , and 380 hours I sold it and went a step further, I persued another brand and after demoing Tige I not only notice a big difference in overall performance but found out they didnt have a dealer in my area, the rest is history , our family became a dealership and we have never looked back it was the right choice and has been an exlent company to deal with.
My first personal Tige was a 2004 switch i which I still have with 1300 hours and never had a warranty issue , we handed over to our Tampa bay ski team and is still performing every weekend and has been in volved in 9 consecutive southern regional championships, was on the 1st and second place teams in 2011.
We are very proud of the Tige Team and what they have accomplished.

[IDBoating]

You already know my story, but here it is for everyone else:

My young son was getting better at wakeboarding and I was researching how to improve the anemic wake that our then-jetboat put out. Jetboats are intended to minimize their wake, so everything I did was basically working against the design of the hull - essentially a project doomed to failure. I started posting questions on various websites, including TigeOwners, and eventually started a conversation with Tony Forte. You folks had a brand new leftover 24Ve on the lot, and after some discussion we booked a flight, demoed the boat, bought it, and had it shipped back here.

Until we stepped onto that 24Ve with Tony we had never been on a Tige. So, in our case, it was TigeOwners and Forte's Inboard that turned us into Tige owners. I've thanked you publicly before, but let me take this opportunity again to say Thank You Very Much! You're the best!

[Stingreye]

Here is my path.... I am a recent Tige owner. Bought a 2004 Tige 24V in January. You can skip the first two paragraphs if you don't care how I got into boating and just want to hear about the Tige

First Boat (not a Tige) .... I was 23 or 24 years old and at the wedding for one my friends from college. They had taken me out on their boat several times and I had been house boating with them. He told me that a buyer backed out buying his boat and was selling it for I think $3k. I told him if I had somewhere to store it, I would buy it for that much. By the end of the wedding I had a boat and he let me store it in his garage near my favorite lake (6 hours from where I lived). It was a 1974 Berkley Jet Boat flat bottom with a big engine. TERRIBLE WAKEBOARD WAKE.... Decent (for me) skiing wake. Just getting on the water, I didn't care what I was in. I loved it. The other part I didn't know I was the culture that owned these type of boats back in the day. While launching retrieving etc... Someone would yell... "Real men drive with a foot pedal".... It was a fun boat.

Second Boat.....about 4 years later I couldn't insure my flat bottom anymore without re-routing the exhaust and other work. So I sold it to one of the guys working at a wholesaler that was going to help me get a boat at the auctions in Fontana in 2008. I was hoping at the time to get an inboard for under 15k..... Didn't find one that wouldn't need major work so I ended up with a small Bayliner that had a tower but a WEAK 4 cyl engine. I would drown trying deep water starts on a ski. Wake was only slightly better than my jet flat bottom boat..... but I was still on the water having fun.

MY TIGE!
Last fall, I went wakesurfing at a resort in San Diego (on a new Axis). I had a blast. Then I was researching surf boats like crazy that could fit my budget and surf boat sides. I started out thinking I would get a Malibu with a wedge but.... my research really opened things up. I didn't want to spend the money unless I knew I would really love to wakesurf. After emailing Ragboy (wake9), he suggested that the Polar Bear event would be the perfect event for me to try out some new boats and to try several boards etc. The event was awesome and I met some great people. Ragboy's GREAT article on Topaz's 22V had me seriously looking for a 22V.

http://wake9.com/community/content.p...and-Noseriding.

All of the 22V's I found in my price range seemed to have had alot of use. I found a 24V last October/November that was in good condition. I offered the guy my entire budget in November but I couldn't afford it at that time. I kept looking and drove out to see several boats over the next few months. The guy had pulled the listing down and when I called in January. The boat was still available. I tried to get him to budge more on price but he knew it was priced right. I bumped my budget up and got the 24V. My wife and two young daughter and I all love our Tige!

Researching boats, Duffy's avy pic from the thread below is what had me realize I really wanted a Tige and a 22V or 24V fit my budget and had the freeboard to feel safe!

Here is the pic of Duffy's Avy with water near the sunpad and his threads about liking his Tige (more freeboard great surf wake) after coming from the Avy had me sold.

http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1730735

This forum is also a goldmine! I can't believe all the great info on here. Plus despite some recent activity,I have found it really friendly and helpful to the new guy!

Steve

Below is a pic from the survey I had done pre-purchase.
DSC01766.JPG

[NICKYPOO]

I've been around boats all my life. My grandfather started waterskiing during WWII and we have been a waterskiing family ever since. My folks had a SeaSwirl but my Uncle had a Centurion TruTrack II that I loved. I knew I really wanted one. Several years later, my folks decided to sell the SeaSwirl and that left me and my girlfriend (now my wife) high and dry. A good friend invited us out with him and another guy who had an MB 180. We sat there all day and never got one ride in it. That night we started devising a plan to get our own boat. I spent about six months researching all the tow boats and how they were built. This naturally led to Tige, one I had forgotten about. I saw one at the boat show many years before and thought it was about the best looking tow boat I had ever seen but, kind of dismissed it as a flash in the pan. I started researching Tige a bit more and found exactly what I was looking for, the toughest hull on the tow boat planet, not to mention the best looking. Late 2001, I found one on BoatTrader and never could get it out of my head. I must have looked at that ad a hundred times. 2000 Tige 22i Fox Edition, 56hrs, 28k. After a few phone calls, we headed down to Freemont, CA to take a look at it. It had a cover on it but, it was soaking wet. It was so wet, it had a snail on one of the speedos. It had a dead battery and the guy had no way of getting water to the motor. Rough. However, once I sat it in, I knew I had to have it. I made him hook up jumper cables and start it anyways. The motor sounded good except for the skreaching impellar. I offered 26k knowing he would have to take after that fiasco. He did and we drove it home that night. It has been the picture of reliability ever since. The fuel pump went out at 450 or so hours and that remains the only mechanical or structural failure of any kind.

[infotom]

Back in the 90's i got into boating on the Delta here in Northern California. In 1995 i decided it was time to buy a boat, i liked the look of the sloped bow on the Centurions. At the time i worked at an automotive repair shop in the Bay Area, I was talking to one of our regular customers about boating and telling him that I'm looking to buy a ski boat. The next week he came buy and brought me a brochure on Tige' Boats and suggested that i look at them. I ended up ordering one from Tige' Boats of California in Rancho Cordova Ca and picked it up at their Discovery Bay Ca location............The Customer of ours that handed me the Brochure was Frank Pigeon (Charlie's dad)! Since then, I'm on my 3rd Tige'. Thanks for the referral Frank!!! BTW, Charlie if you ever read anything on this forum....... Your dad was was clearing out a shed years ago (late 90's)and gave me some stuff he had laying around. I believe the pink Skurfer he gave me was yours....I still have it, if you want it back let me know. :-)

[cpropes2005]

I grew up boating so I have been hooked for a long time. 3 months after graduating college I bought my first boat, a 1983 Supra Beast. At the time it was the roomiest inboard I could afford and was a fun boat for the one summer I owned it. Sold the 83 at the end of the season and upgraded to a 1990 Supra SunSport. After having the 1990 for 2 years I found a deal on 97 SunSport with fuel injection and no wood floors so that was my next boat. I had the 97 pretty well set up for wakeboarding with a nice ballast system, perfectpass, tower etc but now that I have a young family I really wanted a Vdrive. My main requirements were deep interior to keep the kiddos inside, a good rough water ride and a good surf wake. After tons of research i figured out that no other inboard meets those three criteria half as well as a Tige so I shopped around for closed to a year before I found the deal I was looking for on my 22v. I am having a few mechanical issues at the moment but I think they will be sorted out soon and I really couldn't be happier with the boat overall.

[Ruger761]

I didnt grow up on the lake at all. We mainly went to the small rivers and floated. Growing up all we had were small flat bottom boats to fish out of. When I was 14-15ish brother bought a 77 Sea Arrow I/O from his now father-in-law. We picked up a Hyperlite Hot Rod with sandle bindings. I have been hooked ever since. His father-in-law bought a MC 190. Which was fun to ride behind when we got the chance. When I was in college brother bought a 01 21i with a tower and a Hyperlite Parks. Oh how that changed everything. I went ahead and bought the Sea Arrow from him, by then I had to put a floor in it and new steering system. But for a poor college guy the price was right and treated me very very well for such an old boat. Ended up adding a 7ft pylon to it. For a 77' I/O it threw a very nice wake with 4-6 people in it adn my 300# ballast in the ski well. Finally got chance last year to upgrade after having the 77 for 8 yrs. Just happen to be looking for the heck of it and my 97 2150 was on C-list and just 20 miles from my house with 212 hrs on it. One test drive and little low balling (which he took to my surprise) here we are today, didnt even have to look at other boats. The old man took very good care of it and I'm doing the same with some minor upgrades and the new gages I had to put in. I plan to have it for a long time to come and let my kids grow up on the lake.

[whitlock87]

My sister in law had a small IO that we went on a few times. We had a great time and decided we wanted our own. After looking around, we decided to purchase a new boat, as I wanted something with a warranty so I would not have to worry about anything. A friend told me to get a Master Craft, or other tournament boat, as we wanted the boat for mostly skiing. After going to Master Craft, I stopped looking at this style boat. (the used ones was even out of my price range). We started to look at I/O’s and Yamahas. We were very close to buying a new AR230 Yamaha when we went to a bunch of dealers off the 91 one weekend. One of the Shops, ( Tige Water Sports sold some I/O along with their Tiges, so we were looking at them. While I was looking around, my son fell in love with a red Tige. Just to get him to shut up, I asked the sales guy how much for this one? When he came back with the price, I could not believe it. He was only $3,000 over the cost of the AR230. I asked what it came with and found out that the Tige was being sold under a OC fair discount special and it came with a Tower (extra on the AR230), Boat Cover (extra on the AR203) Fuel Injection ( Extra on some Tige’s) and a tandem axel trail with brakes. (The AR20 came with a single axel trail / No brakes) When you add up the extras, the Tige was basically the same cost as the AR230, but had a better warranty
A few days later I set up an appointment for a test ride. I was told that the red boat was sold, but they had a blue one. We scheduled the demo and when we showed up, to our surprise he had the red one with him. (The person who bought it financing fell through) After the demo, we bought the boat. When I look back, I do have a few things I might have done differently ( red trailer instead of white) but as far as getting the Tige instead of the AR230, no way. I defiantly ended up with the better boat.

[bmoorewiz]

I was a Moomba owner, sold my Moomba. Went to the boat show the next day expecting to buy the new Moomba Mobius or an MB Sports B23. Seen the Tige Z3 and fell in love with the convex V hull and the Alpha Z tower. As well as all the other extras of course. At that point I didnt have a choice but to buy it.

[WakerideN]

like alot of peeps.. I hate to admit I owned an I/O. but its true. lol Bayliner crapi 19 footer. but it was a good boat... got the familly out.. had a great time, learned to scurf and wakeboard. But realized to get a really good solid wake for boarding.. you need, well a wake boat.. lol so I bought a moomba at the time... great price point boat and worked really good.. kids where all under 5 years old. we where happy. but the kids grew up and so did their friends.. so it was time for a 24ft boat... Looked at all the usual suspects of boats.. MC, Malibu, CC, and Supra. but the RZ4 layout and feel could not be beat.. so 3 days later the moomba sold... and from one weekend to the other i went from a moomba lsv to a Tige RZ4.

like most people that own boats, I was always on the water as a child... so looking back it just makes you realize that its that time in your life that really sets things up for later on, but its fun to read when people missed this at a young age, and how much it makes them feel like kids as adults, and the joy it brings to their kids... All spring all I have heard from my 13 year old is when are we going, over and over... I hope all my kids own boats, best family activity that I can think of and the memories you have last a life time.

[What she said]

I started out bass fish with my dad as a young boy. In high school a friend of mine had an I/O, and he sold it when i was 19. Now im with out a
boat, so at age 21 i found a used I/O 1996 VIP, and about two years later i purchased a 2002 Malibu Sun Setter DD. I was on cloud 9! The main reason i purchased a Malibu was because the sales man gave me the time of day. (none of the other boat dealers would even talk with me- i was to young) Tim turned out to be the Owner of Water ski america, and Chris finished the sale,Chris now work for Tige. Then in 2008 i traded for a 2008 VLX, then about two years later divorce, and the boat had to go. So im with out a boat again! After 2 knee surgerys from wake boarding, and messed up back.
In 2011 i stared researching surf boats, and i found lots of info about the RZ2 being a great surf boat on both side. I never looked at Tige, cause i thought they stole Mastercrafts pickle fork, and Malibu's towers!! But the more i looked at them i fell in LOVE with the looks! I stopped by the Tige dealer one day and looked at the Platinum they had in the show room, and this boat was WAY NICER than my Malibu, and i was shocked, so i asked the guy how much and he said he could do this one for $99,999. I almost ruined my shorts if you know what i mean! I left with my head down going what just happend?So months later me and my new fiance went and look at them, and she really liked the RZ2, so we took a demo, and the one we wanted was load and it was like $87K, and i wanted to pull the trigger (WE BOTH FEEL IN LOVE WITH IT) planned to demo a MXZ, and a Correct Craft 210, but i found a good deal on a used 2011 RZ2 WITH 160 hours it was 6 mounths old for $61k, and we picked it up in the rain, and lots of little issue with the seller, got it all worked out and we cant wait to go SURFING!

[Allan Kendall]

Growing up in Tracy Cal, water skiing and surfing was my thing. Dad would take me fishing on the Delta and before I knew it Whisky Slew was home every weekend in my brother in law's Jet boat. I moved to Colorado in 1993 -ish and didn't hit the water enjoying the other sports offered up by the colorado rocky mtn. After a midlife job change and graduating my Fire Academy I was introduced to boating again by my Firemen brothers..Most had wakeboard or fishing boat but no one had a party barge..SO I spent $2400 on a used 20 foot grumun with a 75horse out board 2 stroke motor...

after three years of storing everyones toys and coolers it was time to get busy wake boarding..we had just returned from adopting our Son Ben from China and he was really taking to the water. My father in law had a Regal 206 in florida that he was not using so we had it shipped up and I spent the last three years upgrading it as the account would allow...

Ben really started to excel in the boating sports so it was time to upgrade again...not wanting to we slapped a tower on the Regal and found ourselves walking through the Denver boat show looking for a wakeboard mirror...we Stopped in the WWS tent and that was that...a custom boat show spacial 2012 Tige R20..

We still laugh that we went in for a mirror and came out with a boat...we named it...."Mirror"!

[robert theisen]

I started my love affair with the water as a child.My dad had a 16' Galaxy with a outboard Evinrude 50 H.P.I learned how to ski and how to slalom.Wooden Ski's was what i learned on.Then there was a long hiatus without a boat until i turned 31.I bought a used 1989 Four Winns 17' Bow Rider with a OMC Cobra I/O.I learned how to kneeboard and ride a Skurfer as well as how to get tossed out of a tube.My wife and i decided we needed a more powerful boat,so we shopped Mastercraft and Correct Craft and ended up with a 1992 Correct Craft Nautique Excel.It had a PCM 275H.P. Pro Boss V-Drive motor and made a nice wake.I learned how to Trick Ski,Barefoot,ride a Air Chair,Wakeboard and do flips and 360's wake to wake on the Kneeboard.We had a Barefoot boom for teaching others to Barefoot but i was the only one dumb enough to learn deep water starts bare footing.After 15 years of trouble free use from our Correct Craft we took a ride in a friends 2007 Tige 24VE.It was all but over then.It handled like a sports car[our Nautique was a slow lazy turner].The Tige also rode in rough water smoother and made a bigger wake without ballast.So off to the Tige dealer we went.We fell in love with the 22ve and picked the colors and options we liked and ordered it up.I really loved my 22Ve.I added tower speakers and ballast bags and more ballast bags and even more ballast bags.Till i thought i had the perfect wake.We loved the 22Ve but hated how long it took to fill the ballast bags and always would spill a little water in the rear compartments and in the bow.I really liked the Alpha Z tower on the newer Tige's and started to check out the RZ2 when i saw the new graphics for 2010.Then read up on the Tige touch.I started playing with the build a boat program and by 2010 late the new graphics came out.The Vector Graphics.I knew then a new Tige was in my future even though i had 420 trouble free hours on my 2007.So i ordered my 2011 with just about every option you could get except for a bigger motor.I loved the fact Tige had gone to PCM as i had such good service out of my previous PCM power plant.The PCM 343 has plenty of power even with the pro ballast full.My 2011 has 250 trouble free hours on it so far.Looking for many more.I learned how to surf behind this boat and in 1 year i am able to ride regular and switch as well as heel side regular and switch.I almost have my 360 down.I can rotate it but i haven't ridden away yet.Surfing is very easy and my wife likes it too.

[loudelectronics]

Back in 1997 i got a CWB Dually ZR wakeboard for Christmas. Never wakeboarded before but since I snowboarded alot I thought it would be an easy transition. Not so, or atleast the getting up part. Anyways the board package came with a tape on how to wakeboard. I cant remember the name of it but they used a Tige boat in it. They went through the taps and such on the vid demonstrating for the boat drivers. I thought it was a very neat concept. A few years later in 2001 we started going to some comps. What do you know, tige boats was pulling it. Tige was everywhere in western canada. The dealer at the time pulled me on the boat and took me for some rips before the day started. I was hooked. Our family could not afford one at the time so we would make sure to go to the events just to be able to ride behind the boats that few times per year. Fast forward a few more years I graduate, spend some time in university and land a job while still in school. I had to buy a house but really wanted a Tige boat. My credit, still fresh with no asset would not allow me to buy a house and a boat. I got creative. I went and applied for my mortgage on the house and applied for my mortgage on the boat the same day with different creditors. Since they did not see each other I go approved for both and signed the papers for both on the same day so there was no risk of being denied for one or the other. I had my new to me 2004 24V in year 2007. The boat had some major gelcoat cracks that Tige (keep in mind it is a used boat and gel is rarely warrantied) said bring it on down and we will take care of it for you. Just as there word they fixed the boat, upgraded the vinyls at no cost to me. Not only sold on the boat but a factory that takes care of there customers like that is like nothing scene before.

So this year I was fishing for a new boat and really wanted a Z3. Nautique was really throwing some good deals my way to get their boat out on our lake to be used for surfing and wakeboarding and of course our school. Because of how Tige took care of me there was no option but to continue with Tige. There is much more to Tige than just buying a boat. You know they are going to stand behind it. So I got my Z3 and the amount of Tige's keeps increasing every year on our lake, especially after we take them out for a surf and wakeboard.

[ChrisBarnes05-12-84]

I grew up going to the lake like most everyone else here. But there was one catch, it was on one crappy boat. A 1979 Chrysler bass boat with an 85 hp engine. But I dont suppose I cared to much as a kid. It was always fun skiing and tubing. As I grew up and went off to college I started goin to the lake with my friend and started wakeboarding. After wakeboarding for a couple years I always wanted to ride behind a wakeboard boat. But me and my friends were poor college kids and there was no way we could afford something like that. We also wanted the lifestyle of being a wakeboard boat owner. Every time we would see all theses malibu's MC's etc I cant recall a time that i saw an ugly girl on one of them. They would always pick up 5-6 hot girls from the dock. Go wakeboarding for a couple hours then go to the beach and drink the rest of the day. THis was definitely something i was interested in. So when i was 21 i landed a job and the first thing i bought was a boat(didnt even own a truck ). I was browsing around the internet and found a 2001 20i. I had never even heard of TIGE until that point. I went and took a ride and fell in love with it. Bought it and drug it home and had the best summer of my life. Summer of 06. We finally realized the dream of Boarding and Partying. While the 20i was a great boat, I decided to buy a brand new the following summer. Bought a 2007 20v. Had 6 wonderful years on that boat in which time I met my now wife and mother of my son at the lake. Now comes time to buy a boat that is truly our family's boat so here comes the all new 2013 z1. Hopefully by memorial day