 MasterCraft X-Star: The Best Wakeboard Boat Thre Someone out there thinks the X-Star is pretty special; actually a lot of someones think the X-Star is pretty special. With every manufacturer claiming to have the best wakeboard boat in the industry, it always helps to have awards from boarders to silence the hype. And for the third consecutive year, the X-Star has won wakeworld.com's Rider's Choice Wakeboard Boat of the Year, silencing the competition once again and pushing them back to the drawing board. At first glance it is glaringly apparent that the X-Star's bow and hull shape are very out of the ordinary. The bow tapers to two points rather than a single point, giving it a hammerhead shape that dramatically increases the bow's occupancy and makes it accessible from the front. Dramatic changes in the boat's hull design are also apparent at the stern. Four terraced chines on the X-Star's AP-1 (Anything's Possible) hull chisel and shape the wake. While the shape and size of the wake are paramount to riders, the 2006 X-Star has lots of other revolutionary, now emulated, enhancements that continue to make it a next generation wakeboard boat. The X-Star has a liner ballast system as opposed to conventional storage compartment ballast tanks. Three tanks are located beneath the floor. Topped off, the X-Star can hold 850 lbs of water weight and 500 lbs of octane, transforming beginner wakes into Grade-A tsunamis at the push of a button. In the cockpit, the X-Star's nerve center stems from the X-Pod, wired with the latest control area network (CAN) technology and digital speed control with standard MasterCraft Cruise. This bullet shaped configuration of new billet aluminum, red faced gauges suspends the speedometer, tachometer and Perfect Pass cruise control in full view of the driver. The remainder of the dash is constructed of carbon fiber and houses all other essential instrumentation. The steering wheel is wrapped in leather and has a chrome center. The molded armrest incorporates a chrome throttle knob and a new digital AM/FM CD stereo remote. Amidship, there is wrap-around seating (covered in dense 38 oz vinyl with new hammered metal vinyl accents), 4 stereo speakers with separates, a subwoofer and 8 more drink holders. Underneath each of the seats there are open cavities for storage. The observer's seat opens from amidship or the bow to form a dual access compartment large enough to fit 2 wakeboards and loads of supplies. Above the observer's seat, there is also a carbon fiber glove box that houses the Clarion receiver, a 12V outlet and room for +/- 30 cell phones. Above the cockpit is the Zero Flex Flyer tower with new tight-clamping and rotating board racks that hold boards firmly in place while swiveling them inside or outside the boat. Tower speakers, recently reengineered, are capable of projecting greater distances to the rider. The stern is almost unchanged above the water line. The X-Star still has a triple hatch sun pad and a large removable swim platform for launching riders. However, it has been re-powered with MasterCraft's multiport 310 hp, 5.7L, RTP-1 power plant under the center hatch. The RTP-1 offers more response, torque, and power in a multi-port injected package. What does all this mean? Simple --- today's riders are doing tricks that have never been done before at pro events like the X Games, MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour, Wakeboard Worlds, World Cup and counter culture-creations like the Double or Nothing and Double Del Noche -- all behind the X-Star. So while you may be hours of training away from landing those tricks, you can practice behind the same award winning boat the pros use --- the X-Star. The one you've already chosen as the Rider's Choice, three years running. |
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