Boating USA — January 2018

WE SAY MasterCraft’s XT23 aims to

be a crossover between the brand’s

premium X models and the entry-level

NXT line while proving itself worthy of

surf, wake and ski duty. The latter is a

challenge, because the weight that makes

for good boarding and surfing isn’t the

best for minimizing the wake for skiers.

Yet we noted a surprisingly small wake

at slalom speeds. Where the XT23 truly

excels is at wakeboarding and wakesurf-

ing. Credit the hull and primarily the

boat’s 2,600-pound ballast capacity,

along with MasterCraft’s optional Gen 2

Surf System ($6,820).

The XT hull also offers a mega

cockpit. There’s U-shaped seating, with a

doublewide observer seat and a flip-over

backrest in front of the sun pad that

makes for the perfect spectator seat. The

captain enjoys total control of features

through an intuitive touchscreen display.

MASTERCRAFT

XT23

SPEED EFFICIENCY OPERATION

rpm knots mph gph naut. mpg stat. mpg range range n. mi. s. mi. angle levelsound

1000 5.13 5.90 1.80 2.85 3.28 141 162 0 68

1500 6.43 7.40 2.30 2.80 3.22 138 159 3 71

2000 7.39 8.50 4.00 1.85 2.13 91 105 6 72

2500 9.82 11.30 6.70 1.47 1.69 73 83 8 78

3000 18.77 21.60 8.40 2.23 2.57 111 127 6 81

3500 24.77 28.50 10.20 2.43 2.79 120 138 4 82

4000 28.85 33.20 13.40 2.15 2.48 107 123 3 83

4500 32.50 37.40 16.70 1.95 2.24 96 111 3 83

5000 35.11 40.40 21.90 1.60 1.84 79 91 2 84

5500 37.19 42.80 27.20 1.37 1.57 68 78 2 87

5600 38.23 44.00 29.20 1.31 1.51 65 75 2 88

MOST ECONOMICAL CRUISING SPEED

·LOA: 23'4" ·BEAM: 8'6" ·DRAFT: 2'6" ·DISPLACEMENT:

5,000 lb. ·FUEL CAPACITY: 55 gal.

HOW WE TESTED ENGINE: ILMOR 6000 GDI

PROP: 15" X 16" 4-BLADE NIBRAL GEAR RATIO: 1.57:1 FUEL

LOAD: 55 GAL. CREW WEIGHT: 835 LB.

Our test boat featured the optional

Ilmor 6000 GDI, a 430 hp direct-injection

6.0-liter engine that planed us in 5.3

seconds and peaked at 44.5 mph. Engage

Launch Control and the Gen 2 Surf

System plates help achieve plane even

with a full load of ballast. Another cool

option? MasterCraft’s Dockstar sys-

tem ($3,160), a pair of pivoting rudders

forward of the prop that allow the boat to

back up with handling comparable to a

sterndrive. — Jeff Hemmel

WHO’D WANT ONE

Boaters seeking to ski,

wake and surf in style.

ANOTHER CHOICE

Nautique’s 22-foot

Super Air Nautique GS22

($111,896 with 400 hp

PCM ZR4 6.0L) follows

TESTS///#3049

a similar ski/wake/surf theme and

features a comparable interior layout, as

well as 2,250 pounds of factory ballast

and the optional Nautique Surf System

for wake-shaping.

BOTTOM LINE $121,960 (with test

power); mastercraft.com

PHOTO: COURTESY MASTERCRAFT