Malibu M240

Malibu invited Lakeland Boating for a test ride of its new M240 at the plant near Knoxville, Tennessee, in December.

Somehow the idea of wakesurfing wearing a parka and a wet suit didn’t hold the appeal of traveling to Miami in February where the new boat would be in 75-degree water, under sunny skies, with the backdrop of the Miami International Boat Show.

Turns out we made the right call because two other well-known competitors had their boats on display, making it easier to compare advances in the towboat category over the past decade. For reference, I’m one of the eight boating writers who make up the jury for the prestigious Innovation Awards in the recreational marine industry. For the past 19 years, I’ve witnessed the towboat market transition from waterskiing and knee boarding to wakeboarding and now the hottest trend: Wakesurfing. Along the journey, Malibu’s innovations have shaped and reshaped the watersports industry.

A refined science

Malibu was first to market in 2012 with its patented Surf Gate, which hydraulically channels a wave left or right behind a towboat. Since then, Malibu has refined the science of producing ballast, designed an integrated surf platform, reshaped the function of digital displays and touchscreens that make wave management respond to a simple touch point, and developed a wristband remote that lets the rider adjust the speed and wave dynamics.

The M240 flagship combines further advances in technology and performance with a new level of luxury and the first supercharged inboard engine to meet CARB’s four-star emissions rating.

Here we were adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and about to wakesurf! What was I thinking? To add a degree of difficulty, a trailing cold front had kicked up the chop, which prompted an unexpected, “Excellent conditions!” from Chip Smith, Malibu vice president of marketing. “We wanted to showcase our new M-line hull with purpose-built extra-tall freeboard for superior on-water handling. The deadrise tames the chop, keeps the boat stable and opens the sport to bigger bodies of water, even on windy days.”

From a purely aesthetic point of view, the most notable difference of the M240 is the integration of the Surf Gates. What once looked like an add-on kit, the all-new version called Surf Gate Fusion has larger gates seamlessly integrated into the M-Line hull. The gates quietly deploy in concert with the filling of sub-floor ballast that helps shape the wave. There are six tanks, two more than on previous boats, and they are positioned forward, freeing up storage in the stern.

What is significant is that competitors are opting for larger, but fewer tanks. Malibu questions this strategy on two fronts. First, that’s a lot of water to slosh around. Weighing 8.34 pounds per gallon, even with baffles in the bladders, the inertia created can have a negative impact on boat handling. Second, despite better tank material, the risk of a leak could have unintended consequences.

Malibu’s High Flow Launch System addresses those concerns and fills six tanks with up to 3,200 pounds of water in less than three minutes.

You can beef-up your wakes and waves even further with another Malibu innovation, the Power Wedge III, a reverse hydrofoil system that adds an additional simulated ballast of 1,500 pounds.

One area that’s hard to judge is the effectiveness of the wave and the hydrodynamic effects on a surfboard based on the rider’s skill. So, we asked Brian Grubb, a pro wakeboard surfer who works for Malibu, to be our test subject. Hugging the shoreline and somewhat protected from the wind by tall condos, Grubb surfed close to the boat, then stretched out the wake a whopping 25 feet behind the boat to demonstrate the dynamics of the wave control. The cleaner wave surface is the result of the taller gate. An added benefit is the width of the ride. Normally a rider is right behind the stern, but Grubb adjusted the control, spreading the wave a good 5 feet to both port and starboard outside of the boat’s footprint. That was impressive.

Another new feature on the M240 that every driver will appreciate is the Malibu Stern Turn. It allows you to make tighter returns that reduce the time it takes to pick up a rider by 30%. This means more riders per day and likely some fuel savings. The Stern Turn looks like a bow thruster you’d find on larger yachts. In this case, it’s mounted sideways at the stern, above the propeller, and works in concert with the Power Wedge. This feature will make docking easier too.

Bragging rights

Malibu was one of the first towboat companies to recognize that its buyers would embrace the switch from analog to digital gauges and the touchscreen displays revolutionizing command of everything onboard from running lights to sound systems. What I found impressive is the research that went into orientation of the displays and testing to see how a captain will move their eye from the left to right and top to bottom. Hence the placement of the most critical information first, and customary readouts placed in a lower-priority ranking.

The Malibu Command Center electronics package on the M240 is exactly the type of technology a dad will brag about to another dad, while the kids lounge in the bow or hang out as a team sport in the back. Regardless of where you sit, little extras await: Spray-free cell phone recesses and chargers, cup holders for everyone, a kick-posterior sound system and ultra-plush wraparound leather-like vinyl loungers with intricate stitching details.

Notable touches of luxury throughout are balanced by smart design, from a premium Yeti cooler on rails that can be accessed without asking a passenger to stand up and move, an interior-saving walk-over transom that provides a non-skid path to the swim platform and a patented flip-down swim step for strain-free boarding.

Under the hood, is Malibu’s new Monsoon LT4 V8 direct injection engine. For gearheads, that’s 6.2 liters of displacement, 607 hp and, as mentioned previously, was the first supercharged inboard engine on the market to meet CARB’s four-star emission rating. On top of this creation is a tower that lowers for towing and storage. Speaking of towing, Malibu builds its own trailers. The M240’s trailer has two neat features: An audible depth gauge signaling when is the perfect time for launch or recovery and parking brakes.

Innovation is inspiring, and Malibu’s M240 will be reshaping the wave of technology for summers to come.