The 20th Anniversary Edition RZ2 is as tricked out as you're going to want to get… and then some.

Captain's Report by Capt. Steve

Keep the Fat

Tigé's mission in life is to produce premium wakeboats. In order to remain competitive Tigé has come up with a triple whammy for creating the wake you long for. First is the old fashioned ballast tank. It's a tried and true method of adding weight and increasing your wake. There's no reason to stop doing this so Tigé has dual ballast sacks in the stern and a horseshoe shaped one at the bow. From here it gets interesting.

Playing TAPS

Tigé has also reconfigured the hull, and added a trim plate aft, so you can dial in the parameters you’re looking for in ways that were previously unavailable. The hull design is called Convex V and the variable part of the equation is called TAPS 2, for Tigé Adjustable Performance System.



The interior of the Platinum Edition looks as good as the exterior. Notice the custom snap-in carpeting and the color matched tower.

The Convex V/TAPS Marriage…

Where other wakeboats have hull bottoms that run in a straight line until they get to the stern and then hook down, Tigé’s curves slightly upward. That drops the transom down, creating bigger wake. The more of the transom in the water, the more wake you will have.

Tigé then adds an adjustable plane on the centerline, much like a trim tab. Want a bigger wake? Adjust the TAPS 2 plane up and you have a fatter wake. Want a flat wake? Bring the TAPS 2 plane down and you get a more laminar flow to the hull.

Getting it On

Does it work? Oh yeah it does, but better with the ballast bags filled. Without any added ballast, activating the TAPS 2 did make a difference: the bow came up and down with the control. But the difference in wake was negligible, at least from the driver’s seat. At the end of the towline, maybe it would be more pronounced. But the fact that it did anything at all is a step past other boats that have a fixed, hooked hull.



Note how the swim platform is right at the surface of the water. This eliminates the need for a reboarding ladder. There is a grab handle in the center of the transom to assist in reboarding.

However, add ballast and things change dramatically. Now when you bring the TAPS 2 up, the stern sinks way down, and the wake… well, if you want higher then perhaps Olympic ski jumping is more for you. I was able to go easily from a moderately flat wake to a monster wake-surfing wake, all with the touch of a throttle mounted button.

From an operational standpoint, it wasn’t pretty. No one would say that operating a boat with so much extra weight, and having the bow so high, is efficient or cost effective, but in the world of wake boarding, it’s not about the driver’s comfort, it’s all about the wake and speed, and in this boat, you can have it your way.

Tigé Touch…

But all of this is of little consequence if you can’t get back to a favorite position the next day. With Tigé Touch, you can do that and more. With its 6.5” (16.5 cm) touch screen, you can create up to 25 different profiles that contain information on boat speed, ballast bag levels, and TAPS adjustments, AND you can name those profiles after the friends that they are dialed in for. Tigé Touch also allows you to have full control of all switches and tunes (regardless of what source they come from) and even gives you a readout of all gauges. We get into a full review of Tigé Touch elsewhere on our site and you should check it out.



Tigé Touch gives you complete control of the boat’s ballast tanks, TAPS2 plate, and speed plus all electrical and tunes.

Comfort Level…

Aside from wake control, the Tigé RZ2 is also a very comfortable boat. The helm bucket seat is wrap-around and both the seat bottom and lumbar areas are firm mesh. This makes for a cooler seat on hot days, relieves sticking to the seat when you’re in a swimsuit, and keeps the seat dry when you’re sitting in a wet swimsuit.



The dash is totally uncluttered thanks to the bulk of the gauges relegated to the Tigé Touch. The upholstery is double French-stitched with Gortinera thread, the same durable thread used in Goretex.

The helm is totally uncluttered because most of the gauges are relegated to the Tigé Touch. You still have a speedo, tach, and TAPS2 gauge with fuel and engine temp embedded in each of the outside gauges. The fuel gauge could use a little tweaking though. It’s a bar graph that gives fuel quantity in percents. I’d like to see a readout of the gallons remaining instead. The throttle is right at the fingertips when your arm is resting on the nice armrest, and that armrest also allows you to make incremental changes to the boat’s speed.



Check out the mesh seat and back. This gives great cooling on hot days and it’s also great for wet swimsuits. There is storage underneath, and to the sides. The seat swivels and slides, but I'd like to see some protection on the end of the swivel adjustment bar as it is right in the "leg scratch" zone.

Tricked Out

The collapsible Alpha-Z Tower is a Tigé trademark. Not only does it look like a work of art, it's very functional. There are handholds in the top that are great for holding the boat at the dock when you want to do a quick passenger change on the fly.

Docking lights are embedded in the forward points. The underside has mounts that accommodate up to four Wet Sounds speakers. Above is the tow point that is normally reversible to reveal the white all-around nav light, but on our Platinum Edition this towpoint is also home to a camera that swivels with the towline. Because of this, the nav light is mounted on top of the camera.



The camera will display the rider in the Tigé Touch, and it comes with a 4GB memory card. It shouldn't take long to fill that up, so you may want to hop over to the store and get a larger capacity card so all your friends can have their moments of stardom emailed to them.

As for being collapsible, the tower is internally counterweighted, which makes it much easier to lower and raise. This is a great feature for owners who want to store their Platinum in the garage.

Platinum Perks

This boat was intended as a "pull out all the stops" ride, and Tigé certainly delivered on that. To name a few of the features, there's the custom embroidered snap-in carpeting, stainless trim over the bulwark cubbies, platinum level upholstery highlights, a pair of custom engraved Platinum Edition grab rails at the bow, upgraded stereo system, color matched tower and speakers, and a partridge in a pear tree.



The wrap around seating is very comfortable and with the pickle fork bow, there’s plenty of room forward. Notice the drink holder at the stern. Two storage compartments (one under her arm, the other under her butt) double as transom coolers. These girls were nowhere to be seen on test day.

Given the fact that the Tigé RZ2 makes controlling the wake so easy, coupled with her striking good looks and easy handling, it’s hard not to look at this boat and feel that she’s a winner. The only mistake that we've seen is people thinking she's only for the wakeboat crowd. This is a capable day boat that will also serve as a high end wakeboat. That means the kids can use her during the week, and the parents can have her on the weekends.

Speeds measured with Stalker ProSports radar gun. Fuel consumption (gallons per hour) measured with Floscan digital fuel-flow meter on gas inboards, sterndrives, and outboards, TechMate electronic scan tool on gas EFI inboards, Caterpillar digital fuel-flow meter on diesel engines, or permanently installed fuel-monitoring equipment. Range is based on 90% of published fuel capacity. Sound levels determined using Radio Shack digital decibel meter on A scale. 68 dBA is the level of normal conversation.

Performance Chart

Test Conditions