Boats

Calabria Boats Pro V 2008

By Wakeboarding Magazine

Updated: January 1, 2008

Wakeboard Boat Review

The Calabria Pro V caters to wakeboarders well, especially when outfitted as the Team Edition like our test boat was. A laundry list of wakeboarding features comes standard. The Calabria Pro V tracks great with a wakeboarder in tow and it has perhaps the easiest and fastest ballast system we’ve seen.

Hull: Made with all hand-laid fiberglass, the Calabria Pro V is solidly made. The entire stringer and floor system in this boat, as well as the floor boards, are composite material and come with a lifetime warranty. On the surface, the wakeboard boat boasts all gelcoat custom-blade graphics and metal flake that really shined.

Ballast: This was our favorite part of the Calabria Pro V. Instead of the usual tanks and bags, the Calabria Pro V’s PureVert tanks are built into the liner system and use gravity to fill up quicker than we thought possible. It takes about a minute to fill and drains even faster. The factory ballast system is standard with 700 pounds, while the Team Edition adds 400 more.

Tower: The standard 2.25-inch stainless-steel tower is pretty solid and pretty much entirely rattle-free. And we dug the optional chromed racks that clamped our boards down nice and tight. Add in the fact that the Team Edition adds four tower speakers onto this tower and it’s a great overall package.

Wake shaper: The automated Dual-Ram wake shaper is a feature that comes with the Team Edition as well. It’s controlled by a switch on the dash. Personally, our test team prefers when the switch is by the throttle like with other wake shapers, but we made it work.

Highlight feature: Again, we really loved this ballast system. Our riders hardly had time to get ready and pull out their boards before this boat was filled and ready for the test session.

The wake: The Calabria Pro V’s wakes were pretty rampy and plenty wide enough for more advanced riders to stick those tech tricks while in the air. More novice riders might want to shorten up the line and slow down a bit to make them a little more manageable, but the wake shaper does a good job of mellowing things out a bit, if needed.