Randall Harris's Boat Makes Him Better

Team Malibu Factory Rider, and wakeboarding legend, Randall Harris recently was the subject of a short video clip put together by Alliance Magazine. In this video, Randall showcases his riding as well as the wakeboard boat he rides behind. Randall chooses the Malibu Wakesetter VLX.

The Vandall, as he is known, talks about the Malibu Launch System (MLS). He likes the ease of use our ballast system offers. But most of all he is crazy about the wake his Wakesetter VLX produces. Take a look at this video and Randall's amazing riding. You'll find out why.

We won't tell you your call is important to us

Automated phone systems, everybody's got one. You call into just about any company, small or large, and that call is greeted by a prerecorded or synthesized voice chanting, "Your call is important to us..." This mantra is repeated at 2-3 minute intervals until a live human being can answer the phone.

That's not the way we do it at Malibu. Talk is cheap.

Instead of trying to convince you that your call is important to us by saying it to you over and over we go a different way. We show you. We make you feel your importance to us by respecting the time you have taken to call us and actually answering the phone ourselves.

At Malibu your calls are not routed through an automated system. When you call 209-383-7469 you are not directed through a series of menus and ultimately to a call center of off-site customer service contractors.

At Malibu your calls are answered by an honest to goodness Malibu employee and because Malibu Boats is partially employee-owned there is also a good chance that you will end up talking to an actual owner of the company. You can call the main number at our headquarters in Merced, CA and be connected to just about anyone who works here. Name your poison. Which Malibu employee would you like to speak with? Paul Singer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing? Mike Sanchez, Director of Warranty and Customer Service? Dan Gasper, Director or Research and Development? Call and ask for me, Amy. I'm the only Amy here and I would love to speak with you.

There is no separation between you and us at Malibu. We recognize that you are the reason we have jobs and we treat you accordingly. Your call is important to us, but you won't hear that statement uttered by an automated attendant or looped on our on-hold message. You will feel the importance we put on you as a customer when your call is answered at Malibu Boats. We are never to busy to be bothered when it comes to a member of the Malibu family. You and your call are important to us. Believe it...

After reading the recent post, Who answers the phone?, by Seth Godin, I was inspired to make this related entry on the our blog.

And The Winner Is... Malibu Boats, Again.

We've been invited to the PowerBoat Magazine Annual Boat of the Year Awards Banquet again. The R&D boys, Dan Gasper, Paul Gaines and Shane Stillman, head to LA on May 3rd to accept our 18th product excellence award from PowerBoat Magazine. We hope it will be an unprecedented 7th consecutive Boat of the Year Award. These award totals are unmatched in the history of PowerBoat Mag. We are excited for the invite and the impending award. We'll keep you posted!

Test Drive Our Competitors... Please!

I came across a thread on TheMalibuCrew.com this morning. It was initiated by a new site member, which makes it even more powerful in my mind. This new member recently test drove a Mastercraft XStar and a Malibu Waksetter VLX. He detailed his findings in this post

Test drove an 04 xstar last weekend and here is my opinion:
1. Poor visibility from drivers seat and passanger area, mostly due to bow rise.
2. Boat is sluggish out of hole.
3. For a 23 foot boat it did not seem very spacious for seating.
4. Great board racks.
5. Good instrument panel but in way of driver sight.
6. Handling/Performance: Power was good (350 HP), handling was poor in my opinion. Not responsive and had to slow down to make any real sharp turns.
7. Good wake but very wide.

Test drove an 07 VLX with 340 monsoon w/power wedge; here are my thoughts:
1. Great visibility with minimal bow rise.
2. Pretty strong out of hole.
3. Took chop extremely well.
4. Board racks just ok.
5. For a 21' boat the seating was more spacious than the xstar at 23'.
6. Wake: great wake, wedge offered ability to shape to your preference.
7. Handling: This boat is amazing, like comparing my Ford F150 to my Corvette. Cranked a full turn at 35 MPH, turns flat, sharp and smooth. Power was excellent and planed at 20MPH. Unbelievable.

All I can say is that the performance and handling of the Malibu compared to the xstar is far superior. Needless to say, my paperwork for purchase of this Malibu is currently in process.

The rest of the thread posts were submitted by several past Mastercraft owners who have come to the same realization as the post's originator.

At Malibu we always encourage individuals who are contemplating a Malibu boat purchase to test drive our competitors. More often than not, this exercise cements the decision for them and the process is completely objective.

By the way, TheMalibuCrew.com is an independent Malibu boat owner's site. While this site's members are good friends of ours and all of them are members of the Malibu family, the site is not affiliated with Malibu Boats LLC in any other way.

A Slalom Skier is Born!

A Slalom Skier is Born!
Originally uploaded by MalibuImages

Professional Women's Slalom Skier and Team Malibu member, Jill Knutson gave birth to a baby boy on April 6th. Koen Sander Knutson was born at 2:04 am at a modest 6 pounds 2 ounces. Mom and baby made it home from the hospital and everyone is hanging out with Koen at home. Jill's two older children, Callie (5) and Karsten (8) are great helpers! Jill says, "Callie wants to hold the baby whenever she can, I can work a little on the computer or go the bathroom while she holds him. It's the best to have older children!"

Your family at Malibu wishes you and Andy all the best Jill. Take care.

We're Teed Off and Not taking It Anymore

Everyone and all organizations alike have been affected by cancer in some way and ,unfortunately, Malibu Boats is no exception. We have lost two members of our family, Becky Sewell and Kathy Anderson to their battles with cancer, but we refuse to loose the fight. These women inspired Malibu as a company to raise money for the American Cancer Society. So every year since their passing we have raised money for the Relay For life. Fund raising efforts have ranged from dunk tanks to Relay For Life teams to selling hot dogs in the factories at lunch. One of the most successful events is our annual golf tournament, which took place this past Saturday.

We teed it up to fight cancer at Rancho Del Ray golf course in Atwater, California. 39 teams, 156 people, participated in the 4th Annual Malibu Boats Relay For Life Golf Tournament. The tournament has been sold out for weeks. This is always a really fun event and this year was no exception. There was no shortage of Malibu boats on display
nor were we lacking Malibu Boats family and friends on the course. One of the boats at the tournament was ear-marked as a hole-in-one prize. A 2008 Sunscape 20 LSV floated near by a par 3. Although we all planned on acing that hole, it didn't happen.

Oh well, at least we raised about 10 grand. Now we are getting ready for the Merced Relay for Life. That is the next fund raising event we will participate in.

This event not only brought all of us together to raise money for a great cause and have a lot of fun. It gave us all a chance to remember those who have had their lives compromised or simply cut short by this disease. We salute their fight and wage our own battle by beating cancer back with a club, a golf club that is.

We miss you Beckster and Kathy and we will continue to be teed off at the disease that took you both form us too soon. And we are turning that anger into research dollars. We know you would be proud.

To donate contact:
American Cancer Society
301 W. 18th St. Suite 101
Merced, CA 95340
Phone #: (209) 722-3341
Email Address: kmartin@cancer.org

Fun Malibu Boats Music Video

This is a short video of animated 2008 photographs that Adam Perez from our Marketing department created. It gives you a quick glimpse of 2008 models set to music. Check it out...