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The year 2025 marks the 100th anniversary for Correct Craft, the builder of Nautique Boats, which is recognized as one of the best wake boat brands around. They began producing the Super Air Nautique G23 in 2012. At the time of its introduction, the Super Air Nautique G23 was one of the first boats focused purely on wake sports, designed not for just waterskiing and not just for wakeboarding, but with a hull and tower designed for ramping up towed and wake surfing adventures with maximum air-time. Just one year later, Nautique rolled out their Surf System with Waveplate, allowing the switch between wakeboarding and surfing at the press of a button. And now for 2025 the Super Air Nautique G23 has been redesigned with a new angular hull, different transom seating, a new windshield, a 15” touchscreen helm command center, and an improved ballast system that fills 40 percent faster.
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Super Air Nautique G23 Key Features
The wake-making abilities of the Super Air Nautique G23 start with its hull. Whether you’re looking at a used G23 or considering a brand-new boat, the hull is designed to produce a large, long, clean wake. It works in tandem with the Nautique Surf System (NSS), utilizing the Waveplate, to allow you to shape and customize the wake to your personal preferences. Waveplates are like extensions of the transom that are powered by actuators and can extend down and out to redirect waterflow. The NSS system also allows you to choose which side of the boat is in maximum wave-making mode at the flip of a switch—even the rider can do it from behind the boat, thanks to a waterproof Surf Select remote or the use of a Garmin smartwatch. And there are 10 different settings that let you create the ideal wake for anyone, from first-timers to surfing pros.
The ballast system this boat carries is another big part of creating the ideal wakes for watersports. It’s controlled via the LINC Panoray touchscreen display, which includes images of wave shape, ballast settings, engine data, and more. The Super Air Nautique G23 has a whopping 2,400-pound ballast capacity in stock form, plus the option to add an additional 1,200 pounds in two amidships tanks. And these ballast tanks aren’t merely shoved under the deck but are integrated into the stringer system. This boosts the hull’s strength while ensuring that stowage areas aren’t sacrificed.
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Super Air Nautique G23 Performance
When riders are engaged in wake sports, this boat will be running at just 10 to 12 mph in order to make the best surf wakes possible. So, unlike most other types of boats where the focus is on maximizing cruising and top-end speeds and/or efficiency, in this case it’s relatively slow speeds where performance counts the most. Things like wave shape and a quick time-to-plane when heavily loaded with passengers, gear, and ballast, are generally considered far more important than a fast top-end. In optimizing the boat’s performance for these factors rather than for sheer speed, different priorities are placed on torque, prop size, and gear ratios.
The current G23 is available with several different power packages, with the stock boat carrying a 450-hp direct-injected PCM ZZ6. You can option up to a supercharged PCM ZZ8s (630 horsepower) or for a 370-hp Yanmar 8LV diesel. However, you’ll also run across G23s on the used boat market that were built with a range of similar but slightly different engines. Since these powerplants are arranged in a V-drive configuration swinging the props through multiple different gear reductions, there can be some variation in performance from one boat to another. You might see similar power in older models, like the PCM ZR450 (6.0 liters as opposed to the 6.2L ZZ6), a supercharged PCM 550, the PCM ZR7, and others. In all cases unless the boat has been repowered the engine will be a PCM, which shouldn’t come as any surprise since Correct Craft bought PCM in 2014 and had been using PCM engines prior to that.
Whatever year boats you might be looking at, the majority of the G23s out there today carry 450 hp. As a general rule of thumb with this much power and a normal load without ballast, the G23 will cruise in the mid to upper 20s. Top end is likely to push but not exceed 40 mph. That doesn’t sound very fast for a 23-footer with 450 horsepower, but remember, this boat is designed for waves and torque as opposed to speed—think of it as a Clydesdale, not a Quarter Horse.
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Super Air Nautique G23 Description
Inside the Super Air Nautique G23, you’ll find a bowrider-like layout that’s tweaked to serve watersports action. The bow cockpit has U-shaped seating for two people to stretch out or three to sit. The main cockpit is also ringed with U-shaped seating, much of which converts to face aft so you can watch the waterports action. There’s a helm chair for the captain and the portside seat across from it faces aft for an observer. Several of the seats going down the sides flip up to become backrests so you can sit facing aft, and the center section of the aft seat slides forward and folds up to become a doublewide aft-facing bench seat. These are also sunpads flanking the center walkthrough to the swim platform, which house stowage compartments large enough for wakeboards. And aft of these there’s a pair of aft-facing seats integrated into the transom itself for use while relaxing at anchor.
The interior has a number of luxury touches, like integrated JL Audio stereo speakers and subwoofers, lighted cupholders, and foam decking on both the interior of the boat and even inside stowage compartments. An integrated lift-out cooler sits beneath a deck hatch, and there’s a dedicated drain plug holder at the helm so you don’t forget to put it in before launching.
The tower is another key component of the boat, and while Nautique has had several options through the years, the G23 is currently offered with three. The Flight Control tower is standard, which includes a manual fold-out Bimini top. You can opt for the actuated Flight Tower, which folds down on actuators, or you can get the top-shelf telescoping tower which comes with a pair of board racks, two pairs of 8.8” JL Audio speakers, and the Bimini with “Surf Pockets” which hold surf boards.
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Pros and Cons
The biggest pro for the Nautique Super Air G23 is without a doubt found not inside the boat, but behind it—where watersports enthusiasts will discover monster wakes that are shaped ideally for boarding and surfing. Few boats are as mission-dedicated as this one, and for a watersports nut or even a pro it will be very tough to beat. Add to that its high comfort level and comprehensive equipping.
On the flip side of the equation, this boat’s strongest pro is also its strongest con. The G23 is so focused on watersports that it isn’t appropriate for many other activities and you won’t be taking it fishing, going for long-distance cruises to distant ports, or weekending aboard. We should also note that for many people the boat’s pricing will be a con. Like other boats that are highly refined for a specific purpose, the price tag is rather impressive. Which leads us to…
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Why Buy the Super Air Nautique G23 Used
Moreso than with some other boats, there’s a very strong case to be made for buying a used Super Air Nautique G23 boats for sale. The way these boats get used it’s not uncommon to find them with very low hours, even some that are a decade or more old. Many are kept in boathouses or garages, which means they’re often in excellent condition. And a high proportion are used on lakes, rivers, and other freshwater bodies where corrosion and general deterioration is far less significant than it is in saltwater environments.
The flipside of this is that used boats, even older ones, rarely go for a song. Still, they can be found under the $100,000 mark, or for around a third of what they generally cost when purchased new. So while they may be on the expensive side for used boats in this size range, their cost is still significantly reduced as compared to buying one new.
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Technical Specifications
- Length – 23’3”
- Beam – 8’6”
- Displacement – 6,300 lbs.
- Draft – 2’7”
- Max HP - 630
- Fuel capacity – 65.6 gal.
The bottom line? If wake surfing and wake boarding are a passion, you’ll want a dedicated wake sports boat. And the Super Air Nautique G23 is a premium offering from one of the oldest, best-established builders in this niche.
See all Super Air Nautique G23 boats for sale.
