In their never-ending effort to serve every single niche of the boating market, no matter how small or how bizarre, the boatbuilders of the world have come up with everything from the ridiculous (remember those jet-drive surfboards a few years back?) to the sublime (insert your favorite boat here). Amazingly, though, there have only been a few efforts at building a truly affordable ski boat, and even fewer efforts at building affordable ski boats that could hold their own in the performance category. The folks at Tig', sitting in the southwestern heat out there in Abilene, Texas, noticed this anomaly and have taken steps to remedy the situation by introducing an affordable, high-quality inboard ski boat, the Switch i, for 2004.

True, the Switch i isn't the first-ever inboard that promises tournament-level performance at an entry-level price. It is, though, the first real effort from Tig', one of the upper-level watersports boatbuilders, so it could well portend similar efforts soon to come from other big names in the ski industry. Of course, this depends entirely on how successful Tig' is with the Switch i, and that depends entirely on whether the Switch i lives up to its promises.

The Switch i, like the rest of the Tig' fleet, is first and foremost a watersports boat as opposed to a specifically designed slalom boat, which explains the open bow layout (room for a couple more riders on board when it's time to wakeboard) and the choice of option packages (ski or wakeboard). But seeing as how the only difference between the ski and wakeboard package is the addition of a tower, it's a pretty safe bet that virtually everyone will opt for that setup. After all, the performance is identical; the tower just adds versatility.

At heart, though, the Switch i is a tournament ski boat, albeit one with an open bow and a tower option. At 20 feet in length overall, it's a hair longer than the MasterCraft ProStar 197, but a full 2 feet 4 inches shorter than the Ski Nautique 206 (the two most apt comparisons). The Switch i's 8-foot beam, though, is a full 5 inches wider than that of the ProStar or the Nautique, and those 5 inches make quite a difference in terms of onboard ease of movement. On any boat, every inch matters, but those inches seem even more precious on smaller boats, like the Switch i. So an added 5 inches of beam that translates to a roomier walkaround space on either side of the inboard engine box isn't just welcome, it's celebrated.

Another bonus point is earned by Tig's decision to give the Switch i more freeboard than you'd expect from a ski boat. This means you get to sit deeper in the boat, for a drier, 'safer-feeling' (as one non-boater described it) ride, especially welcome if you have kids on board. Grown-ups will appreciate this, too, since the added interior depth allows Tig' to give the rear bench seat a slightly higher pedestal so you sit a wee bit higher than in other ski boats. Depending on how tall you are, this added seat height is anywhere from nice to a godsend, since you don't have to sit uncomfortably with your knees right up under your chin.

Fact is, the Switch i's interior layout is pretty comfortable all 'round. The rear bench is wide enough for three to sit without having to cross each other's legs. The observer's seat can handle two. The driver's seat swivels, a nice touch on a boat this size, and features both an innerspring seat bottom for comfort and durability, and a nifty bolster that's a padded arch instead of just a cushion. This bolster arch not only raises the driver a few inches for better visibility when launching, retrieving or docking, but stays supportive even if you decide to use it all day, unlike plain-cushion bolsters that can sag and lose usefulness. The bow seats, of course, aren't where the grown-ups are going to spend all day, but they're fine for the small fry, and the walkthrough is wide enough (again, credit the 8-foot beam) for adults to get up front easily if they want.

Of course, most boaters will want to spend most of their time either behind the Switch i or at the helm. Behind the boat is where you find a wake that's good enough for the Switch i to be the boat of choice for pro skiers Doug Ross and Chris Rossi (it's worth noting that both Ross and Rossi's are sponsored by Tig'), and good enough to be approved for American Water Ski Association competition as a tournament tow boat. Although the Switch i is being mar-keted as an 'entry level' boat, the hull is the same patented ConvexV design with a continuous rocker as on every Tig', and the TAPS2 trim system is also standard. So is the LifePlus Core system, which uses a patented, all-composite grid structure that Tig' claims is 300 percent stronger than conventional 2-stringer composite designs. The LifePlus Core is bolstered by the addition of hull and deck fiberglass, for a softer, quieter ride.

The structural strength of the LifePlus won't be known for a few years, but Tig's so confident in the new construction that the Switch i comes with a lifetime replacement warranty, so that if the fiberglass hull, stringer matrix or floor ever suffer structural failure, the company will replace the boat instead of repairing it.

What is known now is that the Switch i hull works in the water, providing solid acceleration with negligible bow rise, and super-flat turns even at full throttle. The TAPS2 system, which adds 7 degrees of motion to the trim plate for even bigger wakeboard wakes (the plate raises completely for slaloming), still allows on-the-fly wake adjustment. A 30-degree deadrise at entry helps cut through chop, and the TAPS lets you adjust the boat's attitude so the Switch i can offer one of the softest rough-water rides you'll ever have in a ski boat. Under the engine box is a choice of power options ranging from the standard 315-hp, carbureted Vortec V8 up to the 335-hp Vortec with EFI. On the test boat, the optional MerCruiser 350 Magnum MPI (315 hp) accelerates from 0 to 36 mph in 7 seconds flat before topping out at 44.6 mph ' good, solid numbers.

The minimalist helm design doesn't really affect the performance, but it's an elegant touch, as are the clever little red lights on the tips of the toggle switches that line the dash.

According to Tig', the goal of the Switch i is to offer a high-quality ski boat 'that you can buy for less than $30,000, nicely equipped.' Hitting the price target, though, was the easy part, although the cost savings (things like slightly thinner seat cushions) aren't really noticeable and certainly don't detract from the boat. No corners were cut on construction or design, and that's what matters, because that's the only way Tig' had a chance of meeting the hard part of its goal with the Switch i ' delivering an affordable boat with tournament-level performance. At first look, it's succeeded.