I went from a 22' Cobalt with a duo prop and power steering to a 24' yamaha with cobra ultimates. There is absolutely a difference. Both boats list to one side or another, the cobalt lists one side to another because of the duoprop (this happens in all Volvo duoprop outdrives) and makes them hard to track exactly straight without minor course correction.
I will say that with no wake mode enabled my wake looks bigger at 5mph than w/o no wake mode, but I can also say that my Cobalt at 5MPH was putting off 2x the wake that my Yamaha does. So comparing hull design of a deep V hull in a cobalt to a not so deep V of a Yamaha plays into how well it holds a track. I don't think the skag/rudder with outdrive makes that much of a change for me, except for getting use to the absence of prop walk (not really present in my cobalt due to the counter rotating props, but for sure is there in the Bayliner)
My Cobra Ultimates are fully deployed. With little/no adjustment, I can hold a line better in my Cobalt than I can w/ my Yamaha. Both require course correction. My Bayliner w/ a single screw and prop walk offset fin (the adjustable fin behind the screw on the outdrive) handles a straight line even better than my cobalt does. That said... I hate driving the Bayliner at anything above an idle (handling sucks), and Cobalt ... well B.O.A.T. has an entire new meaning with Cobalt.
If I were to compare my single screw duoprop Cobalt to my two screw Yamaha... I can control my Yamaha better than I can control my Cobalt, but that's because of the two engines and I know that. Where my cobra's help so much more than anywhere else is at idle or coming out of gear. Love my wife to death, but she treats the boat like a car. Turn right means I should go right, right? not without fins it doesn't. Those 4 small rudders that I have make a world of difference for low speed handling.
Would a retractable rudder change things for me? ... probably not to the point everyone is making it out to be. So going slow under power, trimmed all the way down you have a 8-12" rudder with an I/O - you have 4*3" rudders (they seem about 3" under the hull) with Cobra's or TV's. To me that's a wash, the hull design is the bigger difference. On a plane towing a boarder, I absolutely course correct on my Yamaha more than I do on the Cobalt... but if I trim up (like I should) in the Cobalt, it's again a wash between the two.
Drive what you like and have fun with it. Unless you're one of the few that knows what's coming (and those who do will never tell until it's time), speculating is only for fun sake so there's no sense in getting too worked up over it all.
Fuel to the fire: Deployable rudder.... rofl. You thought the old scupper was a problem, how many boats will this sink?
But they call me DevilDog for MORE than one reason.
I hope they did something fun to the entire lineup.
