Which Boat To Buy

[John Pfennig]

I'm interested in purchasing a Sea Doo Speedster, Challenger or Sportster 15' jet boat. I have the following questions :
Is a two stroke engine more reliable, less expensive to maintain and fuel efficient than a 4-Tec four stroke engine ?
Would you recommend a single or dual engine installation ?
What is the best model engine ?
What model year boats are the best ?
I'm new to the jet boat concept so would appreciate any help you can be. Thank you.

 

[jskillz28]

I'm interested in purchasing a Sea Doo Speedster, Challenger or Sportster 15' jet boat. I have the following questions :
Is a two stroke engine more reliable, less expensive to maintain and fuel efficient than a 4-Tec four stroke engine ?
Would you recommend a single or dual engine installation ?
What is the best model engine ?
What model year boats are the best ?
I'm new to the jet boat concept so would appreciate any help you can be. Thank you.

Currently have 99 speedster twin rotax 787, i wouldnt trade it for anything else right now. I treat it like a large jet ski and have a BLAST. With that being said, i dont worry about things breaking and have a great time doing jetski stuff because it very cheap to maintain and parts are fairly cheap compared to merc and 4tec parts. But fuel efficiency and oil consumption is part of the down side. I used seadoo brand full synthetic oil, $45 a gallon. Went through 3 gallons last summer... 28ish gallons is a full tank can go by fast, anywhere from 2.5-6hrs.

 

[John Pfennig]

Currently have 99 speedster twin rotax 787, i wouldnt trade it for anything else right now. I treat it like a large jet ski and have a BLAST. With that being said, i dont worry about things breaking and have a great time doing jetski stuff because it very cheap to maintain and parts are fairly cheap compared to merc and 4tec parts. But fuel efficiency and oil consumption is part of the down side. I used seadoo brand full synthetic oil, $45 a gallon. Went through 3 gallons last summer... 28ish gallons is a full tank can go by fast, anywhere from 2.5-6hrs.

Thanks for your imput, I really appreciate it.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Are you one for riding around all day, do you intend on pulling skiers, tubes, etc. will you be using it on a lake in the harbor, ocean, etc?

Here's my opinion:

For me, small boats are just easier to deal with, after years of hauling monsters around the marina I'm not interested in dealing with behemoths. Small boats are also easier to pull down the road, might take mine out west with me if I ever go again.

So yeah I like my small single engine Sportster 951 boat for the kind of boating we do now short distance day trips where we (2 of us + small dog) stay in one place for most of the day but it's a weakling when it comes to pulling me out of the water on a slalom ski. I'm a firm believer in making the boat do the work and with this thing I have to work too hard, except I don't ski much anymore, maybe that's why? Well, I could always splash my old-school big block jet boat, it;s got a killer hole shot.

Anyway, if we were doing a lot of riding around and skiing all day, I'd rather have a stern drive for fuel economy and especially the pull your arms off grunt. The 4.3 V6 is quite the runner in something 19ft or so, the 140 4cyl does fairly well if propped right (I've pulled 4 skiers using a small wheel) but isn't a speed boat engine.

The 2-stroke Rotax engines are the least expensive motor on the water but they do wear out much faster than a big hunk of iron does so then again if you put a lot of hours on then the Rotax might not be for you.

Another thing to consider is how fast you want to go, some folks can't get enough speed but for me a 30 MPH cruise is plenty. If your water is rough like in a bay or crowded lake, a larger boat can help. Narrow and long will cut through chop where short boats will experience a bone jarring ride. I just go slower, my dog doesn't like bouncing around.

 

[John Pfennig]

Are you one for riding around all day, do you intend on pulling skiers, tubes, etc. will you be using it on a lake in the harbor, ocean, etc?

Here's my opinion:

For me, small boats are just easier to deal with, after years of hauling monsters around the marina I'm not interested in dealing with behemoths. Small boats are also easier to pull down the road, might take mine out west with me if I ever go again.

So yeah I like my small single engine Sportster 951 boat for the kind of boating we do now short distance day trips where we (2 of us + small dog) stay in one place for most of the day but it's a weakling when it comes to pulling me out of the water on a slalom ski. I'm a firm believer in making the boat do the work and with this thing I have to work too hard, except I don't ski much anymore, maybe that's why? Well, I could always splash my old-school big block jet boat, it;s got a killer hole shot.

Anyway, if we were doing a lot of riding around and skiing all day, I'd rather have a stern drive for fuel economy and especially the pull your arms off grunt. The 4.3 V6 is quite the runner in something 19ft or so, the 140 4cyl does fairly well if propped right (I've pulled 4 skiers using a small wheel) but isn't a speed boat engine.

The 2-stroke Rotax engines are the least expensive motor on the water but they do wear out much faster than a big hunk of iron does so then again if you put a lot of hours on then the Rotax might not be for you.

Another thing to consider is how fast you want to go, some folks can't get enough speed but for me a 30 MPH cruise is plenty. If your water is rough like in a bay or crowded lake, a larger boat can help. Narrow and long will cut through chop where short boats will experience a bone jarring ride. I just go slower, my dog doesn't like bouncing around.

Sounds like you've got it figured out. I used 2 do a lot of water skiing behind my 16' Sidewinder with a 135 hp inline Mercury. Now that I'm 74 my wife won't let my ski anymore. I'm sure I could get up but probably wouldn't be able 2 walk for a week. I would use the Sea Doo 15' Speedster in calm water where I live in Upstate NY. R u saying the 2 stroke single or dual engines r better than a 4 stroke ? Have my eye on a 2000 15' Challenger with twin 717 engines and less than 80 hours. Asking $6000. Does that sound like a good deal even though the boat is 19 years old ?

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I think that's a bit steep, maybe you could find a decent mercruiser and be ahead of the game. I think that boat is worth maybe $4k if it's in good cosmetic condition. They didn't have hour meters on them to begin with but running time can be obtained by using a powertrain diagnostics computer (I think it's called BUDS). So 80 hrs is probably a guess although it might be close.

Since I started running jets I no longer experience propeller issues but I still adore the old mercs enough to pursue them. If your water is shallow with sand bars, etc. and you really desire a smaller boat that's easy to splash and haul then Seadoo or most any jet will shine.

As far as durability, I challenge any Rotax to go the distance like a mercruiser can, seen plenty sterndrives with more than 10,000 hours still running strong whereas I a Rotax won't come close to that. No, the 717 or 951, etc have a lifespan in hundreds, not 10's of thousands hours. The 717 is a great motor though, just remember it's a 2-stroke and not immune to the rules that apply to them.

So you being 75, hopefully you or grandson are capable of recovering from the worst, such as climbing down into the bilge to replace one or both motors just in case it becomes necessary for some reason. If you could find a shop to do it, as many won't work on these old Seadoos, they're gonna want near what a running boat might cost. Some shops will take low-end work in winter while things are slow they wouldn't otherwise take.

 

[riffe723]

Sounds like you've got it figured out. I used 2 do a lot of water skiing behind my 16' Sidewinder with a 135 hp inline Mercury. Now that I'm 74 my wife won't let my ski anymore. I'm sure I could get up but probably wouldn't be able 2 walk for a week. I would use the Sea Doo 15' Speedster in calm water where I live in Upstate NY. R u saying the 2 stroke single or dual engines r better than a 4 stroke ? Have my eye on a 2000 15' Challenger with twin 717 engines and less than 80 hours. Asking $6000. Does that sound like a good deal even though the boat is 19 years old ?

I am in Upstate as well and i have a 99 speedster SK. We live on champlain and it works great. The 99 is the deep V 17ft seadoo hull tho. There are days that it is too rough on champlain to have the boat in the water.

 

[John Pfennig]

I am in Upstate as well and i have a 99 speedster SK. We live on champlain and it works great. The 99 is the deep V 17ft seadoo hull tho. There are days that it is too rough on champlain to have the boat in the water.

Thanks for your reply. I'm more likely to buy the 15' Speedster as I have several places to boat in calm water.
Years ago I almost boated on Lake Champlain but somehow it didn't work out. If you don't mind send me a pic of what your boat looks like. What year did they stop making them ? My cell/text # is 716-535-0618.

 

[riffe723]

Thanks for your reply. I'm more likely to buy the 15' Speedster as I have several places to boat in calm water.
Years ago I almost boated on Lake Champlain but somehow it didn't work out. If you don't mind send me a pic of what your boat looks like. What year did they stop making them ? My cell/text # is 716-535-0618.

Here's a couple pics

 

[John Pfennig]

Here's a couple picsView attachment 39615View attachment 39616View attachment 39617View attachment 39618

Wow, nice boat ! I'm afraid it would draft more than 12" of water than the Sportster would. Thanks for the pic.

 

[JeremyD615]

Wow, nice boat ! I'm afraid it would draft more than 12" of water than the Sportster would. Thanks for the pic.

You’d be surprised at how little they draft actually. The big problem is avoiding picking up debris in shallow areas.