Is a hydrostream the right type of boat for me?

[braq]

Dear all,

I have been reading this forum a bit and enjoyed it a lot already. I would very much appreciate if you could help me in finding out if a Hydrostream, in particular the Valero bowrider, could be the right type of boat for me.

Here is what I think I want:
- a bowrider arrangement to spend about 8-12 hours on the water, seating most of the time 2 adults and a 2-year old, on occasions 6 adults.
- a light boat: to tow and to drive

Here is what I would hope the Hydrostream to be like (after the reading on this site):
- with the same HP as a deep-vee, it should be faster or, which is more what I have in mind, I can go with less HP and still "plane"

Here my concerns:
- from what I read the hull might be more delicate and less forgiving than "normal" hulls. There is plenty of pretty impressive footage out on the net with Hydrostreams and the like going bouncy and ready for lift-off.

- how does it ride in rougher water, I am in the Thousand Islands (Gananoque) region and sometimes the water around here has some waves about a foot high or so

- last not least, whenever I saw videos of Hydrostreams going slow it looked as if they are almost immediately in plowing mode (with the bow in the air, but maybe that was just for show), what speed can I probably do in displacement mode (from the marina to the open water it is about a mile with restricted speed)?

It is time to get a boat of my own and I am just wondering so much whether I should try the hydrostreams path or not,

thanks,

Konrad

[77viper]

Welcome Konrad.

If you have been reading this forum you probably know a lot of hydrostreams need core work if it hasn't been addressed already. It's a lot of work to do yourself and very expensive to have it done for you. Other than that they are great boats.

With a family and somewhat rough water I would look at the voyager model in a xt hull design. I have a xt vegas witch is the same bottom but a closed bow. It handles rough water great and as you go faster the tunnels somewhat cushion some of the impact. With a allison style hyorfoil I can be on plane at 19 MPH and hold it there with a 200 hp motor and 2 adults.

One thing to take in consideration is the age of the boats, some you will be looking at are 20+ years old and will show some wear and tear. A option would be a new hydrostream, the new models are great with updated build materials. In fact the molds are at the stoker factory and they should be producing new hulls again soon.

http://hydrostream.org/Specific%20Models/Voyager.htm
http://www.hydrostream.com/

[Rut311969]

Hello and welcome .I have a Valero and a Voyager as chet said cores are a issue . I myself love my Valero but it is more a of a me and the guys boat which is why I have aVoyager to it is my family boat or well be when im done with it .I think from what I have read and talked about with the guys this would prob be the boat you should be looking at .I well be running a 225 and should be looking at speeds in the 70 .I have a rebuild thread on here 85 Voyager .

[braq]

Wow, thanks for the information. It took me a bit to read through the properties of the hull types again. Focus on the voyager somewhat limits my options a bit, there is only one for sale within the next 400km but I guess it is a niche-market anyway.

Will update when the research goes into the acquisition phase,

cheers,

Konrad

[VultureNo2]

Hi, bill and welcome to the site. I would recommend a 20 foot boat. I believe the Voyager is that long and it would make a great family boat. I am re-doing a Vulture, but it's not an open bow boat. My needs are different. We do a lot of barefoot water skiing. Can't beat a Hydro stream. Best boat ever made. Be ready for some work though to get one ready for the water. The ones that the guys are doing today are better than the ones that came out of the factory. If you are a true fanatic, this is the place for you. Otherwise, there are plenty of boats out there that will meet your needs. Have you looked at Titans and Supra comp bow riders and stuff. If nothing does it for you but that, wow factor. This is the place to be. Look the boat over VERY carefully. Bill

[S P E E D]

Welcome to the board Konrad. My father had a Vantage 21 foot V bottom that shared the same hull design as a Voyager. I grew up boating on that boat and we did a ton of boating on the St.Lawrence. We went everywhere in that boat with no problems in any chop. That being said I wouldn't be chasing a tanker down to play on his wake.

Every weekend in the summer we were on a different lake or river with that Vantage and it was by far my dads favorite boat he ever had (He has had somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 boats so that's saying something!) I can recall him loading up with my Uncle and Aunt and their 2 kids along with my mom and they would go out for hours on end.

[S P E E D]

I forgot to add that if you are in the Gan area there is a Valero for sale in Cobourg... Here is the ad:

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-boats-watercraft-powerboats-motorboats-Hydrostream-Valero-Bow-Rider-Price-Going-Up-In-May-W0QQAdIdZ278020841#

Might be to small for 6 adults

[LSaupe]

What are the differences between the Voyager and Vantage?

[braq]

Exactly, there are actually 3 Hydrostreams within reach, both financially as locationwise:

-the Valero mentioned
-this Vista http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-boats-watercraft-powerboats-motorboats-19-foot-Bowrider-Canadian-Vista-Hydrostream-115-Mercury-Engine-W0QQAdIdZ268559423
and a Voyager http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-boats-watercraft-powerboats-motorboats-Hydrostream-Voyager-150-Merc-W0QQAdIdZ271915607

My understanding from Chet's comment is that I'd probably be happier with the XT hull design of the Voyager given that the water can be a little rough from time to time. Driving around with 6 adults is more an exception, will probably happen twice a year only, so that ranks below the stability. Should I just try out all 3 (and hope that the water is a bit rough to test that out)?

Cheers

Konrad

[Rut311969]

I have both hulls and the yt Valero and V hull Voyager I think both are decent boats on medium chop .The river I boat on has 1-2foot chop all the time .Out of the boats you have listed the Voyager is the safer bet if they can verifie the core job . And with the 150 it has"nt been hot rodded to death probly .But I could be wrong and this is just my 2 cents .