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OT Is anyone on here into Speedboats?
username - 7/6/12 at 08:58 PM

As above...

Is anyone on here into speedgoats, either currently or as past experience?

I am thinking of buying one (cheap) and would like it if I could get a little advice from the trusted/experienced members on here...
I would be looking to buy something from an ebay auction, and have £1k ish max budget...

Cheers...

emwmarine - 7/6/12 at 09:17 PM

quote:
Originally posted by username
As above...

Is anyone on here into speedgoats, either currently or as past experience?

I am thinking of buying one (cheap) and would like it if I could get a little advice from the trusted/experienced members on here...
I would be looking to buy something from an ebay auction, and have £1k ish max budget...

Cheers...


£1,000 isn't going to get you very much.

Really depends what you want to use it for.

Generally the hulls last longer than engines.

Trailers rust and on older boats the first thing that gets forgotten is general maintenance like wheel bearings. These should be greased after each immersion and let them cool before putting them in water as the contraction sucks sea water in. First thing that 'romford navy' types lose is their wheels as they fall off after a couple of goes with an old boat.

An old engine can be fine or can be a nightmare. It can cost way more to rebuild an old powerhead than they are worth. Don't buy without hearing it running.

If they try to start it without putting it in a bucket or a hose with muffs then walk away. Shows they know nothing about looking after them and the frailty of rubber water impellers.

Outboads should start easily if things are OK.

Check for working power trim units.

Check the steering is smooth.

If you want to ski you need a 16 foot boat minimum.

Deep v for choppy water, flatter v for smooth water. Deeper v needs more power to plane and bigger wake for skiing.

75hp minimum for skiing on 2 skis.

over 100 hp for pulling any lumps out on 1 ski.

I like merc v6 150hp and envinrude v4 90 / 120 / 140 hp.

Don't touch Force engines or Bayliner (bin liner) imho, and I am not that keen on the early Merc triple engines although many rate them.

Buy on condition and if it looks like the owner has looked after them really well.

Hull age is less important.

Fletchers are good, old Pictons - good family boats - all rounders.

Phantoms and Rings good for thrashing round in but not good ski boats.

Brooms are good ski bats but useless in any chop.

gunman - 7/6/12 at 10:00 PM

Yeah, form experience, £1k will buy you trouble. Problem with big engines attached the the back of speedboats is that they have spent most of their running life flat out and most dont get serviced properly. Outboards need properly winterised every year, few get it. Your probably looking at a 25 yr old engine on your budget. I'd be surprised if you get power trim/tilt and tbh at that price you're better off without it!

Buy on the engine, not the boat at that price, gearbox or piston problem on a 75HP plus will be more than your original budget to repair.

Dont forget to factor in running costs either as they wont be cheap, an older large outboard could easily (and I mean easily) drink £100 of petrol in an outing. A rule of thumb for engines in the 70's was a gallon an hour per 10hp at full throttle! Things have got better as time went on, newer 4 strokes being the most economical but you wont be getting one of them. I have a 17ft fast fisher with a 60HP 2 stoke Mercury and it will drain 50l on a day out no problem.

Dont touch anything with an inboard at this priceas if they go wrong you've had it and they can cost a serious pile of dosh to sort out.

The good news is I have noticed the price of 14-16ft speedboats really drop in price recently, most likely due to the fuel bills for them now so you may get a bit of a bargain.

tegwin - 7/6/12 at 10:17 PM

Funny you talk about needing 100hp to lift a boarder...

A friend of mine was wakeboarding behind a little semi rigid dinghy with a 15hp on it.... She is bloody good mind you... I couldnt even get out of the water :p

gunman - 7/6/12 at 10:22 PM

I managed to ski behind and 18HP once, was better with an 80HP mind you

emwmarine - 7/6/12 at 10:27 PM

quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
Funny you talk about needing 100hp to lift a boarder...

A friend of mine was wakeboarding behind a little semi rigid dinghy with a 15hp on it.... She is bloody good mind you... I couldnt even get out of the water :p


You have misread my post. I said you need 100hp to pull a lump out on 1 SKI.

Wakeboards are completely different and require much less power to pull out. Most people into wake boarding in any serious way tend to use much bigger specialist boats with a high pull point and designed to put a steep wake out at a certain speed which is generally a far bit slower than that used for water skiing.

UncleFista - 7/6/12 at 10:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by username
Is anyone on here into speedgoats, either currently or as past experience?


I for one am intrigued

bi22le - 7/6/12 at 10:47 PM

quote:
Originally posted by UncleFista
quote:
Originally posted by username
Is anyone on here into speedgoats, either currently or as past experience?


I for one am intrigued


I am soooo surprised it took 5 replies before this was picked up!

Are goats faster than boats? I suppose it depends if they have had oats soaked in moats!

Sorry for the hijack.

Mr Whippy - 7/6/12 at 11:46 PM

check the running cost of fuel, few things burn it quicker than a boat

my favourite saying is 'A boat is a hole in the water you fill with money'

Hence I have a Kayak and sailing dingy

iank - 8/6/12 at 05:54 AM

OP doesn't say he wants a ski boat.
As this is locostbuilders what about a set of plans and some effort?
One option, no doubt among many, http://www.rqriley.com/hr.html

britishtrident - 8/6/12 at 07:03 AM

For fun use a vee hull (as on Fletcher) is more usable it gives a much softer ride but for inland water ski boats a flatter bottom (as on Broom) is better but in anything but mirror smooth water you will get banged about a bit.

Look for repairs to damage the middle of keel area often caused by winching on to the trailer with the trailer not in deep enough
On boats with big outboards check the transom and adjacent hull area carefully

It may seem obvious but outboards that have only been used in fresh water last longer, same goes for trailers.

My my favourite engine was the classic straight 6 Mercury, but any around like me are museum pieces

Be aware a lot of outboard brands have come and gone over the years to avoid spares problems stick to the big names.

quinnj3 - 8/6/12 at 07:11 AM

I have been looking for a boat recently for family day outs and skiing. I don't know what I'm looking at but came across a well used Picton 170GTS 115hp. It wasn't an immaculate boat by any means but the seller gave me confidence that it was a good boat, plus I could tell it was looked after, all the electrical points in the engine had been well greased up and he would not run it without putting it in water. It was also dry stored in winter. Because I don't know what I was looking at I had a really good chat with the owner. He offered to take me out for a days skiing to show me how good the boat was and to give me some pointers on driving the thing if I was serious about buying it. I was really tempted but 'er in doors didn't like the thought of going out in it which sort of scuppered my plans. The boat was £2.5K and I'd need to buy wetsuits, ski equipment and life jackets on top of that. I had a look at a few cheaper boats but just walked away. From what I've seen it may be wise to increase the budget a tad.

good luck

Jonny

alistairolsen - 16/6/12 at 10:24 PM

To be honest you need to decide what you want from it, but for general messing around Id be keeping it simple. We had a 14 footer with a 25 on it which was a great laugh. Skiing and wakeboarding were possible if you werent bhudda shaped and the engine was hand start, no Power trim/tilt, single axle trailer. Really very little at all to go wrong.

Of course you can buy more for the same money, generally in poorer condition....