If Howard Pipcorn was still building Hydrostreams???

[Dukeofchippewa]

And I feel like having 2 might be considered questionable.

Howard Pipkorn is the Master of design.

[rev.ronnie]

Hydrostream didn't fail as a company...the market and economy failed to support those types of boat builders anymore. Insuring them was no picnic either.

It would have been cost prohibitive to re-tool and start building I/O V6 powered bow riders, which was what people started to lean toward purchasing at that time. The market contingent then, is still what it is now, and mostly the same people. There just were not enough new boat purchasers for that type of craft anymore.

I told Howard a few weeks ago, (in Winona at the Owners group run), "this thing is going to outlive us both....have fun with it"...I think he is finding that out too.

Do a search on him. He is still designing air filtration systems and getting patents to this day.

[dompie99]

Me too, back in the old days, I was about 10 or 12 and I saw my first HS ever, with the tower of power 150 (not sure). I recorded this '' PASS '' on a 16mm film camera. Once in a while, I get the projector and visualise this ''event '' to remember more vividly.

This ride that I saw from distance, polarised my boat life. I had quite a few boats ranging from 18hp row boats to 75hp Evinrude on a Ski boat that barely ran 39mph (grrrr) after that I bought a Glastron Gt 150, and not because it was James Bound's most destroyed boats in a movie.

All these years, I dreamt about having an Hydrostream and I got my first ''Vision'' Canadian version of Hydrostream, I believe that they were built in Lachute Quebec way back than. This boat was near a total wreck, motor seized, boat drowned, trailer full of rust.......a whole pain, BUT than, had a garage and went to the whole restauration, engine boat, trailer, even gel coated the metallic blue hull.. It had a 8'' jack plate and this thing was SCARRy LIKE HELL with a Chopper 26'' Mazco.....I paid 500$ for it and I sold it nearly 3500$ and it was rocking like hell.

Now I bought an HST last year, saying that I wanted it, OHHH YEAHHHHH, saying that it is a fun story, not really....the engine is apart, the boat has no more floor and the project is coming up slowly but surely.... hydraulic jack plate, hydraulic steering etc etc.

Thanks Howard for this passion you implanted in my brain way back when........may I say, this passion is still vivid...

[roadkill636]

When did Howard leave Hydrostream? When did he stop being a part of the design and build of them?

[jasonpijanowski]

To bad they never built a boat like Allison does they would probally still be in business..

[panther150]

He was an inovater for sure, way ahead of his time in the day. Go fast and look cool never goes out of date.

[dwilfong]

I still remember my next store neighbor at the shore house in Stone Harbor NJ with his 16" Baja trying to out run the police chief of Cape may's Vector.
He was the Mercury dealer in south Jersy at the time and a Baja dealer.
That brand new 1978 worked up 150 on the Baja could never quite get that Vector.
So now that I have the time and extra cash I will relive those boy hood memories and do a Vector the right way.
Will see if the dream is real.......................
The Vector is still the most miss understood boat of all .

[Hippie459MN]

When did Howard leave Hydrostream? When did he stop being a part of the design and build of them?

Early 1991 Howard closed up Hydrostream then they were being built by someone else (new ownership of the brand/molds) but due to Howard and the rights to the Hydrostream name the company was called X-tream for a few years then the whole name things was worked out and went back to Hydrostream. And from what I understand Howard still has ties with the Hydrostream name legally. Someone correct me if im wrong but I have heard this from a few sources that I would consider reliable.

[Ted Stryker]

Hydrostreams are certainly an irreplaceable icon of the sport.. A vandal with a howling v4 omc and the vector/v-king with a v6 cannot be replaced in my childhood memories..

[transomstand]

I still remember my next store neighbor at the shore house in Stone Harbor NJ with his 16" Baja trying to out run the police chief of Cape may's Vector.
He was the Mercury dealer in south Jersy at the time and a Baja dealer.
That brand new 1978 worked up 150 on the Baja could never quite get that Vector.
So now that I have the time and extra cash I will relive those boy hood memories and do a Vector the right way.
Will see if the dream is real.......................
The Vector is still the most miss understood boat of all .

We frustrated a LOT of those guys. Guys with a Baja, Glastron, Sidewinder, etc. couldn't get near us. We always had a 5-10 mph speed advantage over them.

[CRMERC]

I missed my V-king so much I went and got a basket case one last fall to start tinkering on. Now if I can just keep it out of the wife's sight for a while I should be good.