New Hydro Price

[kobrak]

I was on the Hydrostream Site yesterday and checked out the two new boat offerings. It seems very pricey to me? 18k for a boat without a motor? Have the product improved a lot from the old days? Who owns one? Just kinda wondering if this is the normal price range for a boat of this type now days?

[CompKing]

I don't think thats real out of line.I think that price is with trailer and they seemed to be rigged nice and built very good and are woodless, hull and interior:cool:
In 85 I bought a new V-King with a 2.4 175HP and trailer boat show sale for $11,000.Hell of a deal I think but not in the same catagory as the 20' XT's he's building now.
In 90 bought a HST for $11,000 plus $2,200 for a trailer.So after 13 years just under $5,000 more for a better built boat dosen't seem to bad to me.
Plus the 90 2.4 BP cost $10,400 have ya priced a new 280:eek:

[mikesufka]

Hey Kobrak

Boats are expensive. A new Allison Grandsport will be low $20's and that's without motor. Figure $15,000 for a new merc, rigging, a prop, and a new rig will be $40,000.

Haven't seen a new hydrostream but I've heard they're pretty sweet.

Mike

[kobrak]

They really do look nice. The problem up here is justifying the price for about a 3 month season. With that said, I'm also somewhat suprised that I don't see any Hydro, Allision, Checkmate, etc dealers around these parts. We have your typical Larsons, Rinkers, Rangers and such. More folks willing to drop 30k on a fishing rig I guess.

[Racemore]

Looked the new Hydrostream at the East Lake gathering last year and it is a very nice boat that is refined and updated keeping the Stream Style.Exellent.;) :cool:

[Barefoot Bob]

3 month season? I ski for 6 months just south of you. How is that ice doing up your way? The old Minnesota river is busting up. That meens my ski lake will be ready in about 3 weeks.

Dave....You going to the rumble? Looks like Jason Huber, GP-1 and myself might be heading down together. I was going to call Randy P. and see what day they are heading out.

[bulldogdaddy]

maybee we should look up a bail bondsman before every goes

[Barefoot Bob]

You talking for me or GP-1. The cops like me now:D and GP-1 said his probation officer said he is doing real well;)

[bulldogdaddy]

who do you think i was talkin about,lmao

[kobrak]

Mike, I did get the invite:) Thanks a bunch, I'll mark my calendar, can't wait to see some of the boats.

Bob, I haven't skied since high school:) Not sure how I'd hold up? Since getting the boat a coupla years back......I've hopped on a tube, knee board and wake board. I really don't remember these things hurting me so bad?? lol

[Barefoot Bob]

Well I sold an air chair to a handicaped guy in Alexandria. He is 21 and paralized from the chest down. Seems there was a fund raiser for him and they contacted me about the chair. I ordered 4 of them and one is for him. I think one of the others has your name on it;) :D

[Stream 1]

kobrak,
Pricing for the new Streams include alot of accessories as standard. We found that 99% of the boats we sold were equipped with almost the same accessories and decided to make them standard.
Standard Equipment:
Fuel Tank
Manual Jack Plate
Sony AM/FM/CD w/4 Speakers
Teleflex Sea Star Pro Hydrualic Steering (newly added as Std)
Custom Single Axle Trailer w/Disc Brakes
Up to 5 Color Gel Coat

The boat is full composite construction, 100% hand laminated, using vinylester resin.

To get on the water you will need gauges, a control box and cables, engine w/wiring harness, and Prop. As an example with a Pro Max 225X (a mid 80 mph boat) you can be on the water in the mid 30's depending on final equipment. Compare that to a new Malibu, Master Craft, etc that sell $35,000 to over $50,000 (46/50 mph boat) and we look like a bargain.

A lot depends on what your looking for but as always speed and performance don't come cheap.

There is a Hydro Stream Dealer in MN, Riverview Sports and Marine in Elk River.

[Raceman]

"Compare that to a new Malibu, Master Craft, etc that sell $35,000 to over $50,000 (46/50 mph boat) and we look like a bargain."


I'm not trying to make any judgements on price/value of the HydroStreams, but comparing them to an low performance, single purpose ski boat sure seems like an apples to oranges comparison. Seems like there are other boats in the same category as the Streams that would make better comparisons.

[kobrak]

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to get down there and check em out. Is it still 2 models or are there more? Again, very new to boating andam trying to learn a bit............is it typical to not include gauges in the base configuration?

If I'm looking at the official Hydrostream site, why doesn't it have the dealer locations? Maybe I just missed it. I'm looking at www.hydrostream.com. Also, I clicked on the parts icon hoping to see stuff like dashs, steering wheels, gauge packages, hydrostream emblems for the sides, louvers, seats (the fiberglass) and other kewl hydrostream stuff. Thought I'd ask, cause with my ol Stream.......I'd like it all in one easy to shop place:) Not askin for much......am I :D

[Stream 1]

I know our web site is not yet up to where it needs to be, we are working on it and hope to have some improvements soon. As for gauges, while most of the factory rigged boats are rigged with Mercury, we do sell boats that end up with Bombardier, and Yamaha engines. Today many boaters are using engine brand smart gauges, so we have elected to have gauges as an option.

Raceman, it may not be a completely fair comparison, but many of the new features in both the Voyager and Vegas were taken from the ski boat market (Malibu, Supra, Master Craft). That market has grown through a slow boat economy, and in polling people at boat shows many people like their features but are tired of the perfomance and ride of most of those products. If you look at both of our all new models, I think you can see we are trying to bring a more complete boat, that still runs like a Hydro Stream to the market. I also think its hard to compare us to any of the other performance outboards as the content, storage, and creature comforts in our boats is higher. If you did I believe we are priced below or even to most of them who are all composite construction.

We are also going to venture into the ski market with a barefoot edition. There use to be a number of ski boat manufacturers building outboard barefoot boats but as wakeboarding took over their market they have all dropped their barefooter. We are almost done with the first one and have gotten a incredable response from both dealers and consumers. Picture attached is still under development but is close to a production boat.

[Stream 1]

Here is what we are working on for graphic logo, we may use this on non barefooters if the response is positive.

[Rodney Nance]

Jim I would rather see you building boats than web sites. Keep up the good work. If you guy's are free the weekend of May 17 & 18 come on down to the river run on Watts Bar.

[Barefoot Bob]

I really like the added touch to the side windows. You did a real nice job. Feal free to bring it to the rumble and I will demo it for you;) :D

Have you ever considered building a boat of that style in a fish and ski? Leaning a bit more to the ski and not the fish? Kinda like I did with my Baja?

My family owns 4 Baja fish and ski's. And we would be purchasing new ones if they would build them again.

I know at least here in Minnesota the market is huge for fish and ski's

[Reese]

Competition ski boats are made for one thing only…just like an STV’s is made for one thing only. Very few boats can touch competition ski boats in quality and performance…and performance does not mean speed.

If you don’t ski you won’t get it…and if you don’t race you won’t get the other end of the scale either. Value is what the consumer perceives as a good deal or a good overall package that best reflects his or her lifestyle.

Interesting to think that a boat designed to go no faster than 45 mph with horrible rough water characteristics and a retail price over $35-40K are the fastest growing market segment the industry today.

Stream 1…great idea about the barefoot. The only company that still produces outboard ski boats is Cee Bee Manufacturing. Had the opportunity to ride in one last year in Havasu, very nice boat with a West Coast custom look…they only produce about 35-50 boats per year with a target market of boaters who like to ski and drive fast. The boat does about 60-65 with a 200…pretty fast for a ski boat.