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tabme
12-02-2018, 12:46 PM
So i purchased a 1998 champion 190 fish & ski with a mercury 200 efi about a month ago. Like the design of the boat a lot,the gentleman i purchased it from said it runs 70mph. I am doing some winter mods to motor-heads/tuner/reeds/6 inch set back. Looking for feedback of anyone who has owned or ran this style boat. Thank you

rock
12-02-2018, 01:02 PM
I have owned several Champions and currently have Champion Swift. Very good, easy to drive boats. Only issue I have seen is the transoms can be iffy so keep an eye on it. Well built boat that should give you good service.

Rock

ivlakeman
12-02-2018, 07:53 PM
I live on sam rayburn and I live n my champion come springtime 18.6 1999 in very good condition just put a new power head on it 7 pedal 91 .030 short ex boyesen reeds stacks C-4 heads still running the wmh -31 carbs I have some Wh-20 on the way and a jack P I only have about 3 hr on the motor been taking it EZ but I love the old Champs tops n my book 424740424741

Bruce2
12-02-2018, 08:02 PM
I have a 1995 190 dual console champion with a 200xri efi turning a 25 tempest plus 8" rapid jack jackplate and only running 63 mph gps with full tank fuel and all fishing gear and 2 guys. Prop slip is around 16-17% slip i need to get prop worked on. I have a 1989 176 champ also.

JasonRS
12-05-2018, 09:44 AM
I have a 202 Champion and love the boat, have had it almost 16 years. Keep the transom sealed up good, no other issues at all, great boats. 70 mph is probably optimistic, guessing that is speedo reading. Setup right im guessing 65ish, and should be easy to drive at those speeds. Rough water ride is simply amazing imho

Bruce2
12-05-2018, 10:47 AM
The 1995 and 1996 202's where the faster ones as they where the skinny ones, friend has a 202 with a 200 on it and it will run 69 gps by himself and loaded light. Loaded and 2 people he runs around 65 gps. Yea im told it should be around 66 to 68 loaded on my 190.

JasonRS
12-05-2018, 11:39 AM
Mine is a 97 model, approx 92 inch beam. I have a stock 225efi 3 litre, pushes it 77-78 light fishing load. Best prop by far is a 27p. t-1 yamaha worked by mark croxton

Bruce2
12-05-2018, 12:02 PM
My 190 is 92 inch beam, im running a stock out of the box 25 tempest and have lots of prop slip and it will eventually get sent off to be worked. Im still working bugs out of motor and setup, last time out tach stopped working so put new tach in and haven't been back out.

JasonRS
12-05-2018, 12:54 PM
Water is hard here....will probably be end of march at the earliest for my next ride

tabme
12-05-2018, 04:57 PM
I was hoping to get some feedback on motor height. How much Above or Below the pad

Bruce2
12-05-2018, 06:38 PM
Start at 3 1/2 inches prop to pad and go from there either up or down and watch water pressure if you go up. You can go up till either you lose speed and or water pressure but the is no set of numbers for any boat as mine would run different prop to pad than yours.

JasonRS
12-05-2018, 07:41 PM
Yup, mine likes 3 1/4, below pad, with 10" setback. I lost bite before water pressure when going up. I dont have low water pickups

tabme
12-05-2018, 09:05 PM
I have a cle lower unit that i am going to swap out as part of my upgrades.

nitro_rat
12-05-2018, 09:56 PM
Yup, mine likes 3 1/4, below pad, with 10" setback. I lost bite before water pressure when going up. I dont have low water pickups

That seems deep with that much setback. What prop are you running?

Bruce2
12-05-2018, 10:21 PM
I think im somewhere around 3 1/2- 3 3/4 inch prop to pad with an 8 inch plate.

JasonRS
12-06-2018, 05:15 AM
That seems deep with that much setback. What prop are you running?

27 pitch yamaha t1 or an old quicksilver trophy for heavy loads. The champ hulls dont really like a high propshaft i guess

tabme
12-06-2018, 07:53 AM
I got 2 props with the boat-Tempest plus 25 and a Hi-Tech 4 with a stamped FAB 632 on it. I am not sure if it's a 32 pitch,it needs to be reconditioned. I also have a High-Five 25.

JasonRS
12-07-2018, 12:13 PM
The 25 tempest would be a good start, may be a tad stiff for heavier loads, but definitely worth trying first

Bruce2
12-07-2018, 12:37 PM
25m is also a good choice on Champions as some prefer the 25m over a tempest.

ivlakeman
12-07-2018, 08:07 PM
25m is also a good choice on Champions as some prefer the 25m over a tempest.
I went with the 4 inch jack plate and another 1/2 power pole spacers I raised it 1 inch today prop on 3 1/4 24 pitch 4 blade looks like next week before I can get back on the lake to give it a try lot of rain down this way ...... I did get to run the the new carbs WH-20 BIG time difference in hole shot and top end with a small .078 main and a .055 air .... replaced the 91 7 pedal WMH-31 carb with .068 main

ivlakeman
12-11-2018, 02:46 AM
I went with the 4 inch jack plate and another 1/2 power pole spacers I raised it 1 inch today prop on 3 1/4 24 pitch 4 blade looks like next week before I can get back on the lake to give it a try lot of rain down this way ...... I did get to run the the new carbs WH-20 BIG time difference in hole shot and top end with .087 main and a .055 air .... replaced the 91 7 pedal WMH-31 carb with .068 main
ran the 92 main 60 air it didnt like them going back to the 87 and 55 jet ran much better on them

tabme
12-17-2018, 08:00 AM
I have been reading over some posts on Champion boats and members say they Chime walk. My question,is there away to lessen this with setback-prop-motor height. Good tight steering is my first direction but is it just the Hull design. 1998-Champion 190-F&S

JasonRS
12-17-2018, 09:02 AM
Yes they will "chine" walk, but usually my only reeally tries to walk above 70 mph. Setup helps, but its gonna happen until you have enough seat time to react and adjust. Cant drive thru it, must learn to keep it from happening

Bruce2
12-17-2018, 09:39 AM
Loose is fast..when boat is chine walking it's setup right.. My 176 starts chine walking around 54 mph and my 190 has yet to chine walk at 63 mph...some say when it starts walking trim down just a tad sometimes raising motor one notch 1/4 inch will help reduce chine walk...best is learn how to drive it...you have to get a feel for it in your butt as to when it startsand small correction in the steering wheel to the left will help.

Here's a video of champs running wild it's a promotion vide from back in the day.

Champions running wild full.mp4 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rey2Ygj4-DY)

Merc 2.5
12-17-2018, 12:37 PM
That's a great video. Givin them ole boats hell! The thang turns good! Well new at the time

rock
12-17-2018, 04:34 PM
Years ago I met Bill Pace who was at that time the national sales manager. They had an on the water boat show going for the local OMG dealer. I was in the Hydrostream at the time and he had an 18-4 super vee. Both had 200 Mercs but his was a bit modified. We ran for about an hour in some pretty rough water and had a ball. Speed wise the boats were pretty even and I know mine ran well over 80. Not bad for a fishin boat. Went for a ride with him the next day in one of the show boats with a 2.6 XP or GT and unfortunately experienced those wild turns. Will never say anything bad about Champion handling. Lot of fun to drive.

Rock

Bruce2
12-17-2018, 05:01 PM
They may not be as fast as an Allison or Skeeter but when it get rough water the Champion will shine for sure.

tabme
12-17-2018, 07:50 PM
I have a CLE lower unit i am swapping out on the boat. Any real value to handling with this lower over stock.

Gordon02
12-17-2018, 11:18 PM
The longer length of the CLE will increase surface area and drag unless you are able to use the LWP attribute and raise the case out of the water.

I have never related chine-walk with propshaft height. If you set the height and setback to achieve the boat's optimum angle of attack of 4 degrees without over-trim and maintain water pressure - you can then concentrate on the right propeller and driving balance. Chine-walk is a wonderful result of the narrow pad beginning the science of supporting the entire boat's mass. As you free the hull, the parasitic drag of the water is reduced and the available thrust can now push the boat even faster. Water is 814 times more dense than air, so "flying" is much better than plowing water...

Chine-walking is the result of the boat's pad acting like a waterski with the entire boat trying to balance on it's center. Add to this balance effort the fact that the propeller is trying flip the boat on it's left side and that every wave hitting the hull creates drag wherever it contacts. As the boat is pushed onto it's left side, it bounces/leans to the right. With every bounce, your boat not only leans left and right - it gets pointed in left and right directions as the drag on the chines (outside edges are chines) pull the boat in alternating sides.

Learning to balance is a lot like riding a bicycle - once you learn it, you'll never forget. Practice is the only way to master it. With practice, you'll make slight left pressure on the wheel to offset a right lean and a slight right pressure on the wheel to offset a left lean. These inputs are not visible nor felt by the passenger when done correctly. Practice and you'll just "feel" when one of those small inputs are required - before anyone else "feels" it. If more obvious steering wheel inputs are needed, then you're not reacting to the coming lean quickly enough - more practice! Oh yea, it's Fun!! Gordon

Gordon02
12-18-2018, 08:53 AM
You'll have some bass boaters and dock "experts" tell you that chine-walk is the result of bad set-up, wrong prop, or a poor hull design. Don't believe them. It's not hard to see how important balance is when your boat is on the pad.........the entire boat's mass is perched on a narrow section of pad and all of forces of prop, waves, and wind are trying to flip and drag the boat every way but straight. Imagine the torque of a 1/2" drill going through big timbers X 10,000 with that big outboard turning that prop through the water. The only control to offset these forces is the steering energy imparted at the wheel and executed at the gearcase. The boat pictured has way more deadrise than the Champions, but the science is the same. Gordon

426019

JasonRS
12-18-2018, 09:01 AM
Great explanation in those last two posts, put in words better than i could no doubt!:cheers:

tabme
12-18-2018, 10:11 AM
Thank you very much for all the information. I have had a Ebbtide dyna-trak 180 ss with a 200 mercury on it for 27 yrs. The champion is all new to me,i am also in the process of restoring a 1994 Stratos 280 Fish & Ski to give to my son any feed back on this boat is appreciated. No seat time in this one either

ivlakeman
12-18-2018, 08:36 PM
1999 18.6 champion ran a 25 fury today at 6000 it ran 65 on gps loaded with tackle and about 15 gal of gas ran straight as and arrow very pleased and a hell of a hole shot with this prop 426070426071

canardnoir
11-20-2020, 07:18 PM
Back during the early 1980s Greg Mosher was the plant manager of Champion Boats at Mt Home, Ark. I had Greg build me a slightly modified 15' for hunting the Mississippi River below Memphis, Tenn. I powered it with 75 hp Johnson Stinger and routinely ran 25-35 miles a hunt in search of migrating waterfowl amid the barges and sand bars. Forty-years later and with waterfowl populations declining, I've re-rigged a 1990 - 17' version of the same basic boat for fishing the lakes, marshes, and sounds of the Gulf of Mexico. I went back to the old school power of a slightly modified 2-stroke Yamaha 115 set back 4" & up about 2" with a 17" pitch 3-blade - and I'm staying just as dry as I did with 18' and 19' center consoles with similar Yamaha F4 power. I don't venture as far but when the seas are running 3-4' - I don't need to be out there when it gets that rough, anyway...

Merc 2.5
11-20-2020, 08:27 PM
1999 18.6 champion ran a 25 fury today at 6000 it ran 65 on gps loaded with tackle and about 15 gal of gas ran straight as and arrow very pleased and a hell of a hole shot with this prop 426070426071

Was u running with all pvs holes open or do you have plugs in it? You said hole shot nice and strong? Just curious, im thinkin bout tryin a fury 3 or 4 , and stern of my boat is almost identical to a champ but my pad is little different, I run croxton modified trophy plus and its dialed in to a pretty quick hole shot and great wot , I need bout 2 more in of setback to b able get most out of my bassrig ,but that calls for new steer cables or go hydraulic,