I'm gonna need a faster boat!

[skialot2]

I went out on my boat the other day. Some guy on a Jetski wanted to race me. I tried, but I had no chance. It took him about 5 seconds to realize it and split. I just could not stay on the gas in the same water as him. I was bouncing all over, He had no problems. Plus trying to drive through the chine walk on my boat is not good for my shoulder. My rotator cuff has been torn, surgically repaired and torn again. It keeps trying to pop out of the socket. So I am going to need an easier boat to drive. There was a couple of Hydrostream Vegas YT's on here. I tried to get one of them. They didn't work out. But I found a Valero YT on Facebook. I got it for $500 with the title and the trailer. Same hull as a Vking YT. But with a Vegas style top. It needs a lot of work. It's ugly as sin. Probably gonna need a re-core. The guy I got it from said his fiberglass guy said only the center core is bad. We shall see.

[bouyhead]

Be careful with those jerk offs on the Jet Ski's, it takes skill and experience to drive your boat fast not so much on the ski. All he needs to do is squeeze the trigger. Can't tell you how many times I've waved those guys on, only to have them take off like a bat out of hell then turn into my path, then stop.

[LakeFever]

Valero yt is a far better hull to hotrod than a Vegas. Much better balanced boat. Just do the core man it’s not that hard. On an acceptable looking boat which that appears to be I’d do the core, transom, and a couple stringers with knees. Splashwell delete makes this easy. A buddy of mine didn’t even regel or paint his splashwell delete he stuck some cheap seadeck type product on it off Amazon. Works great. Looks decent. Fast fun

[skialot2]

Gave it a quick powerwash. Looks a wee bit better when wet. The gelcoat is faded to hell. But not a lot of real damage. I found 3 real chips and scratches so far. I am sure their is more. I am wondering if I can just sand off the faded gelcoat like I did my Checkmate's gelcoat. I think that was worse.

[pcrussell50]

Valero yt is a far better hull to hotrod than a Vegas. Much better balanced boat. Just do the core man it’s not that hard. On an acceptable looking boat which that appears to be I’d do the core, transom, and a couple stringers with knees. Splashwell delete makes this easy. A buddy of mine didn’t even regel or paint his splashwell delete he stuck some cheap seadeck type product on it off Amazon. Works great. Looks decent. Fast fun

I’m as irritated by them as the next bloke. But we have to be diligent not to let our rage start to demand government to step in. When Steve Wynn was bugged by personal watercraft 20 years ago, he leveraged his money and influence to get “two strokes” banned because that’s what they all were back then. BUT it came this close =><= to getting us all swept up and away too. That was Lake Tahoe. There are still tons of places that enacted a ban on ALL two strokes, not just Tahoe. But some like Lake Mead, just barely escaped the .gov butcher’s knife. They banned two stroke watercraft and said they were going to ban two stroke outboards later. That was 13 years ago so maybe we have escaped for now.

Anyway, just a little nudge to be careful what we wish for. Sometimes the grenade we drop is closer to us than we thought it would be.

Ski, love the Valero. Would be super interested to hear back from you how it handles. Are you going to put your new 2.4/200 on it?

-Peter

[skialot2]

I want to make clear I had no problem with the guy on the jetski. He did nothing wrong. I just was not a challenge for him at all. I like Jetskis. I cant use them anymore because of my shoulder. They are a ton of fun. I had one. A real one. A 1988 Kawasaki 650SX standup. No where near as fast as the ones today. But, you actually had to learn to ride it. Not just sit on it and go. I do admit a lot of people who drive jetskis, drive like jerks. But that is not the machines fault. I have no desire for them to be banned. I just want to beat them.

Peter. It's going to be a while before I get to use it. Especially if it needs a full recore. I will probably flip that 2.4 200. I am going to put my 2.5 200 FF I am building on the Valero. It's gonna fly.

[pcrussell50]

Oooh, a 2.5/200. Even better. Noice!

Yeh, I was a fan of the real Jet Ski… That you stand up on. Still am. Don’t want the heavy four stroke re-pop of today though, so it would be another project. Maybe when the girls (10 and 14), are up and gone.

-Peter

[hellbents-10]

Those supercharged ones are fast! I heard one in my right ear up till 80mph the other day! He said I was the only one to out run him on our lake.

[XstreamVking]

They don't get smoked often, but when they do it's a real ego buster for them. I love to pace them like that's all I got and then stab it....

[pcrussell50]

Those supercharged ones are fast! I heard one in my right ear up till 80mph the other day! He said I was the only one to out run him on our lake.

They can pull too. I’ve seen them yank up wake boarders with ease, with the extra weight of an observer on the back.

Of course jet drives are most efficient at low or no speed. It’s more amazing how hifh their top speeds can get, with a jet drive. But you throw enough horsepower at a lightweight boat and even with the inefficiency of a jet at high speed it will still be fast.

-Peter

[KIRCHNER]

i ran a supercharged one, stayed dead even a 81. i thought i would walk away, but he hung in there solid.

[pcrussell50]

According to Google, Rotax (SeaDoo) and Kawasaki both have 300, 310, 325hp motors for their watercraft. In-Credible. =8-O

On the physics front, that something that small and (relatively) light only does 80 with 300+ hp is a testament to how in-efficient jet drives are for high speeds.

-Peter

[JPEROG]

It doesn't take too many modifications to make a supercharged 1800 Yamaha run in the 90s. There are several of them on the St. Johns.

Joe

[VkingMike]

It doesn't take too many modifications to make a supercharged 1800 Yamaha run in the 90s. There are several of them on the St. Johns.

Joe

This is very true, I run into them often on the river. Sure A lot of our boats are top speed faster, but it's the acceleration that is hard to match, they go 0-90 very quickly.

[VkingMike]

The guy I got it from said his fiberglass guy said only the center core is bad. We shall see.

Nice! But I can assure you, if its a Hydrostream, its rotted everywhere.