Here's the new seadoo boats..... Sort of.

[Dr Honda]

Hi Guys,

Since Seadoo pulled out... they allowed Glastron to use the Rotax drive. And... I've heard they even got the old molds.

Here's the first of the Glastron Rotax boats.....



http://www.boattest.com/boats/boat_video.aspx?ID=3101

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

150hp jet drive in a 2400lb (dry weight) boat?

 

[MLars]

Not sure if this will happen with skis, but it seems rotax now has 150 and 200hp NON supercharged engines instead of a 215hp supercharged. "The Rotax engine is a 3-cylinder, 12-valve, 4-stroke engine with a displacement of 1494 cc. The 150 and 200 versions are liquid-cooled, with a dry sump. All are EFI. The 250-hp version has a supercharger and an extended inner cooler."

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Not sure if this will happen with skis, but it seems rotax now has 150 and 200hp NON supercharged engines instead of a 215hp supercharged. "The Rotax engine is a 3-cylinder, 12-valve, 4-stroke engine with a displacement of 1494 cc. The 150 and 200 versions are liquid-cooled, with a dry sump. All are EFI. The 250-hp version has a supercharger and an extended inner cooler."

Right. The Sportster LE "sports" an lb/hp ratio of 9.6lb/hp but throw 300lb of passengers onboard and that quickly rises to 11.92lb/hp This excludes fuel, so throw 6lbs/gal and 20 gal of fuel onboard for another 120lbs of weight and the ratio jumps to 12.84lb/hp

 

[midway]

Right. The Sportster LE "sports" an lb/hp ratio of 9.6lb/hp but throw 300lb of passengers onboard and that quickly rises to 11.92lb/hp This excludes fuel, so throw 6lbs/gal and 20 gal of fuel onboard for another 120lbs of weight and the ratio jumps to 12.84lb/hp

By your calculations I think that will be under powered pretty quick, we know there will be 4 to 6 150 lb people in that boat, then they want to pull a tube or skier, plus other gear. I don't think that will work out well.

 

[MLars]

Just based on the fact it has a 150 hp JET engine in a 20 ft 2400lb boat we all know this isn't going to be a good performing boat by any means, especially since some people need more than 150hp in a jetski.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

By your calculations I think that will be under powered pretty quick, we know there will be 4 to 6 150 lb people in that boat, then they want to pull a tube or skier, plus other gear. I don't think that will work out well.

Tubes are pretty easy to pull b/c they float on the surface anyway, unless they get submarined, then stuff like ropes can quickly break. Better hope any slalom skier is strong and well experienced, b/c he's gonna get dragged a fair distance. I can see it now, the kids will never learn how to ski b/c the dad doesn't realize his puny 150hp jet boat doesn't have enough grunt to pull up even an experienced skier.

I kinda doubt a 20' 150hp 2400lb JET boat can get on plane with 6 people aboard, it MIGHT IF the hull is shaped right.

 

[racerxxx]

I would venture to say most people would buy the 250, I think they would be nuts to sell it with the 150 and even the 200 is on the edge. But the 250 compared to your Sportster, the power to weight ratio is better(barely) on the Glastron so that should be a decent boat. I think you were off a bit on your calculations, if I revesed your numbers correctly you were saying your sportster weighs 1248#. Your 01 Sportster is 1325# dry with 130 HP (Power to weight ratio of 0.99) the Glastron P/W is 0.104. You might be correct on your weight# because I swear my Speedster was under 1700#, yet that link I posted says it is 1710. I think the Glastron looks amazing, I'd prefer it with twin 250's. If I personally were shopping for a new jet boat this would be a contender, the Yamahammers just sit way to high out of the water for me and the color combos do nothing for me. I'm anxious to see some better shots of the new Scarab jet boat too. The video looks cool, but I want more pics.

Weight specs from here.

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

God I hope they have a twin engine 15' boat that doesn't look like it came from a sci-fi b-movie! The glastron 187 is a sharp looking boat. I have hope I really got disillusioned with BRP's body designers in the last decade...

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I think you were off a bit on your calculations, if I revesed your numbers correctly you were saying your sportster weighs 1248#. Your 01 Sportster is 1325# dry with 130 HP (Power to weight ratio of 0.99) the Glastron P/W is 0.104. You might be correct on your weight# because I swear my Speedster was under 1700#, yet that link I posted says it is 1710.

Weight specs from here.

Right, I do understand how boats are built as I've built a few "identical" boats myself and none of them weighed the same(the first was heaviest, the last one came in second heaviest).

I don't have a reasonable explanation for why the Sportster LE has a P/W of 0.99 while the Glastron's P/W is just 0.104, that ratio is better by 0.99/.104 = ~10X, a considerable difference.

An 3000lb automobile might have a ratio in the neighborhood of ~20lb/hp......... Cars are on wheels, and typically achieve 20+MPG these days.

I've skied behind a wide variety of ski boats and I'm quite familiar with the attributes of nearly all drive systems (aside from propeller driven air boats or hovercraft, no direct experience with these.).

So I've assigned the weight of 1250lbs to the Sportster LE for my back of the envelope calculations without actually having weighed mine, based on this published spec:

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

God I hope they have a twin engine 15' boat that doesn't look like it came from a sci-fi b-movie! The glastron 187 is a sharp looking boat. I have hope I really got disillusioned with BRP's body designers in the last decade...

I kinda liked the nearly pickle-forked nose on one of the seadoo boat models (Utopia?), not sure who thought of it first but I've seen that "different" bow shape more lately, even on the Tige' boats.

I like boats that are shaped uniquely, although those "bleach bottle" cabin cruisers aren't for me, I don't care much for large boats.

 

[racerxxx]

Right, I do understand how boats are built as I've built a few "identical" boats myself and none of them weighed the same(the first was heaviest, the last one came in second heaviest).

I don't have a reasonable explanation for why the Sportster LE has a P/W of 0.99 while the Glastron's P/W is just 0.104, that ratio is better by 0.99/.104 = ~10X, a considerable difference.

An 3000lb automobile might have a ratio in the neighborhood of ~20lb/hp......... Cars are on wheels, and typically achieve 20+MPG these days.

I've skied behind a wide variety of ski boats and I'm quite familiar with the attributes of nearly all drive systems (aside from propeller driven air boats or hovercraft, no direct experience with these.).

So I've assigned the weight of 1250lbs to the Sportster LE for my back of the envelope calculations without actually having weighed mine, based on this published spec:

Actually what I meant was, the book I referenced was wrong as in the weights are heavier in that then what I remembered reading elsewhere. I was thinking your quote weight was correct. What's even funnier is, I just checked my original pink slip(I'm the original owner) for my Speedster and that has a combined weight (boat and trailer) listed at 2,960# and the trailer is separated out @ 478#. And the boat didn't come with a full tank of gas either. So that is even off, LOL. I remember reading the speedster weighed like 1,640# dry less the trailer.

 

[kicker]

I just got back for from the Toronto boat show yesterday and those scarab jet boats look just like the seadoo ones, very nice.
I spoke to the sales rep from Glastron and he said the 250 hp jetboat would go somewhere around 45 mph with a few people in it.
The best feature with the jetboat was the rear seats, I think they are pretty slick.

As for my self I went with the volvo penta glastron.

Also I cant justify the extra $3500 plus tax that they want for the jetpowered boat. I dont really know why it has to be more money, other then the rear seats are cool.

http://www.glastron.com/upload/images/boatslides/price-slides-2014/glas_gts187_price-slider.png

 

[RFoster130]

I'll be headed to the boat show in Cincinnati over the weekend. Hoping to get a look at one. Ii still they they are making them way underpowered though.

 

[RFoster130]

Well here is the 20 ft Chaparral Vortex. This was the only boat at the Cincinnati boat show that was Rotax powered. This particular boat was the prototype model and not the final production run. The guy said the final version will have some slight differences. It was a nice looking boat. I should have taken more pics. The big issue i see is still the lack of power though. Its going to have a 250HP. To me, thats just not enough. They are also making it in a 22' and a 24'. The 22 will have twin 150's and the 24 will have twin 200's. All those options seem a bit too low for me to be happy.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Do you recall what the weight of the boat was?

 

[RFoster130]

Yeah, just because i have the brochure right in front of me. :lol:

203 Vortex 2550 lbs

223 Vortex 3000 lbs

243 Vortex 3500 lbs

 

[Coastiejoe]

I was wondering as weight to power to ride "comfort" ratio all matter. 4 foot of boat vs 1000 pound difference is pretty substantial when it comes to a jet powered boat.

I would think the twins will move the 243 model pretty well. A test drive would be nice to do. Maybe that will be possible once they are in production.

 

[Dr Honda]

I went to the Pitt boat show on Sunday, and I didn't see one yet.