Don

Definitely will. Already went to the Kingston public library and photocopied the yellow pages for Belleville, London, and Toronto.

Don

The intake purge is a little spring loaded button below the bucket control lever. It somehow reverses the water flow while pressed, so any weeds, dead fish, mermaids, etc get 'backwashed' from the intake grill. Not sure if plugging is a common problem with jetboats, but it certainly makes sense. Obviously, if your intake is plugging up, you will run the engines harder, lose power, and lose some control. More importantly, if you do not have enough cooling to your engines, you run risks of premature wear or (unlikely, but possible) a catastrophic failure.

As to the actual piping arrangement, I can't say without looking at some schematics of the system. I know on some jet boats, the outlet can be diverted to allow only a small portion for thrust control, and redirect 70-90% elsewhere (normally a fire monitor). Now that would be interesting! You could race up the river at 100 km/h, then redirect your output to pump water onto shore or put out a fire from 20-30m away!! Obviously, that mod is geared for fire fighters and other services. I suppose normal people could use it for fighting off the hoards of people who want you to take them for a ride!

As for the DESS, I didn't get a hands-on, but I believe they encode the safety lanyard the same way luxury cars have coded keys. That way, even with another lanyard, you cannot steal your neighbours boat...

I'm done here in another day or two, then down to London/Leamington for a few days before heading back to New Brunswick. Hopefully by Easter, I'll have a new boat in tow, Sea doo or otherwise... I'll keep you posted with the results in a few weeks.

Don

Long post, so grab a bite to eat while reading this!

I have had hands-on several times now in local showrooms. Yesterday, there was a boat show about an hour away, and I went down to see what was there (it is one of the strong contenders for my big boat purchase this summer). I spent close to an hour on board, looking and probing, including reading the owners manual, and can offer the following comments.

Overall impression: Well built and FUN FUN FUN. I won't repeat what is on the website or the sales brochure, as they are fairly detailed and I'm sure you have read them. Many of my comments may seem 'negative', but do not take that as meaning I dislike the boat. I actually love about 95% of it! It's just the sales brochures do not normally list any of the weaknesses, so I will do it here.

From Bow to stern:
Huge storage capacity up front! You could hide small family there. It is the only storage area which is carpetted so I would be leery of putting wet items there, even though I believe there is a drainhole at the rear of it. I can envision wet carpet in an enclosed area for several hot days! If you plan on stuffing an anchor in the boat, there is no notch for the anchor rode, and I cannot remember if there was even a place to secure the end of the line.

Although not recessed, the cleats and other hardware seemed very solid, and it felt like the backing plates would hold well (couldn't see them, just felt them with my fingers!). The big rails also seemed very sturdy and were just the right size to hang onto.

Bow seat storage x 2. Not very large, but have drain holes in them
Underfloor storage. Should be large enough for any skis you have. Has a support strut to keep the lid open.

Passenger side area: Glove compartment was very good size. Radio mounted below it has detachable faceplate. 12V outlet beside radio. Windscreen lifts up to provide access to a small storage bin. There is a 2-3" flip up deflector on the windscreen which doesn't seem like it would do much (I have not been at high speeds though, so that could be just ignorance on my part)

Helm side: Same flip up deflector. Windscreen lifts up to reveal a small insulated cooler. Good for about 6 pops and a bit of ice. Three control levers. One for the bucket direction, and one for each engine throttle. This is a huge step forward from the Utopia I looked at, which has the bucket and throttle on the same lever (with what appeared to be cheap plastic). Can't remember if the Speedster had metal or plastic levers, but they felt solid. The intake clearance purge is nicely located away from everything else under the throttles.

Both seats swivel 180 degrees and can slide fwd/back. No flip up bolsters.
As this is a sport boat, there is no window or gate blocking the walkway to the bow. No problem in hot climates, but it may mean a few cold breezes in Canada and the Northern USA until June/July.

Small storage under aft bench, as well as more storage above the engine cover.

Pop up ski pylon is a nice touch and felt solid.

Back deck had three well placed handles for reboarding, although the centre-placed ladder could have been one rung longer. Long leg persons may have to do some upper body workout to get onto the swim platform.

The DESS security system is a great idea. You can order addn copies from Bombardier if you have friends, etc that also use the boat.

Separate shut-down buttons for each engine.

The engines: I am not qualified to speak about jet engines as I've never owned one, but they seemed well laid out, and the control rods/cables and buckets at the stern also seemed solid.

One thing that I was not a fan of personally was that everything was seamlessly molded. While it certainly keeps things clean, if you want to add a depth warning indicator, flowmeter, VHF radio, etc to it, without using the 12V outlet and leaving the item in the glove compartment, you will have a bit of work to do.

Hope this helps anyone out there. My impression is that Bombardier put a lot of thought into this boat and 90% of the users would be happy with the layout and features on it.

If anyone has some experience on the water with it, feel free to add or disagree with me!

Don

I'm currently in the Kingston area dreaming what it would be like to see the 1000 islands and the St Lawrence in the summer. Simply amazing territory and lakes around here. I've talked to two Seadoo dealers, and without even starting to dicker, their advertised price had a 1K different (same options, freight, etc).

I am on an intense course right now with classes from 0700-2000 and most wknds but it will end on 26 Mar. I will then take a week or two off to visit relatives in London/Leamington and check out more dealers (incl Seadoo). Hopefully I will decide what I will buy (and have it hooked up to my truck) by then; if not, I have some shopping to do back home!

Amazing. Two years ago I'd say anyone who is looking at a new boat was an idiot, and now 'here I are...'.

Don

This should be interesting........  can't wait to see the gas consumption on the 200 because I know it's not good on the 160!!!

I recieved an email from Bombardier today. Although they do not have graphs (or at least claim they do not exist), they provided me with one figure. At wide open throttle (around 7200-7300 RPM) the Speedster 200 (Twin Rotax) will consume about 41 Litres per hour (about 11 US Gallons)!!!

I have no idea what test conditions were wrt current, wind, temp, and payload, but from other readings, these tests are normally attempted in still water on nice days to minimize these variables. I also suspect from an advertising perspective, they had the boat almost empty in order to keep the values as low as possible. Even so, I am glad they provided me with this info. It would be nice if more manufacturers would provide this kind of data, but on a graphical format to allow some reader calculations on range, fuel, time, speed, etc.

Obviously, even dropping the throttle a bit should help out on the fuel consumption. I suspect I will probably be looking more at the Utopia boats now. Although a bit slower, they should be a lot easier on the fuel.

On the chance I find some more info, I'll certainly post it here, as this site is obviously focused on everything about the Bombardier products.

Don

Hi Don,

I am also from Canada what area in Canada are you from ? I am down in the St Lawrence sea way area. I am interested in the s200 as well , One quick question on fuel consumption on the new S200 you got from Bombardier was the 41 litters for both engines or is that what each engine will use at WOT? AS it would be great if that was for both engines together , but I have a feeling that might be per engine , so it would be closer to 82 litter or 22 American gph.

As I have a Speedster 16 right now year 2002 240efi, and I installed an mercury smart craft gauge and one of the things it gives you as you are bombing around is how many gph you are using (In American gallons) any how the 240 efi use about 24 gallons an hour at WOT. and at cruising speed it is about 7 GPH and you are doing just under 30mph.

So if the new S200 only uses 11gph for both engines that is great and if that is for each engine it is still less than the 240 At WOT!

New to the form first post.

Greg

Ouch! I hadn't thought of that being for only one engine, and I suspect you are right!!! If it is using about 80 L/hr, I suspect it will be off my list unless gas drops a lot (it is hitting over 80cents/litre now). I am near Fredericton, NB, with a river that runs for about 100 km towards the ocean, and (if I put the boat in above the dam) another 50-100km upstream, although I've never really checked the upstream side out. There is also another river that joins it at the marina, that I can go up at least 15-20 km before it gets shallow.

Best of all, I live about 1km from the marina, so I can drive/bike/jog there in about five minutes after work. It will cost me about $600 for a 20' berth for the summer, but I figure it is worth saving the hassle of trying to unload/load a boat by myself on a public dock everytime I want to use it. This way, I can use it a lot more!I

The only problem with the St John river is that it is great for long cruises, but not as great for just horsing around (It's only about 300-400m wide in most places).

I'm actually in Ontario for a few weeks now, and that is why I am looking for one out here (No PST!!!).

Don