Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

[Kasoshai]

I can buy a 2012 sea ray 190 sport brand new with 220hp with wakeboard tower full loaded or a Chaparral 2013 brand new H2O 19 same engine similarly loaded. I would have to pay 3K more for the Chaparral- what is the best deal

 

[JoLin]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

what is the best deal

Nothing wrong with either. Which do you like better?

 

[truckermatt]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

both are nice boats, I would prefer the chaparral but its not my extra 3k. but If I was buying new i would get what I want, not just the cheaper one.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

If you can live with the tiny cockpit on the Sea Ray (assumeing it has sun sport seating) then that might be a good way to go. Re-sale of the SR will be better 3 years down the road when you out grow it.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Personally when I was looking, I took both of the boats you mention out on the water, but one size bigger. The Chap was much better in rough water. The Sea Ray I took out had the seating with the engine cover and 2 seats beside it which we did not like. I was not impressed with the Sea Ray, especially for the money.

I ended up choosing the Monterey because it was far less expensive for a comperable boat, and superior in many ways. For the same price I got a lot more options. I was looking at used boats, and the Chaps were all trashed for some reason.

When I started my search I was addiment that I was getting either a Sea Ray or a Chap. When I tested the Monterey I was so impressed that I bought it on the spot. Monterey is made just outside of Gainesville FL and is supposed to be one of the disgruntled brothers from Chap. I have way more storage than either the SR or the Chap. I can put skis, a knee board, a wakeboard, 4 floating noodles and 3 beach chairs in the ski locker and still has room. I have 15 life jackets, all safety gear, and a built in cooler and there is still 4 large compartments left for other junk. It rides like the Chap through rough water. It has a ladder on the front so when we pull up on islands we can get on and off from the front. So many nice little options that were either not available on the others that it was way worth looking at.

Anyway, just a thought. Given your choices, I think I would choose the Chap. Of course I would also look at year old boats instead of brand new. You can get a hell of a lot of boat for a lot less money. NO matter what you choose, TAKE THEM ON THE WATER FIRST! and preferably on a rough day.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

I ended up choosing the Monterey because it was far less expensive for a comperable boat, and superior in many ways. For the same price I got a lot more options.

When I tested the Monterey I was so impressed that I bought it on the spot. Monterey is made just outside of Gainesville FL and is supposed to be one of the disgruntled brothers from Chap. .

Not sure about the Chap connection to the Marshall brothers who started Monterey Boats in 1985, it may be true.
Your comments about Monterey are exactly how we felt last year when we looked at all boats available in the 19' to 21' range. Monterey was the clear choice for us.
Our current boat is our 2nd Monterey. Storage, ride, layout, quality of materials and construction, and value for the money, Monterey boats are always worth a look.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Not sure about the Chap connection to the Marshall brothers who started Monterey Boats in 1985, it may be true.
Your comments about Monterey are exactly how we felt last year when we looked at all boats available in the 19' to 21' range. Monterey was the clear choice for us.
Our current boat is our 2nd Monterey. Storage, ride, layout, quality of materials and construction, and value for the money, Monterey boats are always worth a look.

A friend of ours runs a Monterey dealer and the way he explained it to me was that a brother, or possibly a brother in law, got pissed about some business decisions going on back in the 80s and branched off. Could be total BS, he really needed to convince me to even look at them, we were going with a Chap, and there was no other option at that time, so who knows. Maybe he just told me that to get me to look at them. LOL. You can, however, do a search on google and find several referances to a family connection.

Incidently, I have owned Chap in the past. I absolutely loved it. My Dad has a Sea Ray Sundeck and it is an extremely nice boat(especially compared to the sport line bowriders).

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Not sure how SR is doing things these days, I know they went through a few rougher years when they were an AMF owned company. I think they have spent quite a bit of $$ on marketing themselves as a higher end boat, but I also see a lot of them that are in not so good shape. That doesn't mean it's their fault though, they are one of the major boat builders here in the US.

My $ would be on the Chap, I have spent quite a bit of time on a Chap 19 footer, and will offer that I think they are a much better built boat. Quality just seemed to be much better than any SR I was ever on. I don't buy new boats, but any used boat is only as good as the previous owner.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

It should be remembered, that the Chap he is considering is the H2O model, which is a new "entry level" offering that is slightly less upscale than their SSi bowriders. Made to get the first time buyer into a boat for a reasonable price, fully equipped. But, they are still very well built boats, just without all the bells and whistles you get(and pay for) on their other models.
Sea Ray does not offer an "entry level" designed boat, they are what they are. Built well even today, but generally a higher price than comparable boats from a few other brands, but not necessarily with more value for your dollar.

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Either one will be a great boat! Your trying to chose between too really nice boats that will bring you lots of enjoyment.

 

[phillnjack2]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

searay are only still going on a name for goods boats they once had.
their quality is nothing like what it used to be.
ive seen many of the older searays that take a lot of punishment, but the later ones are not built any betterthan most boats now.
the chap i would say is a far better boat when it comes down to actual build quality of the fibreglass hull, the rest is just fings that can be updated on either boat a few years down the line ,same with interior cushions etc.
the monteray is just a better all round boat in all aspects. just dont go with a campion whatever you do decide because they realy are crap that look pretty, but deep down they are cheap nasty and built of anything they can get hold of cheap.
I had a campion 195 allante, that when it came to re-upholstery i saw the wood used on the bases of seats still had address of the crate used for freight, yes honestly, it was rubbish..back to the searay, they do look nice and have a huge following due to good sales techniques, i pwersonally would nt buy a new one of those and would go with the chapperal or the mont everyday of the week.
just my opinion of course.
we all like different things or life would be very boring


phill

 

[britisher]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Just a few cents worth and I'm maybe muddying the water. I'm also a newbie boater, so perhaps not too qualified to comment, but I read an article in Boating March 2012 that compared that Chaparral with a Seadoo Challenger S. It was very eye opening. The Seadoo had the edge on performance, had a clear lead on maintenance costs, though was down slightly on gas consumption. It also was clear favorite in deck space utilisation. It's also the jet power vs the prop and I know some of the die hards will stand by props till the bitter end. Maybe like the sail boats guys stood against the new fangled prop boats. It's newer technology, it's here to saty and as was said in a recent thread, the big boat manufacturers are waking up to the fat that the likes of Seadoo and Yamaha are taking their food off the table. Just my 5 cents. For what it's worth, I have a Sea Ray 180 ...an old Sea Ray 180.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Some more mud, just to keep everything straight. BRP (Seadoo) no longer produces Sport Jet Boats. They dropped them late in 2012, mainly because they could not compete with Yamaha. You can still find used ones, but no more to be built. So as far as jet drive sport boats go, there are only two left Yamaha and the new Sea Ray 21 Jet with a webber jet. Sea Ray will introduce a 24Jet this summer, and Bayliner will also introduce some Jet Sportboats later this year as well. Not a true apples to apples comparison of jet vs. sterndrive boats, each has their advantages as well as disadvantages.

Enjoy your shopping experience !

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Just a few cents worth and I'm maybe muddying the water. I'm also a newbie boater, so perhaps not too qualified to comment, but I read an article in Boating March 2012 that compared that Chaparral with a Seadoo Challenger S. It was very eye opening. The Seadoo had the edge on performance, had a clear lead on maintenance costs, though was down slightly on gas consumption. It also was clear favorite in deck space utilisation. It's also the jet power vs the prop and I know some of the die hards will stand by props till the bitter end. Maybe like the sail boats guys stood against the new fangled prop boats. It's newer technology, it's here to saty and as was said in a recent thread, the big boat manufacturers are waking up to the fat that the likes of Seadoo and Yamaha are taking their food off the table. Just my 5 cents. For what it's worth, I have a Sea Ray 180 ...an old Sea Ray 180.

How do you flush the salt water out of those?

 

[Chief9]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Just to add my 2 cents, as a new boater I researched several manufacturers when looking for a 20' bowrider. We settled on a Monterey 204fs. So far very pleased, although we have limited experience. For the money, it seems like we got a nice boat with great fit and finish.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

How do you flush the salt water out of those?

I don't know about the Sea Doo boats, but in our Yamaha, you can flush the cooling system with fresh water by connecting a hose to the flush ports and running fresh water through it with the engines running. Doing that in a slip would be a bit trickier but can be done by installing shutoff valves on a particular hose in the cooling system. Really, though, from what I have gathered, these boats are not well suited to staying moored in salt water for longer periods. Running in salt and then pulling out and storing out of water is fine. We love ours but if I were boating mostly in salt water it wouldn't be my first choice.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

I don't know about the Sea Doo boats, but in our Yamaha, you can flush the cooling system with fresh water by connecting a hose to the flush ports and running fresh water through it with the engines running. Doing that in a slip would be a bit trickier but can be done by installing shutoff valves on a particular hose in the cooling system. Really, though, from what I have gathered, these boats are not well suited to staying moored in salt water for longer periods. Running in salt and then pulling out and storing out of water is fine. We love ours but if I were boating mostly in salt water it wouldn't be my first choice.

That is kind of what I was thinking. When we had our jetskis we always ran them in fresh water after salt. That was many years ago. At the time there was no way to flush the salt that we were able to find. This is one of the reasons we dismissed the Yamaha when we bought our boat. I had a buddy that forgot to flush his and it sat for about 2 months and the drive was locked up when he tried to start it again.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Maybe save your money and order a new Chaparral Jet Boat. They will be powered by the solid BRP Rotax engines that were in the Sea Doo sport boats and in their current PWC's. Should be available at dealers later this year.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Waiting to see how a jet handles 5' - 6' chop....

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Can't decide sea ray 190 sport or Chaparral 19 H2O

Waiting to see how a jet handles 5' - 6' chop....

Me too, maybe I missed the requirement for a jet boat, but I wouldn't own one. One of the most uncomfortable boat rides I have ever been on. Once you get into any waves the jet really becomes an obvious issue, but they sure do market them well. Seems all kinds of boat manufactures are offering a jet. For my $$ I'll take just about anything except a jet powered boat. Seriously just go test drive a jet boat in 1-3 footer's maybe they after you are healed from whiplash you will see why too. My guess is they won't offer a test drive.
Sorry to all the current jet owners, nothing against them, I just like the normal prop driven types of boats and that smooth take off, and that steady running prop boat..