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

[OrangeTJ]

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

How well do you figure any 19 foot boat is going to handle 5 to 6 foot chop? I wouldn't count on a comfortable or dry ride in any boat of that size in those conditions, regardless of the propulsion system. FWIW, we love our 21 foot Yamaha. It has 20 degrees of deadrise and rides pretty nicely in normal lake/wake chop (rides softer than our friends' 23 foot Malibu Sunscape....though I realize wakeboard boats aren't known for their ride) but I wouldn't want to take it out in 5' chop! Of course, I wouldn't want to be out in much of anything short of a large cruiser in those kinds of conditions.

 

[crabby captain john]

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

If you stay on the lake ion nice weather-- no problem. If you go offshore and the weather changes your jet would be blowing air as much as water. At least the 19er can get you home. Wet, uncomfortable but home. I've been in worse more than once but don't simply play on a lake with nothing but wakes from others. Enjoy- but don't bring it to big water.

How well do you figure any 19 foot boat is going to handle 5 to 6 foot chop? I wouldn't count on a comfortable or dry ride in any boat of that size in those conditions, regardless of the propulsion system. FWIW, we love our 21 foot Yamaha. It has 20 degrees of deadrise and rides pretty nicely in normal lake/wake chop (rides softer than our friends' 23 foot Malibu Sunscape....though I realize wakeboard boats aren't known for their ride) but I wouldn't want to take it out in 5' chop! Of course, I wouldn't want to be out in much of anything short of a large cruiser in those kinds of conditions.

 

[OrangeTJ]

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

Well, I did already say above that if a lot of my use were going to be in salt water, I wouldn't look at a boat like mine as a first choice. That said, any conditions that would have my boat blowing as much air as water would likely also be lifting the prop of a 19 foot I/O clear out of the water as well and I'd be concerned about "getting home" in either one. Ventilating the pumps on our boat would require that the bottom of the boat be out of the water about 2.5 feet forward of the stern, as that's where the intakes are located. If the waves are that steep and tall, it sure seems like the prop of a boat where the propeller is a foot behind the stern would also be catching air. Honestly, though, is a 19 foot bowrider (or a 21 foot bowrider) with any type of propulsion really the right kind of boat to take out on big water / offshore where conditions can get truly bad? I'm not trying to convince anybody that a jet driven boat is the right choice for serious off shore boating, but in more protected waters (the type where a 19 foot I/O might also be a good choice), recent/current generation jet boats bear considering and are not the flat bottomed, terrible riding, finicky boats that some seem to think they are.

 

[oldjeep]

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

My .02 - the searay is basically a bayliner quality boat with a hefty price tag. Nothing wrong with it but nothing special about it either. I think if you take a close look at the 2 boats that you will see more than a 3K difference in quality.

I'm not saying the searay is bad, just wayyyyyy over priced for what you get.

 

[OrangeTJ]

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

Back to the question at hand (sorry for the diversion!), we looked the Sea Ray 190 Sport and a 19 foot Chap, but I'm not sure if it was the H20. Also looked at the Monterey 204 (and the 224....niiiiiice). The Monty was a bit bigger, so that might have impacted my impression, but of those three I would have selected the Monterey, then the Chap, then the Sea Ray. I just didn't see the Sea Ray luxury or extra quality apparent in that particular model to support the price. It seemed like a nice boat, don't get me wrong, but I liked the others a bit better.

 

[Slip Away]

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

You are a wise man OrangeTJ. Mirror's our observations when we were boat shopping last spring. :thumb:Monterey