What boats have you had, which one was your favorite?

[81Sprint]

21 Tahoe - don't judge
24 Cheetah Stilleto
19 Eliminator Sprint jet
21 Eliminator Sport Cruiser jet
21 Bahner open bow jet
21 Spectra jet
25 Nordic Rage
19 Eliminator Daytona- soon to be jet

Sprint was by far my favorite, but I think once my Daytona is done it will be the new fav

 

[RCDave]

1976 Eliminator Sport Cruiser (closed bow)
190 Mastercraft
1998 Shockwave 21 LS (closed bow)
2003 Shockwave 25 Tremor (closed bow)
2003 Cougar 22 MTR

My favorite is the Cougar 22MTR

 

[DaveC]

77 - 18’ Tahiti bubble deck jet bote. 454
79 - 18’ Bahner bubble deck jet bote. 502
81 - 21’ Eliminator Daytona jet bote . 540
00 - 22’ Cougar MTR. HP 500
04 - 25’ Eliminator Daytona. 496HO
17 - 27 Eliminator Speedster. 540
20 - 25’ Avalon tritoon. 250 OB
21- 27’ Eliminator Speedster, twin 400 OB
22 - 23 Malibu 23lsv

So far the 21‘ Daytona is my favorite, followed by the twin 27 speedster

 

[85RiverRAT]

Never 'owned' my own boat, all 'Dad's' but I am a great boat-bitch so they're mine tooo. Keeping them all clean and gassed up has its perks.

1980's 180 Sea Ray - 3.0L 4cyl Alpha.
12'-13' Gamefisher - Minnkota
1988 Eliminator 21' Skier - 350merc Alpha
~62' Jamestowner - Lake Powell (Stateline)
Current: 1995 Hallett 240 - 509GT, BR3

240 for sure is at the top of the list.
I cut my teeth with the Gamefisher, lots of fishing trips, and leaning the ropes without the worry of collateral damage.
The Eliminator I think would be great to find again. Treat it like a resto-mod, and bring it back to life. Always wonder what happened to it.

 

[blue wonder]

1973 Eliminator
1989 Texas Tunnel
2004 TPR stealth
1981 Texas performance gullwing
1997 champion bass boat
2012 TPR stealth
1991 Eliminator Daytona 2.5 260
1998 DCB Mach 22 twin 260’s
1993 Eliminator Daytona 300x
2002 DCB Mach 22 twin 280’s
2022 Cheyenne

 

[Shlbyntro]

1973 Eliminator
1989 Texas Tunnel
2004 TPR stealth
1981 Texas performance gullwing
1997 champion bass boat
2012 TPR stealth
1991 Eliminator Daytona 2.5 260
1998 DCB Mach 22 twin 260’s
1993 Eliminator Daytona 300x
2002 DCB Mach 22 twin 280’s
2022 Cheyenne

favorites? regrets? you have a list there buddy!

 

[BUDMAN]

Had two Chaparral’s and now my Hallett 255. I don’t think I need to tell you which one is my favorite

 

[Shlbyntro]

Had two Chaparral’s and now my Hallett 255. I don’t think I need to tell you which one is my favorite
View attachment 1178323 View attachment 1178324 View attachment 1178325

the red Chap?

 

[BUDMAN]

the red Chap?

It was a good boat.

 

[JLG614]

Not all mine but I've driven the crap out of them all

21 ski nautique
23 malibu wakesetter
23 Super air nautique (current)
22 talon w/ 300xs
21 daytona w/ 225 johnson (current)
21 liberator w/ 300xs
26 playcraft tritoon w/ 496
f26 dcb w/ twin 300x
f29 dcb w/ twin 525
300 hallett w/ twin 575 (current)
FX29 dcb w/ 575
21 schiada RT w/ some blower motor, Idk what the HP was but it was fast
20 lavey craft Mod V w/ 2.5 merc
20 schiada w/ 250xs (current)
20 schiada RT w/ yamaha 200 i think (current)
25 howard w/ merc 600
38 mystic CC w/ tripple 400s (current)
and About 5 different 21 schiadas that all have between 900-1500 HP (Current)

Honestly there is no perfect boat and there is no favorite. It really depends on what your doing and where you are. The mystic is a big badass people mover. You can cruise down havasu with 15 people on board at 55mph like nothing. The hallett 300 is awesome, Sucks on gas and is definitely a big bitch but alot of fun to drive. The V drive schiadas are awesome and handle well but will beat you up on a rough day in havasu. They are a hard boat to beat in parker tho. The 21 liberator is one of my favorites, throttle response was insane and it was crazy fast but if you got over 3' chop the boat just couldn't do it. I probably spent the most time in the 21 RT. My wife and I would blast from havasu springs to Pirates going anywhere from 50-80mph. It did suck down gas but you could throw some serious water at it and it would handle it very well. But it definitely was a drivers boat and you had to pay attention. Unpopular opinion but the DCB really didn't do a whole lot for me. Yes, they were fast and cool but really I didn't think they were anything special especially for the price of them. We may be getting a deck boat soon so we will see how that goes. I'd love to get into a 28 OB Skater and see how they run.

 

[cheezpanel]

Only owned 3 boats.
2000 Air Nautique. - Best boating memories that we have. Can’t even imagine the number of miles that thing towed tubes up and down the river.
2004 Magic with a 496. Great boat. Sipped fuel. Bullet proof engine. Only had an impeller go out (tried to get a second season out of one).
2006 Eticket 525’s. Love everything about it. Maybe except the maintenance x 2, Nothing better than early morning start ups.

The Magic's still sipping fuel and runnin well. Had Kevin at KMG work his "magic" on the gel and clean her up last year.

 

[DWC]

The Magic's still sipping fuel and runnin well. Had Kevin at KMG work his "magic" on the gel and clean her up last year.

That’s awesome. Was wondering how it was doing. It’s crazy they didn’t build another 100’of those the last 5-6 years. Great hull/ storage on that boat.

 

[cheezpanel]

That’s awesome. Was wondering how it was doing. It’s crazy they didn’t build another 100’of those the last 5-6 years. Great hull/ storage on that boat.

Yep. Not the fastest obviously, but starts every single time and runs well. Even with my fat friends. Not sure how many hours it had when we got her, but I think we're at about 620ish now. Been to Powell many times with her etc etc.

 

[69hondo]

69 Hondo true flat straight deck
72 Kurtis 3/8 runner straight deck
77 Hondo 3/8 runner T-deck
90 Eliminator 207
99 Eliminator Fundeck

Future I want to go back to closed decks. I am sick of people sitting in front of me LOL. Would love a 25ft Speedster and a 5/8 T-deck runner bottom.

 

[hallett21]

So far one and done

 

[hallett21]

 

[hallett21]

So far one and done View attachment 1178502


View attachment 1178503 View attachment 1178504 View attachment 1178505

Edit. I’m the baby in the 90s photos and my daughter and I are the last photos. It’s a family boat and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon

 

[RaceTec]

Everyone around here sure talks shit on Jet Botes but seems to have owned a few and have fond memories!

I started off in a 16' Bayliner that was a buddy's dads, but as far as we were concerned it was ours. Even made it to Catalina in that thing!
Unknown BBF jet boat, it was a beater and only ran a couple times
1976 Spectra 20' open bow, BBF 460, Berkeley, the "Family Truckster" great boat and great memories. Want to sell the hull and trailer now.
21' Suntracker Party Barge XP3 tritoon, it was a blast while I had a family! People talk shit on the "cheaper" pontoons but we thrashed that thing and had fun and sold it for almost what I paid for it after a couple years. This was my first outboard.
1974 Spectra 20' closed bow, 4 stringer, building a 510" BBC and dialed Berkeley for it right now.
1973 Hallett 19' "Jetster", BBC 454, Berkelely with droop and jetavator, I really dig this little guy! I got it from a great family and I am just going to keep improving it!

I really want a dual purpose boat that I can play in the salt water with too! 3 or 4 boats should work!

 

[clarence]

View attachment 1178505

Aww.

 

[Yoshiro]

Of the past boats I used to own, the 87 Mirage Intruder was probably the most fun.

 

[farmo83]

where is rd list ?

 

[FlyByWire]

2000 Omega 21 skier
2016 Shockwave Tremor
2019 Shockwave 22 deck
2019 Manitou 25 tri-toon / single 400.

My fav was the 22 deck, but I like being on the river. Not the best for Havasu. But man with the little 350 it zipped.

Pontoon is killer for the fam, it’s just… a pontoon.

 

[Boat211]

Unknown 18’ flat v drive
Cole TR2 v drive
Carrera Viper 235
32’ Hallett
21’ Cyclone w/280 2.5
18’ Revenge K boat
10’ Schiada
25’ Talon w/2-260’s
DCB F26 w/2-300xs
21’ Schiada v drive (current)
18’ Rayson Craft 18’ LP v drive (current)
20’ Barefoot Sanger outboard (current)
56’ Houseboat (current)

I really had fun in that Cyclone.

 

[SoCalDave]

1985 Bayliner I/O
1982 20' Raysoncraft with a Merc 225 mixer on it. (my favorite)
1995 Hallett 210BR with 5.7 gas sipper.
Currently boatless...

 

[Bakotrash]

21 Tahoe - don't judge
24 Cheetah Stilleto
19 Eliminator Sprint jet
21 Eliminator Sport Cruiser jet
21 Bahner open bow jet
21 Spectra jet
25 Nordic Rage
19 Eliminator Daytona- soon to be jet

Sprint was by far my favorite, but I think once my Daytona is done it will be the new fav

Nice Sprint!

 

[jet496]

1959 Cherokee Runabout (75 hp Evinrude) - Ran the hell out out it on the Mississippi & the rivers that flow into it. Steel hull, couldn't hurt it except went through props & lower units that I could barely afford at the time.

Couple of Kawasaki X-2's - LOVED them but having kids forced us to buy a boat.

1997 Ultra LX - 454 - Great river boat & ran it in Powell & meade as well

2002 Ultra Stealth - 496HO - Great boat as well & it handled Meade & Powell better.

Loved them all. I needed to run jets because I tend to hit sandbars as I drive (must have vision issues with the water glare or something). I think the Cherokee Runabout burnt me on the prop thing but my next will be an outboard either way, probably a DCB.

 

[Lumpy]

70 Sanger V-Drive...Screamed like the last Red Head i had...crazy hot and unpredictable.
59 Brendela V-Drive...I thought she was predictable like my wife because Her Mahogany shine seemed true.
79 SleekCraft Executive...Very predictable so I banged my very unpredictable wife in her.
87 Sleekcraft Enforcer...Predictable but at this point could clearly see my soon to be EX wife was a CUNT.
95 Hallett 270...Gold! Bought it...had Red, White and Blue ever since.

 

[Joker]

Started with
21’ Caribbean open bow jet
21’ Daytona jet
25’ Nordic Rage (pos)
22’ DCB Mach 22. My favorite

 

[Ballyhoo]

RDP is awaiting additional band width before 2FF can post his list.

 

[HST4ME]

Forgot my list.
1. Just about every hydro stream made.
2. Sunsation 25 330 Bravo. Was actually a damn good running boat. But meh car motors, and I made 10k off of it.
3. 1992 17ft checkmate with a 150 xr6. Did quite a bit of set up work and fixed the bottom so it would run. Red,black and silver metalflake. Bought it new and ran all over Florida with it. Beautiful boat.
4. Burgess and Lamb champ boats, still have the Lamb. Not exactly toys.
5. Couple 12 foot mirro crafts. Tin boat life ftw.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

I feel bad for all of you long listers. It must be frustrating when you can't find a boat you like enough to keep it a while.

'74 Hondo Flat
'75 Hondo Flat
'75 Biesemeyer flat

Currently in the market for a floating mini van aka Tournament style ski/wake barge.

 

[76sanger]

My 3 76 ski sanger v-drives.

 

[mjc]

Caliber 1 206skr with a 454 mag
29 fountain 500 efi
28 magic deck 496 mag
25 regency tritoon 300 verado.
My favorite was the fountain nothing Havasu could throw at me I couldn't run 65 in and enjoyed the big blue . If I win the loto I will have another bigger one.

 

[oldboatsrule]

13' Boston Whaler 40 rude
22 Century woody 318 poly
16' Glasspar Citation iron Duke 120 pre alfa
22' florida made runabout w/ tuna tower 327 omc stringer
1966 Futura runabout (areola pink) 120 pre alfa
24' Wellcraft Nova 351s and omc drives
69 19' Schuster Tropicana 327 Berkeley
1960 15' Owen's Speedliner 40 rude (30 + years owned)
1960 14' Fleetliner cat twin 75 johnsons
1960 Wizard 16' 50 johnson
1960 Glasspar G3 40 evinrude ( boat in avatar)
1962 Glasspar seafair sunliner GT150 Johnson

The Owens has been with me a long time. Has dipped in over 50 different ramps.Has been to Catalina. Helped raise my daughter. And chick's dig red boats with tailfins !!

The next favorite would be the whaler.
With that boat I learned alot about boating.
Got it damaged. Split the deck to repair. I also learned at 13... chick's dig guys who own boats!

Currently own the Glasspars the Wizard and the Owens.

 

[NicPaus]

18' 454 Tahiti jet first boat bought at 18
Ultra 22 Stealth 454 bravo 1 bought new for my 21st birthday present to myself ran it for 14 years.
Larson 21' plan B boat. Ran it for s season and sold it for a profit.
Four Winns 24' was my watersports boat. Sold it for covid money 10k more than I paid.
Cobra 26' RZR 7 years now current boat.
Have owned a lot of skis.
Current ski Yamaha supercharged


I liked every single one of the boats and skis. Should of never sold my Superjet as my Buddy that gave it to me passed away.

I regret not buying back my Ultra. Friend offered it back for 16K. Then sold it for 22K when i passed. Last year could of got close to 40k for it. Most memories for sure and best times. So many good times at Naci. Never forget. "How's your Dad's boat running" Lol. He would kill me if he knew about it. I think it was 7 or 8 years later he saw it. Still thought I has the Tahiti.

 

[was thatguy]

 

[pixrthis]

13' Boston Whaler 40 rude
22 Century woody 318 poly
16' Glasspar Citation iron Duke 120 pre alfa
22' florida made runabout w/ tuna tower 327 omc stringer
1966 Futura runabout (areola pink) 120 pre alfa
24' Wellcraft Nova 351s and omc drives
69 19' Schuster Tropicana 327 Berkeley
1960 15' Owen's Speedliner 40 rude (30 + years owned)
1960 14' Fleetliner cat twin 75 johnsons
1960 Wizard 16' 50 johnson
1960 Glasspar G3 40 evinrude ( boat in avatar)
1962 Glasspar seafair sunliner GT150 Johnson

The Owens has been with me a long time. Has dipped in over 50 different ramps.Has been to Catalina. Helped raise my daughter. And chick's dig red boats with tailfins !!

The next favorite would be the whaler.
With that boat I learned alot about boating.
Got it damaged. Split the deck to repair. I also learned at 13... chick's dig guys who own boats!

Currently own the Glasspars the Wizard and the Owens.

Where do you boat? I’m digging the old boat thing and notice them more now that we have one.

 

[Eliminator21vdrive]

I really miss my Rogers and my Hondo was a blast! I kick myself for passing up 65 Hallet wood deck flat (needed full resto) Then my
75 Eliminator and now a
79 Eliminator cruiser and
96 Lavey 21xt ski

 

[Badchoices03]

Dang some of you have a long list of some cool ass boats...

'78 Omega Jet 18' - first boat, was very young and broke, never really got it running right dont know much about it
'95 Commander Signature Offshore 28' - bought brand new, started with a 454mag, ended up with a blown 502
'98 HTM SR24 - bought brand new from Steve at his first LA boat show, was like the 6 or 7 boat outta the mold, blown 502
'95 Magic Sorcerer 34' - twin blown 502's, money pit
'00 Calabria Ski Boat - was tired of always working on shit and wanted something to just turn key and enjoy
'85 JC Pontoon - moved to canyon lake and thought we wanted a pontoon, was wrong about that
'98 Galaxie Boats 18' - bought for $2500 cause someone couldnt get it off their lift and just want to get rid of it, poured gas in carb and drove away
'95 Lavey Craft XTSki - Current boat, 454 with some engine/drive work

Favorite boat was the HTM...it was a fast and a blast to drive if you had the balls to hold it wide....back then I did....

Worst boat was the Magic...i was convinced to go into a partnership with my bro on this one...it broke drives like crazy, engines were being refreshed after every season, something was always wrong with it....it was beyond my paygrade and actually turned me off from performance boating for a long time

 

[02HoWaRd26]

2004 Cheetah Stiletto
2002 Howard 26
1999 Eliminator 28
2005 Crownline 180br
2004 Evolution 24’ Poontoon
2006 Orion 24 Magnum
2008 DCB F26

I’ve got the boat i love the most now, however my favorite for all things easy and relaxing the Crownline is still my fav.

 

[Boat211]

I feel bad for all of you long listers. It must be frustrating when you can't find a boat you like enough to keep it a while.

'74 Hondo Flat
'75 Hondo Flat
'75 Biesemeyer flat

Currently in the market for a floating mini van aka Tournament style ski/wake barge.

There is no perfect boat Jerry.

 

[oldboatsrule]

Where do you boat? I’m digging the old boat thing and notice them more now that we have one. View attachment 1178659 View attachment 1178659

Very nice !!

Mostly Alamitos Bay so cal.
I've taken a few years off. This Spring I'll be back at it full swing.

Used to be a bunch of us @ Golden State Glassics.

 

[HTMike]

01 HTM SS24 with about 1200 hp. 125+ mph boat on gps and extremely quick !

 

[jetboatperformance]

The answer is TOO MANY to list'........ But My favorites Were My 69 Schiada flat, My Blown Eliminator Sport cruiser and My Blown Bahner Jet

 

[mash on it]

Started boating with a 1973, 19' tri hull and a 289/merc outdrive.

'73 Glencoe, 454/Jacuzzi jet.
'75 Saguaro, 350sbc/Dominator jet.
'76 Eliminator day cruiser, 454/Berkeley jet.
And new to me, '74 Miller, 383/Jacuzzi jet.

By far, the day cruiser. Big enough (for me) for Lake Mead, shallow enough draft for the river at Bullhead.

Dan'l

 

[Sharp Shooter]

There is no perfect boat Jerry.

Especially for those with the buy/sell addiction.

I think my 75 Hondo was perfect for me at the age I was and certainly for the boating locations I frequented.