Why do we drive performance boats?

[pkrrvr619]

Over the past weekend I was having a discussion with my uncle whom visited havasu for the first time last summer and was on a friend’s wake surf boat.

He was telling me how much fun his family had for hours surfing waves in a cove.

When the topic of our boat came up, he asked if we can ski behind it and when I said “no” he asked what the point of a performance boat was.

I didn’t really have a good answer for this at the moment and it gave me some pause. So I thought this might be a good topic of discussion here.

Outside of the performance boat bubble, the general consensus is we have boats that just go fast in a straight line and that’s it.

So why do you have a performance boat?

 

[SJP]

Growing up on a lake we had a performance boat on a hoist / dock. Cruising at 55 felt like you were going 100. That excitement never goes away. Boating is the last frontier of freedom where you go where you want at your pace with family and friends. The performance factor multiplies the feeling. Whether I am going 5 or 150 nothing to me compares. This is why I cringe every time regulation comes up.

 

[Nanu/Nanu]

We have a eagle 250. We do everything behind our boat or at least try it except surfing. We despise dock crushers. But when we get tired of tow sports we put the kids down in the cuddy and go for a cruise.

Even if we didn't do water sports, we would still have a performance boat. There's something about American Muscle and no speed limits and my wife in a bikini that's awesome!

 

[H20 Toie]

 

[coolchange]

If they have to ask, they wouldn’t understand.

 

[hallett21]

We do everything short of surfing behind our hallett.

There’s no better feeling than the freedom going fast on the water gives you.




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[Marios Metalworks]

I’d bet most of us have a love affair with speed that started at a young age and we’re just trying to chase down that feeling.

speed changes you

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Different horses for different courses, maybe?

Honestly we're like dogs with our heads out the windows. We love the feel of the wind rushing by, the noise of an engine, the serenity of being able to go anywhere on a lake and not deal with car like traffic, etc.

It's just freedom, and that's really what it comes down to. Boating is just a less stressful way of traveling.

Not to mention the freedom of expression in having a boat any way you want it, and being free to change it if you so desire. That's tough with cars where the choices are more limited and so is the ability to change them as much as in the past.

 

[hallett21]

I’d bet most of us have a love affair with speed that started at a young age and we’re just trying to chase down that feeling.

speed changes you [emoji6]

Agreed. And it seems to frequently be inherited from our moms, dads, aunts, uncles etc.


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[boatnam2]

I feel in love with boating first time i rode in a boat, going 25mph over a lake blew my mind. Then you throw in the river life with it and it starts the process, if your ever going performance you will get that itch there. Its a bummer so many people are down on tow boats, i get it i was one of them but your uncle is right, a family or group of friends you wont find a boat that gives you more fun, its the boat i had the most fun on for sure, but rolling into a faster type cat the feeling is hard to beat, for the driver lol.

 

[Rajobigguy]

Speed, time and your position in space relative to a stationary object are all related. Time slows down as you go faster, as a matter of fact it almost stops as you approach the speed of light. The faster you go, the slower you age. We are all just trying to live longer.

Yeah I know @ the speeds we are reaching in performance vehicles we are only talking about milliseconds gained over a lifetime but it's a good answer for someone who doesn't understand the joy of speed.

 

[was thatguy]

I don’t get speeding tickets on the water.
I get to do wheelies, scare the shit out of my friends (and myself sometimes) and tinker with my creation.
It’s loud, it’s pretty, it’s obnoxious...just like me!! Lol
But my boats aren’t really “Performance Boats”, they’re really “hot Rod” boats.
I can’t afford a big boat.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

I have an abnormally small penis.













Somebody had to say it.

 

[farmo83]

When asked that question my go to answer is" You don't really go anywhere on a lake and nowhere fast is more fun then no where slow"

Also if the person also has a boat I normally ask have they ever tried to pass a boat but couldn't and the answer is 9/10 yes. And then I'll respond with I don't have that problem.

As has been said I've grown up around performance boats, it's all I've ever known. I will also say every one I grew up with was plenty capable of water sports. My grandpa had a 1000hp Spectra Vdrive and he would pull skiers as long as anybody wanted to with it. Dad's jet boat was the same way, he pulled me tubing all over the lake with it.

Boostpower is redoing my boat now. Whenever the question of drive setup comes up my answer is "It still has to pull skiers and tubers." I will gladly give up an MPH or two on the big end for that trade off

 

[Desert Whaler]

My boat's the 'opposite' of performance.
I could never afford a High-Perf rig . . . so I live vicariously here. LOL

 

[ltbaney1]

if you have to ask................. growing up we had schiadas, millers, beisemeyers. kept that style until about 5 years ago when i bought the howard whaler. it was a ease of use decision for me, old man getting older, wife and kids driving that decision. now i have a pontoon. when i bought the pontoon i told my wife there will be another boat under 20' with a big block as well. i love the look, the sound and the feeling of "skipping" across the water. but for right now, with the way my family is, im enjoying the 'toon way more than i though i would, and i still outrun those damn rollbar boats.

 

[WhatExit?]

he asked what the point of a performance boat was

The responses will be interesting but the real issue is why would anyone ask that question?

What's the point of having a truck instead of a car?
Why would anyone want a sports/performance car?
Why would someone want a motorcycle?

With due respect, the person asking this question needs to be asked questions

 

[petie6464]

More than likely to show their friends and strangers how big their nut sack is based on their possessions.

Its like sitting on the 405 in your new Bugatti, useless but you know everyone thinks you're cool but most know you're just a douchbag with an expensive car.

 

[Jay Dub]

We do everything behind our 210 except surf. tube, ski, wakeboard. Although my boat is not necessarily that fast. 50-60 on the water feels like 120 in a car.

 

[J5Daytona]

My answer is probably gonna be odd but here it goes . In 1986 I saw my first thong style bikini , probably not quite a thong but to my 13 year old eyes it was the most butt I had ever seen on a hot girl . She was getting into a truck towing a big scarab been obsessed with boats ever since .

 

[Cole Canadian]

When I was much younger, I raced a 11sec bracket car, the adrenalin rush was about 10mins. then it was back to wrenching for the next run or improvements for the next week.
Was also a street racer (G.T.O's predominately) always had to be on the lookout for the police and sometimes make sure you weren't getting into a race with one ( They had a super hot 57 chevy they used for a bait car among others).
Lost my DL for speeding/stunting infractions ect.
In a performance boat you can drive as fast as you want for as long as you want with as much horsepower as you can afford and the "Rush" is possible every time you mash the throttle on a clear straightaway without waiting for the lights!

 

[Tamalewagon]

Our 220 Eagle get's the job done. Sounds mean, looks sleek, pulls the kids on their toys (except surfing) and has plenty of giddy-up. Growing up going to Clear Lake, Camanche and the river our family always had hot rods (Litchfields, Raysoncrafts, Schiada's, Tahiti's etc) and that's hard to get away from. When my kids start buying their own boats, we will downsize back to the 18-19 foot v-drive or OB.

 

[was thatguy]

More than likely to show their friends and strangers how big their nut sack is based on their possessions.

Its like sitting on the 405 in your new Bugatti, useless but you know everyone thinks you're cool but most know you're just a douchbag with an expensive car.

You know, I’ve never understood that stereotype.
I get it a lot with the Vette.
“Midlife crisis” is what I hear. But the truth is that I’ve ALWAYS had hot rods of some sort.
Be it boats, cars, motorcycles, even airboats in Alaska.
People say “lol, look at the old short fat guy in his stupid corvette cruising around...what a douche!”
But they aren’t there when I’m finding my limits away from town and traffic or whatever.
Driving a modern “sports car” is like heaven to me. Got nothing to do with showing off or 2 fucks what anyone else thinks.
If I could afford it, I’d have a Ferrari or McClaren or some other super car. They are a trip to drive!
Can’t wait until the C-8 used prices fall into my poor boy range!

Anyway, driving these cars, boats, whatever is what it’s all about to me. There’s nothing like it, and I couldn’t possibly care less about what anyone thinks!

 

[was thatguy]

Driving the red 5 rib was possibly the greatest speed thrill I’ve experienced.

When the tail kicked and went 3 point it’s unlike anything I’ve ever driven.
I never gps’d it, but mathematically it went about 120+...maybe not, but it doesn’t matter.
Riding a shingle across the water at around 120 is more like flying low than driving fast.
Steering input becomes mere twitches, the water looks and feels like concrete, the pedal, wheel, your foot, your senses, the boat and the water all become linked.

That illusion of control over the explosion of internal combustion mayhem is better than crack!

 

[HALLETT BOY]

One cool thing about a “performance “ boat , is having an engine with an authoritative camshaft . My non-boating guests always wonder why people automatically stare at you when you go by . One friend said is it because your engine is missing ? It takes a while to understand ...

 

[was thatguy]

One cool thing about a “performance “ boat , is having an engine with an authoritative camshaft . My non-boating guests always wonder why people automatically stare at you when you go by . One friend said is it because your engine is missing ? It takes a while to understand ...

I’m pulling the baffles out today!
Heading to the channel and then maybe upriver.
I’ll rap it good under the bridge and give the tourists a good thrill.

 

[DWC]

Besides the small package and being a douchbag...
It was an evolution more than anything. First ride was a roll bar boat. Spent a ton of time dragging tubes in Blythe/Needles dragging tubes and wakeboards. Switched to the Magic when we the kids got older and started doing more trips to Havasu. We did a few Monster Bash events and ended up sitting with the owners of the “worlds fastest deck boat”. After checking it out I started looking for one. It still makes me grin ear to ear when it fires up. It’s big and heavy enough to take anything Havasu has on a busy weekend. Has enough top end that i don’t need a head start when the group leaves for lunch. Nothing better than a medium speed blast to Havasu Springs or upriver on a quiet day.

 

[GRADS]

I had a few people ask me that over the years...and then I took them for 100+ m.p.h. ride. They never asked again.

 

[Thunderhead1]

I’m pulling the baffles out today!
Heading to the channel and then maybe upriver.
I’ll rap it good under the bridge and give the tourists a good thrill.

I still cant resist a rev under the bridge...lol My wife hates it and says it childish.... Makes me giggle every time..

 

[ArizonaKevin]

I come from a different perspective than most. I grew up on a very slow, very quiet chaparral deck, my mom would be the one to sneer at the "short man syndrome, cigarette butt boat owners" because they were loud. As a kid obsessed with anything horsepower related, I would oogle those boats all day long and wanted nothing more than for my dad to get a nordic, hallett, or sleek because I perceived that as him "making it"

Fast forward 15ish years and I meet my now wife, we start talking about growing up going to the lake and she shows me pictures of her dad's custom Ultimate 23. Nothing special compared to a lot of the hardware on here, but I see it as a perfect family boat. Equally ready to make a mildly quick pass up river as it is to find a cove and pull boarders or tubers all day long.

Now that it's our turn, we are looking for something similar. 22 offshore, 23 Ultimate, 210, 240 etc.

 

[HCP3]

Adrenaline. You won't get that in a 45 MPH wakeboat.

 

[Rayson1971]

Already been said . If you have to ask then you'll never know. I enjoy immensely the adrenaline and goose bumps I get when I stab the throttle for a bit and come to speed .

 

[was thatguy]

Adrenaline. You won't get that in a 45 MPH wakeboat.

“Nuff said...”

 

[DWC]

I come from a different perspective than most. I grew up on a very slow, very quiet chaparral deck, my mom would be the one to sneer at the "short man syndrome, cigarette butt boat owners" because they were loud. As a kid obsessed with anything horsepower related, I would oogle those boats all day long and wanted nothing more than for my dad to get a nordic, hallett, or sleek because I perceived that as him "making it"

Fast forward 15ish years and I meet my now wife, we start talking about growing up going to the lake and she shows me pictures of her dad's custom Ultimate 23. Nothing special compared to a lot of the hardware on here, but I see it as a perfect family boat. Equally ready to make a mildly quick pass up river as it is to find a cove and pull boarders or tubers all day long.

Now that it's our turn, we are looking for something similar. 22 offshore, 23 Ultimate, 210, 240 etc.

Short mans syndrome because of a boat but not a RV bigger than our first house. I see how she rolls. I’ll make sure to ping her next post!
PS. Pretty much everyone next to your dad and entire family is short.

 

[was thatguy]

I still cant resist a rev under the bridge...lol My wife hates it and says it childish.... Makes me giggle every time..

It is childish! And I do it every time!

I sort of hold neutral with the jet reverser so it throws water everywhere too.

 

[ArizonaKevin]

Short mans syndrome because of a boat but not a RV bigger than our first house. I see how she rolls. I’ll make sure to ping her next post!
PS. Pretty much everyone next to your dad and entire family is short.

lol all very true, she used to say the same shit about lifted trucks until my 6'5" frame rolled out of a 6" lifted GMC on 35's back in high school. Maybe my desire for big trucks and fast boats is to just be contrarian to what my mom used to say.

 

[Christopher Lucero]

as usual, I first have have philosophy. The question your uncle asked, though seemingly confrontational or maybe familial politics, could be answered simply with "Why do humans enjoy anything?"

Joy is usually associated with freedom and to some extent with the challenge of facing off some threat (risk). Speed offers that. To enjoy risk-taking in comfort or style (or without those attributes) seems to enhance human joy in a multitude of ways.

Hours of being behind the boat on a tube risking water related injury or getting a snootful of H2O? Why not?

4 seconds at 200 mph? Sure, why not?

For me, it is the many ways that engaging the risk, and knowing how in control or out of control I was or am at any moment, and the joy of admiring the beautiful machine meticulously maintained and polished and that is under control - barely - sometimes...and I have a small boat that only goes 70 and will do very poorly in chop bigger than about 1 foot.

then there's the time distortion experienced when you face serious injury (your mind slows down time) and the memory of the event. 4 seconds can affect a lifetime memory, or a day or a week or a year...

I recall my friends taking me up to Gorman...we rode the trail up east frazier/tejon. single track switchbacks with cliff one side and mountain the other side. They all had thumpers and I was on my CR250R so at a two stroke disadvantage but my memory of feathering the clutch to stay under way remains, and a particular switchback where I 'could have' had an event is still fresh.

 

[RiverDave]

Because you aren’t crippled would be my answer.. lol.

 

[Lavey5150]

It's in your DNA. My first taste of speed was as a kid riding on my Dad's motorcycle. Hooked immediately. JS 550's Super jets, etc, waterskiing, motorcycles. That feeling of freedom. I have always told people when they ask, "Why do you drive so far to ride or boat." Because, no one can tell me to slow down out there

 

[Tooms22]

Starting a big block with an above water wet exhaust... hard to beat.

Some of the high horsepower motors are really amazing feats of engineering and good lookin at the same time. Hell even my Merc 500 is pretty!

Ripping down the river at 60+ (pontoons, bowriders, wake boats cap out around 55, if they're lucky)... awesome.

With higher speeds, you can see way more of the lake/river in one day... and still have time to hang out at multiple locations.

The boats are works of art and there is unlikely a matching boat... you can't say that for a production boat.

And as others have said, usually the best looking women are on the performance boats. Maybe that's just the west coast lake scene.

 

[River Runnin]

So why do you have a performance boat?

Big Blue to class 5 rapids, Hardtop, heater, windshield wipers, two live wells, remote control "Autopilot" kicker, remote spotlight, wash down unit, structure Scan, port-a-shitter & privacy enclosure if needed, and lots of storage! ...... Damn!!!! ............ But I forgot!

It's not a performance boat!

 

[28Eliminator]

Because this

And this

 

[Yoshiro]

So why do you have a performance boat?

The same reason why my wife owns 34 pairs of black dress shoes

 

[Tank]

I love it when people ask, "What do you do on that thing?" Me: "run it". "So, you deep sea dive off the boat?" Me: "nope". "you ski behind it?" Me: "nope". "you overnight on it?" Me: "nope". "Well WTF do you do with it?" Me: "go fast". "and then what?" Me: "chill, have a drink, hang with friends". "And then?" Me: "go fast home". LOL Can't tell you how many times I've had that conversation. Most people I'd imagine just don't get it.

Of course, that conversation is usually right after the obligatory, "how fast does it go?", "what kind of boat is that?", "how much does that cost?", "how much is fuel?"


I gotta say as some others have said. Over the past 25 years I've been around and owned offshore boats I've met life long dear friends from all walks of life, from all over the world. Kind've surreal sometimes.

 

[Tank]

And I mean, COME ON! Loud & Fast is just 'Merica!!

 

[rivermobster]

Over the past weekend I was having a discussion with my uncle whom visited havasu for the first time last summer and was on a friend’s wake surf boat.

He was telling me how much fun his family had for hours surfing waves in a cove.

When the topic of our boat came up, he asked if we can ski behind it and when I said “no” he asked what the point of a performance boat was.

I didn’t really have a good answer for this at the moment and it gave me some pause. So I thought this might be a good topic of discussion here.

Outside of the performance boat bubble, the general consensus is we have boats that just go fast in a straight line and that’s it.

So why do you have a performance boat?

I gotta ask...

How old are you???

Your general consensus is WAY off the mark. What you are referring to is called a drag boat. Goes fast in a straight line and nothing else.

Ever heard of Stoker? Those hulls turn like they are on a rail. If you're not holding on, your gonna be in the drink, when the driver whips the steering wheel and you ain't paying attention!

Pretty much any v-drive will be the same way. The best part of pulling a Real skiier is when he falls. Whip the wheel, wot, and you race back to see if he's ok.

Lots of hulls turn, and turn harder than most cars will. Straight lines, for the most part, are boring. Unless you're 100+ of course.

Maybe a wake boat is fun. But if you're judging fun, by the company you keep? You don't even need a boat for that, right? Any old campfire will do!

Performance boats are for those of us that are adrenaline junkies. We live for that rush. We crave that feeling.

Shredding a dune, carving a perfect turn, on whatever moves you. Feeling the wind flapping your cheeks, once the speedo moves past 80. It's the rush that does it for me.

Adrenaline is the drug of choice for a lot of us on here. It would be hard to get high doing 35mph on the water.

I feel the need...

 

[Fastdadtsmith]

Wait a minute, Tommy does crack? Great video!! Really love the camera of Tony working the pedals trying to get the boat to set. Video looks sped up, unless you've been in that seat! That's why right there!

 

[THE Cat Sass]

I'd say this...Go for a ride in a 150MPH supercar someday and then take a ride with me at even a 100MPH in 2' of chop and tell me which one puts either a bigger smile on your face or more fear in your heart. I've been North of 150 in a car, North of 160 on a street bike and 130 in a boat, speed on the water still trumps all. PS - also been sitting in the passenger seat of an 8 second 1/4 mile boat....not much can prepare you for the violence and acceleration involved in that or something faster. Once it gets into your system it's tough to get it out.

 

[Willie B]

...I keep my remaining two in my driveway so I can stare at their covers while I’m listening to vinyl in my garage...thats my latest excuse anyway...

 

[HBCraig]

What's the point?
- the sound of BBC
- start up
- blower surge
- hot chicks

The list goes on