SEA-DOO 150 SPEEDSTER REVIEW
The popularity of the Personal Water Craft (PWC) industry has grown immensely over the past decade, with thousands of families discovering the fun and joy a jetski can provide. These new buyers in the industry have also discovered the seating limitations of a PWC. A regular Aussie family with 2.4 kids simply cannot spend days aboard the water with a three seater PWC. A jetboat offers that family the ability for everyone to enjoy the day out, without having to buy two separate watercraft.
SEA-DOO JETBOAT
An open design - similar to the bowrider concept - the Sea-Doo 150 Speedster is aimed squarely at the family/social boat market. With a sportsboat hull, comfortable and safe seating for four people, and a 255hp four-stroke engine strapped inside coupled to a Sea-Doo jet unit, this boat is all about fun and excitement.
With a hull length of 4.67m, a beam of 2.16m and a hull weight of 659kg, this compact sportsboat is easy to handle on and off the trailer.
As with all Sea-Doo products, the 150 Speedster has a first-class finish. Its aggressive styling is attractive and by design, it provides plenty of storage and space for its users. The craft is fitted as standard with a retractable skipole, bow and stern cleats, navigation lights, handholds wherever you look and some very comfortable seating. The test boat was also fitted with the optional folding aluminium wakeboard tower, which also doubles as the mounting point for a bimini to provide some shelter from the summer sun.
SPORTS HELM
With a side console dedicated as the helm and a bench seat with contoured seating for three, the helm position is suits this kind of sportsboat theme.
The dashboard comprises a top tier which houses the digital information centre to the top, while the lower tier features the centre steering wheel, key switch, start/stop button, a 12V outlet to the left of the wheel and switch panel to the right.
The information centre has a tachometer to the left, digital 19-function information display to the centre including a depthsounder and speedometer to the right. This display is easy to read at all speeds and is easy to use.
The helm seating position is very comfortable and contoured to lock you in as securely as possible. When seated, the separate gear and throttle controls fall easily to hand, and working them while throwing the boat around at high speeds is surprisingly comfortable.
The fourth passenger is provided with a rear facing observer's seat on the portside of the boat toward the bow.
A CD player/stereo is also fitted within a waterproof housing in the helm console and combined with two whopping waterproof speakers mounted within the rear bench seat, will keep the tunes pumping out of this baby to keep you amused when the engine is not pushing the hull to it's limits.
USABILITY
The big open layout is ideally suited to the uses this boat will encounter. It allows seating for the maximum capacity of four people and provides ample storage including an underfloor storage locker, a storage pod in front of the passenger pod seat, two storage compartments in front of the helm station, and a large storage area suitable for lifejackets and the like, under the rear sunbed/lounge.
Utilising the same tried and proven engine as in some of Sea-Doo's other watercraft range, the 255hp supercharged intercooled Rotax 4-TEC engine is purely designed for high-performance craft - in this package it exceeds all expectations. The 1494cc engine is cooled by an external intercooler, ensuring peak operating conditions.
G-FORCE TIME
The 20-degree hull beneath this rig is a thoroughbred built for performance. Throwing the boat around from full speed into a spin is an exhilarating feeling pulling G-forces akin to the latest ride at Dreamworld.
The boat is responsive at the helm, with even the slightest movement in steering providing a direct adjustment in heading, and working the throttle during turns ends in a huge smile on your dial! The 150 Speedster provides a true sportsboat feel, pulling off manoeuvres other boaters can only dream about.
The 255hp engine pushes this hull to a maximum speed of 99.7kmh at full noise, pulling 7900rpm, and is easily capable of towing water skiers and wakeboarders of all shapes and sizes.
With a fuel capacity of 79.4lt and an average estimated fuel consumption of somewhere around 12lt/h, this package would have a safe range of somewhere around 5.5 hours, which at the speeds this rig is capable of, is a decent range in any social boaters book.
If its thrills and spills you're after in a boat, and you have a family to entertain, the Sea-Doo 150 Speedster could be the answer for you. Power aplenty, true sportsboat performance, ease of use and handling are all attributes this package will provide. All there is left to do now is discuss my new idea of boat ownership with the wife. Wish me luck!
Specifications - Sea-Doo 150 Speedster
HOW MUCH?
Price as tested: $37,990
GENERAL
Type: Monohull
Material: Composite FRP
Length: 4.67m; 5.60m (on trailer)
Beam: 2.16m
Draft: 30.5cm
Deadrise: 20 degrees
Weight: 1000kg (BMT)
CAPACITIES
Fuel: 79.4lt (underfloor)
People: 4
ENGINE
Make/model: Rotas 1503 4-TEC
Type: Supercharged three-cylinder four-stroke petrol
Displacement: 1494cc
Rated HP: 155 (215 and 255 optional)
Max. RPM: 7300 TO 8000
Propulsion: Jet pump axial flow-single stage
Jet pump impeller: Stainless steel
SUPPLIED BY
Gold Coast Sea-Doo,
2/118 Brisbane Road,
Labrador, Qld, 4215
Phone: (07) 5529 0322
Web: www.goldcoastseadoo.com.au; www.seadoo.com
Originally published in TrailerBoat 245.