HPBCANADA.COM

New to this forum, but I've been on a few others for a while. I have a 1988 Hydrostream Vision with a merc 2.4 EFI 200. Just finishing up my second season with the boat, been playing around with setup.

Welcome aboard. i love the hydrostreams! yours looks awesome!

Thanks! It's a work in progress, but it's been a lot of fun so far. Hoping to get one last run in before I put her away for the winter.

That little Vision must be a fun ride Little boat, big motor... Sweet

Nice! must go like stink too.

Steve

Mine was also a 1988. Here are a few pix with the XR2...Certainly a wild ride

Pic 1

Pic 2

It's a handful, that's for sure. It came with a 30 pitch prop, and it was very difficult to drive. The jackplate helped a bit, but then I started having steering issues. I was able to fight it up to 85mph once, but couldn't correct the chine walk, steering wheel locked up solid. I tried out a 23 pitch Mach 3 that drove a lot nicer, so that's what I'm running now. Still capable of 75mph, less porpoising, less chine walk. Still locking up the wheel above 60 though. Swapping my NFB for a ride guide next year, hope that fixes the problem.

The VISION was designed for smaller mid range engines in the category of 3 and 4 cylinders. The wide pad was designed to aid the boat in planning both on its own, and while hauling skiers with less than V6 motors for power. The hull was designed to run safely to approx., 70 mph. I would agree with this I was will share the following performance and handling characteristics in the evolution of my ownership with this boat.

We tried a lot of different things with the vision over the years. It started with an inline 3 cyl. 90 Merc and we finally opted for a V6 150 XR2 Merc.

The Vision is a pretty good platform for giving you the sensation of flying a Performance hull. However it is not the best platform for over 70 mph operation. Ours would do about 82 mph with a 150 Merc with a 30 Cleaver at 6200 RPM, 2:1 Gear Reduction, CLE. The boat was capable of speed but balance and conditions had to be perfect.

I used all the tricks with the XR2, Jack Plate, LWP, Hi-performance wheel, solid mounts etc. The Short keel does not make the boat that friendly with OBs in excess of 400#. Therefore C\G is also vital. We added about 100# to the nose of the boat along with locating the fuel cell to right behind the front seats…thus the race hatch.

Play safe and don’t’ forget that 2 hands on the wheel is paramount so invest in good dual steering, a foot throttle and remote trim.. Don’t spend too much dough on it if you want to go more then 70….a V-king would be a better hull for that while retaining the Vision look.