Sea-Doo Speedster 200C

Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) is in the business of having fun. Just have a ride of any Sea-Doo craft, from a one-man ski to a multi-seat, high performance vessel, and you'll quickly understand that "fun" is this company's number one objective.

As part of the recent Sea-Doo open day on the Gold Coast to promote the stunning 215hp RXT PWC (tested in TB 194), the folk from BRP had a sample of its range of jet sportsboats, including the aptly-named Speedster 200SC - a great choice if you're after pure unadulterated excitement.

BRP has been producing sportsboats for more than 10 years, and this experience means the builders know how to get the design right. BRP's Sales Director Sam Heyes explains: "BRP's Sea-Doo sportsboats are a completely in-house design. The company branched out into the jet boat market in 1995 when there were quite a few companies in the market place. Now there are only about two or three large producers of jet boats, and at the moment we command about 70 per cent of the market."

There are a number of models in the Sea-Doo sportsboat range but at this stage only two will be coming into Australia. The 15ft Sportster is will retail at $34,999, and the larger Speedster 200SC, which TrailerBoat managed to climb aboard, will set you back $54,999 (including trailer).

ROOMY RACER
The Speedster is remarkably roomy and boasts a surprising amount of storage area for an out-and-out speedboat. It would be interesting to put it up against others in its class for room and space.

 The deck capacity of seven people ensures that you won't be sitting in each others' laps - although in this craft you wouldn't have too much trouble attracting someone interesting to sit in your lap!

Up in the bow there's plenty of room for two adults and a few tackers while behind the adjustable swivel pilot and passenger seats is a spacious wraparound bench that flows into an ample sun deck before the boarding ski platform with ladder attached.

The cockpit is comfortable with supportive seats and easy access to the twin throttles and gear lever. The space-age dash in the helm with sports steering wheel is well set out with two tachos pride of place, a speedo in between, and fuel, oil and temperature gauges and switches. A tinted screen protects the helm as well as acting as a shield for the pilot.

The helm also features a Clarion stereo, glove and storage compartments, a few drinkholders and an esky. There is plenty of padding plus practical grab handles and where it counts. Two huge stainless-steel rails run along the top of the gunwales longside the cockpit and bow for extra security in addition to doubling as optional bimini/wakeboarding tower attachments.

Under the rear sun deck is a lockable access hatch for the life jackets and the wakeboards. Splitting the walkthrough is a large underfloor ski storage locker.

SPEEDY SPECS
Couran Cove is an excellent place to get away from it all at a reasonable cost, especially if you have at your disposal the six-metre (19ft 9in) 200SC powered by a pair of Rotax three-cylinder 1494cc supercharged four-stroke engines putting out 370hp. With 2.44m beam and 20-degree deadrise, the performance hull is built to revel in this kind of adrenalin-pumping power.

Thanks to its axial-flow single-stage jet pump with stainless-steel progressive pitch impeller, and an Intake Clearance System to remove weeds and debris from the intake at the push of a button, the craft draws just 30cm of water, so you can access knee-deep water while still on the throttle.

This high-performance bullet has plenty of streamlining in the shape - it could've been designed in a wind tunnel, which wouldn't surprise me given part of Bombardier's concerns centre around the aircraft industry. Some attributes would not be out of place on a rocket, such as the trio of longitudinal cylinders lying side by side and the twin exhausts to aid in the burble department.

 As for performance, BRP claims the Speedster is the highest horsepower craft on the market with the twin Rotax engines, so I was a happy bloke when I got my turn to clamber aboard for a steer.

Clambering is right. I'm built like a roofing nail so it's easy to throw my spindly frame aboard but a driver with a bit more beef on the bones might find it difficult to board the boat in shallow water.

This minor quibble is quickly overlooked however once you get behind the wheel. The 200SC certainly gets on the plane in a hurry. It doesn't just launch out of the hole, it catapults, as a lungful of juice is spewed into the engine when slamming the throttles forward to the stop.

The 200 sits high in the water when under power and has a long nose that appears to rise above you. At times this can impair vision, but a couple of bodies in the bowpit would rectify the problem.

NEED FOR SPEED
Very soon the look on Sam's face said it all: "Give it the berries!" So I did. What a weapon. Throw it about as hard as you like and it still handles with the ease of a big PWC. It pays to be sitting in one of the two bucket swivel seats amidships because when you start to really put it through its paces the ride can get a pretty energetic at the stern - but the laughing and screams behind me confirmed the fun meter was on the redline!

You can get this boat charging along and it doesn't mind a bit of chop to contend with. There were plenty of troughs on the canal to throw the 200SC through, but it powers across the waves without a murmur. At various times I had the craft well and truly airborne but I would've had more chance upsetting the Pope than getting the Speedster out of shape.

 The Sea-Doo Speedster is a craft that should command serious consideration from buyers in the market for a medium-priced adrenalin-producer.


HIGHS