I saw a 2001 Sea Hunt Victory 215 with a 2002 Mercury Optimax 225 HP outboard engine on Craigslist. It reminded me very much of my Grady White 208 Adventure, which is one of my favorite small walkaround boats, so I was very interested.
Seller said motor ran well, with no issues, so I went to take a look. The boat was solid and the motor started and ran well on the hose, so I bought it. I replaced the water pump impeller, just in case, (old one was still good) and took it to the lake. This is video of the first water test.
I had the boat nice and clean, but the boat was under a tree and it rained, knocking a bunch of that brown stuff from the tree into it. Sorry you have to see it like this!
Anyway, the boat ran great, until I got around 5K RPM, and then it would skip badly. I thought it was a fuel issue, so you hear me talking about that in the video. The primer bulb didn't go flat, but it wasn't as tight, so I thought that might be it. It wasn't. After a while I thought it was hitting the rev limiter, as the tach wasn't working properly. I was never able to open her and trim up to feel top speed because of that.
I did not have a GPS on board, but I estimate my speed was over 40 before the rev limiter/skipping would kick in. Once I install a GPS, it will be very interesting to see how she performs.
In the end, the boat ran pretty well. Happy with the performance so far. Not sure if I'm going to keep this boat instead of the Wellcraft, or just clean it up and sell it. I will have to see how she runs on the Bay in a nasty chop. I really like the lines of the Sea Hunt, but you never know until you do a sea trial.
If I keep the boat, I'm definitely adding trim tabs, and I'd like to swap this 225 for a 150 hp motor. Seems like a more balanced fit for this boat. Almost every one of these I've seen has a 125, 140 or a 150 on the back. But I guess we will see...
15 сен 2024
