Topic: 203/Puma Hybrid Part 3

Participant

Ok folks, Ive been fortunate enough to have demoed the Hybrid hull on three different occasions. The most recent was at the TOC/BCB Regional last weekend. Rick and BCB have continued to tweek the hull through out the three different demo rides Ive done so Ive personally driven it in the three different phases of tweekness. Not that Im bragging but I think its safe to say other than BCB folks I have more wheel time with this rig than anyone out there. Friday at the boat show Rick and the crew headed down with a few hulls to test out for the TOC. As always I bypassed the others and went right to the Hybrid hull to see what was done. At first glance it didnt seem like much but then I really got to looking and noticed a thing or two. I REALLY noticed it when we hit the water. Stuart and I hopped in and took her for a spin. As usual I did the full old school Champ demo ride minus the breach turn. Air Temp: 70sWater Temp: 74 ishMotor: 250 Pro XSProp: 4 Blade Fury 25P PTP: UnknownRig: 204 203/Puma Hybrid hullHotfoot (which I still hate)Blinker trim (I still used the one on the throttle)Hydro Jackplate: I left at BCB adjustment.Hole Shot: Right at about 5 seconds with a 4 blade Fury 25P. It had a tad of blow out that I think could be corrected by playing with plugs.Speed runs: low 70s and a @#%%% cat to drive. To me it felt like it accelerated quicker than previous test runs. I think Rick is propping her down on me so I dont kill myself out there on his dime. LOL.Turning: This is where I REALLY noticed a difference. I told Stuart to hang on and proceeded to make several neck breaking turns at speed and had ZERO slip or prop blow out. It bit really hard into those turns equally on par with my old 202. I then began making tight doughnut circles at moderate speeds and after each pass made em tighter and tighter. Same results, runs likes its on rails.Ride: Doing those doughnuts did two things 1.) tested turning 2.) created some nasty old cruiser wakes. I proceeded to run through them at top speed and it ate em up like a cop eating a doughnut. One thing different was when hitting the wake water went out to the sides rather than up and to the sides like the older Champs do. That part is more Cat like. The Champ ride is there folks. It is so there.I gave Stuart the wheel and he had a go at her. Then turns it back over to me. We head back to the dock and apparently we put on a show cause I had 2 other people that wanted me to take em out for a ride (That is except Diane who said she wanted to go for a ride but there was no way in hell she was riding in that boat with me after watching what I had just done). SO I took it out for a demo again. And LOVED every second of it, hey more wheel time for me.I hit the dock to give others a turn and talk with Rick a while about the Hybrid. He tells me the dust has been flying on her for a few weeks and theyre happy with the improvements that are being made but it still needs 2-3 weeks of a tweek here or there for it to be finished. I think he was happy with the feedback the TOCers provided so keep your fingers crossed that this goes into production.Folks Im here to tell ya Ive run Champs exclusively my entire life and like to think I know my way around em when the throttle hits the fuel and the troller hits the water. This 203/Puma Hybrid is the real deal. Runs like a Champ UNTIL you drop the trolling motor, then it fishes like a Cat. The tippys of the older Champ era are gone. The wobbles while sitting at rest are history. The rolling motion when a cruiser wake hits ya while fishing are bye bye. But the Champ ride is there. I truly believe this has the potential to be one of the greatest 20 foot bass boats ever made and believe in this so much Im willing to put my money where my mouth is. This may or may not be the boat for you but if youre looking I highly encourage ya to work up a demo with BCB and take her for a spin.Matt