Regal - Fast Trac hull

[argonaut]

Be interested if there are any Regal owners out there that use their boat for towed sports.

The Fast-trac hull seems to get good reviews for fuel efficiency & planing time, but poor for stability and holding a turn.
Read that the design was 'redone' in recent years ........

My particular interest is in what is the water like 'behind' the boat ...
Firstly can you get a nice defined 'sharp' wake profile, (clean wake) obvious interest is for Wakeboard / Kneeboard - don't need a huge wake, I know its not going to match a tournament boat - but can you get a well defined wake by application of a little trim.


Secondly in the area between the wake - how 'clean' is it, the Fast-trac works by pulling a load of air bubbles under the rear of hull ... that could mean a very aerated patch of water between the wakes ... on a traditional Vee you just get a nice central aerated section off the prop.
For riding my SkySki messy water considerably impacts foil stability.

This video shows what I mean but unclear on what it would be like behind the boat, at the 1:31 point looks like there are 4 streams of aerated water plus prop - giving a very 'messy' area behind the boat. Be good to have some practical comments from a user.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky2p-ddlO6c

[mlines]

I will ping Mark, the previous owner of our boat, as he used it extensively for watersports.

You can see wake videos from ours on my website

In one sense "Fastrac" is not special or unique, most sportsboats in this class have some form of step in the hull nowadays.

Allegedly it can "slide and hook" under some turn conditions but its not something we have experienced.

sized_Regal2250_IMGP0585.JPG (198.58 KiB) Viewed 12441 times

[argonaut]

Wake looks pretty rounded, rather than what you need is a traditional concave curve, be interesting what your previous owner found.

[Centaur]

Hi Argonaut,

Firstly, the caveats.....

1. I only have experience of the Regal 2250 and so results with other Regal hulls may differ. Additionally, mine was unusual in that it was fitted with the larger 5.7L 350MAG engine and the Bravo III twin-prop drive.

2. I only used the boat for 'on water' water sports such as wakeboarding, kneeboarding, water skiing and mono-skiing. The relative performance of hydrofoils such as the SkySki and other 'under water' items may vary.

Caveats aside, I found the Regal to have the best wake for water sports of any sterndrive boat that I have driven. It may not match a tournament boat for water skiing or a wakeboard boat for the absolute size of the wake but it came pretty close to my previous Nautique SV-211 (a boat well regarded as an all-rounder). At wakeboard speeds, I could achieve a very clean wake with a reasonable ramp, whilst at water skiing speeds the wake would flatten out and remain pretty clean.

I found the ideal setup for wakeboarding was to run at 22mph and trim out the drive a fair way - much further than would normally be applied for cruising. This speed seemed to generate a good wake and the added trim seemed to clean up the wake enormously. Simply running the boat up to speed and trimming normally was all that was required for water skiing, as the wake would smooth out with speed.

Whilst it may probably be true that the water between the wakes may appear more aerated, I suspect that this is largely a surface phenomenon and would possibly not affect a hydrofoil adversely - although it must be said again that I have no experience of a SkySki.

If it is any help, here are a few photos of the wake at various speeds:

At 0mph:


At 5mph:


At 10mph:


At 15mph:


At 20mph:


At 25mph:


At 30mph:

[argonaut]

Wake looks clean at 20mph, better than I expected .... do you get much bow rise ?

How did you find build quality ......... I have not looked at a new Regal .... when I looked at one (few years ago) finish was at the budget end, vinyl quality, stitching, seat supports, lack of finish inside hatches etc.

I know this was some years ago (at least 10) so unsure about current range.


Just as an FYI .. 90% of SkySki riding (excluding the falls) is done above the water so foil is only 6-9" deep, hence my concern about the 'bubbles' ... although I do most of riding outside the wakes to get better water.

[mlines]

If you ever venture over the bridge to the Thames Valley your welcome to look over ours (ex-Mark).

We believe Regal has been trying to move up the quality ladder, I have seen some league tables that rate them high up overall for sportsboat.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[argonaut]

Where exactly are we talking about ? ............ Thames valley is an unknown area for me ......... assume it runs length of the Thames.

I mention as I work for a company in Newbury so head 'East' frequently ...

It may well be that newer Regals are much changed compared to what I previously experienced.

[mlines]

Just off Junction 10 M4 moving to just off junction 5 M4 for the winter from October

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Xboatboyx]

[quote="argonaut"]
How did you find build quality ......... I have not looked at a new Regal .... when I looked at one (few years ago) finish was at the budget end, vinyl quality, stitching, seat supports, lack of finish inside hatches etc.

I know this was some years ago (at least 10) so unsure about current range. quote]

In my opinion Regal are about the same as Monterey quality wise if not slightly better now. You can expect new ones 2008 + to have stainless fittings everywhere, upholstery double stitched and premium vinyl's used. New Regals come equipped with top end fusion sound systems and LED lights everywhere in cup holders and engine vents, of course this is optional. I don't think we could find another sportsboat to match the quality of the regal unless you look at really high end stuff such as Colbalt, Windy and ChrisCraft. I don't know what Regal you are interested in but note that the 2250 cuddy does not come with a wakeboard tower.

[argonaut]

Been looking at 200ES

I have been looking around on Internet ... I know league tables are biased, the sort of general consensus I could find on US sites is that there are 4 tiers:

Premium- Cobalt, SeaRay, Formula, Bryant

Upper middle - Monterey, Chaparral, Four Winns

Lower Middle - Regal, Crownline, Rinker

Budget - Bayliner, Larson, Tahoe, Starcraft


When I last took a test run on a Regal (190LSR around 2000) the look was sporty, but the finish was definitely at budget end, and disappointing compared to Chaparral/Monterey ... hatches were weak, and not substantial, i.e. you could twist hatches when open .. plastics would flex. Unfinished fibreglass where it didn't show, poor vinyl and stitching, and floor & hull did not seem solid when hitting a chop.

However - that was as they say 'back in the day'
We are close on 15 years since then, and they may well have improved, and really this is why I am asking questions from owners, maybe they have now moved up a level.
(Also asking same Q on Regal owners forum.)

When it comes down to it ... yes I'd love to buy a Bryant or Cobalt, but for once a week use for 6 months of the year they do not represent good value for me .... pending winning the Lottery - I'm looking for a good boat in the upper middle Tier.