couldn't get better first hand knowledge than that....!I have the 2101 with the 5.0 litre I/B. Very stable rides great. Handles moderate seas very well. The 400 litre gas tank (when full) adds a lot of weight and stability.
I moved from a Campion 542 to my Striper and couldn't be happier about the upgrade.
I had a 2008 that I used for 10 years before I sold it. Mine was an outboard model so I don't have experience with the inboard. For it's size it handles the water like a bigger boat overall. I made a lot of tweeks and upgrades to things over the time I had it mostly just for personal preference and for how I used the boat. My main reason for going bigger was to get more deck space which in my case I like to spend 90% of my time rain or shine. I had considered podding it and removing the Euro transom and live bait well to gain an extra 3' but decided to go another route. Overall a great boat and good quality. Depending on how you plan on using it it will tick off a lot of the boxes. My only recommendation is to really spend a bit of time on the back deck and picture who is going to be on the boat mostly and see how the space works for you. It is a far bigger boat than your Hourston but perhaps not in all things.....IMO
Bruce is your boat a duo prop? Fuel injected? Just wondering about your cruise speed and fuel economyI have the 2101 with the 5.0 litre I/B. Very stable rides great. Handles moderate seas very well. The 400 litre gas tank (when full) adds a lot of weight and stability.
I moved from a Campion 542 to my Striper and couldn't be happier about the upgrade.
I see what you mean about the deck space. It is more than I have now but not huge. This will be a multipurpose boat for us. And there is only a few days a year that the whole family is on the boat so I think it would work well. I understand that there is no wood used in construction of these boats is that true?
My boat is the Volvo 5 l with an SX (single prop) drive. With a 17p stainless prop, I cruise easily at 25 - 28 knots (depending on current) at 3000 rpm. I don't have a fuel monitor, so not sure about fuel burn. 8 - 10 gal/hr I would estimate. The boat doesn't like to cruise at less that about 18 its - tough to keep it on the step without a lot of work with the trim tabs.
There is no wood in the hull - transom and stringers are composite, but there is wood in the superstructure (i.e. above decks). You have to watch to ensure all of the screws for cleats etc are well sealed.
In terms of deck space, it is a bit small, but certainly much bigger than my Campion. I fish a lot by myself and find the deck space is just fine. Easy to get from the helm to the side of the boat when docking alone, for example. The space is fine for 2 people and OK for 3 but I wouldn't want to fish with more than 3.
The boats stability is one of it's strengths. Two guys standing on one side to net a fish and the thing barely tilts. With my old boat, it always felt like we were going to flip when we did that.
I have a Wellcraft 22, very similar and WAS equipped with a 5.0 Volvo Duoprop.
I have to say that if anything goes wrong with that engine it’s a tough decision to rebuild a 5.0.
I have TBI fuel injection and got the chip reflashed in the US to run a 5.7, purchased the engine from Quicksilver as a Volvo replacement.
I’ll never look back, the torque to get up on plane quickly in a tough sea combined with the improvement in fuel economy ( from not beating the throttle all the time) are huge.
I can’t speak to the Volvo XDP but I have the DPS-M drive.
Parts aren’t cheap, and I can’t help but feel ripped off sometimes fwiw.
I watched a YouTube video of a guy who put a 5.3 in his 2101, and it was inspiring.
I highly encourage the 2101 purchase, just wanted to share my 5.0 experience.
This is on a MY 2000 boat, 435 hours at replacement, cause was a tulipped intake valve, and the engine was 16 years old at that point to be fair.
I would also suggest visiting the Striper Owners Club, specifically the inboard thread, and again the fuel supply issues with the paint flaking off and plugging up the low/high pumps.
I also would say that, for around 6000.00 and some elbow grease, a repower is possible and you just can’t beat that with an outboard unless it has less than 10 HP lol.