85 Diplomat with a 115 Yamaha OB

[Tristan M]

Greetings all,

I have just about talked myself into a Diplomat that is for sale close by. I love the looks of the boat and I think it runs very well.

I have a couple of questions that I've asked the owner but I thought I'd check with ya'll as well.

1) The boat is priced at $4000 is that about right?

2) Is a 115 OB enough to pull a wakeboarder or skier? Roughly how fast will it go flat out?

3) Are these hulls as good as they look? I've been looking and these look really well designed/reinforced.

For some reason this boat appealed to me on a level that the other 17's in the price range didn't. Even being a smaller boat it looks mean and fast.

 

[Tristan M]

Greetings all,

I have just about talked myself into a Diplomat that is for sale close by. I love the looks of the boat and I think it runs very well.

I have a couple of questions that I've asked the owner but I thought I'd check with ya'll as well.

1) The boat is priced at $4000 is that about right?

2) Is a 115 OB enough to pull a wakeboarder or skier? Roughly how fast will it go flat out?

3) Are these hulls as good as they look? I've been looking and these look really well designed/reinforced.

For some reason this boat appealed to me on a level that the other 17's in the price range didn't. Even being a smaller boat it looks mean and fast.

 

[92Enticer]

My 115 can pull a skier no problem. Also more then enough for a wake board.

Remember the motor is only one piece, the prop is important too. If yuo use a pure speed prop you may have some hole issues with skiers, but if you drop down to a more mid range or a ski prop, there will be no issues.

 

[175checkmate]

Welcome to the board. Have a good look at the boat.
Look for a soft floor. Look under the rear seat. Again you are looking for soft spots. Also with the boat on the trailer and the motor trimed up a bit push and lift on the lower unit, it helps to bring a buddy. What you are looking for is movement in the transom. Checkmates have a well designed transom but water can still get in there and rot the wood.
On the engine: Have someone do a compression and leakage test.
If all is well then thats a real good price for the boat/motor/trailer.
I would think it would run near 40mph with a light load and the right prop. Should have no trouble pulling a skier.

 

[Mark]

Tristan, if the transom, floor and motor check out, go for it. Diplomat is an amazing boat. It has the same interior size as the 17' and 18' Mates but is less than 900# so a 115hp is plenty. You should see over 50mph and will have no problem pulling a skier. I have an 1985 with a 130 Yamaha and I see 57 mph (gps) with a 21"SS prop. The hull is very stable and fast. I don't believe their is a 17' boat anywhere that can hold a candle to a Diplomat. If you don't buy it, tell us where it is, someone else will!

 

[danfrsc]

I just bought a 1984 Diplomat W/ 140HP OB Johnson about 2 months ago. The Dash (Speedometer) topped at 60mph with just Me and 43mph with 4 adults and 2 kids plus equipment for the day. I LOVE this boat!

 

[TheMaxx]

I had an old Arrowglas spider (16 ft) with a 115 in-line Merc. I pulled everything from tubes to wakeboards and my wife pulled me many times on slalom with no problems in power. I'm 6'2 195lbs. You'll have plenty of power, heck we used to combo and kneeboard hehind an old tub of a boat with an ooolllld 40 horse Johnson!

 

[Big Dave]

My brother had an 80 Diplomat with a 140 'rude.
We put a new looper 140 on it and a jack plate
we could pull a 22p raker at 6300 rpm
Had a hard time with slalom skiers though
probably the props

 

[JW]

The Diplomat is the open bow version of the Sportfire. I figure the open bow was named 'Diplomat' because a guy has to be extrememly 'diplomatic' to talk the wife into a hot boat, and the open bow version was key in the negotiations.......