fastestbowtie

Perhaps this will be the forum to answer some of my questions about this brand of boat. I performed a search and it appears that 2 or more members are Stryker boat owners so perhaps they will have some insight into their history. I am considering purchasing an older 1989 Strker 2150, but am trying to find out as much about the boat as possible before making a decision. So far I have found out nothing other than the company produced boats from 1987 to 1998. Does anyone on here know what happened to Stryker Boat Co. and why? How was the build quality, quality of materials, etc.? I just don't want to end up with a boat with rotted out stringers just to find out later it was a known problem with this brand of boat due to poor build quality. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

offthefront

iTrader: (1)

There were built in Alabama ....Like you said mid 80's to mid 90's ....I think the IRS got em ... When I first started looking at offshore boats it was one of the first I looked at ... I talked to a cpl people that own or had owned em and seemed were well built ...I even found the guy that his dad and himself had biult em ....He still has the molds ....I tried to get him to build a new boat but wasnt interested. He did offer to sell me the molds. ...He still does fiberglass but not boats.

offthefront

iTrader: (1)

The Original Stryker Thread .....

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=70970

fastestbowtie

Cool, thanks for the link. I was wondering what would cause a boat manufacturer to close up during the largest economic boom in modern history, and I could only think of 3 reasons. I was thinking either the quality was terrible, or the management was terrible, or they were such a good boat that a competitor bought them out; IRS never really crossed my mind but that would sure do it. Perhaps some of the other guys that posted in that other thread can shed some more light on the boat I am considering. It is a small one by most of you guys standards, a 1989 21 ft closed bow, it is called a Stryker 2150. Does anyone know if they copied a mold for this one and if so which one? I am a little concerned being that it was built in only their 3rd year of production so if there were any flaws in the design they would have only had 2 years to figure them out. Allthough, I have to say it looks almost identical to that picture of the 1992 21 footer. Does anyone else have any additional info on this model boat, or perhaps some suggestions like things to look for etc. If so I would appreciate it. I already have 2 non-running boats, I do not want a 3rd. I was really wanting to stick with a more modern boat (1998 +) with fuel injection, but the price on this one would be much easier on the wallet. Help me out guys. Thanks

Wobble

Fastbowtie,

Thunderusone knows more about stryker boats than anyone else on this forum. Try to pm him. The 2150 was available with 502mag and were extremely fast and strong. There is one in my neighborhood that runs close to 80 stock. I have the 91 Equalizer model which is a 28 footer also very fast for it's size I saw 77 with 600hp before I damaged my labbed prop. The Equalizer and the pre-2000 Nordic 28's were both splashed off a Sleekcraft design

Stryker was developing a 38 foot thunder and ran out of money, I believe they built 6, reportedly faster than a 38 fountain with the same power. The story goes that Reggie would pull his advertising if the article on the match up was ever published.

Another factor that hurt them was that Mercruiser packages nearly doubled in price in the mid 90's and that made it difficult for them to produce the boats at a price that was attractive to the entry level buyers.

I have more pictures, these are two Equaizers in the Houston area, mine is on the left. They built a lot of the 2150 Stealth Models.

1992 price for a 2150 Stealth with a 502 Mag was 32K
2800 Equalizer with a 502mag was 50k, about 26 built
3100 Patriot with t-502mags 83K, 2 or 3 built
3800 Thunder with t-502mags was 128k, 6 built

Wobble

Found some Stryker literature

Wobble

More

Firewalker

The Stryker 2150 is a splash of the Hammond 2150 who bought the running surface from Geroge Linder, it is the same bottom as the famed challenger 21..... which also means that they are a runner... if they stay together.
They tested one in Powerboat a long ways back, while it got rave reviews in the perfomance parts ( you can credit George Linder for that ), but were slaughtered in the quality department. It was so bad you could see it in the pictures.
As for the 38, it is my understanding that the boat was so bad at the powerboat peformance trials that they refuesd to test it. To say that a splash of a 38 Scarab is faster than a fountain is impossible.

Thems are the facts folks.

RT

Wobble

Good info Firewalker, I found a review on the 2150 done by hotboat.

As far as quality goes, I have seen two 2150's and 3 2800 Equalizers up close. They obviously were a lot for the money but definetly not top shelf. Still, none of the owners have any complaints about the fiberglass/gel work or any structural problems, not bad for boats 12-15 years old. Mine is a 91.

Regarding the performance trials, my info is hearsay and cant add much to what I heard.

Wobble

here is a magazine test of the 2150 from the early 90's