Thinking about a 195 for my next boat

[highcalibercat]

Can anyone give me some info on ride and handling? Any numbers with all the different hp.s that you all may have?
Thanks

[highcalibercat]

I have a Basscat Cougar FTD. Looking to down size this time and don't want to give up to much in the ride department.

[kluke]

You will not be giving anything up in the ride department going from a Cat to a Falcon.

[tritonboy2001]

Can anyone give me some info on ride and handling? Any numbers with all the different hp.s that you all may have?
Thanks

I will say this. I bought my 195 with 200 SHO last Oct, fished numerous tournys and lil over 20 hours on engine. Today, I had a tourny on Eufaula (Ala) , wind was up, at launch there were already 2 footers, later in day I tried to run down towards dam (anyone familiar with Eufaula knows how bad it can get), the waves were now close to 5 feet, I was running in 3 to 4 footers, not hard on plain but 35ish to keep bow up, all good, lil rough but boat handled it well , soft landings mostly. On way back wind calmed a lil, waves were down some in stretches of main channel still close to 2 feet and I was able to run on plain, in some area even WOT. But 3ft to 5ft today, boat did well.

Now by myself with a 23P Fury, tourny load, 1/2tank gas, livewells full, I can get 73 to 74 consistently (GPS). 2 people in tourny I can get 70. Handles well. Love it so far.

[txsunfish]

kluke, have you had a Phoenix or rode/fished in one? Might be looking at the F215 and wanted to know your thoughts? Thx

[highcalibercat]

Thank you for the responses. Good info Jason. Anyone know where I could see a 195 near Missouri? The dealers in Mo. and Ark. had none and did not expect to have any.

[Riccochet]

Thank you for the responses. Good info Jason. Anyone know where I could see a 195 near Missouri? The dealers in Mo. and Ark. had none and did not expect to have any.

Running in to the same issue. You may find yourself having to travel a good distance just to see the model you are interested in. Between the two dealers that are somewhat local to me there is one F195. That's it. No other inventory of years/models. One boat within 150 miles of me.

I know Falcon is new and their production is pretty low. But they might want to focus on actually getting inventory to their existing dealers before adding more dealers. What good is having a dealer with no inventory for their customers to look at?

[kluke]

txsunfish. I have not been in a phoenix so I can not compare. I have been in nearly every other kind of boat and I came out of a champ 210 and can say I am very pleased with the f215 all the way around.

[littleluk]

I know I am not a normal customer. I had never seen a Falcon when I bought mine and traveled about 2000 miles to pick it up. Crazy way to buy a boat but it works. Take a weekend and drive as far as you need to test one. You will be glad you did and it will be a great weekend anyway.

[txsunfish]

Kluke, thats great to know cause I had a Stratos Champ 202 wide body. So if the F215 is as good as a 210 then I should be golden. Tell me what your pro/con's of the 210 & F215 are? Thx sir!

[kluke]

txsunfish feel free to pm your phone number and I will be glad to talk to you about the boats. A couple of big differences I noticed was the access to the bilge area and the overall feel of the boat. It seemed like I was always having to go bilge diving in my 210 and man I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I had a 10" powerworm in the bilge pump in the Falcon and it was effortless to remove. The Falcon just feels like it is built more solid than the champ did. When running big water the champ would go but man it sounded like it was going to come apart. The 3 stringer system on the Falcon just feels so much more solid and surprisingly nimble for a 21' 5" boat. If you would like more detail on the boat or have specific questions feel free to contact me.

[tritonboy2001]

Thank you for the responses. Good info Jason. Anyone know where I could see a 195 near Missouri? The dealers in Mo. and Ark. had none and did not expect to have any.

Highcalcat, I called my dealer in Fl and had them order mine. I got to choose options to upgrade, colors, TM, engine, etc.. I upgraded the TM, trailer (to tandem), got the SHO , upgraded to Helix 9s, added a swim ladder, and loc r bar. Just may be worth a shot. It took a few months to build (approx 2 1/12 months). I picked up in Oct 2018 and they list my boat and engine as 2019s.

[scum_frog]

Lots of previous Champ owners I love it.....my last boat was an 08 Champ 200 Elite lol....now a Falcon 205. Thats awesome!

[highcalibercat]

Thanks Jason, I plan on ordering a boat so I can pick my colors, but I will not buy a Falcon 195 unless I can see one and ride in it first. Lots of boats to choose from. I have seen the 205 and the 215 and like them but the 195 is different than the other two in size.
If Champion owners like them they must ride very well.

[Finlander]

Ride is very subjective. I've been in a Champ, lots of Rangers, Bass Cats, Triton, Xpress X19 and several Stratos boats and think the Stratos 201 had arguably the best ride OAL. It delivered speed and ate chop like few others but they are no longer made. They all have unique handling attributes that will require tinkering to get them close to what you like so a test ride may not reveal what you want because of how its owner likes it set up. I know how to set them up and I know what to expect. Was recently on a test ride of an x19 that was not set up right IMHO, wrong prop, jack plate arrangement but the owner liked it. He was dialed in for one specific thing at a cost of everything else. If a guy only wants to go fast with a fixed jack plate...he'll have it too high with a speed prop. Runs fast as it can but does not corner or come out of the hole worth a darn. Personally, they all have the potential to handle pretty good with the right tweak.

Best advise I can give is always go with Max Rec. HP. It is easier to not use all the power than needing or wishing you had more.

[littleluk]

I hope you get your test drive HighCaliberCat. I know when I talked with the owners that they consider the 195 their "best" (comparatively vs other 19s) hull and the one that has all the lessons from the 215 and 205 applied to it.

[highcalibercat]

I hope that I get a chance to see and ride in one. I travel around the county some, so maybe it will work out time wise and in the right part of the country some time this year.

[scum_frog]

Was able to get my 205 out yesterday on lake st clair and the wind kicked up pretty bad so I was able to actually get into some descent water (wishy washy 2-3's) that were coming every which way from boat traffic and I tell you what......I was PLEASED! I had my Champ up there a lot and thought it rode very well but man this 205 has a SOFT landing.....like, you know the ones u come off of and the bottom just falls out and u clinch knowing its going to hit hard.....NOPE! It would come off them so nice even my buddy said "dude if we were in my charger we would be getting destroyed this rides nicer than your champ did". Another great thing about a Falcon that I love is no one has them.....I dont want another boat every one sees "quality given". When I took off yesterday to head too the ramp it was solid 2-3's but no boat wake and could nose right into them and when I took off it seemed like every bass guy fishing in there stopped and watched me take off.....ego boosting thats for sure! =) haha

[txsunfish]

Kluke I'll get in contact with you by message in a few days. Thx

[1rudebee]

Someone did a nice job picking colors on that blue 205, Jarrett! 😎 The 205 is one of the best riding 20’ boats on the market and fishes like a 21’ boat!