When the K-500 Speedster arrives, you immediately realise that it is "a machine for big boys": flat, sleek, fast. She arrives piggybacked on an equally "styled" trailer, and slipping is child's play. To prevent scratches to the high-gloss wooden surfaces when mooring to the jetty and sheet piling, shipyard manager Hans Jürgen Kaiser hangs two ball fenders on the side walls, which are attached to special stainless steel pins.
Starting the engine is a pleasure in itself - just press the button and the throaty two-stroke sound unfolds. Two-stroke opponents would claim that the engineers have forgotten a few screws in the cylinders. Lovers of this technology, on the other hand, will be delighted. However, the 143 hp Weber engine only develops its true sound at speed.
Before we get to that point, we first have to manoeuvre the boat backwards out of the slipway; not so easy, as the jet reacts to the steering inputs in exactly the opposite way to a conventional drive. When the lever is finally set to "ahead", the hull jumps out of the water with a slight bow lift and the fun begins. During the first few metres of planing, you notice that the steering reacts very directly and that the driver must have a sensitive steering hand. If you turn only moderately, a carousel ride begins and the boat pulls a very tight circle with a fountain of water at the stern. Although you have to hold on tightly, it is commendable that the boat does not hook or rock. If you stubbornly switch to "straight ahead", you can reach almost 80 km/h at 7500 rpm according to the speed display. The best for last: Mr Kaiser wants around 70,000 euros for the Speedster. Info: www.kaiserboote.de
