@AR190inTexas
First off. Welcome aboard and congrats on your first internet community posts. I've been an online forum user for the better part of 20 years, and this is hands down one of the best forums on the internet IMO. So Welcome!
Now, I'm late to the party, but do have an AR190, and LOTS of experience with "lower powered" boats.
We often tube with 4 adults and 4 kids (all kids under 10). It's not cramped, but it's snug. Our AR190 handles it just fine. There are two keys to having a good experience in this setup. First is a FULL tube. I mean FULL with air. Make sure it is VERY well inflated. The more air you have in the tube the better it glides on the water. Seriously, this can make or break your experience tubing IMO. I run what I guestimate to be about 1-2psi in the tube. It's more than you can get with just a handheld "blower", I put a few pump from the iSUP board pump into the tube. That firmness REALLY helps. The second is to change your technique a bit. The jet bleeds speed in the turns, but hooks and accelerates in the straights, and LIGHT turns. SO, turn in hard at about 22-24mph, bleed down to 18-20mph, and then accelerate back out in a straight line. This will pull the tube outside the wake, once out it will try to head back to center. Repeat the process but the other direction, and you can get them whipped around pretty good. This is a LARGE change from how I drove my I/O boat while tubing. It's not bad, just different.
When doing watersports like wakeboarding, or wakeskating, I like about 18-20mph. This speed is EXCEPTIONALLY hard to control. It's right at the point the boat wants to drop off plane. Plenty of power to keep it there, just VERY hard to modulate the throttle. Add power to stay on plane, and it rockets off to 25+mph, reduce just a little and you're dropping off plane again. It's trickey for even the most seasoned pilots. Ridesteady will cure that, but you can get some good practice in without it. I'm on season 4 without it, and I'm 99% certain I'm going to pick it up if they do a group buy in the off season. The absolute hardest I have "worked" my boat was with myself, and 6 teenagers in the boat, and one doing a deep water start on the wakeskate. Boat took awhile to plane, even with having 4 teenagers in the bow to keep it from rising up. It did it, but a dedicated tow boat would have done better. I've done that ONCE in 4 seasons with this boat, so it's not a huge ordeal for me. He still went from never seeing a wakeskate before, to riding acceptably in about 10-12 tries. He now rides his own behind his parents 60hp pontoon and loves it.
For just cruising around, the 190 has plenty of power. You can run in the mid 30's with a "full load" of people. The biggest detractor of speed is where people are sitting. Had 6 adults, all in the cockpit, and a GIANT yeti cooler on the upper swim deck and hit 40mph. On the way back, we ditched the Yeti and two adults. 2 ladies up front, and 2 men in the cockpit, I could barely hit 36mph. Bow weight absolutely KILLS the speed. Just keep that in mind. Had the wife in the back with just me piloting, bimini stowed, and anchor in the stern storage last weekend. Hit 45mph without really trying. Weight distribution is key to top speed on a small and lightly powered boat. So long as you aren't trying to drag race anyone, you'll be plenty happy, at least I know I am.
Overall I think the 190's represent some of the best VALUE you can get from a Yamaha. They are cheap to purchase, maintain, operate, and tow. They get you and your family on the water in MANY places with a good looking, safe, and well functioning boat. There aren't a ton of features or bells and whistles, but instead represent a very "just as much as you need" boat. We love ours and will be keeping it for the forseeable future.
