Lake boaters, general questions about Yamaha jet boats.

[Jgcrock99]

Good evening to the best minds in boating!

I am considering an upgrade to a 21' or 23' Yamaha twin engine runabout and I had some general questions for anyone with opinions good and bad. I currently have a '96 chaparral 1930 ss with the 4.3lx mercruiser sterndrive. I am into cruising with intermittent tubing, skiing, etc. Fuel economy is a concern for me and I was curious about the real world fuel economy of these Yamaha jet drives. Recently, I went on a guys weekend and ran Fri afternoon and pretty much all day Saturday on a single 40 gallon tank in my chaparral with 6 in my boat and a total weight of probably 2k lbs including fuel. The Yamaha is twin engine but they brag on their fuel economy so I was curious if it would be comparable. Also, I was just curious if anyone had any negative thoughts towards these boats and why? Want to be as educated as possible before any final decisions. I've also been looking at other jet drive boats because I like the safety and low maintenance of these drives. All information is welcomed, thank you.

 

[Leardriver]

Yamaha boats are high quality, reliable, and good looking. They are very desirable. The only thing I don't like about them is the RPM that they run at, but that is a minor criticism. They are quite fuel efficient.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,...... There's never been a jet-drive that's even close to a prop driven boat that's Efficient, as far as fuel consumption,....

 

[Scott Danforth]

If you want fuel economy in a boat, power it with oars or sails

 

[Old Ironmaker]

If you want fuel economy in a boat, power it with oars or sails

My exact sentiments. Fuel "economy" and boating just don't go together. I hear guys that pull people around on the water at the end of a rope at wide open throttle talk about gallons per mile. Just like in olden times guys that wanted a Cadillac ask about how bad they were on gas, if you couldn't afford the gas you couldn't afford a 25', 5 ton Sedan DeVille. I personally like Yamaha Jet powered boats, they look fast standing still. A family had one in a slip next to mine some years back. Brand spanking new, he did have electrical problems that was under warranty but he lost 7 weeks of summer boating because of it. The battery died and had to be towed in on it's Maiden Voyage, ouch and somewhat embarrassing for many reasons. He wasn't impressed in the least after shelling out all that money for a brand new boat and loosing almost 2 months of a 4 or 5 month boating season here in southern Canada. I did notice the interior looked cramped with 2 adults a teen and a little girl plus the tube and all the stuff (some) women think they need to go out on a lake for a few hours. It was around 20'. The dog house was very big.

 

[KD4UPL]

I've never run a jet but I'll just offer this. My sister skied behind a Yamaha jet boat after years of skiing behind a prop driven boat. She commented that the water felt "softer", it didn't support the skis as well. I'm guessing it was simply more aerated from having come thru the dual jet drives. Anyway, she didn't like skiing behind it at all.
They are nice looking boats at a decent price but I have heard say they are louder than a sterndrive boat. I don't like any more noise than I have to have so that would be a big negative for me.

 

[Jgcrock99]

Thank you for your comments. I have been really happy with my boat but we're just looking for something a little more updated. I realize fuel economy is relative but it is an important component for all around boating. I have found twin engine Fountains for 30k but they'll drain a fuel tank in half a day and hold 80+gallons and require a great deal of maintenance. Or I can pay 30k for something that'll run all weekend on 50 gallons and require very little, I just want to cover all my bases and make a decision I won't regret. I just really like the look of the boats and most people seem pleased with their purchase of them. I am disappointed to hear about the electrical issues though and I hope that is not an issue with all of them. Thanks again and happy boating

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

You are in a very fuel efficient boat right now and I doubt you’ll love the overall performance of that Yamaha jet especially if you load it heavy. You need to put some weight in the Yamaha and see how slow it is compared to where you are now. And a lot of that boats length is not more boat than you have right now. Great swim deck yes taller fatter stance yes but there’s a lot of wasted space if it’s similar to the one I thought about buying. My vote is you need a thorough sea trial before signing any papers. Dont get me wrong its probably a great boat. You posted a few of your concerns and this boats not going to outperform your current boat in most of those categories. If you like that Yamaha and it rocks your world step up you wont dislike it at all.

 

[Silverbullet555]

They've come a long way since they entered the market. I haven't ridden on one in a long time I'm guessing they perform just fine and quality is likely on par with similarly priced boats.

They weren't known for great wakes in the past and they were pretty rough rides. That may have changed. Sea trial in some rough water to see.

They are jets so they handle differently. Generally jets are more responsive under power, but don't turn when the power is off.

As far as fuel economy. As others have said, take it out of consideration. How you drive the boat will do more to impact it than the engine in it. Are two Yamaha engines more efficient than 2 v8 engines? Sure. But a single 5.7 or 8.1 may be better than both. Or it may be in between

 

[jkust]

Here is my take as I have two lake homes and spend a lot of time at them boating in the summer. Most people that have jet boats here have them as a third boat meaning they own a prop driven bowrider or an actual surf boat, a pontoon or tritoon and then the jet driven boat on lifts on their shore. Jet boats are great, couldn't be more fun but not as an only boat.

I have a Supercharged Yamaha Waverunner (which of all of my toys is the best money I've ever spent) as well on a lift at one of my houses and we can blast through 37 gallons of gas which is two full tanks with light to medium use over a weekend with just me and my two teen boys just pleasure riding and not any sort of towing. The problem isn't the cost of gas, we are impervious to that, it is the constant annoying filling up. It's an all day activity of filling up the tank. I can't imagine having twins. While I love the overall reliability of Yamaha and the fact that they use a 4 cylinder instead of how Sea Doo has historically used a 3 cylinder, I just don't like the design decor in the Yamaha Jet boats from even a few years ago. They just miss the mark. If I could only have one boat, It would be a prop driven boat. If I had a shallow water lake, I suppose I'd be forced to consider an alternative however.

 

[SkiGuy1980]

I love the look of the Yamaha boat. Great lines and the quality of the interior was on par for the price. For what it's worth I've never skied behind one but my friends that had them complained until they sold them about poor performance skiing and difficulty making turns in the boat.

 

[H20Rat]

Jet boat steering is... different... Once you get used to it, it is far more maneuverable than a single screw boat. With my previous jet, I could turn in my own length, or walk the boat straight sideways, all from just a single jet. Twins are even easier. But it is a learning process coming from a traditional boat, ESPECIALLY backing up with a jet!

Controls for most, but not all jets, are reversed when backing. If I have the steering wheel cranked hard port and back up, the thrust is caught in the port side of the reverse bucket, and will push the back end of the boat starboard. (Which is how you can walk it sideways. Just crank the wheel opposite the direction you want to move sideways, leave it, and then modulate the reverse bucket up and down to keep the boat straight. Boat will slide straight over)

 

[mgjtkt]

Go to one of the Yamaha jet boat forums yamahajetboaters.com and ask there

 

[JimS123]

I have a Supercharged Yamaha Waverunner (which of all of my toys is the best money I've ever spent) as well on a lift at one of my houses and we can blast through 37 gallons of gas which is two full tanks with light to medium use over a weekend with just me and my two teen boys just pleasure riding and not any sort of towing.

We have a NA Yamaha with the High Output engine and our son has the supercharged model. His accelerates a little faster and has a higher top end. He also uses significantly more fuel. Ours will do 60+ and give my wife on the back whiplash if I punch it. I realize more speed is the thing to do, but us old folks don't need it.

If the Yami boat doesn't have SC engines, the fuel usage won't b that bad. But of course it won't compare to a 4.3 either.

 

[jkust]

We have a NA Yamaha with the High Output engine and our son has the supercharged model. His accelerates a little faster and has a higher top end. He also uses significantly more fuel. Ours will do 60+ and give my wife on the back whiplash if I punch it. I realize more speed is the thing to do, but us old folks don't need it.

If the Yami boat doesn't have SC engines, the fuel usage won't b that bad. But of course it won't compare to a 4.3 either.

Like boats, faster acceleration and the few more mph on top end is huge. People spend a ton of money for a couple mph's in props alone.

Keep in mind, the SC waverunners are massively being held back from their potential which is where the Riva aftermarket kits come in whereby suddenly your slightly faster supercharged model becomes massively faster on the order of 20mph or more and far quicker as well. My SC waverunner is exactly 63mph at half throttle and 70 at full due to it being so limited in so many ways because it is bone stock. I'm more interested in the quicker acceleration over the top speed just because you can only go wot a small amount due to conditions. It's so limited due to coast guard regs, it is just crazy. My thought though is twin any-kind-of-engine is going to have deal with the hassle of filling up a lot more.

 

[Jgcrock99]

Thank you all I really appreciate it.

 

[kurt1305]

Have you seen this?

https://www.boatingmag.com/boat-engine-comparison