Re: 240 HP Mercury Sport Jet Engine Gas Consumption and other Jetboat Questions
That engine in a seadoo was rated for 3.3 mpg at best cruise, 30 mph. Hard to find any comparisons in boattest, most of the 2 strokes have been moved to the archive. Anyway, if you found a 2 stroke equipped boat that has a similar size and top speed, its going to be about the same. You are looking at a boat that can top out 50+, if not 60, on a gps. Speed doesn't come cheap! If you are planning on 8 hours of non-idling runtime in a day, you will easily go through half that tank, if not more.
Depending on speed, it can either be on par with an outboard, slightly MORE efficient, or about 15% less. (other than idle speed, jets are bad at the very low end)
As far as water sports, getting up behind one is no different. Its actually far easier for a slalom skier to get up behind a jet, jets can put a lot more horsepower into the water than a prop boat, so you can yank the arms of a skier if you want. I wakeboard behind my jet quite a bit, and yes, it has very little wake but is still fun and quite a challenge. You have to use technique and edge control far more to get air on a wakeboard.
