seabrooktx
Jet Boat Addict
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 37
- Points
- 92
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2019
- Boat Model
- 242 Limited S E-Series
- Boat Length
- 24
Purchased my 3rd Yamaha Jet Boat earlier this year, having had a 2005 SX230HO, 2011 242LS and now a 2019 242LS-E Boat. I've done various projects and had a chance to work and crawl through all 3 at various points in time. During my research and deliberation to purchase a newer boat, there was a few perspectives from people that upgraded and I thought it would be good to add to this group a few of my initial thoughts on the boat given the perspective of owning (3) different Yamaha JetBoat models.
In my previous ownership experience, other that shift cables breaking on my 2011 when it was new and numerous items of disappointment around delivery of the boat from the dealer, most fixed under warranty at the time, the 2011 was fairly trouble free.
For starters, although purchased in February/March, this weekend was my first outing on the new boat. Other than installing a Garmin VHF 315 marine radio and strategic sound proofing in the engine compartment, the boat has been sitting in storage waiting to be put into the slip. Prior to purchase of the 2019, my wife and I water tested the boat for an hour to make sure there was "enough" improvement to warrant trading up to the newer model. Two big drivers in wanting to upgrade: Handling and Sound Improvement
To start the weekend off, when we got to the ramp Saturday afternoon, it dawned on me that it would be a good idea to verify the gate operation. We received the recall letter, but never got around to taking it in to the dealer. Sure enough, our boat was one of the lucky ones to have the gates backwards. After fiddling with it for ~30 minutes, got the cables swapped around and adjusted. Boat operated as normal so I'm calling it good and will have the dealer double check it when convenient.
Handling:
Positives:
It was Windy with some good chop out in the bay. We did some significant low speed handling through marina's and the channel, higher speed in light chop and medium speed in medium chop. I have to say, this boat handles heads and shoulders better than the 2011 in most conditions. From the low speed maneuvering to the on a plane tracking. It seemed like on the 2011, I was always fighting to keep the boat tracking straight going across wind. The new boat doesn't take near as much effort. Also, neutral is actual neutral on the 2019. On the 2011 and 2005, we would get close to the dock and shut it down. Never could adjust the gates to stay neutral. Spent hours trying to adjust to get perfect, but always seemed that if we lowered the gates some, then they wouldn't open all the way. The 2019 pretty much sits there in neutral.
Negatives:
The 2019 doesn't have the hole shot and doesn't feel as sporty compared to the 2011. From a driving and maneuverability, the 2005 SX230HO was by far the funnest to drive. It seems that in order to combat some of the negatives (rough ride, side steer, etc) that some of the sportiness fun had to be compromised.
Sound:
Shortly after receipt of the boat, we did some sound proofing in the engine compartment based on the countless hours of reading these forums and learning where the high impact areas were. In my opinion, that made a big difference from even the test drive. During the test drive, I remember being disappointed at how loud the motors were, still, even though it was significantly improved from the 2011. To my surprise, you could hear the motors some, but the wind noise was much louder than the engine/drivetrain and we could easily converse going 25 - 30MPH. All I did was hang Quite Barrier Specialty Composite (soundproofcow.com) on the fwd areas of the engine compartment, focusing on the corners that connect to the to rear seating areas AND adding the door seal around the engine compartment hatch. I also did the back side of the false wall that connects the helm to the rear seat, only because it was removed during the VHF installation and easy to do. Seems these 3 items made a big difference.
Overall Quality:
As stated in my VHF install, the overall quality seems to be so-so on this boat as compared to the 2005 and 2011. Several of the mating plywood walls have large gaps (thus the benefit of the sound proofing) that were just covered over in carpet. The interior carpet quality doesn't seem to be as good as in the previous boats and seems to hold a lot of water when damp. I always run a de-humidifier under the cover, so not that big of a deal, but something that could be a lot better.
So we'll see how this one goes, looking forward to using the new boat.
In my previous ownership experience, other that shift cables breaking on my 2011 when it was new and numerous items of disappointment around delivery of the boat from the dealer, most fixed under warranty at the time, the 2011 was fairly trouble free.
For starters, although purchased in February/March, this weekend was my first outing on the new boat. Other than installing a Garmin VHF 315 marine radio and strategic sound proofing in the engine compartment, the boat has been sitting in storage waiting to be put into the slip. Prior to purchase of the 2019, my wife and I water tested the boat for an hour to make sure there was "enough" improvement to warrant trading up to the newer model. Two big drivers in wanting to upgrade: Handling and Sound Improvement
To start the weekend off, when we got to the ramp Saturday afternoon, it dawned on me that it would be a good idea to verify the gate operation. We received the recall letter, but never got around to taking it in to the dealer. Sure enough, our boat was one of the lucky ones to have the gates backwards. After fiddling with it for ~30 minutes, got the cables swapped around and adjusted. Boat operated as normal so I'm calling it good and will have the dealer double check it when convenient.
Handling:
Positives:
It was Windy with some good chop out in the bay. We did some significant low speed handling through marina's and the channel, higher speed in light chop and medium speed in medium chop. I have to say, this boat handles heads and shoulders better than the 2011 in most conditions. From the low speed maneuvering to the on a plane tracking. It seemed like on the 2011, I was always fighting to keep the boat tracking straight going across wind. The new boat doesn't take near as much effort. Also, neutral is actual neutral on the 2019. On the 2011 and 2005, we would get close to the dock and shut it down. Never could adjust the gates to stay neutral. Spent hours trying to adjust to get perfect, but always seemed that if we lowered the gates some, then they wouldn't open all the way. The 2019 pretty much sits there in neutral.
Negatives:
The 2019 doesn't have the hole shot and doesn't feel as sporty compared to the 2011. From a driving and maneuverability, the 2005 SX230HO was by far the funnest to drive. It seems that in order to combat some of the negatives (rough ride, side steer, etc) that some of the sportiness fun had to be compromised.
Sound:
Shortly after receipt of the boat, we did some sound proofing in the engine compartment based on the countless hours of reading these forums and learning where the high impact areas were. In my opinion, that made a big difference from even the test drive. During the test drive, I remember being disappointed at how loud the motors were, still, even though it was significantly improved from the 2011. To my surprise, you could hear the motors some, but the wind noise was much louder than the engine/drivetrain and we could easily converse going 25 - 30MPH. All I did was hang Quite Barrier Specialty Composite (soundproofcow.com) on the fwd areas of the engine compartment, focusing on the corners that connect to the to rear seating areas AND adding the door seal around the engine compartment hatch. I also did the back side of the false wall that connects the helm to the rear seat, only because it was removed during the VHF installation and easy to do. Seems these 3 items made a big difference.
Overall Quality:
As stated in my VHF install, the overall quality seems to be so-so on this boat as compared to the 2005 and 2011. Several of the mating plywood walls have large gaps (thus the benefit of the sound proofing) that were just covered over in carpet. The interior carpet quality doesn't seem to be as good as in the previous boats and seems to hold a lot of water when damp. I always run a de-humidifier under the cover, so not that big of a deal, but something that could be a lot better.
So we'll see how this one goes, looking forward to using the new boat.
