octavio3311
Jetboaters Admiral
- Messages
- 2,046
- Reaction score
- 3,395
- Points
- 342
- Location
- Brookfield, Ct
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2013
- Boat Model
- X
- Boat Length
- 21
Hi forum.
I’ve been using my 2021 255 XE since late May and I’ve put > 35 hours on the engines. So, it is time to share my thoughts / impressions on new / improved features (I am coming from a 2016 Limited SE).
1) Engine / Speed: This boat is a beast. The acceleration is unbelievable. While cruising at 35 MPH, I open it up and it nearly gives the riders a whiplash as it accelerates to over 50 MPH in no time – even with 6-8 people on board. The $10,000 engine upgrade was money very well spent.
2) Maneuverability: Coming from a 2016 242 Limited SE, I found the low speed maneuverability of the new one amazing! I can effortlessly make 180-degree turns. I often pull up to the surfer to pass the rope by hand. I love showing off as I tie-up to other boats in the cove or when I pick up / drop off at the dock (needless to say, I give all the credit to my captaining skills lol). No ski boat comes anywhere close. Oh, and this is while controlling the 2 engines together (I haven’t found the need to control them separately)
3) Space and functionality: the cockpit feels a lot more spacious than the previous model (6” in length has gone a long way). The cockpit seems wider too. There’s also plenty of storage despite the hard ballast tanks. Walking though the split back seat to the back is seamless (I haven’t used the back seat filler cushion as I often have a lot of people on the boat). The adjustable platform seat are very cool and functional.
4) Surfing, hull and gas mileage: As others have noted, the stock ballast is not enough. I am still experimenting with it by using external ballast. I have been able to generate a surfable wake but the pocket is still small when compared to Surf boats. I will continue messing around with it. Note that the hull sits deeper – to create the wake (and it feels that way inside relative to the 2016). This probably translates to: 1) Worse fuel efficiency. My MPG is sitting at 1! Not very surprising considering the time spent surfing / giving riders whiplash 2) Worse performance in open water: I took my 2016 to the Exhumas a few years ago and it did great despite less than ideal conditions (to put it gently). I am not sure I would take the new one there.
5) Music system: The stock Wetsounds system is great as is (very clean and loud). I love the sound bar.
There are a few items that I will need to have addressed after the season. I have read several posts about the issue others are having and although I agree they’re frustrating Yamaha’s issues seem less severe than what I am seeing others are having with their more expensive boats (I boat on Lake Austin and it is full of new / expensive Nautiques and Malibus). I know 2 people with brand new boats who had issues. One of which, has not been able to use his boats for 2 months. I am glad the couple of issues I have are minor and have not stopped me from using my boat a single weekend:
- My stereo remote coming out from Connext stopped working (I had to hot wire it to the battery).
- The zipper slider on the Bimini sunroof came off when the zipper opened up while in tow. This should be an easy fix only if finding the same size slider was easy.
Summary: I am very happy with the boat and glad I got it, especially before the recent price increase.
I’ve added a couple of pics: 1) the wake with ~ 400 lbs of ballast on the platform
2) demonstration of the spaciousness of the cockpit
3) the number of people you can have on the back platform
View attachment 161004View attachment 161006View attachment 161007
Happy boating!
Yeah yeah. Great - you love the new boat. Glad for you.
But how about some more pics of your lady boaters?
