255G does the 300HP give it enough power for water sports?

[Enduro900]

Hello all,

I’m fairly new to this forum and have been out of boating for 20 years (avid snowmobiler here in Michigan).

Now that the kids are grown and out of sports we’ve been finding more time for summer stuff, and may want to get a boat next summer.

I’m looking at 23-25ft (buy your second boat first right?), and probably won’t feel comfortable spending more than $60k.

This puts me in the 255G range (I like the 13 passenger rating for those 1-2 times a year when everyone in the family can go), but i was disappointed in the 300hp.

If you have 10-13 people in this boat is the 300hp enough to tube, wake board and waterski???

I’m probably also looking at the sx240/ar240 boats as well, so would love to hear from those that looked at Yamaha and why they bought a Scarab instead.

Thanks!

 

[Winerocks]

There are folks out there that are very happy with twin 150’s in the 255 hull; it depends on expectations. If you want to put people on their ass from time to time, you may want more power. I’ve got the next hull size down (215) with 500hp, and I’ve been out with 10 people (6 adults, 4 teenagers) tubing and skiing, and it still had way more power than I needed; might as well have been just me on the boat.

 

[Babin Farms]

I used to wakeboard, ski & tube with 8-9 people aboard a 25' pontoon and a 90HP outboard. I think you'll be fine with 300HP.

 

[AZMark]

Hello all,

I’m fairly new to this forum and have been out of boating for 20 years (avid snowmobiler here in Michigan).

Now that the kids are grown and out of sports we’ve been finding more time for summer stuff, and may want to get a boat next summer.

I’m looking at 23-25ft (buy your second boat first right?), and probably won’t feel comfortable spending more than $60k.

This puts me in the 255G range (I like the 13 passenger rating for those 1-2 times a year when everyone in the family can go), but i was disappointed in the 300hp.

If you have 10-13 people in this boat is the 300hp enough to tube, wake board and waterski???

I’m probably also looking at the sx240/ar240 boats as well, so would love to hear from those that looked at Yamaha and why they bought a Scarab instead.

Thanks!

If you buy a Yamaha you’ll have 360 or so. Not a meaningless difference.

 

[Enduro900]

I used to wakeboard, ski & tube with 8-9 people aboard a 25' pontoon and a 90HP outboard. I think you'll be fine with 300HP.

I’m also looking at AR240......so 10-12 on your AR and no issues with water sports??

My concern comes from the past......had an 18ft open bow with a 115hp outboard 20 years ago and that would struggle pulling up a skier/planing with a full boat of people.......and yes i love power but can’t spend $15-$20k more for the 500hp/600hp options (wish i could of course)...

 

[Babin Farms]

I've got the AR230 and have had 9 with no issues as far as room, power or anything else. I can tell that it is loaded down and have to give it a bit more throttle with the heavier load when getting going skiing or wakeboarding but it handles it just fine.

 

[sfadchi]

I contemplated both last year. The 255G would have saved me about 8K OTD, but we still opted for the AR240 and have been very happy with it. We often boat with one additional family onboard and never have an issue with power.

 

[Enduro900]

I contemplated both last year. The 255G would have saved me about 8K OTD, but we still opted for the AR240 and have been very happy with it. We often boat with one additional family onboard and never have an issue with power.

Thanks for the reply.

What was lacking with the 255G that lead you to the AR240?

I wish Scarab at least included the docking/skiing mode on the G (carpet or sea mat and a pump-out head would be great too).

If they made a GX model that had the waketower, the twin 200’s, carpet and a pump-out head for the price of the AR250 i think they could sell a ton....

 

[sfadchi]

Thanks for the reply.

What was lacking with the 255G that lead you to the AR240?

I wish Scarab at least included the docking/skiing mode on the G (carpet or sea mat and a pump-out head would be great too).

If they made a GX model that had the waketower, the twin 200’s, carpet and a pump-out head for the price of the AR250 i think they could sell a ton....

Lack of carpet (didn't end up being as big of a deal as we got Sea Deck anyway), no tower, radio was in a stupid place (head compartment), no table, hated the gage cluster, liked the swim platform on the AR better, and I wanted control over both engines instead of a single binnacle. All and all went I went to Sea Trial the 255G they couldn't let me become some clip was broken (there was something on recall back then) and they couldn't even put it in the water until that part came in and it was on backorder. That right there told me everything I needed to know.

 

[Enduro900]

Lack of carpet (didn't end up being as big of a deal as we got Sea Deck anyway), no tower, radio was in a stupid place (head compartment), no table, hated the gage cluster, liked the swim platform on the AR better, and I wanted control over both engines instead of a single binnacle. All and all went I went to Sea Trial the 255G they couldn't let me become some clip was broken (there was something on recall back then) and they couldn't even put it in the water until that part came in and it was on backorder. That right there told me everything I needed to know.

wow, yes those issues would have steered me away as well.

Funny you like the rear transom and dual levers of the AR240 versus the 255.....I like the rear walkthrough on the 255 better and my wife isn’t liking the idea of the dual throttles in the Yamaha’s.

I’m still on the fence until at least spring anyways so trying to get as much info from people that have looked at both as i can.

Just out of curiosity were they willing to negotiate on the 255G or is that more of a set price from Scarab on that package? My local Yamaha dealer is at MSRP +++ right now, and I thought maybe the Scarab dealers are a little more in the mood to negotiate since they dont seem to sell as well.

Thx

 

[sfadchi]

wow, yes those issues would have steered me away as well.

Funny you like the rear transom and dual levers of the AR240 versus the 255.....I like the rear walkthrough on the 255 better and my wife isn’t liking the idea of the dual throttles in the Yamaha’s.

I’m still on the fence until at least spring anyways so trying to get as much info from people that have looked at both as i can.

Just out of curiosity were they willing to negotiate on the 255G or is that more of a set price from Scarab on that package? My local Yamaha dealer is at MSRP +++ right now, and I thought maybe the Scarab dealers are a little more in the mood to negotiate since they dont seem to sell as well.

Thx

Pre Covid Pricing!!! This was last year and it was a base model 255G, with the galvanized trailer (black gator or whatever they call it) and a nice black cover. $50K OTD. Our tax rate is 7%. I ended up paying $58K OTD for my AR240.

 

[Enduro900]

Pre Covid Pricing!!! This was last year and it was a base model 255G, with the galvanized trailer (black gator or whatever they call it) and a nice black cover. $50K OTD. Our tax rate is 7%. I ended up paying $58K OTD for my AR240.

Cool, thank you for sharing....it looks like they were almost 10k off the 255G. Post Covid who knows, although I really think the boat market will settle down next spring/summer....

Too bad you never got the sea trial with the 255G....my hang-up is the standard 300hp, I’d really like the 400hp or frankly 500hp, but if you build the exact same base as the 255G it starts at $65k and goes up fast. if the “build your own” started at the 255G price and went up from there it would be a decent value. Yamaha for all of its inflexibility is still a pretty good value, especially the new AR250 as that price increase wasn’t too bad.

 

[sfadchi]

Cool, thank you for sharing....it looks like they were almost 10k off the 255G. Post Covid who knows, although I really think the boat market will settle down next spring/summer....

Too bad you never got the sea trial with the 266G....my hang-up is the standard 300hp, I’d really like the 400hp or frankly 500hp, but if you build the exact same base as the 255G it starts at $65k and goes up fast. if the “build your own” started at the 255G price and went up from there it would be a decent value. Yamaha for all of its inflexibility is still a pretty good value, especially the new AR250 as that price increase wasn’t too bad.

I agree, if you search my post that was the one hang up I could not get over. I was worried about the lack of power. Come to find out the way we use this boat it wouldn't have mattered. We tube every so often but not over 20mph. Other than that our time is spent backed up to the sandbar, or doing 25-30mph when we're out of a no wake zone. I've went full throttle once since owning the boat.

 

[Rick255]

I have a 2018 255 ID with twin 150s. No issues tubing or wake boarding with eight people on board. My boat maxes out around 42 mph. Plenty fast for me.

The only downside to having twin 150s, in my opinion, is when you lose one. Twice in two years I sucked up a twig and was forced to limp home on one engine. I cannot get the boat on plane with one engine. Best I could muster was 12mph. If the boat had twin 250s or 300s I might have had a more enjoyable ride home.

As the Yamaha owners will quickly point out, Scarabs have no clean out ports. The only way to remove debris is from under the boat, which is nearly impossible on the water (luckily I have a hydrohoist). So one engine operation is something you may want to consider or at least be aware of.

 

[Jet1733]

Is Vortex out? I’m completely new to jet boats and it was between Yamaha and vortex for me when I was shopping. I went with Vortex and it’s been a blast. One of the reasons why I liked vortex was it seemed like you had so many more choices when it came to things like seadek or carpet to radio options to 3 different engine choices.

 

[Enduro900]

Is Vortex out? I’m completely new to jet boats and it was between Yamaha and vortex for me when I was shopping. I went with Vortex and it’s been a blast. One of the reasons why I liked vortex was it seemed like you had so many more choices when it came to things like seadek or carpet to radio options to 3 different engine choices.

To be honest the vortex site will NOT let me build a boat on their site (their build-a-boat won’t work on my iPad For some reason).

One issue with Vortex is only the 243 VRX has the option for dual captains chairs, which is a must for the wife....and right now I am not sure if I am going to buy my first boat first (19’-21’), or my second boat first (24-26’).

But yes when we finally have a boat show here in Michigan (they keep getting cancelled) Vortex will be one of the brands we will be looking at....

Which Vortex size and what HP do you have?

 

[Jet1733]

To be honest the vortex site will NOT let me build a boat on their site (their build-a-boat won’t work on my iPad For some reason).

One issue with Vortex is only the 243 VRX has the option for dual captains chairs, which is a must for the wife....and right now I am not sure if I am going to buy my first boat first (19’-21’), or my second boat first (24-26”).

But yes when we finally have a boat show here in Michigan (they keep getting cancelled) Vortex will be one of the brands we will be looking at....

Which size and what HP do you have?

I will say I did get frustrated with that. I couldn’t build it on Apple products either. I ended up finding a boat nearby that was exactly what I wanted. JL Audio stereo upgrade with the seadek. It had twin 300s. I wanted motor over fancy dash and it didn’t have the 7 inch medallion screen. I’ve had Rotax power before so I’m happy with that. The only scarab dealer near me shut everything down so I didn’t even get to look at them. Like I say, I’m new to jet boats after having a 23 foot JC tritoon but I will say this, this thing has storage for days. More than the pontoon boat for sure.

 

[Enduro900]

I will say I did get frustrated with that. I couldn’t build it on Apple products either. I ended up finding a boat nearby that was exactly what I wanted. JL Audio stereo upgrade with the seadek. It had twin 300s. I wanted motor over fancy dash and it didn’t have the 7 inch medallion screen. I’ve had Rotax power before so I’m happy with that. The only scarab dealer near me shut everything down so I didn’t even get to look at them. Like I say, I’m new to jet boats after having a 23 foot JC tritoon but I will say this, this thing has storage for days. More than the pontoon boat for sure.

Funny I am in the same boat (pun intended) as far as wanting to take the higher HP option over the touch screen....

Would you mind sharing what the MSRP was vs. what you paid? You can PM me the information if you want to keep it private.....

One thing seems to be constant is the Scarab dealers are still willing to somewhat discount.......

 

[ChrisM]

Funny the Chaparral Vortex brand doesn't get much discussion here. I chose the twin 250" at the time (2005 M/Y) I test drove a twin 150 at the dealer and it felt pretty under powered. At minimum the twin 250"s are ample thrust and torque power for nearly anything.
If I did it again today I'd go with the twin 300"s mainly due to the non catalyzed engines. Seems they've reduced the class of the VR since my build. I was able to order anything the VRX had. So I added the steering wheel, captains helm seat, and Medallion console options, hell I could've added a wake tower too. The VR build no longer offers the console and wheel upgrades among other features. And the "Vortex" has become it's own brand too. FYI the Vortex line by Chaparral is nationally advertised pricing. So your build price is your build price, you would just have your dealer fees.

 

[Enduro900]

Funny the Chaparral Vortex brand doesn't get much discussion here. I chose the twin 250" at the time (2005 M/Y) I test drove a twin 150 at the dealer and it felt pretty under powered. At minimum the twin 250"s are ample thrust and torque power for nearly anything.
If I did it again today I'd go with the twin 300"s mainly due to the non catalyzed engines. Seems they've reduced the class of the VR since my build. I was able to order anything the VRX had. So I added the steering wheel, captains helm seat, and Medallion console options, hell I could've added a wake tower too. The VR build no longer offers the console and wheel upgrades among other features. And the "Vortex" has become it's own brand too. FYI the Vortex line by Chaparral is nationally advertised pricing. So your build price is your build price, you would just have your dealer fees.

Thank you for chiming in.......Vortex is on the list too!

Love the feedback on 250hp+......I just don’t want to buy a boat then wish it had more power every time i went out.......

So no tower for you correct?

Do you do any water sports, and if so, does not having a tower restrict what you do?

I’d rather not have a tower so i could store in my garage, but started another thread “tower or no tower” (my wife doesn’t like the look of them) and everyone said add the tower......