Boat test overview of Chaparral Vortex jetboat

[itsdgm]

Is it me or does the cockpit seem very shallow? Which seems like it would translate to very little free board. Nice looking boat, but I'll stick to my twin engine with clean out ports.

It does look like there's a lot less free board. I wonder if it has any speed control features too. Perfect Pass maybe?

 

[MikeyL]

@MikeyL , I agree with you. Hopefully, Yamaha's competitors will start introducing an improved clean-out port because although I'm glad I have them I think there is definitely room for improvement as far as their design goes.

Thanks, Ronnie. Always good both hearing from you .... but more importantly, LEARNING from you ! Always appreciated ..... Take Care, Mikey (Gotta go wet another worm ... LOL !)

 

[jdiaz78]

When I saw the Galstron at the boat show, I asked about why no clean out port and the salesman advised that they have an intake grate that doesn't let large debris get into the impellers. I wasn't able to get under the boat to see the grate.

 

[Speedling]

The intake grate ain't anything special. What, we could say the same thing, no?

 

[SCSTWG]

When I saw the Galstron at the boat show, I asked about why no clean out port and the salesman advised that they have an intake grate that doesn't let large debris get into the impellers. I wasn't able to get under the boat to see the grate.

Sounds like a salesman. We aren't talking about logs, we are talking about weeds and vegetation.

 

[Julian]

@MikeyL I too welcome the competition....just wouldn't buy this one....

 

[SCSTWG]

If I were going to leave Yamaha it would be for a Chaparral (jet or stern), but as far as I am concerned, the jury is out on all the new jet boats until they log some hours and we see how they do. The lack of clean out ports is an issue as well as the fact that the dealers of the new boats will not have experienced people working on issues. It will also be interesting to see how much non-Yamaha jetboat owners interact with this forum. Personally I hope they are heavily involved and we can learn more about the other boats. The forum is one of the best things about owning a Yamaha.

 

[Lspeedss]

This new Jet boat revival/revolution is great.
Bring on all comers I say. More players means more innovation. Better pricing and quality, plus think of the building percentage of safer drive trains resulting in fewer deaths and injuries.
I love it.. so bring it.

 

[ratchetdu]

I actually like the look of this one, as well as Chappys in general... Of all the new entires in the jet market, this is my favorite so far. Still like the Yammies better, but this one is close. Wait sa few seasons, work the bugs out, and see how they do... It may be a considerable option...

 

[pagekl]

I think the jet boat market is going to be very tough for new players coming on the scene. Yamaha has certainly done a good job with styling and appearance of their line of boats. So far, from what I have seen online, these new rivals aren't matching Yamaha with styling and features. While Yamaha may have sacrificed on the quality on some of the finishes, the appearance of their boats is what has kept them ahead of competition. Sea Doo once made nice dependable jet boats, but they didn't offer the extras Yamaha offered in their boats. I get it, extras add to the cost of the boat and as I stated, this is where Yamaha sacrificed to keep cost reasonable with not so top of the line finishes, but they did however, give the appearance you were getting more for the money. I agree that competition for Yamaha is a good thing, but if the other builders want to dig into Yamaha's base they need to build boats or at least one boat that offers everything and more Yamaha's hottest selling boat offers. As it stands from what I have seen, there is no other jet boat manufacturer whose boat I would trade my boat for.

 

[DerekBeaton]

There are rumours of GM discontinuing the current line of boat motors. (Although GM says no) Many of these are now only made for boats as GM moves on to the far more expensive LS platform; particularly for V8s. Never the less, if GM decides to stop making the current line of boat related V6 and V8 motors and replaces them with more expensive LS motors, manufacturers will already have the market used to the idea of more affordable lines of jet boats. I wonder what a Moomba/Tiga with a 350hp LS motor would cost? A lot! Or a smaller boat with one of GMs hi tech V6 units? A lot more than they do now. The price gap between jet boats and the V6 competitors will only get wider. I think manufacturers are preparing the market for change over the next few years and they want a lower cost alternative to the 6s and 8s.

 

[cane.mba]

Ok... Am I missing something here? I'm pretty sure my '12 242LS has this...

"Flip-up Port Side Seat. This is a Chaparral innovation that transforms a forward-facing companion seat and a flat pad for sunning. "

 

[davel501]

Ok... Am I missing something here? I'm pretty sure my '12 242LS has this...

"Flip-up Port Side Seat. This is a Chaparral innovation that transforms a forward-facing companion seat and a flat pad for sunning. "

Maybe they mean in the segment.

Am I the only one that thinks it looks too much like the glastron? I think the market will take a few years to differentiate. They are probably using SeaDoo designs given to them to make it make sense to introduce a jet with Rotax motor(s).

 

[HawkTX]

The boat seems very "short", I think I would feel like a giant inside of it...

Agreed. Seems small.

 

[octavio3311]

I saw a new Scarab this weekend on the water. It wasn't underway, it was tied up in the marina - really wanted to see it underway.
Looked sharp from a distance - the lime green really caught your eye. But as I approached, first thing I noticed was the lack of freeboard. Overall - it seems really small. The Yamaha 190's look so much larger.

 

[scokill]

I remember a crazy sales guy on YouTube that did a comparison with a Yamuha 230 and a 430 hp seadoo 23 footer. They couldn't pull away from each other!
So 110 hp more and not pulling away strong?

Yes they require premium and yes they need the supercharger rebuilding.

I remember this and I remember a lot of discussion about HP and jets. To my recollection the pump design and performance is the limiter and not necessarily more HP.

 

[RightStuff]

I stood in the Scarab at the boat show a couple months ago. It really did felt 'short' (i.e. low freeboard), similar to the 190/192s, but lower. Before I even said anything my wife said exactly what I was thinking...we would have issues with our (young) kids kneeling on the seats and feeling like we would loose them overboard any any moment. That was one reason why we ruled out the 190s for us, but it felt much worse in the Scarab.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Lack of some way to clean debris out of the jets without getting in the water is a killer. That is the kind of thing that could absolutely kill the boats' sales. It won't take many new owner horror stories about sucking up a rope and being stranded on the water to kill the reputation of the boats, and frankly to harm the reputation of jetboats overall. It's a huge oversight on the part of the builder and I sincerely hope that they don't go to market that way. It really doesn't seem to me that it matters what kind of intake grate is in place, given that something as simple as a twig or some fishing line can induce fun-stopping cavitation.

Yamaha seems to be losing its pricing edge, so if other manufacturers can come in with solid alternatives, I think the competition will be a great thing for those in the market. I, for one, would certainly consider a Chap jet boat if one were on the market the next time I'm looking for a new boat. It would just need to have some kind of pump cleanout to make it on the short list!

 

[cane.mba]

Did Sea Doo or Sugar Sands have clean out ports? Never mind... Although not sure how effective this would be.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Seems like the "weedless system" wouldn't do a thing about stuff that makes its way past the intake grate....which is pretty much everything that causes an actual issue.