Chap 243

[lashburn1]

Looks like a nice option for Jet Boaters?
Exterior lines look very similar to the new 242 series...
lil Bit faster on top end...
Price??

http://www.boattest.com/boats/boat_video.aspx?ID=3223

 

[lashburn1]

I like Yamahas new transom and Dash a bit more..
.. but its nice to have other options and Competition back on the Market....should be good for everyone moving forward

 

[Julian]

Has some pretty cool features....GPS speed control standard! The jet buckets turn her on a dime at idle! No changing room/large closet? No rudder. Wonder if there is a way to put fins on these boats? Battery/switch panel is nicely laid out!

My biggest concern...Rotax reliability....I have no experience and knowledge in this area.....but we've got more and more members that will be weighing in here!

Pity they don't list a price...

 

[jcyamaharider]

Looks like a nice boat....took after Yamaha on the interior a little bit. No cleanout ports...Hmmmmmm

 

[Williamsone46]

I'm with Julian, it's got some cool features but some others I don't like. The things I like are.

- Integrated Gopro mount/display
- Seat adjusters on the front side.

But I don't like.

- The location of the head/closet door.
- Closed loop cooling, I think it's un needed and more maintenance.
- Convertible co captain chair
- Swim deck layout.
- Tow point and nav light separately.
- Textured finsh on the tower.
- lack of clean outs.

 

[Paulie]

The price is listed. Just shy of 68k as tested. It will be interesting to see how she does to in the real world.

 

[OrangeTJ]

It certainly looks like a nice boat and it definitely has some speed. Looks like pricing goes as low as about $56K for the VR. It's too bad there's some misinformation in the review, such as stating that jetboats steer backwards in reverse, that no all jetboats have no steering control without power (that doesn't seem to be the case with the new Yamaha 240/242). Also, the results indicate that the boat is extremely loud - much louder than any Yamaha - with a db reading of 102 from 6500 rpm. Looking at the Yamaha 242 review they just posted, at 6500 rpm the Yamaha is at 84 db and at WOT it is at 88. That is a massive, massive difference in noise level. It seems that this would at least merit a mention in the review. Of course, perhaps they were too taken with the 38 mm thick vinyle with the 10 mm topcoat. That's some thick vinyl, friends and neighbors ;-)

 

[OperationROL]

500 horsepower and only 2.5 mph better than the 360 hp Yami 242 LS.

 

[Williamsone46]

500 horsepower and only 2.5 mph better than the 360 hp Yami 242 LS.

Goes to show how inefficient they are.

The more I watch boattest.com reviews the more I think they just say what their paid to say. So many things is these reviews that are either misleading, misguided or contradictory their other reviews or the facts.

They cant always say every boat they test is good. Sooner or later they need to start giving bad reviews, show their audience can trust their reviews are not just about who pays them the most.

 

[SCSTWG]

Nice looking boat. I would have liked to have gotten a better view of the head area as this is an area I expected that would be much nicer than the Yamaha. The Chaparral web site does not have the 243 displayed yet (still shows "coming soon"). Outside of not having clean out ports, I like what I see. Of course, it will be interesting to see how the price compares to the 242 LS as well.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Nice looking boat. I would have liked to have gotten a better view of the head area as this is an area I expected that would be much nicer than the Yamaha. The Chaparral web site does not have the 243 displayed yet (still shows "coming soon"). Outside of not having clean out ports, I like what I see. Of course, it will be interesting to see how the price compares to the 242 LS as well.

Price appears to be about $56K - $70K, depending on options. Biggest downside I see is noise level. The next boat we'll get will be quieter than our Yamaha, not louder.

 

[txav8r]

The noise level is a downside...but the 500hp and 2.5mph better? That isn't even measurable in my book. But the 500 ponies sure is...its gonna guzzle gas! Chap builds good quality boats. I have no doubt that the vinyl and gelcoat are first rate. A Chap is a boat you could beach and not fear what we see as normal, but why on earth would you do it...it still fouls the gelcoat even if it is much thicker. Looks like a nice boat and they should have a market. I don't think that market will be taken from the Yamaha, it will just continue to pull from the stern drive market as Yamaha has done, IMO.

 

[Speedling]

Similarly equipped 223 is about 5 grand less

 

[scot71]

Did anybody notice this?

Shaft protection is achieved by enclosing the shaft in a stainless sleeve. Normally we have access ports allowing us to reach our hands down to the shaft to clear weeds. Here, the shaft is protected from ever getting fouled in the first place. Does the impeller get fouled? Sure, same as the competition, but no builder in its right mind would allow access to the impeller. That gets cleared with a boost of power to send any weeds on their way. A grate over the intakes prevents larger objects from entering the flow to the thrust ducts. If those get clogged, typically all it takes is shutting down and letting gravity do its thing. (BoatTEST.com)

Are they trying to same that Yamaha is endangering boaters by having clean-out ports on their boats and allowing access to the front side of the impeller? To me, the clean-out ports are one of the big benefits of owning a Yamaha.

 

[Ronnie]

It's a nice boat but it may take a while, if ever, for competition to drive prices down. With the 242LS at +$60K and this going up to $70K I don't expect to see a lot of either on the water anytime soon.

Still, I like the shroud around the impeller shafts but it only protects against lines fouling the shaft. Half the time I've pulled my plugs has been to remove small debris floating in the intake or something wedged between the impeller and wear ring, to address these problems you have to have cleanout plugs in my opinion and a shroud around the shaft isn't going to help or prevent anything.

They could have spent a few more seconds on the head compartment. The dash looks more thought out than the 2015 240s, maybe because it's symmetrical, not sure. Not a fan of the single throttle for twin engines, put two in there and give me the option to lock or unlock them at will, like I have with a throttle synch. That reverse bucket design has been around for well over a decade (my '02/03 Seadoo with a Mercury sport jet had a similar looking system as do my WaveRunners and many of the late model Seadoos) for the boat test to call it new is a stretch. If I planned to beach that boat or any boat I'd slap a keel guard on it first, no matter how thick the gel coat is. If you are lucky and at best, a beach is just a big piece of sandpaper that you wouldn't touch your car with so why force your boat against it for sometimes hours.

As for the noise, it (and the lack of plugs) is a deal killer for me. Here is an excerpt from one of many web pages on the subject of dangerous dbs. The link to page it came from is also below.

• At 91 decibels, your ears can tolerate up to two hours of exposure.

• At 100 decibels, damage can occur with 15 minutes of exposure.

• At 112 decibels, damage can occur with only one minute of exposure.

• At 140 decibels, immediate nerve damage can occur.

http://www.noisehelp.com/noise-dose.html

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Has some pretty cool features....GPS speed control standard! The jet buckets turn her on a dime at idle! No changing room/large closet? No rudder. Wonder if there is a way to put fins on these boats? Battery/switch panel is nicely laid out!

My biggest concern...Rotax reliability....I have no experience and knowledge in this area.....but we've got more and more members that will be weighing in here!

Pity they don't list a price...

The nozzles and reverse are the same that Sea doo used , I have been making patented fins for those pumps for many years.


Sea Doo pumps do appear to handle better that Yamaha according to the reports I receive from their owners, however they still need some assistance in that department, just not as much.

 

[Wayloncle]

I can see the shroud around the shaft helping some...but...there is still a lot of suction and why is stopping the rope from getting sucked up and going all the way to the impeller and tearing that all up?
I think I'd rather it wrap around the shaft than getting in the impeller.

I like several things about the Chap, the battery switch back there is cool because I almost always forget to turn my switch off until I have it all covered. Now I have to crawl under the cover and lay the passenger seat down so I can get the other seat cushion up to turn it off.

 

[OrangeTJ]

Did anybody notice this?

Shaft protection is achieved by enclosing the shaft in a stainless sleeve. Normally we have access ports allowing us to reach our hands down to the shaft to clear weeds. Here, the shaft is protected from ever getting fouled in the first place. Does the impeller get fouled? Sure, same as the competition, but no builder in its right mind would allow access to the impeller. That gets cleared with a boost of power to send any weeds on their way. A grate over the intakes prevents larger objects from entering the flow to the thrust ducts. If those get clogged, typically all it takes is shutting down and letting gravity do its thing. (BoatTEST.com)

Are they trying to same that Yamaha is endangering boaters by having clean-out ports on their boats and allowing access to the front side of the impeller? To me, the clean-out ports are one of the big benefits of owning a Yamaha.

I noticed that, too. It's just an uninformed statement by somebody who does/should have better knowledge than that. What, exactly, is dangerous about allowing access to the impeller if accessing it automatically disables the engines? No more dangerous than an exposed prop on a non-running boat.

 

[Julian]

I noticed that, too. It's just an uninformed statement by somebody who does/should have better knowledge than that. What, exactly, is dangerous about allowing access to the impeller if accessing it automatically disables the engines? No more dangerous than an exposed prop on a non-running boat.

Less dangerous than the exposed prop....as if you try to access it....the engine shuts down.....can't say that for exposed props...(my daughter refers to non-jet boats as choppers...."Daddy...is that boat a chopper?" LOL)

Also the comment on the steering shows how boattest "bends the truth" in their reviews (advertisements) for the boats they look at. "All jet boats suffer from the lack of steering without thrust problem"....not true now that Yamaha has added a rudder.

 

[lashburn1]

Less dangerous than the exposed prop....as if you try to access it....the engine shuts down.....can't say that for exposed props...(my daughter refers to non-jet boats as choppers...."Daddy...is that boat a chopper?" LOL)

Also the comment on the steering shows how boattest "bends the truth" in their reviews (advertisements) for the boats they look at. "All jet boats suffer from the lack of steering without thrust problem"....not true now that Yamaha has added a rudder.

Boat Test is for sure a Paid endorser... but I think they know YOU know that...its just a good place to get a "Man on the Street" walk thru of various boat options...
My Boat test email this week came with Both the YAMAHA 242 and CHAP 243 walk thru and reviews....

only on occasion to they point out downsides...but they do....

Have not seen a MasterCraft review on there in a long time...I think they are on the the Boating Mag one??....