My .02 cent, unless youre an avid offshore fisherman, go with the 210. I love mine more than I can put into words. Now if you can afford it and want it, and don't really care, get the 255!
Thanks for the reply. I def wouldn't put myself in the avid offshore fisherman group, but i was more so thinking of the added capability of a bigger boat for when i do take it to cape may. Cost is always a concern, but I'm thinking of what boat I want for the next 10 years, paying a little more now and "growing into it", or buying more boat than I'd ever use and just cost more upfront, more to tow, more to use, lol, glad the wife gave me a few months to figure it out.
I like the 252/255 just for the fuel capacity/range - if saltwater use was primary I would 100% go that way - If your going to be staying close to the coast when in saltwater and be in freshwater 80-90% I would imagine the 210 would suite you fine
Thanks for the reply. To be honest I hadn't thought much of the 252 mainly due to the lack of reviews/videos but with these replys it's def rising on my list. I dont really need a speed demon, 40-45mph top is more than enough, the lower fuel usage and increased range def make it appealing. For now I would think it would be 70% fresh 30% salt, a few years down the road though with the kids getting bigger and a few other friends getting shore houses I could see it being 50%-50%.
The two biggest questions are how much off shore use will it get and how much disposable income do you have?
The 255 has the bigger motors and will use more fuel and will be heavier to tow, so more fuel consumption to tow.
I have a 210 FSH Sport with a family of 4 and we almost always have 6 + on board w/ friends tagging along and we have plenty of room. We boat on fresh water lakes in Colorado, with no plans to take it offshore.
We tube and wakeboard with no problems and it is GREAT for fishing. We don't surf, but I have seen others who do (with added mods). The 255 would offer more room and probably a better wake for surfing, but I don't have any first hand knowledge of this. My family has been very happy w/ the 210.
Thanks for the reply. off shore use to start will probably be 30% of the time to start but could grow to 50% in a few years. Cost is always a concern, but I should be able to swing either, just dont want to buy too much boat and never use it, or not enough and want to trade up in a year.
all the comments about the 255 motors made me really start thinking the 252 is closer to the top of my list, not as efficient as the 210 i know, but will def do better than the 255.
I also have a family of 4 and could see just us 4 being on the boat maybe half the time, mainly because we live about 1/2 a mile from a 1200acre lake, thinking a few boating evenings after work will be in order lol. That said I live within 20 minutes of my inlaws, my parents, 2 brothers families, and my brotherinlaw, so if it was a all day thing id imagine always having other people onboard, 6-10 seems realistic.
How big is your family and are you going to be entertaining friends a good amount? Get the 255 to grow into.
Thanks for the reply. I have a family of 4, but def see most all day outings having friends and family aboard, I live close to a lot of family and would be the only boat owner lol. I am really liking the grow into it mindset, adding the 252 back into the maybe list.
Yo Big Daddy,
Glad to have you out of the shadows and join us!!
We had a boat when I was young, between the ages of 7-10, a small cabin cruiser. I had wanted to get a boat for about 6 years before I got my 210 FSH Sport last July, and like
@mkbcaptain I love my boat more than I thought I would. So let me take you on a quick trip down my boat buying journey.. nothing too ground breaking here, but it is my journey.
About 3 years before I retired I was on the freeway in rush hour traffic and came up next to a nice boat with twin outboards and thought, when I retire I’m going to get a boat, that was probably 2015.
Fast forward to 2020 and my friend who I hunt with had bought a Yamaha bow rider and wake boards a lot and had told me about how bitchen his boat is. So I started checking into the Yamaha’s, at this point I’m still thinking of a boat with an outboard, and saw how totally bitchen these boats are. My friend who used to have his own marine repair/modification business and who also was a professional off shore game fisher looked at the Yamaha boats and immediately took to the FSH series of boats. He was really keen on the 190 FSH S;port, his adage is get the smallest boat that will do the job. He and I bandied it about for a while and I really wanted the 210 with it’s two sided bow seating for more storage and more seating for guests. I do 99% of my boating by myself, so that also played into the mix-keep in mind the 252/255 was not available at this time. I watched the boating magazine review on the 210, then watched boat test .com review on the 210 and I was sold on the 210. In 5-6 months of use I have put 80 hours on the engines and spent a minimum of 400 hours on the boat, and am probably going to add at least another 100 hours on the engines this summer.
Okay, here are some basic questions my friend asked me about buying a boat.
1-What are you going to use the boat for. This is for type and size.
2-How often are you going to use the boat. Justification for purchasing a boat as opposed to renting one.
3-How many people are going to be going out on the boat. Be realistic here, some people have stars in their eyes and end up with way more boat than what they need, that whole smallest to get the job done thing.
4-And of course what is your budget. The more you use the boat the more the bigger budget is reasonable.
So, how big is your family? Is there a plan to make the family bigger? Extended family? I‘m also not a person who looks at vehicle purchases with resale in mind, I buy a vehicle that will suit the purpose of what I want to do with it. A vehicle purchase is a bad financial investment, but an out of this world fun investment and memory maker.
Fun fact: Most people think the FSH stands for fish since it’s a center console, but it really stands for Family Sport Hybrid.
I see that
@bolivas just made an excellent post regarding size and people on board as well as the budget aspect!
1-I don’t know how big your local lake is… a 252/255 could make a big statement on a small lake, where the 210 might be a better fit…… but, it sounds like you have ocean going opportunities as well. Now here is a good safety point for a young family, both the 210 and the 252/255 have pretty tall gunnels, with the 252/255 being considerably taller gunwales. If you look at the pics you will see the 210 has two under the gunnel horizontal rod holders, while the 252/255 has four on each side. While not twice as tall, the 252/255 gunwales has much taller gunwales. Important for keeping the kids on board as well as the adults. Now the 210 is a capable boat for going off shore as well, but where the 210 will be challenged, the 252/255 will do better due to it off shore specific hull. Both the 210 and the 252/255 have 20* dead rise at the stern, but the 252/255 is longer and about 1850# heavier than the 210. So for off shore or bigger water use the 210 can do it, but the 252/255 could probably do it better. I highly recommend going to a dealer and walking around on both the 210 and the 252/255 to get a good feel for size.
The uses you listed are pretty much the epitome of a family boat… the 210 has a carry on ice chest and a pretty good size insulated fish box that can be used as an ice chest, and the 26 gallon live well is good for putting your fish/bait in as well as a bag of ice and lot of bottles of water which is what I have used mine for when just going out for a cruise. So that’s a total of three ice boxes on board. The 252/255 has the carry on cooler, plus a larger insulated fish box, plus two live wells that can be used for fish / bait or for more cooler space for a total of 4 on board coolers if needed. So either boat has plenty of available cooler space for a very long day on the lake or beyond the break wall.
Both have a center console storage compartment that can be used for storage, changing room, or a head with the addition of a porta potty.
As
@bolivas mentioned, you can use it for tubing, wake boarding, and the are fishing machines. The great thing about a center console is that everyone can move around freely and the center console is always there for a handhold.
2-The more you use the boat the more it is worth having it be just what you want.
3-The rated persons load on a 210 is 10, and the rated persons on the 252/255 is 12. The load capacity on a 210 is 2250#, with 1860# of people as part of the total of 2250#. The 252/255 load capacity is 2700#, and I have not been able to find out how much of that total cargo can be people. The people load is less than the total cargo weight which includes people. All that to say how many people are you going to want to take out on the boat on a regular basis? Will you have help launching and retrieving? I can launch and retrieve my 210 by myself in all conditions, the 252/255 witch its extra ton of weight could make that a bit harder but I bet It would still be manageable.
4-Budget. If you have the money then the $82,000 price tag of the 252/255 is affordable, more affordable is the 210s $48,000 price tag. The 252/255 comes with Simrad GO12 so you have a fish finder and gps plotter and a plethora of other uses, where you will have to add this device to the 210, my 210 was $60,000 by the time I added a trolling motor, Humminbird fish finder and the 5 year extended Yamaha warranty. The 252/255‘s hard top and lighting is pretty nice as well. Fuel usage. My 210 is pretty thrifty on gas, roughly 17 gallons per hour at wide open throttle (WOT) and will cruise along with two people at sea level around 44 mph with a range of 117 miles, at best cruise 8 gallons per hour 28 mph with a range of 155 miles on it’s 52 gallon tank. The 255 FSH Sport E uses 44 gallons per hour at WOT and 57 mph with a range of 130 miles, best cruise is 31mph and a range of 211 miles on it’s 111 gallon tank. The fuel usage will be considerably less with the 252’s non supercharged 1.8 L engines. Speaking of which, the 252 has a manual throttle and manual shifting, while the 255 has electronic throttle and electronic shifting. One thing I really like about my 210’s manual throttle and shifting is that thrust adjustability is infinite, meaning I’m able to troll at just about any speed I want from .2 mph to 5 mph by adjusting the buckets to whatever opening I need, this is very handy for trolling. The 255 may not be able to do that as I think when fwd is selected it’s going fwd.. if that makes sense. Storage: The 210 T top breaks down into three pieces and the windscreen comes right off for storage in a garage. The 255‘s T top doesn’t appear to break down.
Sorry if I rambled on a bit there, just throwing out some things to consider. If the 252/255
Here’s some links if you have not seen them already.
210 FSH Sport:
www.boattest.com
This waterjet-powered center console delivers the commanding feel of an offshore boat plus many amenities.
www.boatingmag.com
255 Sport E:
www.boattest.com
Yamaha's 255 FSH Sport E has offshore capabilities with top-of-the-line performance
www.boatingmag.com
Big thanks for the reply, a ton of great info. I wasn't around boats a great deal as a kid, my grandfather had one I was on a few times each summer, and my family would camp at Raystown lake every summer and usually rent a pontoon boat for a few days. I have rented a waverunner a dozen times and a 19ft yamaha while in florida with friends a few years ago. Looking back I enjoyed all of those experiences and always thought "im going to get a boat some day". The past few years going to my parents house in Cape May and just doing the basics while still having a son in diapers shopping, beaches, wineries....thinking there should be something more exciting to do. Seeing my oldest daughter already start kindergarten kinda hit home though, they wont be around forever and getting a boat now vs 5-10 years from now would make a lot more memories, as sappy as it sounds.
I get what your friend is saying, smallest boat that does what you need it to do, save money, time, headaches in towing. All that said, I see a lot of other threads of guys that went too small and upgrade in 2-3 years.
again, def see what your saying, how much will i really use it, my dad already said i should just rent one....keep in mind he owns several cars he rarly drives and a house in cape may my brothers and I use more than my dad and mom lol. Being so close to a lake, right now i think i'll use it alot, def could not be the case though. My wife is also into tent camping, we used to do it a lot before kids and now that the kids are basically potty trained we started doing it again...long story short, it turns out most of our favorite camping areas are next to a lake, great thing about PA, lakes everywhere, I would def be bringing the boat.
How many people, I honestly right now cant see it ever being just me, but me and just my daughter? maybe, probably moreso the 4 of us, but living close to friends and family for day trips i could easily have it be 6-10...could be 20 if i really wanted it to be and had the boat space lol. I would def want it to not fell cramped with 8, which is why i love the center console design. I have a few friends that have 2 kids and would want down the road to be able to take my family and one of theres out for a day on the lake.
Budget is always a concern, I can swing the cost, but do i really want to, and the running cost is the most interesting part you bring up, it really makes me think more about the 252, gets the size, cheaper than the 255 and the main difference, engines, i probably wouldnt use much anyway, im sure my wife will think 40-45 is plenty fast lol. Didnt know about the electronic vs manual throttle, def going to look into that.
Def need to go over all your links, thanks for the informative well thought out response.
Very good and detailed post
@FSH 210 Sport !
@Bigdaddyrawk , I just don't know that the juice is worth the squeeze for an extra 3' 3" and 28 gallons of storage unless you have a specific need for the 255. Each of us has our own needs in a boat so you have to decide what is best for your situation.
About the only thing that stands out and is appealing to me is the larger seating on the swim deck. The 210 does not have a great option for rear facing seating for the spotter when towing tubes or wakeboarders. My wife manages by sitting sideways on the rear jump seat on the starboard side above the small storage compartment. We don't even use the other rear jump seat on the port side above the battery compartment. We use that as the walking path to access the swim deck. I keep the seat cushion and backrest stowed in case it is needed, but it has only been use a couple of times as there is plenty of seating (x6) in the bow/CC bench seating area.
Both models have failed in the engineering department by not providing an elevated tow point off the rear of the T-top.....
Maybe next year's model......
Feel free to reach out w/ any other questions and good luck on the search.
View attachment 152373
View attachment 152374
Thanks for the reply. That's kinda where I'm at as well, def need to walk around both, all these replys really got me thinking more about the 252, i do like the extra length and larger swim deck, but yea, the big engines are probably not needed, 252 may be a nice middle of the road, just wasnt sure there was enough of a price difference between the 252/255, but the big difference in fuel consumption may be where the savings really are, not sure id really use the 45+ top end in the 255 much anyway.
yea, surprised they didnt give a tow hook from the roof, saw it mentioned in a lot of threads and review videos.
I'll def be reaching out with more questions between now and when i throw the money down on one, thanks again.
the 255 is a lot of boat to tow around. I would have chosen the 255 if I could just leave at a marina. I chose the 195 over the 210 because it actually has more horsepower and was 10k cheaper and actually available. I think if I went with a 210 it never would have come in. I am hoping the 210 will eventually come with more horsepower or they come out with a 23. For now the 195 is plenty of boat for our use. We use at Raystown Lake in PA and the ICW and near shore in NC.
There are times when we get in really shallow water and wished we had the outboard with jack plate but you just have to know where you can and can't go with the 195. It wasn't really that safe going in 8-10" of water and barely having the prop in. I try to stay at 3' minimum with the 195 and if it gets to shallow just shut it down.
It is a lot of boat, especially for a first boat, which is part of my hesitation. I'm not afraid to tow it, I tow larger tri axle landscape trailers almost weekly, but i know towing is only a small part of actually launching the boat, and beyond the towing part, it would all be new to me.
I def wouldnt think of leaving it docked beyond the week I'm on vacation somewhere, I love the apeal of the beam and weight of the FSH yamahas vs the competators for towing. I know NY/NJ are 8' width limits, but i'm going to try squeak by staying ~8'6" for most other states.
I love raystown, been there camping a ton of times as a kid, dad usually rented a pontoon for the week.
210 is probably the smallest id go, i do get the apeal of the 195 though, especially if its just going to be 2-6 people max for most trips, I just think for me i'm going to be pushing 8 a lot of times, I also know the wife will want a little more boat for cape may.
Thanks again for all the replys guys, def gave me a lot to research.
. 
