JetBoatPilot Lateral Thruster Debut!!

[JetBoatPilot]

Hey guys and gals,

JetBoatPilot is proud to announce we have gotten permission from our attorney to begin releasing info on our newest and quite possibly coolest product we've ever built, the Lateral Thruster "Patent Pending"

The Lateral Thruster was created to address a very common comment we hear on this forum and through our customer network. People that own Yamaha Jet Boats want more reverse control. We are pleased to say that we have accomplished this and more with our latest creation. We have measured up to 70% decrease in reverse turning radius!!!

When you get a chance to experience them for yourself you will notice an immediate improvement in your ability to maneuver your Yamaha Jet Boat around the dock, backing into tight spaces at your favorite hangout and even improved control when the winds is up. You'll also be able to perform the impossible Figure 8 maneuver in reverse (not that you have tried but one of Yamaha's competitors has been showing the Yamaha failing at the maneuver so we thought we'd set it straight, NOW Yamaha Jet Boats can perform the figure 8 maneuver in reverse)

While I cannot share more than this for now, I am posting videos below to show what we can for the moment. When our attorney gives us the go ahead to give more detail you will see it first here.

We hope to have a production ready product in the next 30 days.

Twin Engine Figure 8 in Reverse

Single Engine Figure 8 in Reverse

Single Engine 360 In Reverse

@Bruce @Julian thanks for allowing us to post this here. We are thankful to be a part of this community!

 

[Wayloncle]

Great job!
Looking forward to see the details and such!

 

[ptwb]

Awesome!!!!!!!! Great Job!!!

Many of us have been pointing out how the fixed reverse bucket design of seadoo is way better. Nice to finally see a fix for yamaha boats.

I posted an idea a looooonnnng time ago about an add-on nozzle to the bottom of the reverse thrust opening to redirect and/or split the thrust into a sharper angle and also outboard angled thrust to give us back more reverse control when the steering is turned. I was going to start playing around with a design on my 3d printer. Then again, as much as the reverse is almost worthless, I so rarely use reverse for major steering, that it's just one of those things that never got past my initial thought design.

Curious to see which approach you took. I was drawing out two ideas, one that is a simple redirect nozzle that attaches to the bottom of the current reverse gate/nozzle and thus moves with the steering, another was a plastic redirector 'tray' that bolted to the bottom of the jet pump itself and the tray extended back and beneath the outflow of the reverse, thus doesn't move with steering, and redirected from there depending on how extreme steering was turned.


Glad to see you are patenting it!!!!


However, in the other thread, hearing the price is "well below $1000" is not comforting. Some people will consider $799, etc to be "well below". I would love to have better reverse control, but at the same time, I use reverse so rarely now (where I need to steer a lot) that it will be hard to justify anything well above $299. I get it, you have research costs, patent costs, etc and are entitled to make a profit. I just don't need to do figure 8s in reverse. If for a twin engine boat you're shooting for the "well below $1000", but also well above $299 crowd, I will most likely pass. I'm sure you will find buyers and wish you the best of luck. The videos are impressive.

It's definitely a product that has long been needed. Now just have to hope that you are able to price it right (and of course, can still profit nicely from it). I really hope that this wakes Yamaha up to the stupidity of their current design.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

While it is difficult to forecast exact retails in the beginning because we're going to have to ramp up production, I can tell you that the goal is to have this product retail for about the same as our Thrust Vector line. $200-300 for single and $400-600 for a twin. We may be able to hit that mark out of the gate, we may not. Just have to see what our materials and labor costs are and then what the demand is. I know that we can reach our Target price point, it's just a matter of when.

 

[ptwb]

BTW... In the videos for the twin engine boat....

That stock 240 does way better in reverse than my 230! Is that a newer 240 with the "rudder"?

How much are you using the throttles? It appears on the stock 240, the throttles are used some. Hard to tell if you are using extra throttle or the wash is just changing because you turned the steering. But for the lateral thrust boat, it does look like a lot of extra thrust at some key points to get the sharper turns.

If the throttles were touched, I think it would be nice to do a comparison of what happens between the two boats without ever touching the throttles. Would also be nice to see what happens on older 230 boats.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

We are using a 2017 Yamaha 212 Limited S for our testing on the twin engine. The factory parts are similar to your boat but it does have the articulating keel. I have tested the boat (no Lateral Thrusters Installed) with and without the articulating keel installed and can tell you that there is not enough difference between the two (on the averages) to tell you that the keel helps or hurts the reverse handling. Both boats turn in reverse the same because both have the same angle of rotation on the deflector nozzle. I guess though since the bottom of the 212 has the keel running along 2/3 of the hull that could have an impact on how the boat tracks in reverse. I have not done exhausive testing between both models but will look into it now that you mention it. We did test on a 2007 Yamaha SX230 and I have video footage of the test in the can. Let me work on this and I'll report back.

We did use more throttle when transitioning from one direction to the other. This is necessary to overcome the effects of the bow, which in essence acts like a big rudder. Without the Lateral Thruster installed the reverse cannot overcome the bow quickly and that is why you can't do a tight figure 8 in reverse on a stock Yamaha. Once the bow has been overcome, when using the Lateral Thrusters, we then reduce the rpm's to slow the boat down. We've found that moving slow through the figure 8 makes it easier to control for camera purposes. We also have found that we can really blaze through the course with lots of RPM but the results are not as precise as when we go slow so it does not show well on camera. I guess with practice I could do it but I thought who in the world is trying to set a land speed record while doing reverse maneuvers. Most people are using reverse when backing into a slip or a crowded sand bar or when docking the boat. These maneuvers are all done super slow.

We plan on doing some more videos showing more real world type situations and how the Lateral Thruster makes those situations easier to handle for the primary operator and more importantly, easier to handle for someone with little or no experience driving a jet boat. This is crucial for friends and family that don't have the stick time that the primary operator has.

 

[GoVols01]

Even with the Cobra system, my wife is very nervous to drive our new 212X. I'll be watching your site for further details. It's very disappointing that Yamaha, with their vast resources, couldn't engineer something better than the stock system. I admit that Rotax has Yamaha beat in the handling department at least.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

@GoVols01 I totally understand. The slow speed control on a Yamaha is great for someone who has tons of time behind the wheel but for newcomers and people that don't drive often there is certainly room for improvement. That is why we got into business in the first place, to take the existing systems and enhance them so that new comers as well as those with experience could enjoy their boats even more! I don't know if our Lateral Thruster will be able to work with your fins but I can tell you for certain that they will work with Thrust Vectors. This way you can still retain your slow speed forward control while also picking up reverse control as well.

 

[ptwb]

We plan on doing some more videos showing more real world type situations and how the Lateral Thruster makes those situations easier to handle ...

Looking forward to seeing them!

Also, since you are changing how the reverse thrust works, it would be nice to see what happens to a boat that is in neutral with the wheel straight ahead and also what happens when trying to spin in place.

1) Does the boat creep forward more or less? LOL or does it start creeping backwards?
2) Does it spin faster or slower? Does it creep more or less when spinning?

It would be nice to see an overhead video of what happens to both boats in neutral and trying to spin in place.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

We did nothing with the factory reverse gate so the slow creep forward will still be there unless you adjust your reverse gate settings. There is a video on YouTube from one of our fellow JetBoaters.Net members that shows how to fine tune the reverse setting to get a true neutral or as close to it as you can.

I will comment on your other questions at a later time. I don't want to give too much info away as to the design until our attorney gives us the green light.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Here is another Figure 8 video we produced featuring a 2007 Yamaha SX230. Since it was an older style boat without the Articulating Keel I thought people might want to see how it fared by comparison.

 

[djetok]

Here is another Figure 8 video we produced featuring a 2007 Yamaha SX230. Since it was an older style boat without the Articulating Keel I thought people might want to see how it fared by comparison.

without the thruster are you using the throttles independently or just in reverse?

 

[JetBoatPilot]

We tried it both ways, the only thing it did was slow down the speed in reverse. Using one engine with the other in neutral was my first thought and with that configuration we got the same result as running both engines. This of course was without the Lateral Thruster installed.

 

[subysti]

watching and waiting.......

 

[MNdrifter]

I hacked this together this spring. Never got around to testing it.
Looks like I wont have to now. I redirected 1/4 of the thrust in reverse to the side. This wouldn't work for a single engine.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

More testing ongoing today on a 2015 SX190. We also met yesterday with one of our local suppliers about supply chain and capacity. We're have a plan forward on the initial launch and will be able to keep these made in the good ol' USA!

 

[octavio3311]

Just saw this today.
Nautique is also offering thrusters. And MC now offers what they call Dock Master - 3 rudders in front of the prop.

If anyone has ever experienced - those inboards do not back up worth a shit. They steer in 1 direction, depending on prop rotation torque.
My Yamaha runs circles around my buddies MC in reverse. And my Yammie is no reverse gazelle.

 

[Zonie]

Interesting. Looks like a bow thruster mounted on the stern.

 

[Ryan Cassidy]

Agreed... for a 100k plus boat its a disappointing bandaid as opposed to an engineered integrated solution.

And Sorry - back to topic... I can't wait to see what Will and JBP has done. Even though I don't have a Yami anymore, they always come up with cool solutions that make the boat that much better!

 

[swatski]

Okay, I give up, I can not be the only one here cracking my head - how is that lateral thruster different that Yamaha's own RiDE? I'm dying here.

I can not wait to see it!!!

--