Thanks to all for your interest in our product. You all have some great questions and we'll keep working to keep you informed. We're a small private startup with a deep passion for watersports and jetboats. Seeing the void in the market we set out to create a new option that expands the capabilities of both the jet and VDrive platforms and ditch the compromises of PWC based Jets. We want to get one thing out of the way. The product isn't designed to be the ultimate Wakesurf machine....let's face it, the VDrives own that market. What it is designed to do is everything jets are known for better while providing a competitive option for watersports. Every choice we made is to this goal. The alliance and Boating Mag teams have bithe confirmed that we achieved our goal.....a great jet option that has a legit surf wave comparable to VDrive offerings in the same weight and length class.
Every comment and questions above are legit (well maybe except the color...seems we found the one person that doesn't like the color of the first boat lol). We'll try to answer some of them here but this boat is much more than the sun of its parts. And yes, a better website is on the way.....
For now I'll touch on some of the big questions above:
Steering - we're using Optimus Digital for wakeboard. No cables, full digital, this is a thread in itself in how it impacts the experience - no rudder. We're leaving room for aftermarket
Jet pump - American Turbine SD231. It's a solid stainless body with a 231 mm stainless impeller (25% more swept area than twin PWC type pumps). It has a significant history and is military spec or better. It's very tunable and made to pump rocks....the clean out has captured wing nuts that can't be lost and the whole thing is accessible through the billet aluminum swim platform
Our true neutral capability is based on a digitally controlled electrohydraulic actuator connected to the reverse bucket with a solid pushrod and military spec spherical rod ends. This results in precision repeatability of the neutral position sot it's always the same. There is no transmission to service and every component in the digital system is military spec IP69 rated. Every sensor is internal to the oil bath in the actuator.
The Seakeeper and steering "service screens" are in the driver's glove box. These will go away as we integrate into the HMI in future models. They're only there for service ... Out of the way but easy to access.
Ballast is 4 fatsacs and Johnson Tallulah pumps. Fill time for 3100# is 4 minutes. The whole system is solid state and there are no relays. All 4 pumps are on the rear bulkhead for easy service access.
The engine is closed cooling with a sea strainer. This is a standard setup and the winterization is simple. Either flush glycol through the freshwater flush port or pull the heat exchange end cap with one bolt.
Every boat is equipped with lifetime Telematics through Osmosis (same supplier as Nautique and owned by Nautique). This gives you visibility of your boat anywhere any time and allows us to diagnose problems remotely.
Sound System is full WetSounds with 1800W, 6 8", 2 10" Tower speakers and a 12" sub....The whole system is fully plug and play so there are no connections to come lose and cannot be wired in correctly (same exact amps Malibu uses)
The side tow points on the tower have two mounting positions (high and low). These same positions are designed to hold PTM Clampforce V3 racks. Do you have the choice of tow points and rack location....or you can run double racks.
The bimini has dual surf pockets so you really don't need racks but we chose to design the boat to use the best available. Every boat comes with a custom mooring and towing cover.
The trailer is an Ameratrail Powdercoated soft channel aluminum trailer....it's a work of art with galvanized torsion axles, dual disk brakes, swing tongue, 17" wheels with 10ply DTAP (discount tire approved products) tires rated to 81mph and come with road Hazzard. They can be service at any discount tire location nationwide.
Warranty is Lifetime structural, 5 years 500 hrs engine and driveline (extendable by Indmar to 7years) and 3 years everything else.
The garboard drain is midships accessible under the garbage bin. It has a 12" extended handle to make it easy access. The central location full drains the bilge with one plug.
The boat comes standard with automated (off above 5mph, push button temp on above 5mph for spotlighting markers) docking lights in the billet side badges and underwater lights. We don't have RGB yet but we do have signature teal lighting elements (waiting for the next generation single wire RGB coming to the market next year)
The rod holder cupholder combos arent really there for rods, they're there for mounting the Gemlux solar shade front or rear. It's an off the shelf quality part. The rod holder part is nice if you have kids too....Honestly, we always carry some ultralights in the boat for sight fishing when we're just floating playing.....the rod holders also make perfect places for flag poles and the solar shade poles work perfectly for flying your favorite flags.
We did consider the 2.3 ecojet option but we wanted to know we had the torque needed to pull more weight. The ecojet could do it but would require twin jets which compromises the wake. A single jet is lower in the pocket and doesn't interfere with the wake or wave. Going to a single bigger jet reduces the friction losses and harmonics associated with twins.....packaging for ballast is much better too. We were inspired by the ecojet but went oue own path and found the AT 231 and never looked back.
As far as pricing goes we wanted to build a jet boat with features and capability that wasn't available. Other jet brands are hamstrung by sales quotas and PWC based engines so they have built in compromises....the biggest player has to keep volumes up and pricing low to make sure.they sell every engine they build....so competing with them on price would be an act of futility. This gave us the opportunity to go upmarket and offer performance and comfort comparable to mid level VDrives at a price comparable to mid level vdrives. Offering the boat direct gives us the opportunity to add some features (power tower, aluminum trailer, digital steering, Seakeeper Ride, dual cockpit heaters etc) to set us apart from the Value brands of Jets and VDrives). We have an extremely efficient manufacturing process using automation at every point minimizing labor swings....so as we grow we'll add more options and capability while controlling costs better than others .... Right now we feel we're offering a reasoably priced product when the whole package is considered.
As far as the webpage goes, if you've ever priced a modern website it's ridiculous....so we had to compromise to get going. As with everything we do, we work to improve every day so expect to see regular updates on it. One thing that helps is running it on chrome. iOS limits the amount of data that can be transmitted and with our (budget) approach getting an efficient graphics package that works with our true CAD and iOS is very expensive. Frustrating but true.
The direct to consumer model is supported by our standard Telematics, central location (TN is 8hrs from 80% of the boat buying population), Indmars service network and our commitment to get direct answers and solutions to customers as quickly as possible. When the costs of selling through a dealer network are mapped, the customer is paying for things they don't need or want. It's a very wasteful process. To get people experience in our boats we offer a couple of packages where we come to you or you can come to us. Please feel free to reach out through kymaboats.com, Instagram or FB....
Thanks again for the interest.
Ed Malle
Founder and President
KYMA Boats
