Looking at a new boat and considering 242 limited S and ar240

[Ianwelch001]

My wife and I recently sold our 93 well craft 186 eclipse. Absolutely loved the boat but being 25 years old it is time for an upgrade.
We were dead set on the 244 sunesta chaparral but after going to the boat show this past weekend we decided to look at the jet boats.

I've been trying to convince her that jet boats are much better now a days than they used to be. We got on a 19 ar240 and liked it alot. She was disappointed with no sun lounge like on most IOs but I told her the bow filler cushions make the entire bow a sun pad. Shes ok with that.

Just wondering if anyone wife on here ever had a problem going to a jet from a prop boat. We dont use ropes when we launch I just back up and have her pull off and then picks me up when I park.

And now I'm leaning more toward the 242 limited S for the better tower added speakers and pads on the stern. Also I believe it come with wet sounds audio as opposed to marine audio.

Just looking for input from those who came from an I/O to jet.

First 2 upgrades will be 10" wet sound tower speakers with amp and cobra magnum ak 19 with fangs to help the articulating keel with low speed steering

 

[swatski]

My wife and I recently sold our 93 well craft 186 eclipse. Absolutely loved the boat but being 25 years old it is time for an upgrade.
We were dead set on the 244 sunesta chaparral but after going to the boat show this past weekend we decided to look at the jet boats.

I've been trying to convince her that jet boats are much better now a days than they used to be. We got on a 19 ar240 and liked it alot. She was disappointed with no sun lounge like on most IOs but I told her the bow filler cushions make the entire bow a sun pad. Shes ok with that.

Just wondering if anyone wife on here ever had a problem going to a jet from a prop boat. We dont use ropes when we launch I just back up and have her pull off and then picks me up when I park.

And now I'm leaning more toward the 242 limited S for the better tower added speakers and pads on the stern. Also I believe it come with wet sounds audio as opposed to marine audio.

Just looking for input from those who came from an I/O to jet.

First 2 upgrades will be 10" wet sound tower speakers with amp and cobra magnum ak 19 with fangs to help the articulating keel with low speed steering

You are on the right track, if you ask me.

--

 

[AlphaKap]

I didn't have any issues going from prop to jet. I also didn't do cobra or thrust vectors. Not saying they don't help but I'm fine without it. It does take some getting used to...especially backing up.

I didn't realize till a recent post but the 242 Limited S now comes with the Wetsounds package including 10" sub. Pretty sweet. Not sure if this is the first year for that model.

 

[BigAbe75]

My wife and I recently sold our 93 well craft 186 eclipse. Absolutely loved the boat but being 25 years old it is time for an upgrade.

Last year(ish), we went from a ‘92 Celebrity 19’ I/O to a ‘11 SX210. First thing off the bat was the incredible seating and so much more room for people and stuff.

We still have little ones, so nobody actually gets time for sunbathing. But, the swimdeck and no lower unit suits us perfect.

I got a great deal on a great boat, but that 2 footitis has already set in and I’m looking at the 24’ boats with envy. Lol

I’m telling her it’s been 2 years, but she’s not sure it counts since the first 8 months we had it, we used it about 4 times then parked it for the winter. Lol. But, we crammed an awful lot of boating into last summer.

Anyway, sounds like you’re on the right track to me. My wife hasn’t had any trouble driving this boat, though she really didn’t drive the old one much. Now that kids are a bit bigger, they can take care of themselves better so she can drive and I can do fun stuff.

 

[Scarabpaul]

You can always show your wife a Scarab 255ID. the rear seats convert to the sun pad. part of the reason my life liked the Scarab so much....

 

[MidnightRider]

Just wondering if anyone wife on here ever had a problem going to a jet from a prop boat. We dont use ropes when we launch I just back up and have her pull off and then picks me up when I park.

My wife had about 15 yrs of OB/IO boat driving under her belt when we bought our first jet boat. We always have done as you do where she backs it out and then comes and picks me up. She hated the way the jet boat backed up control wise. All the frustration was eliminated with JBP Lateral Thrusters. She loves the thrusters and very quickly learned to utilize them well. The thrusters give you 2 new jet thrust vectors perpendicular to the stern of the boat and we swear by them. We also have Cobra AK fins which help as well but the thrusters is the mod we wouldn't be without. There is a lot of opinions on whether you need aftermarket steering enhancement or not with these boats so just take this as one guys opinion - it took my wife from "sorry we got a jet" to loving the jet even more than our previous boats. BTW - the back deck area is one of our favorite features of the Yamahas - back into a cove and you have your own little party deck. We thought we'd miss the sun bed area of the I/O boats but have found this to be a much better use of the space.

 

[IndySmittyYammi]

After 20 years of I/O boating, my wife and I made the jump to jets last year with the 2018 ar240.

We had lost a prop in a river in Michigan the year prior, and decided it was no more props for us. Some of the common worries are just flat out no problem at all once you make the switch:

• Sun Pad

The bow is great for laying out, but the transom seats and the swim platform setup will make you forget about sun pads. My wife used to lay out most of the time at the lake, and now she spends almost all of her time on the transom. She's more a part of the conversation and it's just easier to get in and out of the water.

• Slow Speed Handling

My wife also handles the boat on launch and retrieval. We don't have any fins on the boat, and we've never had a problem. Our dealer told us not to worry about them and just spend a weekend going from marina to marina and we'd be pros. I couldn't agree with him more. My wife never missed the trailer once on retrieval, and she never once had a problem picking me up after launch. Speed is key. Get used to going really slow or quick with aggressive throttle correction. Once you find a technique that you are comfortable with, you will never notice a difference in difficulty between an I/O and jet.

• Sucking Stuff Up

I sucked up a rope strap in a party cove the first trip out. I was SUPER nervous after that, thinking I would have tons of problems. 50 hours later, I never had another issue. I can tell you that the 5 minutes pulling the nylon strap through the clean out port was significantly easier than paddling my 24' Ebbtide cuddy down the river in Michigan until we could find someone to tow us to a ramp.

To each their own, but my wife and I are jet boat converts for life!