Milwaukee Boat Show

[GTBRMC]

Very busy boat show! Much bigger and more lively than the last one I visited a few years back.

Good news and bad news on the 2015 Limited S on display.

The good:

It was beautiful! Fit and finish has improved... A lot.
All the new features were at least as good as I hoped they would be.
Talked extensively with the displaying dealership... Shipyard Marine of Green Bay, WI
I was not aware of Shipyard, they picked up the Yamaha boat line in 2011, looks like a very solid dealership!
Salesman I spoke with was Chad V. Nice guy, knew his stuff, and was enthusiastic about Yamaha boats.
I left my jetboaters.net cards at home (like an idiot) but encouraged him to come visit and engage with us.

And... My wife fell in love with the 2015 LS (!)
She wants to take a test drive this summer.
She liked the tower (always hated towers in the past).
She loved the copilots chair.
She loved the new steering.
She LOVED the sound deadening...I didn't realize she was so unhappy about how loud our SX230 is.
She loved the Seadeck swim platform, and listened intently as the sales guy and I discussed @JetBoatPilot 's whole boat Seadeck kits (!!!)

The bad:

I don't think we could financially swing the upgrade to a 2015 LS any time soon - too many competing priorities.
We talked and explored the boat so much I didn't get any pix (I know, total failure on my part).

The takeaways:

I am authorized to get a Seadeck whole boat kit (4 months after the group buy, of course).
I have been directed to aggressively pursue sound deadening.
We will test drive a 2015 LS anyway.

Will add more thoughts later.

If any SE WI or Northern Illinois people are at all interested in attending the MKE boat show this year, I recommend it.

If anyone from Shipyard is reading this...create an account and join the community!

 

[robbo3]

I was there this morning and totally missed the new Yamaha on display. We were mostly looking at lifts and PWCs and was only able to find the Sea Doo. Did you see any Yamaha PWCs?

 

[MikeyL]

And... My wife fell in love with the 2015 LS (!)
She wants to take a test drive this summer.
She liked the tower (always hated towers in the past).
She loved the copilots chair.
She loved the new steering.
She LOVED the sound deadening...I didn't realize she was so unhappy about how loud our SX230 is.
She loved the Seadeck swim platform, and listened intently as the sales guy and I discussed @JetBoatPilot 's whole boat Seadeck kits (!!!)

It's quite obvious your Bride is a VERY SMART & INTELLIGENT LADY !
'Nuff said .... Best Wishes (ie, listen to her !) - Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA

 

[GTBRMC]

I was there this morning and totally missed the new Yamaha on display. We were mostly looking at lifts and PWCs and was only able to find the Sea Doo. Did you see any Yamaha PWCs?

We were only there for a couple hours, and my son wanted to see the big cruisers, so we did not see everything. Did not look at any skis. We did check out the lifts down in the SE corner. Some very nice ones!

We also looked at the Chap jet boats. Will post some pix of those later.

 

[GTBRMC]

A bunch of Chap jet photos (a couple with my son's hand, apologies)


The great double door Chap designed to create both a one piece tunnel wind block AND a helm door big enough to crawl through to access the back of helm! Mother Yamaha, take note!

 

[GTBRMC]

More...

 

[GTBRMC]

Front storage lockers on Chap are semi- finished fiberglass... Not gelcoat or carpet.
Overall nice fit and finish on the Chaps. Not noticeably better than the 2015 LS, however.

Sticker from the LS:

No real deals on the LS. I expect prices at or above sticker will be the rule this year...looks like Yamaha has another winner.

 

[MikeyL]

@GTBRMC : Great photos of the Chaparral 243 VRX. Thanks for posting.
These go well with my comparison (243 VRX - 242LS) I just compiled.
https://jetboaters.net/threads/2015...2-ltd-s-versus-chaparral-243-vortex-vrx.4382/

Thanks ........... and Many Best Wishes your way ! Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA