New to jet boat - versatility versus wakesurf boats

[Skierdad]

1980's-1990's- Grew up skiing and tubing behind a 17' Larson I/O. Great family boat, great skiing and tubing as a kid. I was a big time slalom skier and while the wake wasn't a DD wake, it was still fun and it was a good all around boat. Winterization wasn't a big deal but it was an afternoon. Downfall was that lower engine and having to shut off the boat to pick up people due to that prop.

2000's- My first boat purchase as an adult. Sea Ray Ski Ray 190. 175 hp outboard. A slalom skier and barefooter's dream boat. Decent family boat, easy to winterize, a few trips to get things fixed, and my fastest boats to drive. I am currently working to buy it back from the guy I sold it to. Would love to have it restored. Downfall again was prop and having to shut off boat to load skiers/barefooters.

2010-2019- Mastercraft direct drive. My dream waterski boat. A true pulling dream boat. If all I did was pull things around (ski, tube, etc..) it was absolutely the best boat to drive. Turned on a dime and never loss of power. The downfall was not a good family boat. We got beat up on larger lakes or if someone passed by us with a big boat wave. Wasn't built for comfort. At that time, kids wanted to tube and wakeboard....then surf. Nobody wanted to waterski. Sold it.

2019 to now- Yamaha AR195. Kids are 12 and 15. This is the best family boat I have ever own. The ride is nice and even with 2 families in the boat it doesn't feel small. Wished I would have opted for the 212X in hindsight but I am good with what we have. It isn't the best pulling machine especially coming from a DD boat. You can pull tubes, wakeboarders, and skiers but far more attention needs to be had by the driver. I have to "drive" the boat much moreso than my DD boat. Easy as pie winterization. No props so kids swimming or jumping off- no dangers. We do have the surf set up and I am still working on dialing that in. I have surfed behind it. I do miss 32' off at 36 mph. I can't do that behind this boat. Downfall? My kids got into slalom skiing and love it. Considering purchasing an older Mastercraft or my old Ski Ray for late night or early morning slalom runs.

If I lived on a lake and all I did was drop the lift and pull kids all day long, I would probably own a V-Drive boat...but we do more than that. We boat at several larger lakes and a few small ones. I never worry if the wind comes up or if the lake gets busy because of how well my AR does in chop.

That's my honest experience.

 

[haknslash]

Yes, one impeller for the motor. And one impeller for each ballast pump. Those all need to be changed as well.

Oil changes on Yamaha is 100 hours, 50 hours per Tige and Supra.

Ballast pump impellers are a maintenance item and you only need to replace them when you notice the fill or drain times are taking longer than usual. If you don’t run the pumps dry the impeller should last you for several years. How often has anyone on here with a 2018 X model changed their ballast impellers? Probably not many have had a reason to.

Yamaha oil change is 100 hours or 12 months, whichever comes first. I don’t log 100 hours a season due to work and life. That doesn’t mean I only change my Yamaha oil every two years if I don’t hit 100 hours. I always changed it each year just as I do my Moomba, as you should per the manual(s).

 

[Tyguy]

OP, be sure you pilot each type before you invest. It’s an expensive lesson to switch later. There are facts, opinions, misconceptions and downright lies out there in the “versus” discussions wherever you go. Focus on the facts from forums and owners, and then formulate your own opinions through some experience.

 

[2kwik4u]

I had a sterndrive for 7 seasons. Have had my jet for 4 seasons (this will be the 5th). My previous was a 2.5L 4cyl with a Mercruiser AlphaOne outdrive in a 19.5ft bowrider configuration (1998 Rinker 182BR). Current is a 1.8L 4cyl with a Yamaha Jet drive in a 19.4ft bowrider configuration (2017 AR190). Normal usage is cruising, lounging, light touring, and light watersports (tubing and wakeskating).

For me, the Yamaha is the better vehicle.

• Less maintenance in the Yamaha.
  • What maintenance remains requires no special tools or knowledge.
• Fewer moving parts in the Yamaha
  • Seriously, it's an engine hooked to an impeller. There are two bearings and a coupler in the driveline. The steering and throttle are two cables with ball end fittings. It's a dead simple machine.
• Fewer systems in general in the Yamaha
  • No raw water pump
  • No steering hydraulic system
  • No trim hydraulic system
  • No gearbox/gear drive
  • No alternator (have a stator and regulator instead)
  • No belts on the engine
• Roughly the same speed and fuel usage between them.
  • Both hit 42mph max speed, and both went ~75mi on a single tank of fuel.
• Layout and storage on the Yamaha is better by far.
  • I can't stress this enough. The 19ft Yamaha hits closer to a 20-21ft bowrider from other companies.
  • We've had 4 adults and 4 kids on ours on a semi-regular basis. It's cozy, but not absurdly tight. 2 adults and 2 kids is down right roomy.
• Ride in chop/wake is better in the Yamaha
  • Deadrise and length are similar, and Yamaha is lighter. This was not expected, but enjoyed
• The Yamaha has a different tone (not really any louder) than the Rinker.
  • Plus or Minus depending on your outlook
• Yamaha docks/parks/steers far better than our I/O. Took some practice, but it's far far more maneuverable than my I/O......Not nearly as intuitive, so it takes a bit to learn the system, but in terms of outright capability, I'll take a jet over an I/O any day here.
  • This is pretty contested on here. Speak out/research at your own risk.
• Yamaha has a fiberglass floor, and a self bailing cockpit.
  • This has been far more useful than I would have thought as an inland lake boater.

The only thing the Rinker did better was speed control for wakesports. I had a 5-blade prop on it (after about 101 different trials), and it was similar to a tractor. Set it at 3,400rpm and you would get your 19mph for wakeboarding no matter how many people, what the water conditions were, or what time of year it was. It didn't need perfect pass, just set the revs and wait for the rider to crash. The Yamaha is a PIA to maintain speed for wake sports. @Ridesteady remedies that I'm told, I've just not spent the money on it yet.

Overall, I think Jets are second only to Pontoons in family friendly fun. They are extremely versatile, do most all of the things you want to do somewhat well, and overall provide excellent value.

 

[haknslash]

Some Yamaha’s do have hydraulic steering as I recently learned this. Was not aware but it’s on the E/Drive equipped boats. The higher end Yamaha’s have a bunch of tech in them compared to the lower and mid tier trim models. I’m still not 100% behind some of the things they do with Connext and prefer the more simple and older gauges on them. Software has gotten a little better compared to Connext 1.0 though.

I don’t think you can really compare a I/O or stern drive to an inboard. Completely different handling, storage, layout space and maintenance involved there. The ride on my Moomba is light years better than my Yamaha. A lot of that is probably due to weight but the hull and freeboard also play a big role. Not all wake boats handle chop good though as I learned that on the flatter bottom Axis boat I test drove. It rode horrible in chop compared to my Moomba. Heck the Axis rode worse (slapped) than my Yamaha did. So not all boats are created equal and as mentioned you for sure need to demo them to understand how a boat will behave compared to another.

 

[anmut]

Yes, one impeller for the motor. And one impeller for each ballast pump. Those all need to be changed as well.

Oil changes on Yamaha is 100 hours, 50 hours per Tige and Supra.

But still, 4 to 6 impellers in a season and 50 hour oil changes. We put 110+ hours on our boat last year. All I did was change the oil.
My point is that vdrives are not for those concerned with being nickel and dimed on maintenance costs. They’re expensive boats with high maintenance needs. Reminds me of girls I dated .. hot AF but damn, a guy goes broke with that kinda arm candy.

 

[haknslash]

There is some coin to spend but that’s the price you pay for toys. My last free service was today so from here on I’ll be doing all my maintenance. The access to everything it pretty easy to get to. Raw water impeller swap took them like an hour or so maybe. Nothing a beer couldn’t handle doing it yourself

 

[OrangeTJ]

I had a 2011 Yamaha SX210 that I bought new in 2012, enjoyed, and sold to buy a new MB Sports F22 in 2016. There's an old thread somewhere here about my decision and purchase process. The Yamaha was a fine all around family boat for cruising around the lake, hanging out, pulling a tube, etc. I consider it to have been a great way to boat with a young family and without spending too much money (ours was $29K out the door new in 2012).

I find the MB much much nicer for cruising, as it rides smoother and handles more solidly than our Yamaha did. It tops out about 6 mph slower but I find that I just don't care. We do most of our cruising somewhere between 20 and 30 mph and the MB just purrs along at those speeds. It will run 40 but most of my passengers just don't really like going that fast for more than a couple of minutes and you burn way more gas! The MB "hangs out" just as well as our Yamaha did (in some ways better, as the stereo is waaaaaay better and the boat seems to have a lower roll center so it isn't quite as "rocky" at anchor when wakes roll through).

The Yamaha was 100% fine pulling tubes but for all other towed watersports there is no comparison. A boat designed with towing performance as a design priority just does everyting about that better, from the shape an size of the wake to the smoothness of the table in the cener of the wake to the arrow-straight tracking at speed, to the easy handling around a downed rider in the water. When we had our Yamaha, the kids were younger and jus wanted to tube but they and their friends get older each year and what they really want to do now is wakeboard and wakesurf. The wakeboat makes that easy.

I spend no more time doing maintenance on my V-drive wake boat than I did on my SX210. Neither is particularly onerous. I believe the Yamaha is probably less inherently prone to mechanical problems simply because it has fewer mechanical systems, which is a plus. In my case, neither has given me any trouble, although I fully recognize that eventually something will go wrong. In the meantime, changing the water pump impeller, changing the engine oil (in one engine instead of two) and lubricating a few linkages amounts to about the same amount of work each year as the Yamaha, which was changing oil in two engines, changing spark plugs in two engines, and putting a couple of pumps of grease into a couple of zirks each year. Every other year I change the V-Drive oil, which isn't hard at all.

Honestly, you will have an awesome time on the water whichever way you go. Personally, while we really enjoyed our time with our jet, I don't think we will be going back from prop drive any time soon. Our boating conditions and uses just don't really capitalize on the benefits a jet has to offer.

 

[OrangeTJ]

But still, 4 to 6 impellers in a season and 50 hour oil changes. We put 110+ hours on our boat last year. All I did was change the oil.
My point is that vdrives are not for those concerned with being nickel and dimed on maintenance costs. They’re expensive boats with high maintenance needs. Reminds me of girls I dated .. hot AF but damn, a guy goes broke with that kinda arm candy.

4-6 impellers in a season? We've had our MB since 2016, have 350 hours on the boat, which includes a LOT of filling ballast bags, and haven't had to change a ballast pump impeller yet. I do change the engine impeller every year but based on their condition every time I pull them out I am sure I could do that every other year and be just fine.