questions about new boat

[Johnboat]

I ordered a 2021 Yamaha sx195 and Im waiting for it to come in. My previous boat was a 06 NIttro 288 sport with a merc 150 OB. I have 15 years of boating experience so Im not a total noob. The thing is, I have never owned or even driven a jet boat. My biggest concern is low speed handling. Some of the regular obstacles we deal with on the lake are Wind, Crowded boat ramps and crowded marina. I try to stay away from wind above 20 MPH, but I have been caught in a afternoon thunderstorm.

My questions are:

How does this new boat handle at slower speeds, Forward and Reverse? Do I need a Thrust Vector on a new boat? I noticed a group discount on them if I mention this forum.

How does this boat handle chop, say 2'+?

How eassy or difficult is it to get back on the trailer? Do I need trailer guides?

 

[tdonoughue]

Your boat will handle differently than an OB. It won't be better or worse; just different. I drove my boat several seasons as stock. Works just fine and you learn how to work the throttles and jets to get where you need to go.

Fins (either the TV or the CJS ones) will improve the low speed handling and tracking, but not as radically as some would make it out to be, in my opinion. I ultimately did put a set on my boat. I would not say I 'needed' them, but they are nice.

These are inherently planing boats, so handling chop is not their strong suit (like a deep V offshore boat would be). They are not bad, but you can definitely go too fast and bounce people around quite a bit. Handling in chop can be improved by addition of trim tabs (which make a significant difference--just put a set on my boat recently).

As to the guides and the trailer, I have not found them needed for lake operations (where I mainly boat), but I do understand and believe that those mainly boating on rivers have a very different situation. Where you have wind and a current (or heck, even just current), the guides can make life much easier. Being on a lake, I have had no issues getting it on the trailer at my ramp. Even in wind, put the bimini down (that thing is a sail) and you can get it on relatively easily.

Hope that helps.

 

[Johnboat]

Your boat will handle differently than an OB. It won't be better or worse; just different. I drove my boat several seasons as stock. Works just fine and you learn how to work the throttles and jets to get where you need to go.

Fins (either the TV or the CJS ones) will improve the low speed handling and tracking, but not as radically as some would make it out to be, in my opinion. I ultimately did put a set on my boat. I would not say I 'needed' them, but they are nice.

These are inherently planing boats, so handling chop is not their strong suit (like a deep V offshore boat would be). They are not bad, but you can definitely go too fast and bounce people around quite a bit. Handling in chop can be improved by addition of trim tabs (which make a significant difference--just put a set on my boat recently).

As to the guides and the trailer, I have not found them needed for lake operations (where I mainly boat), but I do understand and believe that those mainly boating on rivers have a very different situation. Where you have wind and a current (or heck, even just current), the guides can make life much easier. Being on a lake, I have had no issues getting it on the trailer at my ramp. Even in wind, put the bimini down (that thing is a sail) and you can get it on relatively easily.

Hope that helps.

Thank you, I appreciate the feed back. Trim tabs seem like a great idea. Looking at them online now.
Random question, do you happen to know what the free board height is on the 19' boats? I cant find dimensions anywhere online.

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

I went all summer without fins on my 240. I’m the inter coastal, lots of traffic, winds, storms, etc, boat does just fine once you get to know it. Once you get used to the handling you don’t need them. I bought them with the group buy this year. Only been out once with them, I didn’t notice a huge difference around the docks, it does respond to steering inputs quicker, where I did notice a huge difference we’re the no wake zones. The boat tracks significantly straighter for those long slow/no wake zone areas.

I got trailer guides, they are very helpful for my ramp, as it’s almost always a crosswind with the sea breeze. You might not need them with a 195, the 240 really catches the wind. I would also recommend putting the Bimini top down for your first couple loadings, that thing acts like a sail and gets the boat sideways in a hurry. Once you get the handling down you can leave it up.

 

[VitaminSea]

One advantage of a jet system that has not been discussed yet, is the direct drive nature, so there is no transmission and you can “bump” from F-N-R any number to times to adjust your tracking.

First time out, try a weekday when it might be less crowded so you can practice maneuvering around the docks.

 

[Tyguy]

My own experience includes outboards and I/O, and then a pair of personal watercraft for 10 years (Yamaha and Sea Doo), and then the AR195 for the last year. I've found jet drives to be the easiest to trailer because of what VitaminSea mentioned, the ability to put it in neutral and reverse without engaging a transmission. It's very simple to glide up on a trailer at controlled speeds.

That said, jet boats rotate side to side a bit and you have to learn to predict and correct the motion before full steering wheel rotation is needed. Once mastered it's not a problem. I did add Cobra fins to help friends and family piloting it with less experience, and they've helped with straight line tracking at low speeds. On my '18 the reverse is slow to respond and requires a bit of extra throttle. It hasn't caused a problem but I do need to plan for the larger arc required to turn in reverse.

Quick story: two weeks ago I was at a lake and encountered 30 mph crosswinds at the ramp when it came time to trailer the boat, with gusts up to 45 mph. My wife was in charge of the trailer and I the boat. I pulled into the marina and watched an I/O struggle for 30 minutes to put his boat on the trailer, requiring over a dozen attempts. Every time was the same thing: approach straight at the trailer, get blown off course, hard reverse very nearly into the gas dock, try again. There were 2 jets waiting behind him including me. When he finally cleared the ramp...and we gave him plenty of space...we each approached the trailer at 45 degrees, turned hard to the trailer at the last minute, goosed the throttles to straighten out, and landed on the bunks the first try. Lesson: it's less about the equipment and more about the skill. Put in some low-stress practice time and trailering without guides will be simple.

Chop is another thing altogether. The 195 is a light boat. Passenger weight and placement affect its ride, and waves/wake/chop push it around. 2' hasn't been an issue, but in confused waters with bigger chop I do slow down and come off plane a bit to raise the bow and smooth things out for passengers.

 

[jsg73]

As someone with a good bit of freshwater outboard experience, the idle speed handling still annoys me but it is easy to trailer. I bought fins and they do help idle speed tracking.

I suggest running everything as is for a while before committing money to any of the things you mentioned.
My first hour in the boat was playing “how close can I get” with a no wake buoy waiting on my wife. I suggest you do that as well so you can develop some touch with the throttle and steering.

 

[tdonoughue]

Random question, do you happen to know what the free board height is on the 19' boats? I cant find dimensions anywhere online.

Sorry, I don't. There is a threat pinned at the top of the General Discussion that has a rundown of the differences between the boats. Maybe it is listed there?

 

[ChrisM]

I get confused every time between driving the pontoon w/outboard, and the jet boat. Not sure how the Yamaha directs the water for reverse, but when operating my Jet Boat in reverse the bow follows the direction of the wheel, turn the wheel right, and the bow goes right, nice when you get use to it. Not the case with the pontoon, it's reverse is the same as a vehicle, turn the wheel to the right while in reverse, and the bow goes to the left. I kept my bunk guides on because my trailer needs to go deeper to load toe boat coming out, therefore 3/4" of my bunks are under water.

 

[Wisewaves]

I get confused every time between driving the pontoon w/outboard, and the jet boat. Not sure how the Yamaha directs the water for reverse, but when operating my Jet Boat in reverse the bow follows the direction of the wheel, turn the wheel right, and the bow goes right, nice when you get use to it. Not the case with the pontoon, it's reverse is the same as a vehicle, turn the wheel to the right while in reverse, and the bow goes to the left. I kept my bunk guides on because my trailer needs to go deeper to load toe boat coming out, therefore 3/4" of my bunks are under water.

Unless I’m misunderstanding you this is not true?

 

[HangOutdoors]

@ChrisM It doesn't sound right unless I don't get what you are saying. When I turn my wheel to the right in reverse, my bows goes to the left. Now I see you have a chaparral, perhaps there is something different on it than my Yamaha.

 

[Johnboat]

One advantage of a jet system that has not been discussed yet, is the direct drive nature, so there is no transmission and you can “bump” from F-N-R any number to times to adjust your tracking.

First time out, try a weekday when it might be less crowded so you can practice maneuvering around the docks.

One advantage of a jet system that has not been discussed yet, is the direct drive nature, so there is no transmission and you can “bump” from F-N-R any number to times to adjust your tracking.

First time out, try a weekday when it might be less crowded so you can practice maneuvering around the docks.

By bump do you mean just back and forth. No waiting for gears to grind and change?

 

[VitaminSea]

By bump do you mean just back and forth. No waiting for gears to grind and change?

yes, and if needed you can be a tad aggressive with the thrust and go right back to neutral or the opposite throttle position.

Only season 2 for me, so still learning all the tricks, such as walking the boat sideways.

 

[ChrisM]

@ChrisM It doesn't sound right unless I don't get what you are saying. When I turn my wheel to the right in reverse, my bows goes to the left. Now I see you have a chaparral, perhaps there is something different on it than my Yamaha.

Other than taking pics to show, it works as I described. Keep in mind Chaparral and BRP did a single throttle, with fly by wire, operating reverse gates, and engines in tandem. I find my ability to maneuver at low speeds exceptional and pretty precise, including at the dock with moderate wind. But when I have to think fast I always revert to driving a car, and get my reverse wrong every time. I always launch starboard side to the dock, to leave the dock I usually steer partial left to bring the bow away from the dock as I am reversing. If I steered right the starboard bow would be forced to the dock. This clip shows the lateral thrust buckets.

 

[Miitch]

@HangOutdoors @ChrisM

Correct me if im wrong, but Yamaha's reverse system is different from that of most jet boats.

Yamaha has more of a “gate” and rotax has a bucket that directs water out the sides and towards the bottom. This gives rotax boats (sea doo, scarab, glastron etc) different steering abilities. Rotax boats have way more responsive steering in neutral compared to forward - at slow speeds, and their reverse is opposite a car. Turn the wheel in which ever direction you want THE BOW of the boat to go. Yamaha reverse steering is identical to a car, in that when you turn the wheel one way, the bow of the boat swings in the opposite direction. See the pictures below and maybe it’ll help explain.


Yamaha reverse bucket


Rotax reverse bucket

 

[ChrisM]

Yes correct, and the SeaDoo I own operates the same as the reverse gate you posted, and responds like a car as well. I'm really satisfied with the reverse bucket system, I have a nearly true non movement neutral, and I'm more than satisfied with off throttle reverse and forward maneuverability. I only mentioned it because the OP is looking for the nuances of jet versus I/O. so I made sure to say I wasn't sure how Yamaha did theirs.