Seating Capacity

[Lth101]

I have a 2011 Yamaha 242 Limited S. I was wondering if 7 adults and 2 children would be able to comfortably ride to and from the sand bar around 10 miles each way. I will be in Barnegat bay and its always windy and the water is always usually pretty choppy. I am not exactly sure where the seating capacity plate is and I don't want to risk anything.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I have a 2011 Yamaha 242 Limited S. I was wondering if 7 adults and 2 children would be able to comfortably ride to and from the sand bar around 10 miles each way. I will be in Barnegat bay and its always windy and the water is always usually pretty choppy. I am not exactly sure where the seating capacity plate is and I don't want to risk anything.

The placard for number of persons and cargo should be clearly visible in the boat. Are you the original owner?

 

[Lth101]

The placard for number of persons and cargo should be clearly visible in the boat. Are you the original owner?

I am not, I believe max capacity is 10. I was just wondering if anyone here has had a similar amount of people on their 242 comfortably.

 

[treeskier]

My previous boat was a 2016 242 Limited S. You should be fine with 7 adults and 2 children in terms of max capacity. You will want to distribute the weight as evenly as possible and fill the tank with fuel you'll use more fully loaded.

We have a 275 now and the joke is that we don't have that many friends but the two that we have can sit where they want without getting yelled at.

 

[Ronnie]

The first gen 240s (2010 to 2014) have a USCG capacity of 10, it jumped to 12 in the second gen 250 (2016 to 2019) when 6” (and maybe a few pounds in weight) were added to the length overall. The placard is mounted above the throttles in my boat and the 2017 is dismantled. Both were riveted in place and hid the access hole to the midship cleat.

Holding 9 (2 kids and 7 adults) should not be an issue but it will be tight if they are all in the cockpit instead of some being in the bow. A lot depends on how they define “comfortably” the bow has great forward facing seats but in the wind and waves it can get really cold and wet up there fast. On the other hand its only 10 miles each way so even at an average speed of 20 mph each leg should only be 30 minutes or so.

 

[Bluewater272]

Loaded down 242 in Barnegat won't be a fun ride with the wind we've been having, but it'll be fine.

 

[Lth101]

Loaded down 242 in Barnegat won't be a fun ride with the wind we've been having, but it'll be fine.

Yeah I went out on the 4th and the wind was really bad. Buoy Weather has it as being a pretty decent day tomorrow for the bay at least.

 

[Bluewater272]

Yeah, tomorrow looks the nicest it’s been in weeks. We were out thurs/fri and it was quite choppy.

 

[KC-AR240]

The placard for number of persons and cargo should be clearly visible in the boat. Are you the original owner?

I believe you're emphasizing "comfortably" so I'd say NO. That is a long drive in rough water and due to the extra weight of people and their supplies will make steering less responsive. Could it be done, probably. But I'd bet you would think twice about it a 2nd time.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I believe you're emphasizing "comfortably" so I'd say NO. That is a long drive in rough water and due to the extra weight of people and their supplies will make steering less responsive. Could it be done, probably. But I'd bet you would think twice about it a 2nd time.

???

 

[KC-AR240]

???

What are you ???

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

What are you ???

I don’t understand…you quoted my post where I referenced the persons capacity placard because the OP stated he didn’t know where or what the capacity chart was and didn’t want to risk anything.

 

[KC-AR240]

I don’t understand…you quoted my post where I referenced the persons capacity placard because the OP stated he didn’t know where or what the capacity chart was and didn’t want to risk anything.

Sorry about that I was wanting it to go to the O.P.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Sorry about that I was wanting it to go to the O.P.

Ah! No worries! Have a great day!

 

[biffdotorg]

The first gen 240s (2010 to 2014) have a USCG capacity of 10, it jumped to 12 in the second gen 250 (2016 to 2019) when 6” (and maybe a few pounds in weight) were added to the length overall. The placard is mounted above the throttles in my boat and the 2017 is dismantled. Both were riveted in place and hid the access hole to the midship cleat.

Holding 9 (2 kids and 7 adults) should not be an issue but it will be tight if they are all in the cockpit instead of some being in the bow. A lot depends on how they define “comfortably” the bow has great forward facing seats but in the wind and waves it can get really cold and wet up there fast. On the other hand its only 10 miles each way so even at an average speed of 20 mph each leg should only be 30 minutes or so.

I never argue with you Ronnie, as your advice is golden around here. But it just so happens I took a large (to me) group out on Saturday and I had to take a look at my placard (behind the throttles on our 2011 242ls) Coast Guard says 11 on that model year, and as you stated, 2010 to 2014 240/242 should be the same. (someone told me they upped it from 10 to 11 in 2011 for some reason, but the boat didn't change) I had to count my life jackets twice as well. Holiday weekends bring all the "bush pigs" out and I wanted to be legal with a full boat.

We ended up with 9 adults (some 20 year olds) and boat handled well. The biggest thing as a captain as Ronnie mentioned, was space management. Ask everyone to put bags, towels, shoes clothes away when possible. As the floor had two large RTIC coolers.

Weight distribution was not as much of a problem as expected. Other than I asked my wife to keep folks sitting once we balanced the boat for putting it on the trailer. 99% of the time, the boat goes through the guide posts and half the troop stands up to grab their crap and the boat loads uneven.

While under way, that 24' hull rides smooth going out, but we came back in bigger waves due to weather, but still handled well. Honestly, I think the load made it better. Power wise, it's a non issue. It gets up on plane easily. A bit of porpoising, but that was managed with throttle.

Best of luck to the OP, I think you will be just fine.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I never argue with you Ronnie, as your advice is golden around here. But it just so happens I took a large (to me) group out on Saturday and I had to take a look at my placard (behind the throttles on our 2011 242ls) Coast Guard says 11 on that model year, and as you stated, 2010 to 2014 240/242 should be the same. (someone told me they upped it from 10 to 11 in 2011 for some reason, but the boat didn't change) I had to count my life jackets twice as well. Holiday weekends bring all the "bush pigs" out and I wanted to be legal with a full boat.

We ended up with 9 adults (some 20 year olds) and boat handled well. The biggest thing as a captain as Ronnie mentioned, was space management. Ask everyone to put bags, towels, shoes clothes away when possible. As the floor had two large RTIC coolers.

Weight distribution was not as much of a problem as expected. Other than I asked my wife to keep folks sitting once we balanced the boat for putting it on the trailer. 99% of the time, the boat goes through the guide posts and half the troop stands up to grab their crap and the boat loads uneven.

While under way, that 24' hull rides smooth going out, but we came back in bigger waves due to weather, but still handled well. Honestly, I think the load made it better. Power wise, it's a non issue. It gets up on plane easily. A big of porpoising, but that was managed with throttle.

Best of luck to the OP, I think you will be just fine.

Love the real world reporting!
Bush pigs?

 

[Ronnie]

@biffdotorg , I have no issues with being corrected. I assumed that since the first gen 240s didn’t change that the capacity was the same but capacity per the USCG is mainly dependent on what they consider to be the average weight of a passenger. This is per research I did A few years ago when I was wondering why the capacity of a 23’6” jet boat was so low compared to shorter dedicated wake boats.

The sum of the weights of all passengers must be less than or equal to the max capacity of the boat. For instance, if the max capacity of a boat is 1,500 lbs and the USCG determines that an average passenger weighs 150 lbs. the max capacity is 10 people. The bigger/heavier the boat the higher the max capacity. That’s why shorter but heavier wake boats have a higher capacity (my neighbor has a 2019 Malibu, it’s only 21” long but weighs over 6k lbs so it has a max seating capacity of 15 or 16, it’s certainly doesn’t look like it could seat that many comfortably).

In my 2010 model year the average passenger weight I ASSUME must have been greater than it was in 2011 (I.e., USCG reduced it). By the time gen 2 came around the 240s grew 6” and put on a few more pounds such that the 2017 AR 240 I salvaged has a placard stating that max seating is 12.

To be clear, determining max capacity is not up for debate with law enforcement. It doesn’t matter if the USCG changes the weight of the average passenger, they simply go by what the placard says.

 

[steelhorse454]

Gents-
Apologize in advance if my question has already been covered elsewhere.
Tag on my boat says 8 persons OR 1,250 Lbs. so, my question is, can you have 9 people on board but way under the weight limit?
I did so last Wednesday only to get over to an island, on a very short trip I had 9 people on board, but 3 of them were kids under say 50 lbs.
I figured total weight of all 9 of us was around 1,050 lbs.
So, would have I gotten a ticket by the coast guard? Since the tag says "OR" was I covered?
Thanks in advance.

 

[TommyMcK]

as bitt said, I find that to up to a point anyway, the ride is somewhat better with heavier loading (though it really depends on the details of the sea state.)

I can't speak to an older 242 specifically, but with all three of the Yamaha boats that I have had (22' to 25'), I personally find that 6 is the max (of any size or age) that I like to take out. More than that is just too crowded and not as much fun. In some conditions, having people in the bow is a really bad idea. Finding yourself in these conditions with 10 people on the boat would not be pleasant.

 

[TommyMcK]

Gents-
Apologize in advance if my question has already been covered elsewhere.
Tag on my boat says 8 persons OR 1,250 Lbs. so, my question is, can you have 9 people on board but way under the weight limit?
I did so last Wednesday only to get over to an island, on a very short trip I had 9 people on board, but 3 of them were kids under say 50 lbs.
I figured total weight of all 9 of us was around 1,050 lbs.
So, would have I gotten a ticket by the coast guard? Since the tag says "OR" was I covered?
Thanks in advance.

Practically speaking, I doubt that the coast guard is going to be able to determine the difference between a couple of hundred pounds spread over 8 or 9 people. But they can definitely count. The "or" part is of the "whichever comes first" variety, so technically speaking you were in violation and could have gotten a ticket. Keep in mind also that if you want to be technically legal, the weight includes gear and people.