Thinking of Switching - Prop vs Jet in Charts

[TheArk]

Been lurking around here for bit, absorbing what I can to figure out if we're ready to ditch props for impellers ...

I'm currently boating in an older Chaparral - a 2130 SS with 240 HP Mercruiser 5.0L. We've loved our time in this boat and it's been great to us - relatively trouble free, spacious for our needs, and we're pretty pleased with the performance and ride. However, it's getting up there in age and the boat lacks some features we'd really like (snap in carpet, larger swim platform ...).

The jet boat curiosity was born from an incident that happened a few years ago ... We were beached at a sandbar for a few hours having a great time. I made sure to warn everyone to be careful of the prop. When it was time to go, we all got back in the boat without issue ... except me. I was the last to get it in and as I stepped onto the ladder, my shin lightly brushed the prop. Standing on the swim platform, I noticed the decent amount of blood trickling from my leg. Bandaged it up and kept boating. Pulled out of the lake, went out to dinner, and put the boat way. Looked down at the bandage and saw it was pretty full of blood, so I decided to change it. When I pulled the bandage off, blood was literally squirting out of the my leg (18"+) and a bandage wasn't going to stop it ... time for some stitches. Turns out I nicked the artery. The emergency staff were a bit astonished that I had been out to dinner prior ...

Anyways ... in looking at the jet boats, there are a ton of advantages, especially safety, performance, and seating layout. However, we've got the same concerns that most prop boaters have:

• Fuel Economy
• Noise
• Ride

It's tough to compare boats, especially when most of what you find is subjective opinions . Ask about a fuel economy and you're inundated with responses from kool-aid drinkers like "This boat is better on gas then any other boat I've had." Ask about noise and get responses like, "Sure it's a bit loud, but I don't want to talk to people anyways."

Luckily/Unluckily ... there's BoatTest.com! If you want data consistency ... BoatTest.com doesn't have it. But, they at least have data. So, I thought I'd share what I came up with in trying to figure out if one of the Yamaha jet boats will appropriately replace our Chaparral. ** BoatTest.com data is shown via RPM increments. Maybe this is easy the easiest way to obtain their numbers, but I think it's a bad metric. In many cases, 50% of a boats speed range is represented by just 25% of the data points. Just like Captain Steve would like to see a grab handle there, I'd like to see data sampled in 5 mph increments.

First ... the current lineup of Yamaha boats' fuel economy (miles per gallon) plotted against speed (miles per hour):



Since we're considering either a 212 or a 242, here's just the 212s and 24' boats:



Being the heaviest boats, I wonder why the SX240 and 242X stand out between 30 and 40 mph? The data resolution is pretty bad after 25 mph, one of the reasons I wish BoatTest.com tested by speed instead of RPM. Given the proximity to the 21' boats, I'd trust the AR240 data to be more realistic.

So ... time for the koolaid drinkers to stand trial. Do the Yamaha boats compete with their prop driven counterparts in fuel economy?



Eh ... the Yamaha boats are a bit thirsty (they're the ones with the glowing lines). Maybe the competitor boats aren't the perfect apples-apples comparison, but like I said before, consistent and real data is sparse. Again ... take this with a grain of salt - it's BoatTest.com data.

The way we boat, when we're not putting around the lake, we cruise in the 20-30 mph range. With a Yamaha, we'll definitely be burning a bit more fuel. Not a deal breaker and its about what I expected.

So how about noise? Has Yamaha's efforts to reduce sound intrusion into the cabin paid off?

Here's the 2017 21' compared to a pre-2017 21'



Here's the pre-2015 24' boats compared to the 2015 and new 24' boats:



So ... big improvement from the older boats to the newer boats.

Here's how the 21' boats compare to the 24's:



The 24' boats look to be substantially quieter.

Here's the whole lineup:



The big question ... how do they compare with their stern drive and outboard counterparts? Since I'm interested in only the 21' and 24' boats, I left the 19's out of the comparison:



(Yamaha boats are glowing) Looks like Yamaha's effort did pay off. Looks pretty darn good.

That leaves one concern left for us ... ride. Our Chaparral has always rode pretty well and a number of people that have been out with us have commented on how well it does in chop compared to other boats they've been in. The general consensus I've heard on the Yamaha boats is they tend to have a bit rougher ride compared to their stern drive counterparts, especially in rougher water where the lack of trim plays a role.

Time for a test drive.

 

[haknslash]

Just so you know, there are hard parts around the jet pump(s) that you could also cut your knee or shin on. Not as sharp edged as a prop but nothing is 100% safe. That being said jet boats are good fun. Best thing I can suggest is for you to demo them and that should tell you all you need to know about if it will replace your Chap or not. I wouldn’t even waste my time with boat test.com data but rather get behind the wheel for real world experience when it warms up. As for the noise for me it was more about the frequency than the decibels.

 

[anmut]

Excellent data dump! Jets have always been less efficient than props. Simple push vs. pull theory - nothing new there. I like the noise charts, that's something that drives me insane on old boats. Very interesting to see that Yamaha jet boats are quieter than the stern drives! Regarding the ride, I've read a lot of people putting non powered trim tabs for chop with excellent results.

 

[Nexus]

That is a pretty in depth analysis. Not sure if it would have changed anything, but I should have done some thing similar when I was shopping.

Have you considered a Chaparral jet boat? Just throwing it out there in case you wanted to stay with the brand.

 

[WildCatFan54]

Put your location in the member profile. Then see how many other members are in your area ? My guess is that several would be willing to take you out on a test ride (as opposed to a potentially high pressure dealer demo) . I certainly would if you are located close to me.

 

[Mike190]

I just got a 2017 sx190 and the noise is there but I have never been on a I/O to compare but if I was sitting above the window I didn't even notice the engine only when I was sitting down behind the window out of the wind that I could hear it but me and the wife could still have a conversation with no problems. It rode great for a 19 foot even better than my dads 19 foot deck boat to me. And went a long ways on 1/4 of a 30 gallon tank. I know it's only a 19 and is a single engine but maybe this will help you out.

 

[Compatico]

Been lurking around here for bit, absorbing what I can to figure out if we're ready to ditch props for impellers ...

We were in the same dilemma, and spent the last 2.5 years looking at everything out there regardless of price in our size range. We recently did a huge pros/cons list and narrowed our choices down to a top 5 list. To our surprise that list contained 3 jetboats! We wanted a new boat for the updated features and tech, warranty, performance, roominess, wake tower, reliability, and cost of ownership with a slight negative on fuel consumption as boats are meant for fun not fuel economy.

We went with a jetboat because the engines are smaller and this gives us much more room on the boat, a bit lighter weight for towing, very easy winterizing (Canada), small outdrive profile, and sporty performance. Turns out we ended up downsizing a foot but gained much more usable space for us. We ended up choosing a Yamaha because the 1.8L engines are small but powerful, and very reliable basically making our summer boating season simple and easy, and it has the features we wanted - clean lines and colours, plus the 2 tier swim platform is a solid winner for us.

Eh ... the Yamaha boats are a bit thirsty...

Compared to our older boat, we're actually looking at only about 5% more consumption overall. We mostly cruise with some sports activities,Since fuel cost is not a big issue for a fun day on the water, we don't mind.

That leaves one concern left for us ... ride. Our Chaparral has always rode pretty well and a number of people that have been out with us have commented on how well it does in chop compared to other boats they've been in. The general consensus I've heard on the Yamaha boats is they tend to have a bit rougher ride compared to their stern drive counterparts, especially in rougher water where the lack of trim plays a role.

Time for a test drive.

You nailed it there - take one for a test drive. Some people we spoke with said Yamaha's are s#!t in the chop and wake, turns out that came from anti-jet owners and salespeople. For similar weights of boats, the Yamaha's ride just as well. Coming from an older boat with about a 9' deadrise, anything is a lot smoother! We checked out Chaparral/Vortex, Scarab, Glastron and Yamaha jetboats. They all had 18-20' deadrise which makes a hugh difference in ride. Lifting strakes and chines also make a difference to how a boat handles chop and water entry. In the end, the differences between similar models was negligible and they all rode reasonably well.

On another note, fit and finish was clearly better on the Chaparral Vortex a couple years ago. But we noticed Yamaha has upped their game with quality of materials, design, and finish (likely due to competition). I still think Chap has the edge in finish, but for us, we both liked the Yamaha better overall and happiness is what matters.

 

[Dave burke]

I have a 1995 Chap 1930 SST with a Volvo 5.8 L engine. Like yours, mine has been very reliable over the years but was getting pretty long in the tooth when I bought my 212X in 2017. I considered other types (both sterndrives and outboards) but settled on a jet pretty quickly. It really came down to the 212X or the Chap VRX 223. I test drove both and liked them both and was probably a little biased towards the Chap because of my positive experience with the brand.

Ultimately I decided on the 212X because of the overall value and the better reviews of the 1.8L engine vs. the Rotax. Like others have said, I do think the fit and finish on the Chaps is better.

To address your three specific questions:

- I havent noticed a big difference in fuel economy but have not specifically measured it. Jets are inherently less efficient so I’m not surprised by the graphs you showed.
- the Yamaha is definitely louder than my Chap but then there’s two engines in it and they produce significantly more HP. The Chap is 255HP while my 212X is close to 400 I believe. And there are many benefits to a twin engine set up in my view. At idle you can barely hear the Chap and while they’re both loud at full throttle, the Yammie is louder. That being said, I think you get used to it.
- I haven’t noticed a big difference in the ride between the two boats overall. Clearly you have more control with the trim on a stern drive since there’s no equivalent on a jet.

One thing you didn’t mention which I believe is the biggest difference between sterndrives and jets is low speed and reverse handing. These differences take a while to get used to and there are different add ons you can get to help but at the end of the day, sterndrives win this aspect in my experience.

All in all, I’m very satisfied with my 212X and definitely don’t regret switching to a jet. I never have to worry about hitting stuff with a prop or worse, having somebody injure themselves. And winterizing is much easier with jets.

 

[TheArk]

Have you considered a Chaparral jet boat? Just throwing it out there in case you wanted to stay with the brand.

Scarab & Chaparral are on our radar - like the performance and power options in the BRP powertrains, but I'm not real fond of BRP's reliability, especially when the electronics start to age. I know they've improved the reliability and maintenance intervals of the superchargers, but I've seen first hand too many blown-up engines (due to supercharger failure) to really trust the BRP motors.

Speaking of competitors to Yamaha ... Here's some inconsistent BoatTest.com data:

We went with a jetboat because the engines are smaller and this gives us much more room on the boat, a bit lighter weight for towing, very easy winterizing (Canada), small outdrive profile, and sporty performance. ... We ended up choosing a Yamaha because the 1.8L engines are small but powerful, and very reliable basically making our summer boating season simple and easy, and it has the features we wanted - clean lines and colours, plus the 2 tier swim platform is a solid winner for us.

Pretty much all of the reasons we're considering moving to jet, especially the winterizing ease. We like to boat pretty late into the season and lately we've been seeing some pretty wild temperature swings in Wisconsin.

Found a neat link while I was trying to figure out which models and colors were available for each model year:

Yamaha Watercraft Group’s albums | Flickr

www.flickr.com

Goes all the way back to the 2010 model year.

 

[anmut]

Scarab & Chaparral on our radar - like the performance and power options in the BRP powertrains, but I'm not real fond of BRP's reliability, especially when the electronics start to age. I know they've improved the reliability and maintenance intervals of the superchargers, but I've seen first hand too many blown-up engines (due to supercharger failure) to really trust the BRP motors.

Speaking of competitors to Yamaha ... Here's some inconsistent BoatTest.com data:

View attachment 111454


View attachment 111456



Pretty much all of the reasons we're considering moving to jet, especially the winterizing ease. We like to boat pretty late into the season and lately we've been seeing some pretty wild temperature swings in Wisconsin.

Found a neat link while I was trying to figure out which models and colors were available for each model year:

Yamaha Watercraft Group’s albums | Flickr

www.flickr.com

Goes all the way back to the 2010 model year.

Central WI here, where do you boat?!

 

[TheArk]

Central WI here, where do you boat?!

80% of the time we boat on the Madison lakes, primarily Mendota, but we like to tour the whole chain on occasion. Once or twice a year we'll head up to the Eagle River area and boat on the chain of lakes up there.

Hoping to get back up to Lake Wissota in the future - grew up boating on that lake.

The nicked artery story in the first post happened on Castle Rock.

 

[eastcoaster]

Went from a 2008 232 to a 2009 Striper 2305 centre console. We are on the ocean and wanted something easier to maintain and more sea worthy.
It is a big plus for us to be able to keep a boat in a marina in salt water and totally lift the engine out of the water. Another big plus for us was we can hose down the Striper and scuppers totally drain the cockpit while in the water. Stripper has a 225 evinrude which runs about the same top speed as the Yamaha, maybe one or two mph faster. Yamaha was quicker out of the hole but not by much. Rough water performance is much better with the Striper as is gas milage. I have not done any definitive tests but would guess the Striper uses apron 2 gph less than the Yamaha at cruise. Low speed handling is better with the outboard but either is manageable. Maintenance is easier with the outboard auto winterization. 3 years between maintenance intervals, but probably a $800 bill after 3 years
The downside is we no longer have the great lounging area and rear deck of the Yamaha. Wife misses the Yamaha. If I was on a freshwater lake with less rough water I probably would have stuck with the Yamaha

 

[eastcoaster]

Forgot to mention other big difference between Jet and prop. You can cruise at 10 mph with little fuel consumption with an outboard. Not so with Yamaha if that matters to you

 

[Ratket]

Surprisingly a lot of guys have opted for trim tabs and they are very happy with them.

Our 2014 212x can be rather loud, but the Fam doesn’t mind.
the damn thing is a rocket from a dead stop to 50.
The Clean out ports are handy. 21-24foot is a good size depending on the type of boating you do, sounds like it would be a good fit, We primarily boat on Lake Havasu, it can get rough so a 19” was out for us.

we have never burned more than 1/2 a tank in a day and on that day we went all over. Normally we only use 1/4 tank, I’d estimate that at a total of 3 hours of run time and only 15minutes of that is in No wake mode, the rest is 35mph up to 50mph.

as stated best to post up “ Looking for a ride” and as stated someone will gladly take you out.

 

[zipper]

Been lurking around here for bit, absorbing what I can to figure out if we're ready to ditch props for impellors...

That leaves one concern left for us ... ride. Our Chaparral has always rode pretty well and a number of people that have been out with us have commented on how well it does in chop compared to other boats they've been in. The general consensus I've heard on the Yamaha boats is they tend to have a bit rougher ride compared to their stern drive counterparts, especially in rougher water where the lack of trim plays a role.

Time for a test drive.

Trim tabs can be added to to the transom. They should be factory equip. Some here add them and there are several threads about them. They made a Night/Day difference on the ride in our AR230. They stop the porposing of the bow in chop and others' wakes. I use them every time we go out as we do not boat on glass very often in our Lake.

 

[captras]

Bought my 2016 242 new after many years with a 21 foot Four Winns I/O. Here is my post after 5 months of ownership. Going on 4 years and still love this boat!

https://jetboaters.net/threads/242-limited-se-5-month-review-for-those-trying-to-decide.11671/

 

[anmut]

80% of the time we boat on the Madison lakes, primarily Mendota, but we like to tour the whole chain on occasion. Once or twice a year we'll head up to the Eagle River area and boat on the chain of lakes up there.

Hoping to get back up to Lake Wissota in the future - grew up boating on that lake.

The nicked artery story in the first post happened on Castle Rock.

Wow, and I thought I trailer'd a lot! We're planning a trip down to the Madison lakes this summer - any tips to someone that's never boated there?

 

[Matt Phillips]

Lots of good info in those charts there. BoatTest seems to get a bit of a bad rap when it comes to their overall tests however, I think you can consider their fuel consumption and noise levels to be pretty reliable ... it's just the data they are reporting. I also like how they also say how much fuel, number of people on board, and the weather/sea conditions on test day.

When comparing noise levels on the Yamaha's, make sure you're looking at Yamaha models that have their quiet cruise (maybe it's ride) installed. that's basically a lot more emphasis on quieting the ride. Another thing to note about Boat Test is Yamaha sound levels will be similar to other makes. I've found the pitch on the Yamaha is definitely higher for sure.