Will Yamaha make the boats faster over the coming years? Thoughts?

[tdonoughue]

+1

Actually, rather than putting more HP or size into the boat, I think I would be most pleased if they a) tightened the screws on the clamps, b) tightened the screws on the doors, c) addressed the leaks (including the design of that anchor port), and d) added a stainless sculper. If they have money left over, how about double-locked plugs?

I am pretty sure there is a wish list around here somewhere. I would rather they do anything on that list rather than provide me a faster boat.

 

[Overspray]

Leaving mine and going to jet, I know I'm going to miss it. I'll give up the top speed for more practicality, but it sure is fun to let her rip once in a while.

For top speed, a larger hull is a must for stability and safety. 24' is okay, it just depends where you boat at. I'd love to see a twin jet catamaran. I'd be all over that in a heartbeat.

 

[robert843]

Leaving mine and going to jet, I know I'm going to miss it. I'll give up the top speed for more practicality, but it sure is fun to let her rip once in a while.

For top speed, a larger hull is a must for stability and safety. 24' is okay, it just depends where you boat at. I'd love to see a twin jet catamaran. I'd be all over that in a heartbeat.

A forum member in Australia created a jetcat

https://jetboaters.net/threads/jet-cat-down-under.7461/

 

[Ancient canoe]

If you trust boattest.com speed figures, Yamaha has been slowing down over the years while sales going up and up, so I doubt they make much effort to make the boats faster.

 

[swatski]

I use top-end speed as a gauge of the health of the engine and pump.

So well said! To me that is actually the BEST take on the issue of top speed in the Yamahas.
Along the RPM, those are two critical parameters to quickly access the state of boats' health.

EDIT: Needless to say, factor in the conditions and the load.

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[Speedling]

Leaving mine and going to jet, I know I'm going to miss it. I'll give up the top speed for more practicality, but it sure is fun to let her rip once in a while.

For top speed, a larger hull is a must for stability and safety. 24' is okay, it just depends where you boat at. I'd love to see a twin jet catamaran. I'd be all over that in a heartbeat.

I designed a 22' cold molded build on paper that would take two 1.8 or 1.8 sho and probably net a 5-10 mph gain over current hulls. Would be the basic seat 5 kinda deal but have a yamaha type back end and walk through. I will have to see if i have any of those drawings around.

 

[Jaime]

Just curious what everyone's thoughts were on the subject. I hear around 50 mph is the top speed for the 242 Limited S boat and just curious if you guys think they will make them faster over the years. If so, what would be the way they would achieve this? Just larger twin engines?

What speed do you see the max ever being? Not much faster than they are today? 50-55? 60? 65?

I think they should put the supercharged motor on all of the 242"s put a bigger fuel tank of at least 70 gallons.

 

[Speedling]

I think they should put the supercharged motor on all of the 242"s put a bigger fuel tank of at least 70 gallons.

If speed is the need a new hull is needed. Power will overcome but it takes a lot more to get there.

I can't find my early sketches but basically think skater 24' catamaran with twin jets.

 

[Mainah]

Fastest family style jet boat I have been on was my 14' 1996 seadoo speedster with twin 720 cc engines (170 hp total). That thing would hit 60mph and boy it was a lot of fun. The problem was it was more like an oversized jet ski than a boat. I even took it on the ocean once on a calm day and felt like I should have pilots license with the amount of time I spent in the air. It sure would be great to get a 24 footer over 60 mph but I don't see that in the near term.

Bass boats with big outboards will blow by us all day long but they are light, flat; one trick ponies. The movement seems to be towards more room and features. If only we could get the executive from the dodge hellcat lineup to move over to yamaha jets boats.

 

[biglar155]

...Bass boats with big outboards will blow by us all day long but they are light, flat; one trick ponies...

And remember: Not only are they going to be in a world of hurt if they hit something at that speed, those guys are out there for the purpose of fishing. So getting from on spot to the next quickly is important with limited weekends and vacation days. I understand that. Fishermen aren't in it for the boat - they are in it to fish.

I'm in it for the ride, so going faster just means it's over sooner and I have to get out of the boat sooner - and who really wants that?

 

[007]

So, I am going to be in the minority here, but I used to run mine with throttles to the firewall quite regularly. I loved running WOT throttle on the river from lock to lock. That was 48-52mph on my Yamaha. However, my wife hates to go fast and now I have an inboard with a top speed of 38mph. Its amazing how fast 25 MPH feels now, lol!

Like everybody else said, too much $$, too much liability to make them faster. Things can go bad quickly at speed. Yamaha, I am sure feels, pretty comfortable where they are at. I don't feel that they will change that thought process any time soon. My AR230 drivetrain was almost bullet proof. Oil changes, spark plugs and one impeller refurbish over 7 years of ownership.

 

[swatski]

Step the hull is all that is needed.

http://www.boatingmag.com/stepped-hull-vs-v-hull-0

http://www.boats.com/reviews/stepped-hulls-vs-traditional-v-bottom-everything-you-need-to-know/#.WK3c-BLyvVo

View attachment 51783 View attachment 51784 View attachment 51786

Only one problem with that... we are talking jet boats with pump intakes at the bottom of the hull.

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[007]

Just a thought: Stepped hulls (especially double steps) are more prone to blowing out/breaking loose and spinning when turning hard at high speed in go fast boats, sometimes catastrophicly. Seems a dangerous recipe in a jet boat, which like to break loose anyway without some rudder mechanism in the water.

 

[Speedling]

Stepped hulls work because they create a pocket of air under the boat. Air has less friction than water.
The problem is that air now causes cavitation on a jet pump.
You could do a partial step from intakes outward.

 

[buckbuck]

My AR230 drivetrain was almost bullet proof. Oil changes, spark plugs and one impeller refurbish over 7 years of ownership.

@007 you forgot the total rebuild of the jet pump when that Mississippi River wing wall snuck up on you.

 

[007]

@007 you forgot the total rebuild of the jet pump when that Mississippi River wing wall snuck up on you.

Very true @buckbuck, but that was hardly Yamaha's fault. I'll have to check and see if the Army Corp. ever added that particular pile of submerged rocks to the Nav. Charts yet..

 

[RiverRat]

@007 you hit a wing dam? Ouch, I've seen many a lower unit torn off on those up by me. Never mine though... In fact last summer I watched a bass fisherman hit the very wing dam he stopped to fish as he took off up river.

 

[007]

@007 you hit a wing dam? Ouch, I've seen many a lower unit torn off on those up by me. Never mine though... In fact last summer I watched a bass fisherman hit the very wing dam he stopped to fish as he took off up river.

Apologies to the OP, I didn't mean to hijack the thread. @RiverRat , yes I did. Boated over the same submerged wing dam for 10 years. You were always safe in the middle 1/3 of the channel. Then the A.C.E. added a pile of rocks on the Missouri edge of the "safe" zone and didn't mark it. I hit that pile of rocks. Did some pretty good damage to the boat. There was a Yamaha that got it worse than me and over 50 other boats hit that same pile of rocks that summer according to my insurance adjuster.

 

[MIDLIFECRISIS]

My go-fast boat was a 19ft Champion fish and ski. It had a 200 Optimax setting on the back end of it and would do around 75, but with basically just the lower unit in the water it would get scary. I like the just cruising around now grew out of the fast stuff. Although I did just put a Mini Max tuner on my 2012 Cummins!

 

[Jaime]

Fastest family style jet boat I have been on was my 14' 1996 seadoo speedster with twin 720 cc engines (170 hp total). That thing would hit 60mph and boy it was a lot of fun. The problem was it was more like an oversized jet ski than a boat. I even took it on the ocean once on a calm day and felt like I should have pilots license with the amount of time I spent in the air. It sure would be great to get a 24 footer over 60 mph but I don't see that in the near term.

Bass boats with big outboards will blow by us all day long but they are light, flat; one trick ponies. The movement seems to be towards more room and features. If only we could get the executive from the dodge hellcat lineup to move over to yamaha jets boats.

They may in the future!!! I wonder if they put the supercharged motor it will hit 60 plus!!