Yamaha jet boats?
 

Anyone have any input on how good these are? Only ever owned a stern drive. My wife is liking a Yamaha 242 limited S. Twin jet drives, I have no experience with jet drives other than jet skis, just wondering how these stack up in terms of maintenance, reliability and performance. It would be a fresh water boat.

I have a Seadoo jet boat and Yamaha will be my next upgrade. Jets are great, I will not go back to prop boats. Yamaha is known for their reliability and low maintenance, I honestly always hear great things about Yamaha boats and they are very reasonably priced.

I’m glad, with all the paycuts, downgrades and furloughs, we still have threads about pilots wondering which toys to buy. It shows hope for the future, not to mention solid financial planning.

Boats hold their value. My salesman assured me. I’m also heavily invested in campers and planes.

It’s fine so long as it’s named “Last Hurrah.”

Anyone put out the old canard about how "If it flies, floats, or fornicates...." yet?

Because it's 100% true. Pretty sure it was Plato or Socrates who said it. Maybe M. Twain.

Planes are doing very well. A friend just sold a 172 for 120,000. He paid 35,000 and had another 35,000 in a engine overhaul and panel upgrade. Very few small aircraft have depreciated the last 10 years.
On the boat subject if the primary purpose is family water sports a 2 to 4 year old inboard is the best option. Very safe with the prop position and will throw the wakes you want for skiing, wakeboarding and surfing. Resale will be very strong if you buy a lightly used one.

Something sailing and I agree 100% on.

I used to own a Sea Ray 185 with a wakeboard tower. It was a poor mans ski boat but it was good bang for the buck. Sold it only because I was moving to a saltwater locale.

Just got back from 4 hours of skiing and wake boarding. I have a 2018 Yamaha 242 LS E series boat and really love it. Yamaha Jet Boats are not high end boats - more middle of the road, but as far as value for your dollar they are tough to beat. Tons of storage, great acceleration, solid audio and navigation, but you will be limited to about 50 MPH top end. The fastest I ever "need" to go is 34 MPH for slalom water-skiing and a lot slower for other water sports.

Pros of Jet Boats in general:
No propeller so its very safe for water sports and swimming/socializing at the back end of the boat.
Great shallow water capability.
Simplicity. No gearbox, just a straight shaft coming out of the engine driving the impellers.

Cons of Jet boats:
Very poor low speed handling, especially around the dock. Reverse is pretty much a request - if your lucky it will think about slowly backing up. There are a few really popular aftermarket products that can help somewhat in this regard but it still a challenge in strong currents and windy conditions.
Jet boats are pretty loud at cruising speeds.
You can "suck" up sea weed and even a tow rope if you are not careful - pretty much the same risks with a prop boat.

The 242 is a great all around boat but will never be as good as a dedicated ski boat for water-skiing or a wake boat for wake surfing. You can wake surf, wake board and water ski on it, but like I said - not as good as a specialized boat at any one sport.

This website is invaluable for jet boat knowledge and has some really knowledgeable super smart folks posting about everything you could ever want to know: https://jetboaters.net/

It is currently a sellers market and many dealers are sold out.

Good Luck - feel free to PM with any specific questions.

Scoop

Thanks to all for the input