I have been looking at what I want for my next boat.

My ranger fishing boat simply isn't a 'family' boat in any sense.

I want:
18-19 foot Bow Rider
Multi-purpose; ski, wake board, swimming, cruising, etc
8 person max, should seat 6 comfortably
25ish mph cruising speed, max speed i don't really care much about


I've really been looking at sea-doo and Yamaha jet boats...they're intriguing although i know nothing about jet boats. The SeaDoo 180 Challenger's show up locally every now and then and really fit my eye. There's a 2005 with 46 hours at a dealer and they're asking 13.5, and they're only 25ish new.

The concerns i have are parts for the motor and a supercharged motor....longevity issues there? I like the safety of the jet drive and the shallow draft it allows. What kind of maintenance is required on a direct drive system such as seadoo's or Yamaha's?

Stern drives don't thrill me, but i think a good merc setup would probably fit what i'm trying to do. They just take up so much room and create a huge hole in the transom just begging for water intrusion and rotten transoms. Inboards tend to cost a ton used around here.

We don't do much work on the newer jetboats but, one of the marina members has a 2008 Sea Doo 4-stroke supercharged "jet ski" and it has been pretty good for him. He does have the maintenance done religiously at the Sea Doo dealer in town. He did find out when he first bought it that it requires premium fuel. Otherwise the engine would detonate and retard the timing quite a bit and wouldn't get full RPM's and run poorly when under load. I have not priced any parts for them, but I bet they are spendy.
Jets have a tendancy to suck up everything. Rope, life jackets, plastic bags, weeds and rocks to name a few. You have to be careful in shallow water as a jet can and will suck up sand and small rocks from a couple feet down on the bottom. Dinging the impeller up with rocks will kill performance way worse than a dinged up propeller on an outboard or sterndrive. There is also a "wear ring" in the pump surrounding the impeller. There is a clearance that needs to be kept, usually .005 in. This is adjusted with shims under the impeller.
On the handling issues, jets don't handle well when going slow especially idling. It's like driving a Frisbee, almost no directional control without some thrust. This is also what's dangerous about a jet. If you are running down the lake at WOT and have to chop the throttle to avoid hitting someone or something, you loose the steering because there is no thrust. Backing up can also be tricky. This is when you are likely to suck up larger rocks backing off the beach. The reverse thrust stirs up the bottom just underneath a giant "vacuum cleaner".
As far as sterndrives having "a big hole in the transom", so do jets. I see more jets leaking than regularly maintained sterndrives. The pump, shift, steering and trim cables (if applicable) penetrate the transom on jets, not to mention the cheap plastic drain plugs they use.
You should go demo a jet and see for yourself about the handling. Some people love it, some (like me) don't.

I do miss my jet boat I had a 1997 Seadoo Challenger for about 12years. was my first boat.
once you get used to how they work, a jet boat is infinitely more maneuverable at any speed then something with a prop in the water.
incredibly easy to maneuver in tight marinas and docks. the Seadoos have a deal built into the steering so when you go hard over with the
wheel it will give it some thrust. you can actually sit with the boat in neutral and make the boat spin in place 360degrees.
I got skilled enough to be able to move the boat sideways to dock it.
I cant speak to the Yamaha's but the seadoo's can generally do anything a jetski can do.
360degree flat spins at 60mph
60-0mph on a dime
180 change in direction of travel.
submarines (harder to do but they can)

the drawbacks are few;
less torque then a propped boat.
if you get something sucked into the pump your done till its out (not too much diff then a prop but harder to work on)
lakes with thick weeds beds can be a problem. I once got stuck while fishing when I drifted into a floating mass of milfoil.
the pump ran but as it blew out the weeds it just sucked more in (not much thrust off of weeds)

I do plan on getting another seadoo one of these days. i would LOVE to get one of the new speedsters

my old boat


180 at 60mph

90degree turn at 60

Thanks for the reviews guys!


I think it's something i'd like to look into...and if something presents itself when i'm looking to buy i'll probably grab it.