Anyone have any experience with these?

Damn they look good...but are they worth the money?  Build quality?  Performance?

I have Yamaha jet skis.   My kids have beaten the crap out of them.  They crashed them together, had the bodies rebuilt.  They have sunk, forgot to put in the drain plug.   Smashed the intake out of both them more then once.  Sucked up more ropes then I can count.

ETC, ETC.....

They still run like a champ.

They have the 1812 cc engine in them.

We test drove a couple of the jet boats... unimpressed unless you just want to speed around the lake.

Control at low speeds is a serious issue.  The boat wants to spin in a circle. The forums on these boats all discuss ways to minimize and improve this problem... but even with the best fixes..it doesn't come closed to handling like a normal boat.

This is good to hear.  Since I'm not interested in JetSki's at all, I completely forget that Yamaha has a lot of experience in that realm.

Agreed, slow speed handling is a well known issue for jet boats in general.  If I do get one, it would essentially be a cruising/wake board/ski/tube boat exclusively.  I'm just drawn to the Yamaha's for their aesthetics mostly...so assuming they're solid/reliable vessel's that would be my preference.

I've only been on one jet powered boat(Seadoo something or other), I didn't drive, and the owner was highly experienced with it, so I didn't really see any issues.  We had a probably 2-3 mile 'slow no wake' run through a high river before we got to the lake where we could open it up and run around.  This was before I was really interested in jet boats at all so I didn't pay attention or ask questions like I should have.

I only have experience with the first gen 21 and 23 footers, like the SX210 and 230 etc. I didn't like the high revving 1000cc engines. I see the newer boats have larger engines hopefully they don't scream at 10,000+RPM.

I also thought the marine grade vinyl was a little thin compared to other brands of boats. I worked at a boat dealership once upon a time. Actually got the owner to drop the Yamaha line in favor of some lower end conventional boats with 4.3l mercs and the cheaper merc drives.

Idle speed handling was something you have to get used to. But being twin engines once you get the hang of it you can really maneuver them well, but it takes a lot of practice which I got.

Also, it didn't happen often, if something got tangled in the impeller it was a real pain in the ass to get out. I always hated  sticking my arm down in the impeller housing  trying to feel my way around to see what was casing the issue. I have some phobia about having my hand ground into hamburger.

I've never had a out-drive get clogged with rope or trash and I used to boat a lot.

Summary....They are fun, but I'd buy a traditional inboard outboard if it was me for long term ownership.

We don't service them so my experience is minimal. Build quality and low speed handling aside,

the biggest issues I see are dead batteries, stale gas and ropes, rocks, plastic bags and bikini tops

wrapped up in the impeller.

Rocks are obviously bad for the impeller....but would sucking up a rope/bag cause enough damage to require impeller replacement?  Or do you just have to deal with getting the damn thing out of there and you're G2G?  Can impellers be worked like props?  My intuition says no...but I have no idea.

I'm really on the fence about what type of boat to get.  I would love to get a dedicated 'fun' boat for taking the family out, and a separate dedicated fishing boat for myself.  However, that's prohibitively expensive...unless I buy quite old examples of each, and that comes with it's own set of challenges.

I feel like fish/ski type boats are just too restrictive...either with comfort and/or capacity for cruising with the family OR not enough storage/small live well/ short rod locker when it comes to fishing.  I can't really seem to find a good mesh between the two.  I have found a few new that would probably work, but again, they're $35k+.  I would like to be in the $15k range to be comfortable...and $12k would be more ideal.

Any suggestions on manufacturers to look for?  I just found a Yamaha on craigslist(it's since been sold) and they catch my eye every time.  I don't think I would personally be all that happy with one, and trying to fish out of one would be frustrating at best.

Ropes and such don't damage the impeller but anything wrapped up in the impeller

will make it cavitate and produce little to no thrust. A small plastic shopping bag is all

it takes. Rocks on the other hand will destroy an impeller and it's associated wear ring.

The wear ring is inside the jet pump and is easily replaced if damaged or worn out.

ETA -- I'm not a jet boat fan at all. Outboards for the win! I don't think you will find

any suitable "do all" boat for your needs. Too hard to blend fishing with pleasure as

neither compliment the other.

I was afraid you would say this.

I doubt I will ever own a jet boat...but there's just something about those Yamaha's that catch my eye.  Thanks for your input!

I'm guessing I'll end up with a fishing boat with a large-ish outboard.  Something we can make work to tube on.

My parents used to have an SX230 and a 3seater wave runner.  They had them at their lake house for years and we loved them.  They got a lot of use and where low maintenance and great performers.  One of the nice things for them was they were very easy to winterize.

Here are my thoughts based on use over the years:

Pros:
Easy to drive
Highly maneuverable
Fast
Easy maintenance and winterization
Yamaha makes good stuff
Very safe with massive low swim decks so they are great and easy to get in and out of the water
Get on plane fast
Handle rough water well

Cons:
Not the best wake makers for boarding, but the newer models are supposed to have addressed this (I had a Moomba Wakeboat and it was day and night)
The engines run at high RPMs, when the canopy is up noise is high and can get annoying
Sensitive to speed changes easy, making towing a challenge - cruse control fixes this

For the price, they are great boats.  But having owned a Wakeboat, if that is the performance you want there is no substitute for a real inboard.  Based on what you are talking about an outboard or a simple IO would be better for you.