Really good thread, interesting to read everyone thoughts.
If you have the money to afford a better boat, the Chaparral is no doubt a better purchase than a Yamaha and here is why:
Warranty : Standard Chaparral is 3yrs and you can have @ boat show a 5yrs warranty. I think Yamaha is 1 yr.
Power : Rotax offers more power than Yamaha, just look at the ECI labels on the engine & you will see the difference. At cruising speed BoatTest.com give a significant advantage to Rotax powepack, and at WOT Rotax powepack will give you the top speed to make you King of the lake .
Exhaust Emission : Rotax engines are CARB 4 Star certified engines and use catalytic converter exhaust post-treatment. If you plan to do close proximity water sport such as wake surfing, you should definitely consider a Rotax powerpack as they have up to 5 times less CO emissions at exhaust outlet. No wonder all Wake surf boat have to follow CARB 4 Stars, Yamaha JetBoat are registered as PWC and are playing the PWC emission credit game.
Maintenace : Rotax engine, which have been around since 2001, with more than 500000 engines produced. Are using closed loop cooling, standard automotive technology. Other than the supercharger that needs to be checked at 200hrs, the rest is ... oil change only. Yamaha also have a 200hrs valvetrain adjustment.
Fit & Finish : You can't compare a Yamaha finish to a Chaparral Vortex. Just look at Chaparral stainless steel hardware and the general fabrication.
Have a look at Chaparral Vortex Boats Challenge Seat construction video. They may only talk about seat construction ... but they have the same mind set for the rest of the boat construction, which is 100% quality. On the other side Yamaha are building boat like a PWC, where high volume cost saving is a very important aspect of development, just like Sea-Doo boats.
Rough water Handling :Chaparral hull construction, life time hull warranty compared to 1yr for Yamaha. For fun do the hull flex test, go at a boat show and push on the side of a Yamaha then go at Chaparral booth and do the same on a Vortex. No wonder a Chaparral is about 500lbs heavier than a Yamaha for a comparable vessel. That difference will be significantly felt in rough water conditions. Chaparral going through rough chop handling like a real boat while Yamaha will be bouncing around, not better than a Sea-Doo boat (hold on).
Low Speed Handling : We all know that Yamaha gate design is extremely deficient in regards of low speed Maneuverability, no wonder they try to band aid it using a ruder (Articulating Keel). The problem with that Yamaha ruder is that it significantly impede the turning radius at higher speed (Tighten the hull), just watch Chaparral Vortex Boats Challenge Cornering Agility video. Chaparral uses Rotax patented lateral Thrust gate design, amazing low speed handling and super tight cornering, no matter how much load you have in the boat. This is with out mentioning the possibility to use on Chaparral Rotax iST system, 2016 NMMA JetBoat award winner.
A game changing innovation that will make your jet boat handle like it has bow thrusters.
If you look for a good quality boat, Chaparral is for you and no doubt worth the money.
