In the ocean

[Bullseye]

Iv'e been reading in the forum and unable to locate much discussion about the lack of trim on a jet boat vs. i/o. I'm in the market for a boat and like alot of the pros to a jet drive but concerned about the seaworthiness of the boats in rough water as most of my boating in on the great lakes. A lot of the models seem to have a very low bow and seems that it would be easy to stuff the bow in a wave. is this the case. Thanks for the input.

 

[bumpy]

When it gets rough, I throttle down and raise the bow to 'plow' the boat thru the waves. Not real fuel efficient but it calms the slamming (and my wife) and still gets us around. The boats are light, but that's part of what makes them so fun and fast!

 

[Evildwarf]

There are people who will disagree with the Dwarf on this one but these boats are not good in heavy chop. These are great light water boats but large swell and high wind would be a real challenge. There are lots of people who run these puppies in the ocean and on larger lakes and are happy with the Yamaha performance.
I worked in commercial fishing sterning a lobster boat when I was a younger man and I love the ocean but I'm a flat water boater now.
If I were looking for a boat for bigger water I would look for something with a deeper V hull and more weight....

 

[JDSCHMOO]

I've been in the ocean quite a bit with my 24', and gotta say the ocean has been more forgiving than a rough day on the northern Chesapeake Bay. Swells and waves tend to be spaced further apart in the ocean, making for a more forgiving ride. You can add trim tabs to give you even more capabilities in rougher water, quite a few on here have done , I've been kicking it around myself as I enjoy taking longer runs on my boat and have been caught in rougher water a few times on my way back home. Add some trim tabs and you'll have the best of both worlds!

 

[Gym]

I run exclusively in the ocean. What some are describing here would come under the catagory of "small craft warning" conditions. These conditions would apply to all craft within a certain length. I have been out in 5 foot swells and 3 foot chop. I'll take the swells any day but the boat will handle it better than your passengers. Don't forget, these boats are built for speed, performance and easy maintenance. They are a pretty good compromise af speed and comfort. If you want to go out fishing in most conditions this is not your boat. If, however you want to take your family out for a day on the water these boats are worthy of consideration. Check our member map. Possibly we have a member in your location who can give you better advise about boating on the Great Lakes and would likely take you for a ride for your own evaluation.

 

[Blazin14]

I boat in the upper cheasapake and the conditions can get bad on a windy day. These boats will make it thru these conditions but like others say if u want fish or hang out in it during these conditions this boat is not the right boat..

I would buy another yammy in a heart beat

 

[Bruce]

You can install trim tabs. They will not let you raise the bow but do allow you to push the bow down softening wave crossings with the trade off of more splash. https://jetboaters.net/threads/lectrotab-trim-tabs.71/

Many of us have crossed the Gulf Stream to Bimini. My experience is that our boats can handle rougher water than our bodies. There is discussion of rough water handling in https://jetboaters.net/threads/jetboaters-net-bimini-fling-june-19-to-25-2016.8074/

 

[MrMoose]

I agree with almost all that has been said up to this point. @Andy S would be a good member to chime in as well as @ClemsonTiger as they have recent experience owning both types of boats. These boats have low bows and many of the ski lockers will take on water (rain or wave) from the deck. Trim tabs will not help with the situation that concerns you. They'll only pull your bow down. The only way to raise the bow is to operate at sub-plane speed. In big waves, you're toast if you decelerate too fast and cause your bow to dip. @1948Isaac will have a good sense of what the boat can do in the ocean as he just returned from the Exumas trip. I would not be comfortable floating in this boat with seas above 2.5 feet; the bow is low. Planing in 3 foot seas is reasonable, but not enjoyable.
If I regularly boated on water that I expected to enjoy myself with 2+ foot waves, I would not buy any shallow ski/sport boat with an open bow unless it had a deep vee hull and was at least 25 feet. Taking mine across the gulf stream to Bimini is reasonable, but limited by wind/waves, in that you can't come and go anytime that you feel. Plans have to be open in order to pick the times where the seas are safe enough for this type of boat.

 

[MrMoose]

Looks like you got yourself a REAL fishing boat @ClemsonTiger ... congrats! Waiting for more pics and videos.

 

[Andy S]

Here is my opinion of the differences between my previous 2007 SX230 and my 2016 Cobalt R5 in open water conditions.

Specs
Yamaha - 23' long, 20 degrees dead rise, dry weight of 3170 lbs, carries 50 gallons of fuel, twin jet propulsion, and no trim ability.
Cobalt - 25' 8" long, 21 degrees dead rise, dry weight of 4880 lbs, carries 50 gallons of fuel, single I/O, and trim ability.

In sea conditions were the wave are spaced far enough apart were you are not running across the top of them, the Cobalt rarely slaps the water whereas the Yamaha almost constantly slapped the water. Driving through waves in the Cobalt is much smoother, more like a knife cutting through not a board slapping. No specs on this but my belief is that the hull on the Yamaha's bow area is flatter than the same area on the Cobalt, the Cobalt has a sharper bow area. To me this difference in bow hull area is the main reason for the smoother ride. The downside to the sharper bow area on my Cobalt was that it threw a lot of water vertically that came over the sides and into the cockpit whereas the Yamaha with its flatter bow threw the water out horizontally providing a drier ride.

The advantage of trim on the Cobalt is only a minimal advantage. Stating the obvious, at any speed I can raise and lower the bow with trim, I no longer have to adjust speed to raise the bow. The ability to trim didn't seem to make a difference on our 2016 Exuma trip, @1948Isaac Yamaha and my Cobalt were able to run at the same speeds in the same conditions.

In my opinion the bows on the Yamaha's from 2010-2014 are to low for rough water, there is a decent chance you will take a wave over the nose of the boat. The Yamaha's from 2007-2009 and 2015-2016 have a higher bow resulting in a much smaller chance of taking a wave over the bow.

 

[seadude]

In any sort of rough seas expect your Yammie to last for two waves, one to swamp it and the second to sink it!

 

[Andy S]

In any sort of rough seas expect your Yammie to last for two waves, one to swamp it and the second to sink it!

That comment is more related to the captain of the boat and not the make of the boat. On our recent Exuma trip, @1948Isaac and I experienced 4'-6' wave for about 4 hours total time (between going and returning) and he and his Yamaha handled it without issue. I've made 4 trips to Bimini, Bahamas in my '07 Yamaha and have had plenty of experience in rough water without issue.

 

[seadude]

I agree - should have said "in any sort of rough seas with your Yammie disabled..."