Multi boat owner from Long Island looking for a bigger Jet Boat

[RumRunnerXT]

Hey Ladies and Gents, I'm a long time Motorboatin Son of a B looking for a bigger better jetboat.
I currently have owned a Sea Rayder F-16XR for the past 5years and trailer it occasionally and have a larger outboard powered boat that I keep in the water. Looking to put the fun back into my boating (wakeboarding, tubing, exploring) by consolidating both boats and am searching for a jetboat in the 19-22foot range to trailer.
I love the reliability of my Merc V6 Sport Jet and the simplicity of maintaining a single engine.
So older boats like these come to mind:
Polaris 2100
Sugar Sand 2000
Sea Doo Utopia
I also like the U-Shaped rear bench Layout on the newer boats like:
Yamaha (felt most spacious)
Vortex
Scarab
Does anyone know of newer boats that feature the V6 still? Are there single engine boats in the 20' range that I am missing, similiar to the vortex from chapparal?
Price range depends, probably up to around 25k, but always appreciate a good deal and don't need anything that new. My Sea Ray is 20years old and it still can put a grin on my face.
Thanks for having me, look forward to hearing some recommendations and opinions.

 

[Ronnie]

Many of the Seadoo challenger 20 and all x20 had mercury sport jet eninges and pumps with 200, 240 and 250 hp. I think the last x20 was made in 2004 or 2005 and recently saw one for sale on Craigslist for about $13k. Like the challengers not all came with mercury hardware some had two Rotax engines instead. Also I think the utopia cake I two sizes 18’ and 20’.

I can’t think of a modern jet boat with anything but Yamaha or Rotax engines just a steel hull fishing boat that I can’t recall the name of but do remember the 25’ version sells for over $50k. Please share you findings with us.

 

[Scottintexas]

I wouldn't let dual engines maintenance take you away from a larger Yamaha. I've had my MR-1's for 8 years and only have done plugs and oil.

There's never a guarantee you won't be the unfortunate person to have a spark plug freeze or cooling leak or ECU/injector issue but if you do you'll at least have the insurance of a 2nd engine to always get you out of trouble.

 

[farrelltravis]

I used to own a Sugar Sand. I, like you, wanted a bigger jet boat. Overall, you just can't go wrong with the Yamaha. That's my $0.02. Good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

[RumRunnerXT]

Thanks for all the replies so far. I realize I may have to go with the jetski engines. But would still prefer to go with a single vs double for cost of maintanace and simplicity but that's all just an idea right now. Never drove a jetboat with twins.
I had 2 Yamaha Waveblasters back in the day, ended up blowing the engines on both eventually, but still know that Yamaha is the most reliable in the PWC engine market.
I recall Sea Ray making a jetboat a year or two ago, but haven't been able to find what it's called. Does anyone have info on that, what engine was offered in it? I know it wasn't a V6, but can't remember who they teamed up with for that model.

 

[farrelltravis]

I understand your concern about having to do maintenance on two engines versus one engine. When I was searching for a larger jet boat that was a worry for me. However, after owning a twin engine jet boat for over 7 years now, it really isn't too much more trouble. Instead of 4 spark plugs, you change 8. With a Mercury V6 Jet Drive, you would have 6. So going from 6 to 8 isn't that bad either.

 

[Ronnie]

I recall searay making the announcement that they would be entering the jet boat market and they even showed off some prototypes but they cancelled the program before any were produced.

 

[Ilmmct]

@RumRunnerXT I think I have an important perspective for you. I have owned 2 Yamaha jetboats since 2011. I had never owned a boat before 2011 and was afraid of my kids/wife and me operating a people chopper (Prop), hence the prop-less decision. I am a mechanically challenged person. Because my boat lives on a lift and I hate trailering, I do my own maintenance. Two engines are nothing to maintain, oil change and plugs yearly and so well documented on this site that an idiot (me) can do it.

Two engines makes for a maneuvering and speed benefit w/a slight drawback on fuel consumption, but don’t ding these boats on the engine maintenance factor. I believe and have had two boats and 7-years experience that tells me it is an unwarranted concern.

 

[captras]

I wouldn't let dual engines maintenance take you away from a larger Yamaha. I've had my MR-1's for 8 years and only have done plugs and oil.

There's never a guarantee you won't be the unfortunate person to have a spark plug freeze or cooling leak or ECU/injector issue but if you do you'll at least have the insurance of a 2nd engine to always get you out of trouble.

8 years with no issues is impressive. Have you ever done, or had the valve clearance checked that they recommend at 200 hours? Seems from what I have read here, it is really not necessary until you start noticing performance issues!

 

[Neutron]

8 years with no issues is impressive. Have you ever done, or had the valve clearance checked that they recommend at 200 hours? Seems from what I have read here, it is really not necessary until you start noticing performance issues!

Out of the hundreds of yamaha motorcycle and jetski four stroke valve clearance checks i have performed in my career only a small handfull needed adjustments made.
They make a very low maintenance engine

 

[Ilmmct]

@captras if the valve clearance question was for me ... I don’t know what that is. I have very low hours on my 242 LS probably < 100hrs.

 

[captras]

@captras if the valve clearance question was for me ... I don’t know what that is. I have very low hours on my 242 LS probably < 100hrs.

Sorry. ..that was for Scottintexas

 

[Ilmmct]

@captras oh good ... would have had to do some googling and YouTube’s to figure what a valve clearance is.

 

[RumRunnerXT]

Thanks for the added insight on reliability. And yeah I guess working on 2 of the same exact engines at the same time probably doesn't add much time. After all half the time is usually spent getting the tools and cleaning up afterwards.