Time for bigger engine?

[haknslash]

That poor WaveRaider

I know right?! I’d love to take that little thing off their hands instead of see someone just abuse it for the hell of it.

 

[Julian]

I would think it would make a ton of sense for the outboard engine guys and the ski/boat guys to get together and build one line of engines! But my guess is they are two separate groups and want to keep it that way.

Once you take the transmission out of the outboard I'm sure you could shrink its form factor to fit in a boat for a jet engine. But in the 27' plus size boats...you'd be better off with just a standard outboard, or one of the hidden outboards.

Running 2 SVHO gas guzzlers wasn't what I was expecting they would do on the 27' boat. I had hoped they would put in a much bigger more powerful single engine mated to a much larger pump (or two bigger engines). Oh well, they took the easy path of modifying what they already had.....which is why they are saying this will be a limited production run (limited market). I'm like @swatski - not sure what that market is though as it clearly isn't wakesports!

 

[the MfM]

If these jet engine packages are so inexpensive then I’d think a :cheap: rotax or 1.8 powered outboard would be pretty popular.

 

[biffdotorg]

The 150-200hp Yamaha four stroke is so quiet and fuel efficient, they will never mess with it. Jet outboards are only for river boats, or places that need that shallow draft. A jet will never be as efficient as a prop.

Compared to our 242 at the lake with twin 180hp jets, the our friends 23' TriToon with with Yamaha 150 is way more efficient. It hardly gets above 32mph, but can push 13-15 people around for days on a tank of fuel. And is a fraction of the noise. Now max the hp out on that boat with a a single 250 Yamaha, and you get much better performance than the 150 as well. With still better economy and noise.

Cost of the engine is a side benefit for the MFG.

 

[Ancient canoe]

Beyond whatever their plans for the 27' market are, they need to compete with the 300hp engines in the BRP powered boats. My thoughts were twin SVHOs would be on the horizon, but I never realized how thirsty they are and really not viable in a runabout/ski boat platform. Does anyone know how those rotax engines are on gas?

 

[OrangeTJ]

When you are selling a $130,000 boat, I’m thinking that “cheap” shouldn’t be the primary benefit of the engine package. Smooth, efficient, quiet, powerful is what buyers are looking for.

 

[Beachbummer]

Agreed for $40,000 you can get a 300hp+ outboard. I wonder how one so equipped would perform in terms of max speed.