Video Description of Yamaha's Articulating Keel

[txav8r]

My fear is that they remove the fun factor to increase handling stability. If you cut the slide, it will turn MUCH slower at speed. That is one of the traits of these boats that is desired.

 

[Williamsone46]

My fear is that they remove the fun factor to increase handling stability. If you cut the slide, it will turn MUCH slower at speed. That is one of the traits of these boats that is desired.

I was never been able to get my 212x to break loose and slide, and I don't recall anyone with a 10' and newer design saying they have. Have you Mel?

 

[davel501]

My 242 turns hard then catches an edge and takes off like a bat out of hell. Never pushed it hard enough to get it to break loose.

 

[maboat]

Describe feedback @maboat , I see feedback as resistance. The resistance is a byproduct that I personally would eliminate if I could...it is pressure on the wheel for a period of time that wears on you. I am not certain as to whether the worm drive gearing or the rack and pinion gearing would be more or less, but I was assuming that what we had, with the inherent pressure when countering waves/wind, would be less with rack and pinion...maybe not?

FEEDBACK is when external forces (from waves, wind, or struck objects) FEED that force BACK to your hands at the wheel.

In cars, rack-and-pinion steering feedback is what gives the driver more "feel" of the road. It also means that hitting a pot-hole gives you more of a jolt back into your hands on the wheel. Worm gearing has less feedback so you have less "feel" of the road, but you also have less jolt when hitting a pot-hole.

My guess is Yamaha wants the new rudder system to naturally "return to center" and track straight if there is no input from the steering wheel. The rack-and-pinion gearing will mean that feedback from the rudder will push the wheel back toward center. Therefore, you will have to hold the wheel more in turns. My guess it that's why they changed the gear ratio so there are more turns now. The lower gearing will somewhat offset the extra force fed back from the water pushing against the rudder.

 

[MikeyL]

FEEDBACK is when external forces (from waves, wind, or struck objects) feed that force back to your hands at the wheel ....
... My guess is Yamaha wants the new rudder system to naturally "return to center" and track straight if there is no input from the steering wheel. The rack-and-pinion gearing will mean that feedback from the rudder will push the wheel back toward center. Therefore, you will have to hold the wheel more in turns. My guess it that's why the changed the gear ratio so there are more turns now. The lower gearing will somewhat offset the extra force fed back from the water pushing against the rudder.

EXCELLENT points. Thanks for good feedback (and some education as well). Best Wishes, Mikey Lulejian -Lake Oconee, GA

 

[txav8r]

So maybe a good way to reduce the feedback, is to change the gear on the worm drive and leave the rest alone!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

My 242 turns hard then catches an edge and takes off like a bat out of hell. Never pushed it hard enough to get it to break loose.

Remember you have the ultimate steering on your boat, depending on how you have it set, the steering will carve hard turns and prevent the hull from sliding , it also brings the wheel back to center , and keeps turning even if the throttles are pulled back during a turn.
With those fins deployed all the way down your boat should carve like it's on rails. I also get a blast out of that feature with my steering added to my skies. I also find it interesting that a lot of my p w c jet steering does not extend below the bottom of the hull.
I don't know how the keel is going to effect the handling but I believe it will require a lot more input to get the boat to turn fast or sharply, that is most likely why they installed the RATHER LARGE rudder.
I seriously doubt that adding another steering systems to this boat in conjunction with the rudder would be advantageous. Without it perhaps.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

This is not the first time a jet manufacturer added steering. I have a box full of old O P A S steering parts that people removed from their sea doo skies.
First they made the fins deploy off power, very elaborate system, worked off water pressure from the pump, Also required hull modifications at the factory to install it.
Unfortunately the fins kept deploying unintentionally in rough conditions so people removed them.
Next they had the fins stay in one place to avoid the issues with pump loading and unloading in chop, it was better but they had a habit of slinging people off the ski at high speed as they would over steer.
I believe they eventually abandoned the idea entirely, now they moved to having brakes on the skies , I personally would rather be able to steer better than stop faster. But that's just me.

 

[davel501]

This is not the first time a jet manufacturer added steering. I have a box full of old O P A S steering parts that people removed from their sea doo skies.
First they made the fins deploy off power, very elaborate system, worked off water pressure from the pump, Also required hull modifications at the factory to install it.
Unfortunately the fins kept deploying unintentionally in rough conditions so people removed them.
Next they had the fins stay in one place to avoid the issues with pump loading and unloading in chop, it was better but they had a habit of slinging people off the ski at high speed as they would over steer.
I believe they eventually abandoned the idea entirely, now they moved to having brakes on the skies , I personally would rather be able to steer better than stop faster. But that's just me.

My '02 GTI LE has the elaborate OPAS system. It works pretty well but sure slams on the brakes when you chop the power.

My earlier question was about replacing the rudder with the Cobras or TVs. It probably would have to be a slightly different setup but the spring loading would prevent a ton of potential damage to the hull.

 

[txav8r]

I was never been able to get my 212x to break loose and slide, and I don't recall anyone with a 10' and newer design saying they have. Have you Mel?

I think maybe we are just getting snagged in wording, it does carve hard and at speed, if you roll the turn in fast, it will keep up with that wheel turn and yes, eventually, it slides into a kind I log bat stop, and if you leave the power in it, it makes a 180 and then will drive right back out if you let go of the wheel. If you keep the wheel into the turn, it just gets in the washing machine.

 

[B_Mutter]

Call this whatever you want, a rudder, articulating keel, whatever. You need to drive this boat!!! Yamaha did a great job with this hull and steering system. Trust me they have driven the thing backwards into beaches, rocks, etc. They take these boats to flight school when they are testing them! Yes Wil makes a great product and it works awesome! We are a proud supporter of Jet Boat Pilot. But this boat is different. I can't see where it needs anything added to it. I docked the boat in one shot and better than our second Yamaha Demo Driver. Knowing that the wheel has more turns to it you can still be aggressive with the boat you just can do the grab the bottom of the wheel and spin. It takes one extra rev. The keel design make the boat handles chop better and the straight line tracking is improved for sure. You can slow right down from wide open to idle and the boat doesn't spin.

There are only 2 of us on this thread that have driven this thing and I think we both agree that the new 24's are a MUST DRIVE! You can hem and haw about what they did and how it's just a rudder... it's so much more!!

 

[maboat]

Im not saying its a bad thing. I believe it has improved handling even though I have not driven one

My objection is all the bs hype like its some fantastic new invention. No new tech here. Just old tech applied to a boat that Yamaha previously touted how it wasn't needed. Now they are extolling the virtues of this great new idea

 

[Williamsone46]

There are only 2 of us on this thread that have driven this thing and I think we both agree that the new 24's are a MUST DRIVE! You can hem and haw about what they did and how it's just a rudder... it's so much more!!

x1000

 

[Williamsone46]

My objection is all the bs hype like its some fantastic new invention. No new tech here. Just old tech applied to a boat that Yamaha previously touted how it wasn't needed. Now they are extolling the virtues of this great new idea

No one said they reinvented the wheel here, just found a new application for it and put their own spin on it.

Also maybe they added the keel to improve tracking, but once they did they found the need to improve steering. So they added the articulating keel. Just because they added an articulating keel to the 2015 24' models doesn't mean it was needed on the previous models. Just a thought.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

That's what innovation is all about. Your customer tells you what they like and don't like and you as a manufacturer have a responsibility to respond and if you don't, someone else will. The customer and their needs collectively guided Yamaha in this decision to add more intuative control at slow speed.