New Yamaha AR230 Wakeboard boat.....

Just wondering if anyone has ridden behind the new Yamaha AR230 wakeboard boat or any opinions on it. I am thinking it might be a fun boat with a lot of weight in it. Just curious about the wake. Any help would be great.

If you haveant seen the boat check it out:
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/products/unitinfo.asp?lid=4&lc=sbt&cid=10&mid=352

Three Observations:

1) Not a wakeboard boat

2) Not a good wake...ever

3) Not good for anything

Seriously, if you are serious about wakeboarding and not jet boats, you can do alot better than that for $32,000

Boy, throw a tower and some hip new graphics on anything and I guess you can call it a "wakeboard boat"! Shame on you Yamaha for trying to pass this off as a "Wakeboard" boat.....I did not see one comment on their link about wake size, shape, etc.....
RST

doesnt it have jet pumps, if so then it is good for something, if the boat runs you over you dont look like ground beef. I know this is a wakeboard specific site (everyone here is a hard core boarder ) but the boat may be good for just cruising around and pulling boarders but like the others have said the wake will surely suc , just cant beat an old fashoined prop i guess??

I've been pulled with a yamaha jet boat. The boat is lighter(smaller wake) and you can steer the boat from the end of the rope.

I have the opportunity to demo one for free so, I thought if I put enough weight in it, the wake may not be so bad. And the fact that it is a 23 ft boat, it is not a typical jet boat, more of a sport boat. Just looking for opinions...

Check it out and let us know. Who knows, it may be great. Seems like a jet might make less prop wash or whitewater to keep a wake cleaner. Maybe wrong about this though.

Don't know a lot about jets. I hear they are real gas guzzlaz... That boat has a 50 gal tank.

Actually, the jet makes the wake worse. The table is all washed out. I do believe that it has two jets which will make it even worse. You will also be able to pull it all over the place. Demo and see for yourself.

Any ideas if weight in the front and rear of this boat will help the wake washing out problem? I am thinking if I hold the boat in the water it might?

BTW, if the boat runs you over under power, I bet it would rip the flesh right off your body. I have heard they can pick up a rock off the bottom of the lake up to 6' deep, and you should not give a jet ski or boat full throtle in shallow water.

I've herd that they like to suck up ropes

I have used a seadoo jetboat for a few years. 220 hp 17' The wake was small. very hard to control speed while towing anyone except groms. You are always off and on the gas. Suck up ropes more than once.

I will say that they are fun. You can take them alot more places with less worries about prop damage. We had fun with our but that was then.

Looks like a cool boat though.

I ran behind a jetboat last summer for one run. I could do 180's and that's it. The wake was a ripple and I was jumping through a water shower each time I crossed the wake. I, also could steer the thing from the end of the wake. Only fun if you just want to get wet.

My disclaimer: I've never ridden behind that particular boat and all boats are diff.. It's alot bigger than the one I rode behind. My suggestion is to go ride behind it and post here a let us know what it was like.

(Message edited by oshensurfer on April 18, 2004)

Rode behind the boat ( AR230) in question last weekend.

Wake was not that bad, yes the table was a little washed out but not like what I expected.

Very usable wake and we only had two people on board. With a little weight this boat could be hot. Plus no prop to worry about. 18 inches of draft standing still and only about 8 inches of draft on plane.

Fit and finsh was lacking a bit but all in all not a bad boat.

Hardest thing to get used to was the slow speed steering. Very different than anything else I have ever driven. I finally left the steering wheel alone and turned just using the twin engines.

I'll be going out again and will post some photos of the wake so everyone can be the judge.

Here are some photos of the boat from that day....

http://www.boatphotographer.com/AR230/index.htm

Oliver,

I am very interested in what you think of the AR230. Any wake pics our thoughts would be great. How was the boats power? Will it have any power issues with weight added?

Josh,

Power did not seem to be a problem. The boat has 280 hp. I'm a pretty big guy about 200 lbs, 6 ft and the boat pulled me up better than most I/O drives. Now of course this is no Mastercraft or the like but its got some real items to look at like a price tag of only $32k out the door brand new!

I should be going out again this Friday and will post some pics of the wake. I got my fat sacs installed and will try to get some before and after shots.

But like I said I was quite suprised and very happy with the boat stock.

Here are some shots of the new WakeDesigns board racks I mounted this weekend.

Oliver, I can't speak for everyone, but I'd strongly recommend looking at comparably priced alternatives. Unless you are absolutely sold on the advantages you mentioned (i.e., relative safety vs. prop boats and shallow draft), I think you will QUICKLY progress beyond the capabilities of that boat. It may not be brand new, but for the same price, you can find an inboard that will serve your needs for many years to come. Just something to think about.

Hmmmm...if you already mounted racks, does that mean you already bought it? (If so...congrats on the new boat.)

Yes I already bought it and love it so far.

I agree with you on many levels but you have to understand I'm not just a wakeboarder.

While I love wakeboarding and do it almost every weekend during the summer I also use the boat for just plain old boating. Lake Powell, Lake Mohave, the Colorado river at Yuma Arizona and even the ocean sometimes. I thought long and hard about getting a boat just for wakeboarding but wanted a multi tasking boat. I've seen so many torn up props over the years the jet boat idea really caught my eye. Plus I love the "water patio" on the stern of the new Yamahas and then the price was right for a brand new boat.

If anyone just wants to wakeboard and would not want his abilities limited by his boat then this is not the boat to get. The AR230 Yamaha is not a profesional wakeboarding boat. It's a boat with a wakeboarding tower installed just like any SeaRay or a Maxum can have.

But it produces a much better wake than I every expected. There is no jet water shower everytime you cross the wake, the table is not all washed out and the horse power is very impressive.

This is not the same type of Yamaha jet boat we have all seen on the lakes the last few years, this is a new and much better design. The hull has a real boat shape to it and with 19 degrees of dead rise handles the chop with little of no pounding or bounce so common with boats with flater bottoms. Look at the photo I posted above with the X 9 sitting beside my boat, look how much more angle there is to the bow, look how much bigger my boat is, look at how much more freeboard my boat has. You can see the X 9 was made to be a wakeboarding and waterski boat by design.

These new Yamaha boats "track" through the water as you turn them like any other normal boat ,most older jet boats turned like personal water craft, they spin out very easy and produce little or no wake.

I hope no one thinks I'm trying to compare this $32k Yamaha with a $50k Mastercraft they are just not in the same league.

But it's still a good boat for the money and a much better contender for wakeboarding than any other jet boat out there.

In a perfect world I would need 3 boats.

1 for wakeboarding like a Mastercraft.
1 for boating, exploring and floating around.
1 for the ocean like a 30 ft Sea Ray

But hey I'm not that rich......yet

I wasn't trying to to be sarcastic or anything when I said "congratulations." If the boat fits your needs, that's all that matters.

Sounds like with your usage it's the right boat. For us that 99% of our time in a boat is wakeboarding the world-class wakeboats are right, but if that's not a huge usage than it looks like you got a really fun new toy that’s perfect!

Oliver,

Did you ever get those wake pictures? I am very interested in seeing what it looks like.

Josh,

Sorry it took so long but here you go.

This is with 2 people on board and NO fat sacks. Which I have now added and they made the wake about a 1/2 to a foot bigger.

For my level of wakeboarding this is more than enough wake if fact right now I don't use the fat sacks. Some of my friends that are better wakeboarders use them because they want more air.

I really love this boat. Ask me any other questions you may have.

Sorry the attachment feature was not working when I tryed to post these.

http://www.boatphotographer.com/wake/wake1.jpg

http://www.boatphotographer.com/wake/wake2.jpg

http://www.boatphotographer.com/wake/wake3.jpg

It's working now.....