in January, I bought a sea-doo spark (205kg/450lbs) the lightess on market I found, to replace a zodiak Futura mk2/20hp
Honda as a
dinghy for a cheoylee 43 sailboat... even If a bit more weight overall on the
davits, being more compact make it easy to handle overall for lifting and storing. now I'm building a crate for swim platform to nest it there underway. being more compact I can also hoist/crane it on foredeck cradle(powerboat style!)
and , hey I went from 20hp to 90hp in very similar weight/price and more compact...
I can still carry 4 jugs of 5 gallons of water, or three 5gallons along with the Portuguese water dog on one side!!!!grocery also no problem, unless you're stocking for transpac crossing!? the exoskel design is good for tying a lot of
gear of different sizes , 1-2 big waterproof duffle bag isbetter than a
storage bin...
more
maintenance and
corrosion issue than an outboard+deflatable dinghy!, also jet tends to suck a lot of water debris here in Tahitian
lagoon. as mentioned before, if you're towing at more than 8-13 knts you need to have a way to stop water intake into engine. as also mentioned before, towing very well with compact shape.
a bit of an issue to leave at shaddy dinghy
dock for shafe and psychological fear of theft, but as mentioned before maybe it's less of an issue a jet for , time will tell, I installed a secret
battery shutoff cause the key is easily bypassed with any magnet.
I did withhold togofor a jet for 7 years when all wife and
kids and dog where aboard, but now thatit'sme, girl friend and dog, it's does the job well..but might be an issue when you have six guests aboard(but I'm done with that)!!!.......I'm driving it like i was riding a dinghy,and, doesn't earn me any hate yet,still have friendly reaction.as mentionned before, it's allabout who/how you ride, anyway above 30knts you don't see much and sadly jet tend toattract a lot of throttle freak that don't understand what happening, beside freak speed!!
not really a more wet ride than the deflatable &20hp, when it blows 20knts you get wet anyhow !!when calm it's fast and dry!!...fuel comsuption maybe 2-3 more time than
Honda 20hp depending on average speed,but can stilldo more than 100k with a tank...obviously less stable than the futura (4mx2m) but way more swifter and sporty especially in surfing mode!!!
conclusion the last three months proved to be a love affair overall...but I guess it all depend on what you wanna do with it, some will like some will hate...I kept the
zodiac as a back up!!!
hopethis help...
edit:last Friday,doing some tow-in foiling session in Papeete pass, was amazing to be able to tow a buddy and surf the same wave with the jet, almost in the tube while filming him over shallow reef......don't try that at home with your deflatable rubber duck!!!??? it really depend what you wanna do and compromise accordingly!!!