Would a Seadoo Jet Boat make a good Tender?

[ralexa6808]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1995-SeaDoo-Sportster-Original-Owner-Water-Ready-/191187893139

Was thinking of a dual purpose Tender, something for the Kids (20 something's) to play with and also use as a tender. The 12- 14 foot size is about 1,000 - 1,100 pounds, so I would need a substantial hoist.....but I think 1,100 pounds up on the rear of the fly bridge / aft roof might not be a good idea for weight reasons and stability having that much weight that high on the boat ( BTW it's a 58 YF).

Having a 10-12' R.I.B and a Jetski in the same setup would be about half the weight but twice the engines, almost twice the space....yada yada yada I could go on but you get the picture., Also I think with all that up there I might start looking like a sea going version of the Beverly Hillbillies.......

Oh and I don't want to put anything on the Foredeck.
So any thoughts, ideas, comments?

 

[scary]

I don't think you need to be concerned about the weight. The SeaDoo does not make a practical tender. Great toy for fun and water sports, not much for hauling groceries , garbage, or placing a shore line.. They also suck fuel. I had a Avon sport boat with a center consul it was not as fast or fun as personal watercraft and useless as a utility boat, I went back to a open Achilles rib, just more useful.

 

[Seabrooke]

How about one of these?

http://au.yachtworld.com/boats/2001/Avon-3.20--jet-2703799/Spain#.U4aQEvmSx8E

 

[capttonyf]

Boston Whaler made a jet boat for a few years in the late 1990's through I believe mid 2000's. It was called a Rage 15. If I remember correctly it was powered with a 115hp Mercury power head attached to a jet drive. I don't know if that's bigger than you wanted but we had one on an 80' Hatteras CPMY I used to work on. It was a fun little boat and would slide out and jump out of the water like a jet ski. The Hatteras was. Stretched 72' so might not be much different from what you have and it handled the weight up top just fine.

Tony

 

[saltshaker]

Boston Whaler made a jet boat for a few years in the late 1990's through I believe mid 2000's. It was called a Rage 15. If I remember correctly it was powered with a 115hp Mercury power head attached to a jet drive. I don't know if that's bigger than you wanted but we had one on an 80' Hatteras CPMY I used to work on. It was a fun little boat and would slide out and jump out of the water like a jet ski. The Hatteras was. Stretched 72' so might not be much different from what you have and it handled the weight up top just fine.

Tony

I almost bought one for my 65. I think it was around 1200lbs.

 

[krush]

The older 2stroke engines on the jet boats are a pain to work on. If you run in salt water, I'd stay even further away. Jet skis and salt water are just asking for trouble in the long run. Years ago I got two sea-doo jetboats with twin engines for FREE. Between the two I was able to get one running for a season (I'm in fresh water)....then something else broke. I keep all kinds of junk running, but they were just POS's that weren't worth my time. They had rotax jetski engines.

When I was being paid to turn wrenches, I worked on boats that had the mercury sport jet motors. They are better, but still a pain to crawl around and work on. Outboards are the easiest to maintain and repair for many reasons.

I have older 1990's Jetskis that I keep running. But they are 100% stock, we are in fresh water, and they are lower HP. I know the tricks to get them going after sitting awhile, and I also know how to rebuild the carburetors from the wonderful ethanol fuel.

Of course, this is merely my opinion.

 

[rsmith]

X2 on the jets. They just suck!! Pun intended. Like Krush I have and have had multiple jets over the years and they all are designed to blow up. And don't think they will get you through shallower water they suck seaweed sand and all kinds of crapulous off the bottom that jams the pump. And it seems the boats are worse. I had a friend bought a Seadoo explorer biggest piece of crap I've ever seen. I was constantly rescuing them with my 13 whaler.

 

[Freeebird]

Re: Would a Seadoo Jet Boat make a good Tender?t

Boston Whaler made a jet boat for a few years in the late 1990's through I believe mid 2000's. It was called a Rage 15. If I remember correctly it was powered with a 115hp Mercury power head attached to a jet drive. I don't know if that's bigger than you wanted but we had one on an 80' Hatteras CPMY I used to work on. It was a fun little boat and would slide out and jump out of the water like a jet ski. The Hatteras was. Stretched 72' so might not be much different from what you have and it handled the weight up top just fine.

Tony

I've got the first generation Rage 14 that's powered by a Yamaha 650 Waverunner engine. They only offered that power in the first year of production which was 1992. It's a great little boat that I originally bought as a tender for my 58. It's very stable and tops out about 30MPH.

The only Mercury powered version was in the later models of the Rage 15, and they were 175HP. The only other engine options in between were OMC's which I would stay away from based on what I've heard. That 175 Merc version would be fun I'm sure as I had one in a 16' SeaRayder. That boat would run low 50's and was a hoot!

 

[saltshaker]

X2 on the jets. They just suck!! Pun intended. Like Krush I have and have had multiple jets over the years and they all are designed to blow up. And don't think they will get you through shallower water they suck seaweed sand and all kinds of crapulous off the bottom that jams the pump. And it seems the boats are worse. I had a friend bought a Seadoo explorer biggest piece of crap I've ever seen. I was constantly rescuing them with my 13 whaler.

My dock neighbor has a rib with a jet drive. Mechanic is ther often. He said those jet boats are what put his kids through college.

 

[krush]

The actual jet pump causes very little problems (in fresh water). We've been getting hydrilla lately (it comes and goes in phases year to year) and this is PITA with jetskis. The only way to clear it is to swim under and pull it out. With a boat, just kick it in reverse.

Newer engines are all EFI and all that jazz. Probably much better reliability. However, I don't see that in salt water. The things just aren't designed to be in salt water, IMHO.

 

[Dan Mapes]

If it's a two stroke jet boat, one ride at off plane will give you enough howl to convince you to stay away.
Whenever they are around we look the other way and hope they move on quickly.
Consider an aluminum AB at that size.

 

[ralexa6808]

Thanks all for the responses.......wasn't sure, now I am, going to get a R.I.B. and call it a day.

 

[rsmith]

Stock up on Viagra. RIB's always have limp tubes. IMHO the 13 whaler is the best tender for its size.

 

[thoward]

Thanks all for the responses.......wasn't sure, now I am, going to get a R.I.B. and call it a day.

It depends on your use.

We had a 13 Whaler with a 25hp for a tender. Very versatile boat, the 15' is big enough to pull a tube/ski. You can also fish and dive with out worry of a puncture.

Aluminum RIB with a Yamaha is a good combination too. If you get one with enough deadrise, it will be a smoother ride than the Whaler. I have a 11' Aquapro that I am pretty happy with. They are a little pricy though....

 

[ralexa6808]

Thanks again Everyone for the informative responses, it's appreciated.

 

[sandspur1966]

I have a 16 Nautica RIB as a tender with has the Mercury Sport Jet 175. Which is essentially the mercury 2.4 bridgeport powerhead (Which they have tuned from 150 hp all the way to 250 HP) at different times.

It is tied to a very simple reduction gear and jet pump. She lives in salt water and I use the hell out of it and have for 4 seasons with only seasonal maintenance.

have heard tons of bad about jet tenders but haven't experienced it myself.