On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 17:52:27 -0700, Justin Van Dyken
wrote:

On Jul 4, 7:25 pm, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:58:54 -0700,Justin Van Dyken

wrote:
Does anyone have some light to shine on this subject? Any
experiances? They would be much appreciated.

I've never owned a jet, but those that I have seen have been damned
impressive in terms of weight to power ratio. In terms of fishing,
there are jet boats what will go places that a prop boat won't go even
on trolling motor. And they will perform the same in 6 inches of
water as they will in 120 feet.

We have several jet boat owners here - they will chime in eventually.

For my money, jets are marginally more capable than prop boats in
certian conditions. Consider this - there are several jet boat
ferries operating in commercial service here and in Europe.

That's got to say something for them

Justin Van Dyken wrote:

Short Wave,

I agree completely with what you said. But here is where I have
become conflicted. I have a sea doo sportser with a Rotax 720 that
makes 85hp. It makes good speed and power in a small 14.4 foot
boat. But I have to admit, it feels like it is about 20-30 percent
underpowered, which is why I am trying to beef it up now.

I have a friend with a outboard 75hp and he can kill me in speed and
acceleration(his boat is max on the HP anymore and he would sink from
the stern. However, I have another friend who has a sea doo
speedster. EXACT same boat "hull" as mine, BUT with twin 720cc
putting out 170hp in a 14.5 foot boat, and it is insane on power and
speed. I am inclined to believe that you can put more overall HP
into a jet boat for reasons that I admit I havent figured out. Just
my hypothesis.

I'm not familiar with jets, but just guessing, I would imagine that
it's not so much the engine - 85 hp is a lot for 14 1/2 feet.

I suspect that there is something going on in the jet system - perhaps
a bad impeller or a clogged intake screen - something along those
lines. You might not be able to out hole shot a prop, but
accelleration when rolling and top end should eat your friend's boat
alive.

I'd take a look at upgrading the jet or seeing if there is something
screwy with the jet before I went tearing into the engine or bolting
on something.