Does this still qualify as a jetski is it a mini-boat? The new Yamaha Waverunner takes the personal watercraft rulebook and rips it up
At just a shade short of 13ft with a beam of 5ft 7in, this first ever crossover between a Yamaha Waverunner personal watercraft and a regular sportsboat looks like a superbly versatile platform.
For a start, it provides plenty of space for a genuine walkaround deck to orbit a central three-part seating unit that’s big enough for four people. You also get 310L of storage capacity beneath the console, seat and deck for an entire day’s worth of baggage. And you get the helm of a real boat too, thanks to twin 7in touchscreen plotters side by side and a proper stereo with a pair of 8in speakers in the footwells.
Though it might look like the kind of craft that needs speccing up, the standard package is pretty generous. Even the base model comes with a custom trailer for easy towing behind a modest family car. It also comes with a purpose-built 52L cooler at the aft end that can be repositioned on deck runners; and if you want to sacrifice some of the seating for additional cargo, lounging space or fishing practicality, you can simply remove the third or fourth seats and leave them on the dock.
Dedicated storage and anchor lockers bring new levels of day boating practicality
In spite of all this scale and versatility, however, the Crosswave still goes like a proper PW. With Yamaha’s 200hp 1.9L HO powerplant under the seat, it’ll hit 48 knots at the top end and take very little time getting there. A 100L fuel tank also provides a 100-mile range and the rest of the features back up its credentials as a genuine four-person cruiser – not least a dedicated anchor locker, an integrated boarding step and a clever new clean-out port so you can clear debris from the intake grate without having to jump in.
With a price in excess of $32,000, you might of course deem it quite expensive but as a modular four-person all-day adventure machine, the Crosswave treads close enough to the boat side of the crossover equation to justify that.
In short, if you want an easy-access family platform for fishing, cruising, watersports and estuary exploration, the new Crosswave looks really tough to beat.
The UK’s first model is due to arrive courtesy of Abersoch Marine very soon, so keep your eyes open for an exclusive summer sea trial in a future issue.
Price: from $32,499 ex VAT
Contact: yamaha-motor.com
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