I currently have a 14' Novurania with a 70 HP outboard, but I don't care for the ride or the way it plains out. I am considering either a Williams 435 or AB 430 jet tender. Two question 1.) Opinion on jet vs outboard 2.) Williams Vs AB
Hi Jeff, There have been several discussions on this topic over the years. Here's a couple of threads to get you started... https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/jet-tender-recommendations.33471/ https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/jet-tender-recommendations.8701/
I cant tell you much about jet tenders as I have never owned one nor driven one. But I got a new tender this past spring. I got a Walker Bay OB tender after having 2 ABs. The ABs were good but they have done no innovating or tweaking their boats for atleast the last 10 years. walker bay moved the battery and gas tank to the middle and forward part of the hull. That makes for a much nicer ride and running. It is the first tender that I have owned that does not need a planing fin to stop porpoising. There is a built in swim ladder, drink holders, and a lot more storage than the same size AB. The walker bay has a small cooler that is insulated. AB did not insulate their cooler. The hatch to the anchor locker is large enough that you don’t have to finesse the anchor in. Also their hatch’s have the hydraulic cylinders that hold the hatches open. The helm has space for a 9” chart plotter. All in all none of the things I have mentioned are insurmountable issues but it sure makes for a nicer experience. I asked the dealer about a jet tender and they recommended against it because they believe that the jets engines are more finicky and don’t do well with long periods of no use.
I have run several of the Williams 345's. The jets are a little more maintenance and they like to be run monthly. DO NOT suck up sand with them. That being said, getting on plane is very very good with them, and they'll carry 5-6 full size adults on plane and run well and have lots of room inside. I'd go with Williams over AB just because I have more experience with them on the jet side of things and Williams is good about Warrantying things.
I run a Williams too - agree with Capt J, they require more maintenance. Both after every use and overall. I have kids and a lot of guests not too familiar with boats so having no prop seems right to me and I am generally happy. Jet drive is easily damaged with sand and sea weed and I seem to have quite a high rate of repairs (about 2k a year on average but wiht low hours on the tender) but have no experiance with outboards so can't really compare.
We ve had a walker Bay 450 (15’ ) for about 8 years now with a 75 Honda. Great tender. We have had 8 or 9 adults on board and it gets on plane. Pretty smooth ride too. the one thing we had to upgrade was the steering. It can with cable!! But I think they changed to hydraulic a few back we ve really beaten the heck out of it… 600 hours on the engine I believe. We replaced the tubes a few months ago as they were getting a bit ratty. Has it done by dolphin inflatable in FTL.
Although not a tender, used to have an 13 ft. jet boat when the kids were growing up. The plus was no prop safety feature but the negative was engine maintenance and sucking up things like sea weed which until cleaned out would prevent the boat from moving more then a couple knots. Today's 4 stroke outboards are far superior to the old 2 strokes so that would be my direction.
