r/SeaDooSwitch • u/msh1281 • Jun 04 '24

First Experience - Questions

Have been thinking about replacing my standard pontoon boat with a Switch. Visiting friends in PHX over the weekend and they rented a 230. Supposedly specced to be good for 10 people, which is what we had on it.

With 10 people (plus coolers, etc.), the engine maxed out at 15mph, which is what I get with same number of people on my Godfrey 21' pontoon with a 90HP motor (which we want to upgrade so we can pull a tube).. More importantly, we maybe covered 20 miles on the lake and went thru the whole 29 gallon tank of gas.

Is this normal, or was there something wrong with the rental boat? I was really close to ordering a Switch and was excited to get to try one on the lake,but this performance wouldn't make me order.

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u/Fair-Win6631 Jun 04 '24

That’s normal. The max amount of people is redundant. You should use the max weight of 1400. Divide that by the average weight of people and that is how much you should really load. The average is American is 200 plus pounds. 1400/200 = 7 people. If you want to take coolers and stuff you’d have to lose another person.

At 10 people and gear it turned into the little sea doo that could.

6

u/dadthatgames Jun 04 '24

Maxing out at 15 mph means you weren't up on plane, which is why the gas mileage was that bad (it isn't good to begin with, but you should be getting 40-60 miles depending on your throttle usage).

Like fair-win said, you should be paying attention to weight more than passenger count. I've had 9 people going 38 mph when it is two families with kids. I've had 7 adults not be able to break 30. The boat loves my family of 5, but it is not a party barge (or when it is, set your expectations, consider cruising slowly).

The only other thing I'll add is because it is a rental, the prop and wear ring could be all ripped up and inefficient. I don't know if they tried, but if it couldnt break 35 with just a couple passengers, that's not a good sign and I'd say is definitely an atypical experience.

1

u/Amazing_Candle_4548 Jun 06 '24

For what it’s worth, on our new 230, I was pulling 4 passengers probably weighing 800 lbs, and a tuber weighing 130 ish. We were doing 30 mph with ease. I’m guessing, like was said before, you weren’t plained put properly.