2012 saw a complete redesign for Yamaha with their FX lineup of personal watercrafts. Today we were out on the all new Yamaha FX HO , this is one of Yamaha’s larger Luxury skis with their 1812cc normally aspirated engine.

This is the largest displacement engine currently available in any personal watercraft. This engine is used in a variety of the current Yamaha lineup in a couple of forms. The FX HO gets the normally aspirated version, while the FX SHO (Super High Output) gets a supercharged version but today we are on-board the HO.  

This watercraft is a large unit, it is 19cm longer than the previous 2011 model measuring in at 3.56m long , which puts it right beside the larger watercrafts from the other major brands.
The large size makes this watercraft suitable for up to 3 passengers and a lot of storage for all your gear and accessories.

This large hull also helps keep the watercraft stable in rough water and makes cutting through choppy water no problem at all. You can feel the hull lift right out of the water once on plane at higher speeds the drag in the water is reduced and it helps give a top speed of 65 mph (manufacturers claim).

This watercraft reminded me of a new version of my very first WaveRunner,  my trusty old Yamaha 1200 XLT which I owned for a couple of years and put around 100 hours on the clock. The  FX HO like my old XLT will cut through rough water with very little effort from the rider and keeping the rider nice and dry. I did find that being such a large ski it is not quite as nimble as some smaller ski’s currently on the market nor as nimble as some of the other larger ski’s on the market but the ride in the rough makes up for this.

This ski has already become very popular in the growing sport of  jetski fishing, and after riding I can see why. I feel you could spend a whole day on the craft, without it paying too much of a toll on your body from the way it rides in the rough water.

Upon hopping on I noticed a few simple changes from the previous model, first were the shaped handle grips, which are shaped perfectly for the shape of your hands making it effortless to hold on. Also just inside your right hand they have improved the way that their new quickshift trim lever is positioned, it is now positioned inside the grip so you don’t turn the complete grip like you used to on the earlier models.

The throttle lever has also been updated to an electronic lever, so there is no longer a manual type cable, I did feel this took away some of the response, and gave the throttle a little flat-spot when first pulled back, but i am sure this is something you would get used to pretty fast and the upside of going electronic allows the waverunner to now have cruise assist and a no-wake mode. Yamaha’s Cruise Assist allows the driver to set and hold a particular engine speed while maintaining a comfortable throttle position. Once set, the driver can increase or decrease the engine speed in increments of 250 RPMs with the simple push of a button – a real benefit when towing a wakeboarder or extending a long day of cruising. When the throttle is disengaged, the system shuts off. Yamaha’s No Wake Mode regulates RPMs for the optimal speed (approximately 5 mph) to efficiently navigate through no wake zones.

When I pulled the reverse lever back to reverse off the trailer I noticed another new feature from Yamaha, a neutral. What this does is leaves the reverse bucket slightly down stopping the ski from creeping forwards like personal watercrafts normally do.

A new deep boarding ladder which lowers down deep in the water, and two new built in handles making it super easy to re-board the watercraft after you take that quick dip in the water, or your water skier has had enough for the day. While we are talking about the back of the ski they have added this great new storage area in the back so you can leave your tow rope attached and it tucks out of the way.

Yamaha have done well with their 2012 redesign on the FX HO, they have made a good ski that wee bit better with all the improvements. This ski is suited to anyone wanting to get out on the water, whether you’re heading out cruising, jetski fishing, water skiing/wakeboarding or just a bit of family fun, this is a good allround watercraft.