The all new Sea-doo RXP-X 2012

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be giving the chance to test out the all-new 2012 Sea-doo RXP-X. After studying up on the craft since its announcement in mid-2011 I couldn’t wait to test one of these ski’s out.

For the last few years it feels like most ski manufactures have been targeting the recreational riders and forgetting about the races that pretty much started this sport many years ago, but Sea-doo have travelled back and produced a factory ski that is ready to race and handle like no other ski I have ridden.

The 2012 has an all new hull design, all new styling and makes use of their popular 260 horsepower engine that has been used in their line up for a few years. It makes its 260 horsepower from a Rotax 1494cc, three cylinder, supercharged engine.

My first impressions when sitting on the ski was how spot on their new Ergolock system is. What they call Ergolock is made up of three parts, Seating, Steering and Foot Position. The first thing you notice is the amazing seating position, the seat is a lot more narrower than we are used to on late model skis and features a shaped up front which extends up over the riders knees and keeps the rider sitting further forward on the craft.

Angled foot rests in the footwells which line up with the knee fitment of the seat keep your bottom half of your body locked on the ski, along with this is the adjustable steering system which allows turning of the rider’s position.
All of this equals Ergolock, which keeps the rider locked onto the ski, using their bottom half of their body and taking the strain off the upper body, which is the opposite to nearly every other late model ski on the market.

It’s hard to explain but anybody that has sat on one of these ski’s will fill you in on how well this works and why no one has produced something similar before now.

The ski again different to most currently on the market has a great lean-in style ride (think back to the old Sea-doo XP’s) that turn in more like a motorcycle than a watercraft, I found this in conjunction with the Ergolock system to work very well as you are not fighting the ski under GeForces to stay on top, instead your body leans over with the ski and you find yourself just get pushed into the seat more.
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I found the ski to have a very aggressive but predictable turn in, they also come fitted with factory adjustable sponsons allowing for finer tuning, the ski I was lucky enough to ride had them set in the middle, but I would be interested to see how much more aggressive the ski will turn with them lowered down into the ‘Race’ position!adjustable sponsons

I was also lucky enough to head out into the harbour for a two hour ride on a very rough evening. The ski sat in the water very well and in no way did it feel like it shares anything to do with it’s older brother (2008 to 2010 RXP-X) which in the rough seams to turn into a bit of a skimming stone. The new hull made it a very enjoyable ride and a lot easier to hold onto than the old shaped ski, I did find that I keep tucked into the seat a lot more than what I expected, on other model skis you would take on a crouching position coming off the seat to keep from the pounding of the waves, but I felt comfortable with my knees tucked in and using the strength from my lower body to keep my upper body fresh.
I was out with some bigger three seater ski’s which I kept up with without any problems and I know if I was on an early RXP-X I would have given up and left them to it, coming off a few waves it did feel like the back of the ski was clipping the water throwing the front down in a hurry, maybe due to the new trim tabs that Sea-doo have fitted from the factory, or maybe I’m just not used to it. The trim tabs are designed to keep the bow down in rough conditions and also provide straight line stability at high speeds.

Although designed with racing in mind the ski is still fully equipped with all the current Sea-doo functions and gadgets including brakes, I thought the brakes would be a bit of a gimmick but find them very handy when maneuvering the ski on and off the trailer and round the boat ramp and love the

fact the ski’s start in a neutral position, meaning they will idle away without them running away from you.