Yamaha CrossWave: The Best of Both Worlds

By Mike Burns

Yamaha has never been afraid to think outside the box when it comes to personal watercraft, and the new CrossWave is perhaps the best example yet. Part WaveRunner, part fishing boat and part utility machine, it’s a difficult watercraft to categorize—and that’s really the point.

At first glance, the CrossWave looks considerably different from anything else in Yamaha’s lineup. Instead of the traditional PWC layout, it features a large, open deck that provides considerably more usable space. You can move around, carry gear and actually use the boat-like platform rather than simply sitting in a saddle and hanging on.

I had the opportunity to put the CrossWave through its paces on Lake Simcoe, where conditions were nearly ideal for a performance test. The lake had only a very light chop, allowing me to get a good feel for the hull and see what the CrossWave could do.

Power comes from Yamaha’s 1.9-litre High Output four-cylinder, four-stroke engine. With 1,898 cc of displacement, it has plenty of grunt for the CrossWave’s relatively compact package. Yamaha’s technical information puts output at 200 hp horsepower, and there’s certainly no shortage of performance.

With the throttle down, I recorded a top speed of 53.2 mph at 7,800 rpm. That’s impressive performance for a machine that is clearly designed to do considerably more than just run fast.

For cruising, I found 34 mph at 6,500 rpm to be a much more comfortable speed. At that pace, the CrossWave moved along nicely without feeling like you were constantly pushing the machine. The light chop on Lake Simcoe also gave me a chance to see how the hull behaved in less-than-glass-flat conditions, and it remained stable and predictable.

Where the CrossWave really separates itself from a conventional WaveRunner, however, is in its versatility. Yamaha has incorporated a T-track accessory system into the design, which is a simple but very useful idea. Accessories can be mounted and repositioned without permanently drilling holes into the deck, allowing owners to configure the CrossWave around the way they intend to use it.

For anglers, that flexibility could be particularly appealing. There is also room for an additional battery for a trolling motor, opening up the possibility of turning the CrossWave into a surprisingly capable fishing platform. Add some fishing gear and accessories and you have a machine that could spend the morning chasing bass and the afternoon simply cruising around the lake.

The open layout also makes carrying and accessing gear considerably easier than it is on a conventional PWC. That may sound like a small detail, but it’s one of those things that becomes increasingly important once you actually start using the machine.

The CrossWave is an interesting departure for Yamaha because it doesn’t really fit into an established category. It offers the speed and mechanical simplicity of a personal watercraft, while adding some of the practicality normally associated with a small boat.

After spending time with it on Lake Simcoe, I came away thinking Yamaha may have found a pretty compelling middle ground. The CrossWave isn’t trying to be a boat or a WaveRunner. Instead, it takes elements of both and puts them together in a package that offers something a little different.

And sometimes, different is exactly what the market needs.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Available colours: Mist Gray or Slate Blue
• Rider capacity: 1–4 persons
• Engine: Yamaha 1.9L High Output, four-cylinder, four-stroke
• Horsepower: 200 hp
• Displacement: 1,898 cc / 1.9 L / 115.8 cu. in.
• Length: 3.94 m / 12 ft. 11 in.
• Beam: 1.70 m / 5 ft. 7 in.
• Height: 1.31 m / 4 ft. 4 in.
• Dry weight: 588 kg / 1,296 lb.
• Fuel capacity: 100 L / 26.4 U.S. gal.
• Storage capacity: 310.5 L / 82.0 U.S. gal.

PERFORMANCE:

• Test top speed: 53.2 mph / 85.6 km/h at 7,800 rpm
• Test cruising speed: 34 mph / 54.7 km/h at 6,500 rpm
• Test conditions: Lake Simcoe, Ontario; very light chop