On Monday in Freeport, Bahamas Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, unveiled its all-new 242 and 240 Series boats that are the largest, most feature-rich boats Yamaha has ever produced. These two new models replace Yamaha’s 232 and 230 Series. The all-new boats have several new major noteworthy design features. Perhaps the most important is the 72% increase in engine displacement, going from 1052 cc in the old models to 1816 cc in the new 242 and 240 models. Yamaha says that the boat’s performance has improved markedly as a result. Another improvement is the far larger “U”-shaped bow seating area that appears to have all of the room of a pickle fork or deck boat design while still keeping the traditional 20-degree deadrise hull and conventional bow. Yamaha has also improved on their innovative stern seating area in which they have led the whole sportboat industry.

The Yamaha Press Release dated August 24, 200— All New 242 Series Redefines Luxury Performance

The new flagships of the Yamaha boat line, the Yamaha 242 Series includes the 242 Limited and the 242 Limited S. The 242 Limited S is the watersports edition of the series that includes a premium aluminum tower with integrated LED cockpit lighting and two sound system speakers.

The all-new Yamaha 242 Limited S.

Standard features include:

• All new innovative bow design. Wider, longer seating area with rumble seat backrests and multi-position bow seating configurations.
• Twin Yamaha High Output 1.8-liter engines that are the largest engines ever in a Yamaha boat, delivering incredible acceleration.
• Yamaha’s exclusive No Wake Mode - now with three positions - that allows the driver to set the engines at optimum no wake speed with the simple push of a button.
• Innovative stern lounge area that sits just inches from the water’s surface with table mount, padded seating, shower and stereo remote.
• Full-featured helm with fly by wire, fuel flow meter and GPS controlled instrumentation.
• Premium stereo with direct iPod plug-in connectivity equipped with 6 waterproof speakers, a handheld remote and an MP3 input.
• Cruise Assist, Yamaha’s exclusive feature that allows the driver to hold engine speed constant, ideal for long range rides and for maintaining a consistent speed while towing.

The all-new Yamaha AR240 High Output has a MSRP price of $43,799. Note conventional bow and stem at the waterline and the bow flair near the deck.

“We spoke with owners of our boats at length to determine what we could do with a future platform to provide a better boating experience for them,” said Scott Watkins, product manager for Yamaha’s WaterCraft Group. “From this feedback, we created a new, larger platform, with more bow seating configurations than ever before, and a stern area that sits just inches from the water. These are among the most important areas for our boat owners, but we went a step further and introduced a host of new technologies and features, such as real time fuel flow, GPS controlled instrumentation, and Cruise Assist, to make this boat stand out even further from anything else on the water today.”

The 240 Series includes the SX240 and the AR240, the watersports edition with an integrated aluminum tower. Returning to the Yamaha boat line is the high performance 212 Series and the value-minded 210 Series. To see the entire 2010 line up of Yamaha Boats, visit www.yamaha-motor.com.

The all-new Yamaha AR240. Note innovative seating.