We’ve grappled with the amalgam of “luxury” and “performance.” Too often these terms get thrown around a little too loosely in our industry, and often at the hands of the OEMs themselves. What exactly makes a personal watercraft a “performance” craft is usually pretty easy to define, while a true “luxury” PWC is as difficult as nailing Jell-O to the wall. Thankfully, Yamaha Motor Corp. doesn’t pigeon-hole their various models by such limitations.

For the brand’s full-sized runabout class – the FX – there are three variations of performance; the HO, SHO and SVHO. Of course, the Super Vortex High Output package constitutes much more than Yamaha’s all-new for 2014 SVHO engine, which takes the Super High Output (SHO) engine and radically increases the overall efficiency by 110-percent.

The SHO’s cast pistons have been replaced with 8.5:1 compression forged pistons. Likewise, the SHO’s 42-pound injectors have been swapped for larger 60-pound squirters, and a larger intercooler is  22-percent more efficient over the prior unit. Lastly, a larger, 86mm HKS supercharger spools up to an impressive 60-percent more boost thanks to a new 6-vein impeller.

The SVHO package also includes a race-bred 8-vein pump housing a 160mm impeller, producing significantly more thrust. The Yamaha’s new-found power is delivered with gusto, catapulting a single rider with only a gallon or two of fuel in the 18.5 gallon tank from 0-to-30 in 1.5 seconds, and to 60mph in just over double that. Once properly broken in (a factory-suggested minimum 10 riding hours), the SVHO-powered FXs have been recorded to speed a tick or two past 70 miles per hour.

But again, the sucker punch-fast speeds of the SVHO doesn’t fully encapsulate the complete rider experience of the 2014 FX Cruiser SVHO, because although it was pretty much all we wanted to do, this particular WaveRunner isn’t defined by just hauling some serious tail around the lake.

Yamaha has taken several steps to get to this level of refinement. The current FX hull was only recently redesigned, extending the chines and massaging a few other points, hoping to inject a little more adrenaline into the three-seater segment.

Hewn from the brand’s proprietary NanoXcel material, the deceptively lightweight FX Cruiser SVHO tips the scales at 875 pounds (dry). Likewise, hours have been poured into seemingly minor details, like a flat and contoured, pistol-style hand grips, responsive and easy to reach toggles on the handlebars, and a true mechanical neutral gear (with indicator) in throw of the reverse lever.

Tilt steering has all but become a standard feature on the FX series, as well as the twist-cap dry storage found both in the dashboard – a padded cubby for cell phones, keys and wallets – as well as a watertight bin beneath the rear seat.

Yamaha’s FX units also feature one of the broadest swim platforms in the industry with a flat-topped folding swim step.

Fore and aft are ample storage, totaling 33.5 gallons of stowage. The rear box is “wet” and therefore is best suited for tow ropes and swimming accessories as the glove box and bow storage is best for valuables, towels, bags and such.

The Cruiser package not only adds the tiered and scalloped stadium-style seating, which comfortably positions riders in stepped seating, but also provides the FX a statelier Yacht Blue Metallic livery and grey-on-black Hydro-Turf matting.

Additionally, the gauge cluster features a second LCD screen to the right of the analog speedo/tachometer providing available air/water temperatures, fuel consumption rates and fuel “countdown” meter, and a digital compass.

While the additional Cruiser package digital readout was appreciated, we wish the compass wasn’t so vague, giving actually heading coordinates rather than the generic “north” or “northeast.” Likewise, the FX gauges are a little dull compared to the eye-catching cluster on its FZ platformed siblings. While easily readable and navigated, the two square LCD screens are a tad on the boring side.

Other small quibbles include Yamaha’s pop-up cleats, which are too dainty for dockside mooring lines to use effectively. Likewise, while we enjoyed the added comfort of the Cruiser seat, the thick cushioned bolster discriminates against taller riders placing us too far forward for our preference.

Yet, with a rap of the throttle, these small grievances go flying behind us like so much scenery. Without gushing too emphatically, the SVHO gallops to top speed in seconds, rises to plane almost immediately and responds almost intuitively with the flick of the trigger or a twitch of the steering. We found that despite its upper crust persona, the FX Cruiser SVHO revels in deep-in-the-tray, leaning out over the rail cornering – almost daring you to keep into the throttle longer than your brain’s caution sensor would recommend.

We love, love, love the FX SVHO in the corners with the manual trim set a notch or two down. Seriously. It’s a whole lot of fun. Just slide off to the side of your seat, drop your knee flat into the footwell, lean hard and nail the gas while snapping into a turn. It might be the g-forces at play, but the smile stretching across your face will last for hours.

With a full tank of go-juice in the SVHO’s belly, we clicked an impressive 69.8mph on our Garmin GPS. Correcting for the barometric pressure on Lake Allatoona, Georgia, that speed becomes a 70.3mph, and that’s pretty dang fast for a bone-stock factory-built runabout.

Impressively, the FX Cruiser SVHO is the industry’s biggest selling luxury performance runabout. These machines are in high demand and quite frankly, we understand why. Priced at $15,399, they come in thousands of dollars cheaper than fully-loaded offerings from both Kawasaki and Sea-Doo. Coming in lighter, less expensive and faster than the aforementioned competitors, it’s no wonder the FX Cruiser SVHO is pulling ahead of the rest.

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It’s not easy being right all the time and it’s been a burden that Sea-Doo has had to live with for a while now. The Sea-Doo Spark drew fire from the moment it was unveiled. While some openly mocked the watercraft manufacturer of the all-new “Rec Lite” segment runabout, the Spark has raced off of showroom floors faster than any first-year production model in decades. And we mean decades.

Sea-Doo dealers are literally clamoring for BRP to fire up the molds in the Juarez, Mexico manufacturing facility to crank out additional mid-production units. In fact, according to Brad Bowlin, the District Sales Manager for Can-Am’s Northeast Division, dealers were offered an opportunity to put in mid-season orders to restock their dwindling Spark supply. Although the supplemental number of units was a paltry 700, dealers requested over 3,500 units. Even those dealers who balked at initial stocking requirements imposed by BRP have all but completely sold out of the new watercraft. The sales prove it, the Spark is a certified hit.

Of course, the Spark’s biggest draw, a starting price of $4,999 has been both the primary feature and point of contention. Priced nearly half of that of the nearest Yamaha and much less than the lowliest-equipped Kawasaki, the Spark’s bare-budget entry point is an attractive piece of bait on the end of the hook.

The unit you get for the starting price is little more than a motorized hull with steering. Opting for any of the many and varied options available for the Spark quickly ups the price. Either manual reverse, BRP’s innovative iBR, a longer 3-up seat and deck extension, vinyl decals and wraps, and even the peppier 90-horsepower engine tune push the price closer to GTI territory. But again, these are voluntary price hikes, not registration and licensing costs or hidden fees. If you want to adorn your particular Spark with Sea-Doo’s bimini top, that is entirely up to you.

The second hot button issue was the Spark’s polymer construction. Whether the plastic hull will pass the longevity test remains unseen. Already, many a grainy photo of fractured and splitting hulls have sprung up across the Internet.

Likewise, videos of riders aggressively charging headlong into surf, viciously launching high into the air and returning in a knife-like nose-stab have garnered hundreds if not thousands of views.

Obviously, such riding flies in the face of Sea-Doo’s “spirited riding” recommendations. Racers are adopting the 900cc ski as a new platform to participate in a new realm of competition, much at the cost of fracturing its PolyTec material. The open wishbone exoskeleton design provides some added structural stability, but again, it isn’t designed to hold up like a fiberglass unit. Of course, no plastic is immune to the toils of the sea, and is prone to show some discoloring and fading over time. It is what it is, fellas.

Although The Watercraft Journal had the pleasure of reviewing the Spark when it was first revealed, we jumped at the chance at spending two days on a mid-range optioned Spark HO to see how the little-runabout-that-could held up over several months of hard labor. At first blush, we weren’t too surprised to see that our wrapped Spark showed some of the telltale problems with plastic over time: namely in the realm of fit and finish.

While white has a tendency to hide blemishes better than most colors, the porous texture clung onto dirt and smudges stronger than most gel coats. The black center section, underseat handrail and nose piece were a faded gray instead of the original black. The glove box lock and hinges and steering felt loose – especially for Sea-Doo’s typically high standards. Some other quibbles not worthy of mentioning also arose that might bother the more finicky owner, but again, weren’t enough to truly earn a demerit here.

Impressively, the vinyl decals held up well over the half year of ownership, retaining their vibrant colors and finish. Frankly, we predicted the wraps to show scuffing and gouging, but they proved surprisingly resilient making them a stylish and worthwhile purchase. Likewise, the seat latch and 36-Allen bolts remained sturdy and retained a strong watertight seal.

Our particular unit also included the front bow storage option as well as the spring-loaded boarding step and 90-horsepower HO engine option. All of these – including the vinyl wrap – pushed our two-seater Spark closer to an estimated MSRP of $7,000, far eclipsing the unit’s original $4,999 asking price.

But again, customization is the name of the game with the Spark, so be prepared to pay if personalization is your thing.

From our initial impression and through to today, we’re absolutely in love with the Rotax ACE 900 motor. While the ACE might be low on big end grunt, it’s got a limitless amount of fun on tap. With our little 90HP HO set to Sport mode, we enjoyed countless powerslides, 180s, 360s, floaters, bunny hops, and snap-turns. Of course, Sea-Doo doesn’t recommend hot dogging the Spark like that, but Q-Tips doesn’t suggesting using their cotton swaps to clean your ears, and that’s exactly what they’re designed to do.

After two days of horsing around, we found ourselves surprisingly exhausted. Riding a Spark with any sort of enthusiasm can be a workout, just like you remember the old SP, XP or even WaveBlaster. We think very highly of the new twin-cam, multi-port ACE engine and believe it to be the blueprint from which future Rotax plants to be patterned from. Of course, the three-cylinder four-stroke is only accessible via removing the center deck, but as dealers have stated, very few of the majority of Sea-Doo owners do their own servicing.

All in all, the Spark still managed to retain its cutesy charm and provide plenty of smiles. Again, this is not the craft to take on long distance touring rides or jaunts in the open ocean, but it is the ideal choice for a fun, lightweight (400-plus pounds) ride that the whole family can enjoy. Whether stripped down, heavily accessorized or an accessory itself to your larger runabout, the Spark is worthy of a spot on any enthusiast’s trailer.

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