Reverse is useless?

[drjack]

I'm new to this board. I'm sure this question had been addressed before but .....
We recently purchased a 2001 Seadoo boat and truly enjoy the new adventures. But noticing that using reverse has no effect on the boat handling. The horn is dropping down to the reverse stops and all I can see is water and bubbles flowing past the bow, but we're not going anywhere. Moving the wheel to max left or right has us sorta moving moving left or right, but that's it.
Is this normal for this model year of boat? Will installing a later made horn help our situation?

Thanks.
JACK

 

[racerxxx]

Welcome to reverse on a jet boat. I only use it for slowing to a stop at the dock. I never use it to back up. My Speedster is just like an over grown ski. All my ski don't have reverse, I'm just used to it.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Most feel like you do. Reverse is a dog on the boats. I have it on both my skis and it works VERY well. I have the same size bucket, more HP, and weigh much less than your boat.. It is just the way it is..


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[MLars]

Just give it some gas in reverse. It works fine once you get the hang of it.

 

[drjack]

I'll take it out in the open waters and give that a try MLars.

 

[andyfen]

It seen like the back gate (Shelter) does not go down enough to deviate the stream propulsion to from. Try to adjust the back gate until you see is complete close.

 

[howie099]

On my Sportster 1800 the reverse is not that bad when you understand it is not as good as a prop boat. It does work better in calm water than rough water. I do like when I turn the wheel all the way the rpms go up some to help you move. I have 2 engines over one so it might be much better that the single 14' engine boat. You figure I have 2 buckets over 1 bucket so that is more buckets space to help with the reverse. It does take a bit to get use to it. I don't push my luck when the dock is really full with boats everywhere.

 

[ialonso]

reverse is much weaker than prop as all have stated... however you should move!! give it power and it should result in a noticeable force. It's limited to 3.5K RPM in reverse so the gates don't fly off, so don't be afraid to give it some gas. If it does not back up at all, the gate probably needs some adjusting. in calm water, with no wind, there should be a NOTICEABLE movement in reverse.