Sea Doo Spark

Quite frankly I never thought I would get out on the water today. Miami was far from sunny this morning and torrential rain looked like it would spoil my test of the Sea Doo Spark personal water craft. Fortunately the rain died away and this afternoon I was able to get out for a spin. Many readers will be familiar with See Doo, they have been around for good number of years now and manufacture a range or PWC from the Spark up to much larger and more expensive models. Sea Doo are part of the larger corporation that is BRP, manufacturers of Evinrude motors, one name that everyone will have heard of. The press outing was to introduce the Spark, which actually came out at the end of last year, to the press down here at the Miami show. With a starting price tag of a dollar under five grand I think that it represents a good deal for those who may be in the market for an entry level PWC. Although I am used to traveling at more sedate speeds I do have to say that I did have a lot of fun out on the water. It was windy and choppy but I touched close to 40 mph on several occasions and became airborne more than once. The Spark is powered by a three cylinder 900 cc four stroke Rotax engine that has ample power. The Spark was very responsive and more than once almost threw me off the back had it not been for a firm handhold on the bars. The hull and deck are constructed not from fiberglass but a material that Sea Doo call Polytec, no doubt faster and cheaper to produce than the FRP that otherwise dominates the market. The Polytec also contributes to the light 400 pounds weight which I am sure has a fair bit to do with the nippy performance. So would I buy one, well yes I think I might if I had the five thousand to spare. I never thought I would say that but the performance/value factor is hard to beat, in truth I still have a grin on my face! The shot above is of one of my fellow journalists which I took from the chase boat and the other is of the safety briefing before we were let loose to zoom around the bay.

Comments

[William P.]

Good post! - I looked at the spark at the convention center b/c of your post and was really impressed with the value! Cheers and thanks for writing your great blog. wp.