Yamaha insurance,
through NBOA.

Which Yamaha this is. Boats, not outboards or WaveRunners.

Yamaha makes three distinct marine products, and they're often confused on policy applications. This page is about Yamaha Boats — the twin-jet family runabouts branded AR, SX, and FSH. Yamaha outboards (sold on other hulls) and Yamaha WaveRunner PWCs are separate products with their own underwriting treatment.

Yamaha introduced the jet boat category to the U.S. in 1995 with the Exciter 220 and has been the dominant jet-propelled family-runabout builder since — most lake- and intracoastal-owned 19–27 foot twin-jets in the market wear a Yamaha badge. The AR Series is the sport-tuned variant (towers, audio, wake features); SX is the value-family line; the 222/252/255/275 FSH range adds center-console fishing layouts. All share the same twin Yamaha marine-engine / twin-jet-pump drivetrain.

Twin jet drive, no prop, shallow draft.

A Yamaha jet boat has no outdrive and no exposed propeller. Two marine engines (typically 1.8L Super Vortex High Output or 1.9L) drive impellers inside steerable jet-pump nozzles. Thrust steers the boat; there is no rudder. The entire drivetrain sits inside the hull, so running draft is roughly half of a comparable sterndrive — most models float in 18–24 inches — and there's no prop to strike bottom or swimmers.

• Twin-jet-pump propulsion — steering comes from vectored jet thrust, not a rudder or outdrive
• Impeller and wear-ring are service items — designed to be replaced periodically as the pump ingests silt, shell, and debris
• Integrated swim platform with no prop — a core safety claim for families with kids in the water
• Shallow draft and beach-ability — many owners nose onto sandbars and swim beaches that would destroy a sterndrive
• Closed-cooling on current models — most 2015+ Yamahas use a closed loop rather than raw-water cooling through the block

Lake families and intracoastal cruisers.

The typical Yamaha boat owner runs lakes, rivers, and intracoastal waters — not offshore. The buying case is almost always safety-driven: families with young kids who will be in the water around the boat, and who don't want a spinning prop behind the swim platform. Second most common is the watersports and tubing use case, where the jet drive's instant-on thrust and no-prop swim zone both matter. Offshore, bluewater, and serious fishing use is rare on these hulls — the FSH fishing variant is aimed at flats and bay, not canyon runs.

The insurance angle. Jet drive changes the claim, not the cost.

Jet-drive boats aren't excluded by mainstream marine carriers — but they are treated differently in claims, and that's the single most important thing for a Yamaha owner to understand before bind. Catastrophic liability risk is meaningfully lower (no prop-strike injuries, no grounding prop damage), but the frequency of smaller mechanical claims is higher because the jet pump ingests whatever's in the water. Knowing what's covered and what's classified as maintenance is where policies on these boats succeed or fail.

• Impellers and wear rings are wear items — most carriers classify normal impeller wear as maintenance, not damage. A sudden ingestion event (rock, rope, dock line) is typically covered; gradual wear from sand and silt is not.
• Jet-pump ingestion claims — the most common Yamaha claim type. Ropes, swim-noodles, and debris pulled into the intake grate can damage impellers, wear rings, and drive shafts. Coverage depends on the carrier's language around 'sudden and accidental' vs. wear.
• Prop-strike liability is essentially zero — no exposed prop means the single largest marine-liability claim category (swimmer prop strike) doesn't apply. Underwriters know this, and liability rates on jet boats reflect it.
• WaveRunner policies are separate — a Yamaha WaveRunner PWC is NOT covered under a Yamaha boat policy by default. Some carriers (Progressive among them) will package both with a PWC rider or a multi-watercraft discount, but verify the endorsement wording; don't assume.
• Navigation territory is usually simple — most Yamahas run inland lakes and ICW, so standard navigation territory is fine. The exception is 252/275 owners who run bay and nearshore Atlantic/Gulf; those need the coastal endorsement written in.
• Carriers — Progressive dominates this segment, with BoatUS and Geico Marine as the main alternates. Chubb and other high-value carriers rarely write pure jet boats; they view them as runabouts rather than yachts.

This is where an expert at NBOA can step in. As an independent marine insurance brokerage, NBOA quotes Yamaha owners across multiple carriers and matches the policy to how the boat is built, where it runs, and how you actually use it.

Yamaha models we quote.

Beyond the top brands.

NBOA places insurance on 1,100+ boat manufacturers across our catalog — from aluminum skiffs to mega-yachts. If your boat isn't listed here, it's almost certainly one we still write.