Canadian Yachting December 2021 - 25

The innovative interior flooring and LinQ system gives the Sea-Doo
Switch amazing versatility.
variant, underway it still felt a lot more
like a Sea-Doo PWC than any pontoon
boat I've ever driven before. The handlebar
steering and handgrip throttle do
admittedly take a bit of getting used to,
but it doesn't take long before you begin
to appreciate the design and agree with the
decision that this is the right set-up for the
highly responsive Switch.
Acceleration - whether from a dead
stop or from halfway through the powerband
- is virtually instantaneous, with
the power coming on immediately, yet in
a measured, controlled way. After a few
minutes to get the feel of the boat and its
unique hull structure, you quickly develop
confidence and feel right at home adopting
increasingly sharper turns. Yet in spite
of its power, the Switch Cruise simply
goes where you point it - and gets there
pretty quickly as well.
The mid-range Switch Sport that BRP
had available for test rides also had the
230-horsepower supercharged Rotax, and
in the shorter and lighter 18-foot hull, the
responsive throttle was even more fun.
Unlike the bigger Cruise model, the front
deck in the Sport was configured with the
bow set up as a big sunpad, complete with
two forward-facing backrests. Handsdown
that's the most enjoyable seat in the
house when the boat is underway, in spite
of the revealing view of the water through
the clear side panels. The sight of oncoming
boat wakes does look a bit alarming
being so low to the water, but the floating
Polytec hull always managed to rise
to the challenge and keep the water out of
the boat.
Although the least powerful variant with
its 170 horsepower naturally-aspirated
engine, the 13-foot base Switch - named
In-floor storage is another smart design feature.
the Compact in a nod to its trim dimensions
- was arguably the most fun of all.
The responsive throttle and short hull
length make it a genuine blast to drive,
especially if you try fishtailing it back
and forth PWC-style. More than any
other, this model really makes the most
of BRP's standard Intelligent Brake and
Reverse feature, allowing you to - with a
bit of practice - literally turn the boat 360
degrees in pretty much its own length. Not
much larger than a three-seat Sea-Doo,
the Compact is far more personal watercraft
than pontoon boat - even if it does
require a bit of trim to get it up on plane
when you have all your passengers seated
in the stern.
THE FUTURE OF BOATING
With its bold look, innovative features
and distinctive design, Switch is very
much designed and built with younger
buyers in mind. In fact, BRP invested
heavily in extensive market research in
order to ensure Switch speaks directly to
the young, first-time buyers that Sea-Doo
sees as the future of boating. " We saw a
gap in the market for smaller-sized pontoon
boats, and an opportunity where
we could really shake things up and disrupt
the markets, " says Annick Lauzon,
director, global marketing for Sea-Doo
and Ski-Doo. " We did a lot of customer
research to make sure that what we were
developing was truly answering the needs
of those customers. Two of the key features
that we knew we had to address were
ease of use, and ease of docking. This is
where the decision of having a handlebar-driven
console came in early on in the
design process, because it's simply a more
intuitive type of riding. Anyone who ever
rode a bicycle is immediately comfortable
with it. "
Lauzon adds that adaptability also
ranked highly among Switch's initial
design parameters. " A family's needs are
always changing, not just from one year to
the next, but even over the course of a single
day, " she says. " They want to go fishing,
then later in the day the kids want to
go tubing, or maybe everyone wants to go
for ice cream and a boat ride after dinner.
That's hard to accommodate in a single
boat, and our research confirmed that the
ability for Switch to switch things up and
adapt as needed was critically important. "
Clearly, the company's market research
was right on target, with Sea-Doo's Twitter
posts about the Switch launch going viral
worldwide and YouTube reviews attracting
over a quarter-million views within
days of the initial announcement. Initial
response from dealers has been overwhelmingly
positive, says the company.
Built in the US at BRP's Sturtevant,
Wisconsin plant, the Sea-Doo Switch
should arrive in dealerships across North
America in the coming weeks, with a
global rollout to follow.
Different? You bet. But with its bold
combination of pontoon boat amenities
and personal watercraft performance, the
Sea-Doo Switch really does represent the
best of both worlds - and in an eye-catching
package that's loaded with innovation
and fresh new ideas. With an enormous
cohort of young families now entering the
boating market, this is one boat that we're
all going to be seeing a lot in the seasons
ahead.
Visit: https://www.sea-doo.com/ca/en/
CANADIANYACHTING.CA
25
https://www.sea-doo.com/ca/en/ http://www.CANADIANYACHTING.CA
Canadian Yachting December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting December 2021
