By Jeff Hemmel, posted May 14th, 2014 at 1:39pm, Boating Magazine
For all its eye-popping colors, sexy angles and high-tech design, one feature of Sea-Doo’s new Spark literally screams for attention — its price. With prices of the average personal watercraft now well over the $10,000 mark, the base model Spark starts at a minimalist $4,999, a price Sea-Doo hopes will “reignite” a stagnant PWC industry. You can practically hear the boat-show hawking now, with salesmen telling lakefront customers they can get “Sparked” for a payment less than their monthly Starbucks tab.
How did Sea-Doo take so much off the bottom line? A portion of the answer is evident the first time you take in the Spark’s matte-finish hull. Rather than shiny, gelcoated fiberglass, both the hull and deck are made from plastic, specifically a mix of polypropylene with long-strand glass fibers. The material, dubbed Polytec, is cheaper to produce than fiberglass, and lighter to boot. The molding process results in that matte finish, an arguably trendy look that Sea-Doo used to full advantage by introducing an array of bold color choices. Sparks come in a mix of black and Pineapple (yellow), Orange Crush (orange) Bubble Gum (magenta) and Vanilla (white) as well as the all-black Licorice.
See original full article and photos here.
Reposted by Scott Freerksen “The Lake Guy”