Yamaha's WaveBlaster PWC Is Back, And Ready to Shred

Yamaha resurrected a '90s icon, stuffed 110 horsepower into it, and apparently wants us carving water like it's dirt.

Photo by: Yamaha

By: Enrico Punsalang

Sep 10, at 7:21am ET

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Personal watercraft are basically motorcycles for people who looked at a perfectly good road and thought, "Nah, I'd rather fall off into a lake." And yes, we're calling them PWCs here because "Jet Ski" is actually Kawasaki's brand name. Everyone uses it generically, but out of respect for Team Green, Yamaha's latest aquatic hooligan shall remain a PWC.

That hooligan is the 2027 WaveBlaster, a name Yamaha fans might remember from the early 1990s. The original earned a reputation for being compact, playful, and far more interested in throwing its rider around than carrying three people and a cooler. Yamaha isn't simply reissuing the old machine, though. The new WaveBlaster is a modern single-rider WaveRunner built around much the same philosophy.

And this is where the motorcycle comparison stops being a joke. Most sit-down PWCs are designed to stay relatively flat when cornering. The WaveBlaster isn't. Its hull is engineered to roll inward as you turn, letting the rider use body position, throttle, and weight transfer to influence what happens next. There are no sponsons, either, which leaves more of the handling workload to whoever is hanging onto the bars.

Photo by: Yamaha

Yamaha builds that hull using Vacuum-Assisted Resin Transfer Molding, the same composite process used for its stand-up SuperJet. There's also a 144mm jet pump, a SuperJet-derived intake grate, a model-specific ride plate, molded-in foot chocks, and a centered riding position intended to keep you attached while you're doing things that will probably look much less graceful from shore.

Power comes from Yamaha's 1,049cc TR-1 HO three-cylinder four-stroke producing 110 horsepower. That doesn't sound outrageous until you remember the entire thing weighs just 425 pounds. So yeah, this is essentially an MT-09 for the water.

Photos by: Yamaha

That said it's by no means as fast as an MT-09. Yamaha is targeting a top speed in the mid-50-miles-per-hour range, but outright speed isn't really the point. This thing is about acceleration, carving, changing direction, and using your entire body to make a mess of otherwise peaceful water.

What do you think?

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Yamaha being Yamaha, there is a bit of sensibility here. There's an L Mode that can dial back engine output for newer riders, plus a compact gauge, a small glovebox, and easy service access through a hinged top deck. That's about it. No floating living room nonsense here.

The 2027 WaveBlaster starts at $11,999 in the US and should reach Yamaha WaveRunner dealers in the first quarter of 2027. And with neon yellow accents, splatter graphics, and that old-school WaveBlaster script, Yamaha clearly understands that subtlety would've completely missed the point.