History
The invention of both major types of personal water craft, the stand-up and sit-down models, is credited to Clayton Jacobson II of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA, originally a motocross enthusiast. Jacobson's idea was designed in the mid-1960s, powered by an internal pump-jet rather than an outboard motor, made of all aluminum, and had a fixed, upright handle. Jacobson eventually quit his job in banking to devote himself to developing the idea, and had a working prototype by 1965. It differed slightly from modern personal watercraft but had definite similarities. He completed a second prototype a year later made of fiberglass.
The first PWC to hit the market was designed by Bombardier in the late 1960s. Bombardier's original designs were not very popular and Bombardier left the business before 1970. Stand-up PWCs first appeared on the US market in 1973 and were produced by Kawasaki. These were mass produced boats to be used by only one rider. While they are still produced today, the more popular design, is the sit down variety of PWC. These sit down models have been produced by Kawasaki (Jetski), Bombardier (Sea Doo), Yamaha (WaveRunner), Honda (AquaTrax), Polaris (Sealion) and Arctic Cat (Tigershark). As of 2010, the major manufacturers of PWCs were Kawasaki, Bombardier and Yamaha. Both Yamaha and Kawasaki continue to sell stand up models but it is a small percentage of the overall market.
An innovation in personal water crafts is the Dolphin Boat produced by Innespace Productions which is a fully submersible personal watercraft. The Innespace Seabreacher seats 2 people and can move in 3 dimensions, being submersible up to 5 feet, and jumping up to 10 feet above the surface of the water.
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