Personal watercraft

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Personal watercraft" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A personal watercraft (PWC), also called water scooter, is a primarily recreational watercraft that is designed to hold only a small number of occupants, who sit or stand on top of the craft, not within the craft as in a boat.

Prominent brands of PWCs include Jet Skis and Sea-Doos.

PWCs have two style categories. The first and the most popular is a compact runabout, typically holding no more than two or three people, who mainly sit on top of the watercraft as one does when riding an ATV or snowmobile. The second style is a "stand-up" type, typically built for only one occupant who operates the watercraft standing up as in riding a motorized scooter; it is used more for doing tricks, racing, and in competitions. Both styles have an inboard engine driving a pump-jet that has a screw-shaped impeller to create thrust for propulsion and steering. Most are designed for two or three people, though four-passenger models exist. Many of today's models are built for more extended use and have the fuel capacity to make long cruises, in some cases even beyond 160 kilometres (100 miles).^[1]

Personal watercraft are often referred by the trademarked brand names of Kawasaki (Jet Ski), Yamaha (WaveRunner), Bombardier (Sea-Doo), Elaqua (E-PWC) and Honda (AquaTrax).

The United States Coast Guard defines a personal watercraft, amongst other criteria, as a jet-drive boat less than 12 feet (3.7 m) long.^[2] There are many larger "jetboats" not classed as PWCs, some more than 40 feet (12 m) long.