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What is a personal watercraft?
Home » Boating » Personal Watercraft » What is a personal watercraft?A personal watercraft, also known as a PWC, is a recreational vehicle that operates on the water. The rider either sits or stands on the PWC rather than sitting inside of it such as is done with a boat. The stand-up model is quite popular for single riders, while most are fashioned for two to three people with a few models designed for four people. Regardless of the model of PWC, they each have an inboard engine that drives a pump jet. PWCs often go by the names Wave Runner, Jet Ski, or Sea-Doo. These particular brand names are owned by Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Bombardier, in that order. The invention of both the stand-up single riders and the multiple rider PWCs can be credited to Clayton Jacobsen II of Arizona.
PWCs also carry appeal for surfers. They use this watercraft to get out to the waves and then to catch up to the speed of the wave. This is known by surfers as tow-in surfing. Tow-in surfing is a technique discovered in the 1990s by Laird Hamilton, Buzzy Kerbox, Dave Kalama and a few others. This phenomenon occurs when a rider is towed into a breaking wave by either a partner who is driving a personal watercraft or by a helicopter that has an attached tow-line. This process gives the surfer the ability to catch a wave when the wave itself is too big, moving too quickly for the surfer to catch it by simply paddling with their hands, or when the position of the surfer on the wave is essential. PWCs can also serve as a mini boat, towing along water skiers on flat water.
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