PERSONAL WATERCRAFT OF THE PAST

The term jet ski may have been launched by Kawasaki in 1972, but the first personal watercraft were called ‘water scooters’ and appeared in Europe in the 1950s. They used small outboard motors, and riders often needed to lay down to pilot these craft. By the 1960s, a Norwegian-american designer called Clayton Jacobson II invented the more familiar internal pump system, and Bombardier produced his designs – today the company still sells its Sea-doo brand. Kawasaki’s stand-up, single-rider jet skis arrived in the US in 1973, and sit-down models soon became more popular. Today pioneers like Kawasaki and Bombardier sell personal watercraft alongside Honda and Yamaha.

The earliest personal watercraft mimicked boats, used propellers and riders often had to lie down