A Brief History of Personal Watercraft

Today, we enjoy gliding across lakes and rivers on our personal watercraft, but how did these aquatic motorcycles develop? While companies like Yamaha® and Sea-Doo® have dozens of popular PWC models out now, this wasn’t always the case. Read on to learn more about how PWC were invented.

One Man’s Brainchild

After motorcyclist Clayton Jacobson II crashed his bike into a ditch, he wondered if there was perhaps a less painful way to ride at high speeds. He considered the fact that hitting the water would be preferable to hitting hard ground, so he began developing several prototypes for a motorcycle-type vehicle that incorporated features of a boat. 

Sea-Doo®

Manufacturing giant Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) showed interest in Jacobson’s idea and produced the Sea-Doo®, a sit-down personal watercraft that took its design cues from their already-popular Ski-Doo® snowmobile. However, the big yellow PWC was clunky and heavy upon its 1968 release, so it was retired for a while.

Yamaha®

The market was ready for personal watercraft when Japanese conglomerate Yamaha® rolled out their first WaveRunner® in 1986. The company had spent time improving upon early PWC designs, making the WaveRunner lighter and faster.

Everyone’s Invited

Soon, Sea-Doo® PWC hit the market as well and both Yamaha® WaveRunners and Sea-Doo® PWC proliferated, becoming intensely popular for the remainder of the 20th century. Today, you can find both stand-up and sit-down models of PWC by both of these big-name brands. Why not dive in and get one of your own?

Come see us at our Kansas City, MO, dealership to check out our wide stock of new and used PWC for sale, including Sea-Doo® PWC and Yamaha® WaveRunner® models. Advantage PowerSports serves the cities of Columbia and St. Joseph, MO.