The History of Personal Watercraft

Personal watercraft or PWC may seem like they’ve been around forever, but really, it’s only been a couple of decades. If you’ve ever been curious about who first thought of the idea for a personal watercraft or how they came to prominence, this quick history will give you the facts.

Early Invention

The initial design for a personal watercraft came to the mind of Norwegian-American inventor and motorcycle enthusiast Clayton Jacobson II during the late 1960s. After crashing a motorcycle into a ditch and suffering injuries, Jacobson wondered if it might be nicer to fall off into water instead of onto hard dirt or asphalt. He began to design a sort of aquatic motorcycle that could be ridden in a similar way, but on the water, so he made a machine that could do just that.

His prototype caught the eye of Bombardier Recreational Products, which released their Sea-Doo® watercraft based on his designs, naming it after their Ski-Doo® snowmobiles. Unfortunately, the first Sea-Doo® PWC were clunky and hard to ride, so they were shelved for several years.

Popularization

During the 1980s, three major manufacturers all dipped their toes into the water of personal watercraft once again. Technologies had improved by then and the new PWC that rolled off assembly lines were sleek, fast, and agile compared to their early predecessors. Yamaha released their iconic WaveRunner®, while Kawasaki® released their first JET-SKI® models and BRP re-released the Sea-Doo® with a new design. All of these models grew incredibly popular and over the course of the 1990s and into the new millennium, riding personal watercraft became a much more commonplace activity.

Come see us at our dealership location in Franklin, TN, to check out our wide range of new and used PWC for sale by leading brands. Cool Springs Powersports serves the greater Nashville area, as well as the cities of Spring Hill and Columbia, TN.