Rim-driven motor for personal watercraft

A jet propulsion system to propel a personal watercraft, comprising:

• a housing to couple to a rear wall of a hull of the personal watercraft, the housing defining an inlet to receive water from a water intake extending from a bottom wall of the hull to the rear wall, a venturi, and an outlet to expel the water from the housing;
• and
• a rim-driven motor disposed within the housing between the inlet and the venturi, the rim-driven motor defining a center axis and comprising a stator coupled to the housing, a rotor disposed radially inwardly of the stator relative to the center axis, and impeller blades coupled to the rotor and projecting towards the center axis, the rotor and the impeller blades being rotatable about the center axis relative to the housing to draw the water into the housing via the inlet and expel the water from the housing via the outlet, the rim-driven motor further comprising a shaft rotatably mounted to the stator and coaxially therewith, the shaft having an inner surface and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, the impeller blades mounted to the inner surface and the rotor fitted to the outer surface.

A method of assembling a personal watercraft, the method comprising:

• coupling a housing of a rim-driven motor to a rear wall of a hull of the personal watercraft, the housing defining an inlet to receive water from a water intake extending from a bottom wall of the hull to the rear wall, a venturi, and an outlet to expel the water from the housing, the rim-driven motor comprising impeller blades to draw the water into the housing via the inlet and expel the water from the housing via the outlet, the rim-driven motor further comprising a rotor, a stator, and a shaft rotatably mounted to the stator and coaxially therewith, the shaft having an inner surface and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, the impeller blades mounted to the inner surface and the rotor fitted to the outer surface;
• and
• electrically connecting a battery of the personal watercraft to the rim-driven motor using electrical links accommodated by through-holes formed in the hull.