Watercraft device with a handheld controller

A wireless remote controller for a personal watercraft, the remote controller comprising:

• a watertight body forming a watertight compartment;
• a thumbwheel disposed on an upper surface of the watertight body and outside of the at least one watertight compartment, wherein the thumbwheel is rotatable about an axis relative to the body;
• at least one magnet affixed to the thumbwheel such that the at least one magnet rotates with the thumbwheel relative to the watertight body;
• a magnetic sensor disposed within the watertight compartment configured to produce magnetic field data in at least two axes;
• a processor disposed within the watertight compartment and operably coupled to the magnetic sensor, the processor configured to determine an angular position of the thumbwheel based at least in part on the magnetic field data in each of the at least two axes, the processor generating a control signal based at least in part on the determined position of the thumbwheel;
• and
• communication circuitry operably coupled to the processor configured to communicate control signals to an associated personal watercraft.