Water jet propelling apparatus for boats

In a boat having a bow and a stern and provided with water propelling means including a nozzle adapted to direct a water jet astern of the boat and motor-driven pump means for delivering a stream of pressurized water through said nozzle, a combination comprising steering means including a pair of steerable rudder blades located astern of said nozzle and respectively at opposite lateral sides of the water jet issuing from said nozzle, said blades being pivotable supported in substantial parallel relationship with a given distance therebetween for pivoting movement about substantially vertical axes to either side from a rest position in which said blades extend substantially parallel to a longitudinal plane of symmetry of said nozzle, said blades having trailing and bottom edges defining openings through which the water jet may pass into the surrounding body of water;

• reversing gate means having a jet-deflecting surface positioned to face the bow and located astern of said nozzle and being movable about an axis transverse to the lengthwise elongation of the boat, said jet-deflecting surface extending over a wider transversal distance than said given distance and being curved downwardly and forwardly, said jet-deflecting surface comprising a central portion having two adjacent arcuate concave sections extending together substantially over said given distance, each of said arcuate sections having their respective centers of curvature in said vertical axes of said blades and defining clearances with said trailing edges of said blades when the latter are in said rest position, and channel-shaped side portions located symmetrically laterally outwardly of said control portion and forming respective channels of generally U-shaped configuration having curved side edges extending forwardly towards said bow;
• and means for moving said reversing gate means closely adjacent to said trailing edges of said blades between an upper position in which said jet-deflecting surface does not intercept said jet, a plurality of intermediate positions in which said jet-deflecting surface moves to an increasing extent over the opening defined between said trailing edges of said blades so as to force said jet of water to flow at least in part in downward direction through the opening defined between said bottom edges of said blades, and a lower end position in which said jet-deflecting surface forces substantially the entire amount of said jet of water to flow through the opening defined between said bottom edges of said blades, whereby in said lower end position, when said blades are in said rest position, any water escaping laterally through said clearances is directed forwardly in said channels to enhance the reverse thrust and, when said blades are pivoted, the steering action is not attenuated by any water escaping laterally from the clearance at the side of the boat opposite the desired steering direction.