Steering control for watercraft

A personal watercraft comprising a hull defining an engine compartment and defining at least an upper wall, a generally longitudinally-extending elongated straddle-type seat, a plurality of foot areas extending alongside the seat, an engine disposed within the engine compartment and having an output shaft, a water inlet defined on an underside of the hull, a propulsion unit communicating with the water inlet and being driven by the output shaft of the engine, a steering mechanism configured to effect steering of the watercraft, and a steering control assembly coupled to the steering mechanism to operate the steering mechanism, the steering control assembly including a steering member being disposed above the upper wall and having upper and lower ends, a steering operator being coupled to the upper end of the steering member, the steering member being pivotally coupled to the upper wall such that the steering member pivots about a pivot axis that lies generally transverse to a longitudinal axis of the watercraft hull, the lower end of the steering member lying forward of the pivot axis.

A personal watercraft comprising a hull defining an engine compartment and having at least an upper wall, a generally longitudinally-extending elongated straddle-type seat, a plurality of foot areas extending alongside the seat, an engine being disposed within the engine compartment and having an output shaft, a water inlet defined on an underside of the hull, a propulsion unit communicating with the water inlet and being driven by the output shaft of the engine, a steering mechanism configured to effect steering of the watercraft, and a steering control assembly coupled to the steering mechanism to operate the steering mechanism, the steering control assembly including a handlebar assembly coupled to a steering member disposed above the upper wall, the steering member being pivotally mounted to the upper wall such that the steering member pivots about a pivot axis that lies generally transverse to a longitudinal axis of the watercraft hull, and a steering linkage coupled to the steering member and extending through the upper wall of the watercraft, a portion of the steering linkage, which is disposed below the upper wall, being coupled to a portion of the steering mechanism.

A personal watercraft comprising a hull defining an engine compartment and having at least an upper wall, a generally longitudinally-extending elongated straddle-type seat, a plurality of foot areas extending alongside the seat, an engine being disposed within the engine compartment and having an output shaft, a water inlet defined on an underside of the hull, a propulsion unit communicating with the water inlet and being driven by the output shaft of the engine, a steering mechanism configured to effect steering of the watercraft, and a steering control assembly coupled to the steering mechanism to operate the steering mechanism, the steering control assembly including an upper steering member and a lower steering member, the upper steering member being coupled to a handlebar assembly, the lower steering member being rotatably affixed to the upper wall and journalled for rotation about a first axis, the upper and lower steering members being pivotally connected so as to pivot about a second axis that lies generally normal to the first axis, and a locking mechanism connected to at least the upper steering member to selectively fix a pivotal position of the upper steering member about the second axis, the locking mechanism having an actuator located below the upper steering shaft with the handlebar assembly extending generally normal to a longitudinal axis of the watercraft.

A watercraft comprising a hull including a main body and having an upper wall, an engine being disposed within the hull and having an output shaft, a propulsion device supported by the hull and driven by the output shaft of the engine, a steering mechanism coupled to the hull to effect steering of the watercraft, and a steering control assembly coupled to the steering mechanism to operate the steering mechanism, the steering control assembly including an upper steering member and a lower steering member, the upper steering member being coupled to a steering operator, the lower steering member being rotatably mounted to the upper wall so as to rotate about a first axis, and a universal joint coupling the upper steering member to the lower steering member so as to allow pivoting of the upper steering member about a second axis generally normal to the first axis.