Many of us have seen plenty of electric personal jet-propelled water vehicles and toys. That’s not anything new, but the engineers at Yamaha Motor Corp. USA are taking water jet propulsion to new heights with a handful of patent applications recently filed with the United States Patent and Trademark office (USPTO).
In a nutshell, the patent is for a submersible portable water jet propulsion system that can be attached to stand-up paddle boards, surf boards and kayaks – there’s even an application for swimmers and divers using leg-mounted jets! These battery-operated propulsion systems are interestingly controlled – according to drawings submitted by Yamaha with the patents – by either a watch or paddle.
According to Yamaha’s own patent application:
In view of the current state of the technology, it has been discovered that a need exists for an aquatic jet propulsion device that is relatively compact and lightweight so as not to interfere with the normal non-motor propelled operation of the aquatic vessel.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, an aquatic jet propulsion device is provided that basically includes a floating body, a submersible propulsion unit and a communication device. The floating body has an above water level surface and a below water level surface. The submersible propulsion unit is disposed on the floating body beneath the below water level surface of the floating body. The communication device is wired to the submersible propulsion unit, and is configured to wirelessly communicate with a control module.
With the explosive growth of the paddle board and kayak markets (particularly in regards to recreational fishing), the addition of a jet propulsion system could make all of the difference between lingering in one spot where the fish might not be biting, and having a successful day of reeling in catches all day. There’s quite a bit to peruse, so we’ve provided links to the patent applications here, here and here.
