WAVERUNNER is a trademark of Yamaha Motor Corporation. It is a brand name for Yamaha personal watercraft. The line of products includes one, two, and three, and four-person craft. The business has since bloomed into a full line of products which compete primarily with offerings from Bombardier and Kawasaki, as well as Polaris.

Yamaha was actually the third company into the personal watercraft space, behind Bombardier's Sea-Doo and Kawasaki's Jet-Ski products, and ahead of Polaris, customarily a snowmobile manufacturer, as was Bombardier at the time. Coming on the scene in the mid-eighties, their arrival began the change from one-rider stand up models to two or three (or now, even four) rider models on which one generally remains seated - or attempts to.

The Yamaha Super Jet is the best selling and most race-winning PWC around. Very similar to the original Kawasaki Jet-Ski product, it features a 701cc water cooled two-stroke engine. It is 88.2 in. (2.25m) long, and weighs 291 lbs. (132kg) dry. This is substantially lighter than its only competitor, resulting in better handling and higher speeds.

Sit-down WaveRunner watercraft models from Yamaha have engines ranging from 701 to 1176cc, dry weights ranging from 551lbs (250kg) to 815.7lbs (370kg), and lengths from 115.4" (2.93m) to 151.6" (3.85m). Amusingly, the largest and heaviest carries the designation SUV1200. These craft come with a wide variety of features and are considerably easier to pilot than their stand-up cousins.


References:

Website: Yamaha Motor Corporation (http://www.yamaha-motor.com/)

Website: Personal Watercraft Industry Association, History of Personal Watercraft (http://www.pwia.org/Abo_PWC.htm)

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