Patent ID: 8647161

Claim:
A personal watercraft comprising: a watercraft body having: a hull; and a deck disposed on the hull; an engine supported by the hull; a jet propulsion system supported by the hull and operatively connected to the engine to propel the watercraft; at least one straddle seat supported on the deck, the at least one seat including a driver seating portion for receiving a driver and at least one passenger seating portion for receiving at least one passenger; a steering device disposed generally forwardly of the driver seating portion for steering the watercraft; at least one sensor disposed on the watercraft for detecting at least one of a presence and an absence of a passenger on the at least one passenger seating portion; and a control unit electrically connected to the at least one sensor, the control unit controlling an operation of the watercraft, the control unit entering a first control mode in response to a signal received from the at least one sensor indicative of the presence of a passenger on the at least one passenger seating portion; the control unit preventing at least one performance characteristic of the watercraft from exceeding a predetermined value in response to the signal received from the at least one sensor being indicative of the presence of a passenger on the at least one passenger seating portion; the at least one performance characteristic including at least one of a torque output of the engine, a rate of change of the torque output, an acceleration of the watercraft, and a rate of change of the acceleration of the watercraft; and the predetermined value being a corresponding one of a predetermined torque output of the engine, a predetermined rate of change of the torque output, a predetermined acceleration of the watercraft, and a predetermined rate of change of the acceleration of the watercraft.