Patent ID: 6880475

Claim:
A personal watercraft comprising: a hull including a bottom hull and a top deck secured over the bottom hull, the bull defining an engine compartment sized to contain an internal combustion engine for powering a jet propulsion unit, the jet propulsion unit including a steerable water discharge nozzle, the top deck having a raised, longitudinally extending seat adapted to accommodate an operator in straddle fashion, wherein the top deck has a footwell disposed on either side of the seat, wherein the footwell is formed between an inner wall and an outer wall, wherein the footwell has a length, and a top width between the inner wall and the outer wall, wherein the footwell includes a bottom surface, the bottom surface having a substantially horizontal portion beside the seat extending forward to a bend, and an upwardly angled portion extending forward of the bend; wherein the footwell has a section along its length having a front disposed near the bend and a rear disposed at least 2 feet to the rear of the bend, wherein the footwell section has a top width that increases forwardly over the length of the section, wherein the top width near the section front is greater than 10½ inches.