Patent ID: 8335633

Claim:
A driving control system for a personal watercraft comprising: a speed detector configured to detect a value of an engine speed of an engine mounted in the personal watercraft or a vehicle speed of the watercraft; a controller configured to be able to execute an auto-cruise mode in which the watercraft is cruising at a constant engine speed or at a constant vehicle speed; a memory configured to store a cruising speed range of the engine speed or the vehicle speed in which the watercraft is permitted to cruise in the auto-cruise mode; and an input device which is operated by a rider to cause the controller to generate a command for starting the auto-cruise mode; wherein the controller is configured to maintain the engine speed or the vehicle speed at a time point when the command has been generated by the operation of the input device, when the value detected by the speed detector is not outside the cruising speed range; and wherein the controller is configured to, in response to the command generated by the operation of the input device, control the engine speed or the vehicle speed so that the value detected by the speed detector falls within the cruising speed range, when the value detected by the speed detector is outside the cruising speed range; and to then cause the watercraft to cruise at the constant engine speed or at the constant vehicle speed; wherein the controller is configured to, in response to the command generated by the operation of the input device, control the engine speed or the vehicle speed so that the value detected by the speed detector reaches a lower limit value in the cruising speed range when the value detected by the speed detector is smaller than the lower limit value; and to then cause the watercraft to cruise at the constant engine speed or at the constant vehicle speed, which is substantially equal to the lower limit value.