Patent ID: 7930986

Claim:
A steering system for a watercraft, comprising: a watercraft propulsion unit at a stern of the watercraft; a steering device including an electric actuator configured to actuate the steering device, the steering device changing a direction in which the watercraft travels; a steering wheel, operable by an operator, electrically connected to the electric actuator to provide an actuation signal corresponding to the amount of a steering wheel operation to the electric actuator; a reaction actuator configured to apply a reaction force to the steering wheel; and control means for controlling the reaction actuator, the control means including: at least one of operation status detection means for detecting an operation status corresponding to the steering wheel operation, running status detection means for detecting a running status of the watercraft, watercraft propulsion unit status recognition means for recognizing a status of the watercraft propulsion unit, and electric actuator status detection means for detecting a status of the electric actuator; torque computation means for computing a torque target value based on the detection value from the at least one of the means; and reaction actuator control means for controlling the reaction actuator in accordance with the torque target value; wherein the electric actuator status detection means is connected to temperature detection means for detecting a temperature of the electric actuator.