Patent ID: 7500890

Claim:
A method for controlling a marine vessel having a first waterjet comprising a first steering nozzle, a first reversing deflector, and a second waterjet comprising a second steering nozzle, comprising: receiving a first vessel control signal comprising at least one of a transverse thrust component, a forward-reverse thrust component and a rotational thrust component; generating at least a first actuator control signal and a second actuator control signal in response to the first vessel control signal; coupling the first actuator control signal to and controlling the first waterjet; coupling the second actuator control signal to and controlling the second waterjet; inducing a net transverse thrust to the marine vessel in response to the transverse thrust component without substantially inducing any forward-reverse thrust or rotational thrust to the marine vessel; inducing a net forward-reverse thrust to the marine vessel in response to the forward-reverse thrust component without substantially inducing any transverse thrust or rotational thrust to the marine vessel; inducing a net rotational thrust to the marine vessel in response to the rotational thrust component without substantially inducing any forward-reverse thrust or transverse thrust to the marine vessel; and configuring the first waterjet as a reverse thrusting waterjet with a first revolutions per minute (RPM) value, configuring the second waterjet as a forward thrusting waterjet with a second RPM value, and configuring the first RPM value to be higher than the second RPM value.