I was looking around for some information on Seadoo pwc covers and came across some really interesting information on the history of Seadoos and personal watercraft in general. I am a bit of a history buff so I put off the seadoo cover search and gobbled up a little history lesson.
I have to admit that I'm definitely part of the older crowd now, so you would think I already know when these water machines were created. I didn't have the money back then to even consider buying one, so in fact I didn't pay close attention to them at the time. I had always thought that pwcs came out in the 80's, but little did I know that was only the refinement - digging a little deeper gave me a much better picture of the early evolution.
Most people are familiar with Ski-doo snowmobiles produced by the Canadian company Bombardier. In the mid-sixties some in the Bombardier family began to toy with making a ski-doo that would operate on water. The idea started out semi-seriously but quickly got some traction amongst the water enthusiasts in the family. The Bombardier family started mocking up some blueprints. Soon they joined forces with an American named Jacobsen who was also working on a similar stand up version.
Jacobsen was interested in motorcycles and his dream was to create a machine similar to a motorcycle that would travel on water. Jacobsen and Bombardier joined forces. Before long, Jacobsen had designed the first Seadoo. Bombardier bought the rights from Jacobsen and added the signature yellow and black coloring from their famous Ski-doo snowmobiles. Bombardier also designed and manufactured the yellow and black seadoo covers. Bombardier produced these Seadoos and offered them to the market in 1968 and 1969.
The Bombardier Seadoos were limited by the market technology of the times. The 1968 engine was air cooled. This posed as a great problem as the hull wasn't big enough to allow the proper air circulation. In 1969, the design was changed to allow a liquid cooled engine. This helped a bit there were other problems to contend with. Most of these Seadoos were sold on the east coast and used in salt water. The salt corroded everything. Apparently Jacobsen had some ideas to improve the engine and reduce corrosion but these ideas were not adopted by the Bombardier family.
After a few false starts the Bombardier family moth balled the idea of the modern day Seadoo for the next 20 years. Jacobsen bought the rights to his ideas and joined forces with Kawasaki. While at Kawasaki, Jacobsen developed the first Jet-Ski. The history of Seadoo pwc is colorful and interesting.
I have to admit that I'm definitely part of the older crowd now, so you would think I already know when these water machines were created. I didn't have the money back then to even consider buying one, so in fact I didn't pay close attention to them at the time. I had always thought that pwcs came out in the 80's, but little did I know that was only the refinement - digging a little deeper gave me a much better picture of the early evolution.
Most people are familiar with Ski-doo snowmobiles produced by the Canadian company Bombardier. In the mid-sixties some in the Bombardier family began to toy with making a ski-doo that would operate on water. The idea started out semi-seriously but quickly got some traction amongst the water enthusiasts in the family. The Bombardier family started mocking up some blueprints. Soon they joined forces with an American named Jacobsen who was also working on a similar stand up version.
Jacobsen was interested in motorcycles and his dream was to create a machine similar to a motorcycle that would travel on water. Jacobsen and Bombardier joined forces. Before long, Jacobsen had designed the first Seadoo. Bombardier bought the rights from Jacobsen and added the signature yellow and black coloring from their famous Ski-doo snowmobiles. Bombardier also designed and manufactured the yellow and black seadoo covers. Bombardier produced these Seadoos and offered them to the market in 1968 and 1969.
The Bombardier Seadoos were limited by the market technology of the times. The 1968 engine was air cooled. This posed as a great problem as the hull wasn't big enough to allow the proper air circulation. In 1969, the design was changed to allow a liquid cooled engine. This helped a bit there were other problems to contend with. Most of these Seadoos were sold on the east coast and used in salt water. The salt corroded everything. Apparently Jacobsen had some ideas to improve the engine and reduce corrosion but these ideas were not adopted by the Bombardier family.
After a few false starts the Bombardier family moth balled the idea of the modern day Seadoo for the next 20 years. Jacobsen bought the rights to his ideas and joined forces with Kawasaki. While at Kawasaki, Jacobsen developed the first Jet-Ski. The history of Seadoo pwc is colorful and interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment