A Wave of Innovation

Bombardier Recreational Products Inc.

Imagine yourself somewhere out on the water. You gun the throttle on your personal watercraft (PWC) and zoom from zero to 60 mph over the water’s surface in less than 10 seconds—fast enough to make your eyes bug out. Then you carve a turn so sharp that the g-forces push you down against the seat as cool spray splashes you.

It can be a liberating feeling, but to some this would seem daunting—as it should. Fortunately, technological gains in the past 2 years, such as improved low-speed steering and—honest—suspensions, have made the operation of PWCs safer and simpler than they used to be. Now just about anyone can handle these powerful machines as he/she skims across the water.

GIVE ME A BRAKE. One of the biggest complaints by riders about PWCs has been that they are difficult to control at slow speeds and take hundreds of feet to stop when they travel at top speeds, which now can reach more than 70 mph in a few models. Typically, the only way to slow a PWC quickly is to cut the power. But because a PWC’s steering depends on you directing the water jet’s thrust to the left or right side, cutting the power means that you lose virtually all ability to steer. So, you might be unable to avoid a collision—let alone drive the PWC onto a trailer or pull it up to a dock.

Sea-Doo rocked the PWC world last year when it brought its iControl system to market. iControl consists of several innovative components, but the most significant is iBR, which stands for “intelligent brake and reverse.” Yes, iBR provides—believe it or not—the world’s first braking system for any watercraft.

“It’s a great advancement, because steering and control have always been an issue” and are often the cause of the PWC accidents that occur, says Brian Berry of Personal Watercraft Industry Association. However, neither Kawasaki nor Yamaha has announced any immediate plans to introduce similar systems. Yamaha has stated that it is unwilling to invest in what it considers to be unproven technology—at least for now.

From the moment that iControl hit the water, experts took note—particularly of the braking system. It won numerous awards. Capt. Mark Rizzo, who is chief of U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety, called iBR “a revolutionary improvement to the safety of these vessels” when he presented the Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Innovation Award last year.

So, how do you get a PWC to brake? In Sea-Doo’s case, you just squeeze the handlebar brake control, and the system’s electronic brain shuts off the forward thrust, drops an aluminum gate below the hull and reverses thrust as much as is necessary to bring the vessel to a quick stop. Just how quick? Sea-Doo says that when an iBR-equipped PWC travels at 50 mph, it will stop 100 feet sooner than a PWC that doesn’t have brakes. That’s about one-half to one-third of the overall stopping distance that you get when you cut the power. In tests, we found that the level of control that it gives you over the machine is absolutely stunning. Deceleration felt every bit as strong as when you hit the brakes in a car, and we came to a stop 100 to 120 feet after we applied the brakes. Amazing!

For 2010, Sea-Doo incorporated iBR in seven models in its lineup—up from just two when it was introduced in 2009—including all RXT and GTX models, plus the Wake Pro 215. This drops the price on a PWC that includes braking to less than $12,000. That’s still a hefty price, but it is certainly a step in the right direction. Sea-Doo plans to continue its migration of iBR through its product line.