Do you have any idea of how many horsepower a typical jet ski has? On this page, it appears to be 110 to 155 hp, topping out at about 215 hp.
For that matter, I did not know about this safety problem:
In 1998 the National Transportation Safety Board criticized the basic design of all personal watercraft: "Personal watercraft have no braking mechanism. They coast to a stop, and while coasting, there is no turning ability." Tom Ebro, president of Aquatic Risk Management in Florida, concurs. "What makes personal watercraft so ultra-dangerous is the fact that it will not steer when you suddenly have a surprise and let off the throttle." Unlike traditional boats "jet skis' are rudderless. And when the throttle is off, a speeding jet ski is like a car on ice. It can't stop. It can't turn, and the driver has no control.
[...]
Engineer-inventor Charles Willis explains the difference between safe, traditional boats and personal watercraft. "Boats have propellers, something down in the water, and the drag slows down the boat when the motor is off. The hull creates water resistance and so motorboats stop much faster than jet skis. PWCs are very different than boats. There is nothing underneath the hull. There's no drag. The product has a big flaw: it can't stop." A Yamaha diagram puts stopping distance between 260 to 470 feet. The owner's manual for Willis' Kawasaki Ultra-150 says: "Leave 348 feet to come to a stop." That's longer than a football field -- without steering, without control. [Emphasis added]
I'll have to remember to give them a very wide margin in the future when I'm driving a boat.
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