One of the most interesting things I'd like to accomplish this year is to take one of the many fishing-forward PWCs out onto the waters and wrangle me some fish.
As a lifelong fisherman, I've fished from boats and on shore countless times. I've even fished from a homebuilt raft my childhood best friend and I built ala Huck Finn. But using a PWC, which is more maneuverable, can get into tighter areas, travel up smaller rivers, and still maintains solid comfort, just seems like the ideal machine for the fishing I love.
There are, however, always ways to better the experience, and Sea-Doo's latest patent seems to think the PWC-maker wants to help a fisherman out with an all-new seat design.
Sea-Doo's patent essentially makes its PWCs Transformers, as the design detailed in the document allows a PWC's seat to raise up, as well as twist around, after its stowed while riding to your destination.
According to the patent's description, "It is known to provide a personal watercraft with a portion of the seat that can be raised for a user to sit thereon, for example while fishing. U.S. Pat. No. 7,571,692 B2, entitled 'Personal Watercraft And Seat Assemblies Therefor' and issued on Aug. 11, 2009, describes such a personal watercraft with a seat assembly having a rear seat portion of the straddle seat of the personal watercraft being mounted on a movable support post."
But the patent adds, "However, it would be desirable to provide such a reconfigurable seat assembly while preventing the use of the seat portion in the raised position with the personal watercraft being operated above a certain speed." As such, the mechanism allows the seat to be stowed within the tunnel of the PWC, but can be raised up, along with a backrest, after you've come to a stop. Likewise, it can swivel, allowing the fisherman or rider to have a seat that's good for a full 360 degrees. Perfect for those off-shore excursions.
Let's hope we see this seat soon, as I really desperately want to test it out and snag a couple fish for home.
