A control assembly for a watercraft is presented comprising a housing defining at least one passage adapted to receive a steering column therethrough, a lever being pivotally connected to the housing about a first axis, the first axis being offset from the at least one passage, the lever being adapted to be disposed between a steering wheel of the watercraft and a dashboard of the watercraft, and an electronic motor control system operatively connected to the lever, the electronic motor control system producing signals operative to control a speed of a motor in response to the lever being rotated about the first axis. A watercraft including a control assembly is also disclosed.

A small boat includes an engine, a display that displays a speed setting image of a boat body and an acceleration setting image of the boat body side by side, an operator including a speed setting operator through which an operation of setting a speed set value is received and an acceleration setting operator through which an operation of setting an acceleration set value is received, and an engine controller that controls the engine based on the operations received by the operator.

A personal watercraft has: a hull; a deck, a straddle-type seat; a motor; a jet propulsion unit; a steering column support; a steering column pivotally connected to the steering column support; a handlebar connected to the steering column; a steering arm connected to the steering column; a push-pull cable connected between the steering arm and a nozzle arm of a steering nozzle of the jet propulsion unit; and a steering damper disposed between the handlebar and the steering column support. The steering damper has: a first portion connected to the steering column and being movable with the steering column; and a second portion connected to the steering column support, the steering column being pivotable relative to the second portion, the first portion being movable relative to the second portion, movement of the first portion relative to the second portion damping pivoting of the steering column about the steering column axis.

A steering control system of a marine vessel includes a controller configured or programmed to perform at least one of a control to automatically steer the marine vessel or a control to automatically change a propulsive force of a propulsion device in an automatic marine vessel maneuvering mode during movement of the marine vessel, and an operator for the marine vessel to perform a predetermined operation. The controller is configured or programmed to cancel the automatic marine vessel maneuvering mode based on an operation performed on the operator by a vessel operator to perform the predetermined operation during the movement of the marine vessel in the automatic marine vessel maneuvering mode.

A hydraulic steering device for boats, vessels or the like, includes a hydraulic pump coupled to a drive motor to feed a drive fluid alternately according to two flow directions; a hydraulic actuating cylinder connected to the delivery and return of the pump; and a fluid flow distributor switching the connection of the delivery and suction of the pump alternatively to one of two inlets/outlets of the cylinder communicating with one of two chambers of the cylinder. The actuating cylinder is mechanically articulated to a steering member, which determines direction change by modifying its orientation relative to an axis of the boat, the vessels or the like, preferably to a longitudinal axis, the modification of steering member orientation being implemented by the actuating cylinder according to the supply of the drive fluid to the cylinder caused by operation of the pump. The motor has inputs for a power supply signal to drive the pump to supply fluid flow according to one of the two predetermined directions of flow.

A joystick system and a watercraft using the system are presented. The system includes a joystick having a low range of motion spanning from a rest angle to a threshold angle, and a high range of motion spanning from the threshold angle to a maximum angle; a joystick position sensor for producing signals indicative of a position of the joystick and a control for producing engine thrust request signals to control a resultant thrust of two thrust generation devices in response to receiving the signals from the joystick position sensor, the resultant thrust increasing from a minimum to a threshold thrust at a first rate of increase as the joystick moves from the rest angle toward the threshold angle, the resultant thrust increasing from the threshold thrust to a maximum thrust at a second greater rate of increase as the joystick moves from the threshold angle toward the maximum angle.

Disclosed is an apparatus for varying the direction of travel of a vehicle, including a rotatable unit operable by the vehicle driver, in particular by gripping, to vary the vehicle's direction of travel, and a support, or hub for rotatably supporting the rotatable unit, having a respective longitudinal axis and connected fixedly to the vehicle. The support for rotatably supporting the rotatable unit has a unit for transferring movement of the rotatable unit to a corresponding unit for controlling the vehicle's direction of travel, such the rudder of the water-borne vehicle, through a corresponding transmission. The transfer unit transfers movement of the rotatable unit, or steering wheel to the unit for controlling the vehicle's direction of travel, in particular through the transmission to the self-same controlling unit, preferably through the rotary transmission shaft, with a transmission ratio of 1:1.

A steering module for a marine vessel includes an IMU arranged to measure steering input by monitoring user gestures of a user using the steering module. The user gestures are interpreted as the steering input for steering the marine vessel. The steering module comprises a control unit arranged to initiate steering of the marine vessel according to the measured steering input.

Steering apparatuses, actuator apparatuses, stators, and electric motors are disclosed.

A member (10) for controlling the direction of a vehicle, preferably in the form of a steering wheel for controlling the direction of a nautical vehicle, or boat, and includes a rotatable body (11), which can be manually operated by the skipper of the vehicle for controlling the direction of the vehicle and which is operatively connectable to unit defining, or determining, the direction of travel of the vehicle. The member includes a unit, or hub, (12) supporting the rotatable body, which include a component (14) fixed to the structure of the vehicle which rotatably support respective units (16) for supporting, or coupling, the rotatable body which can be operated manually, the unit fixed to the structure of the vehicle supporting corresponding unit (18) which can be used, in particular which can be operated and/or viewed, by the skipper, which remain fixed during the rotation of the rotatable body.