An outboard motor includes an outboard motor body, a mount mounted on a boat body, and a support member that supports the outboard motor body so as to be steerable with respect to the mount. The support member includes an upper support that surrounds a drive shaft and supports the outboard motor body, a lower support that is spaced below the upper support, surrounds the drive shaft, and supports the outboard motor body, and a coupler that couples the upper support to the lower support.

A watercraft having a body with an opening for a user, a seat, at least one drive mechanism placed at least partially within the opening; an intake configured to allow a flow of water from a body of water surrounding the watercraft; a pump configured receive the flow of water and accelerate the flow of water, and a user controlled discharge configured to receive the flow of accelerated water from the pump and discharge the accelerated water to the water surrounding the watercraft such that the watercraft moves in a direction chosen by the user.

A member for supporting a vehicle or watercraft steering wheel, the member including a fixed support device, firmly connected in rotation, to said vehicle, or watercraft, and a device supporting the steering wheel that is rotatable with the steering wheel and connected to a device for transmission of rotation of the steering wheel towards, or to, a device for directing said vehicle, or watercraft, and a device that carries an aid device to the pilot of the vehicle, or watercraft. The carrying device is in a fixed, or firm, condition, in rotation with respect to the steering wheel, so as to allow an easy operation or displaying of the aid device for any position taken by the steering wheel.

A controller generates a first forward thrust with a first propulsion device and generates a first backward thrust with a second propulsion device with a same number as the first propulsion device in case that the backward thrust is less than a predetermined threshold. The controller generates a second forward thrust larger than the first forward thrust with the first propulsion device and generates a second backward thrust with each of the second propulsion devices greater than the first propulsion device in case that the backward thrust is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold.

A steering handle device includes a housing to be mounted on a hull, a tube member and a steering shaft. The tube member is rotatable in a forward/backward direction around the tilt shaft relative to the housing. The steering shaft is inserted to the tube member. A steering arm is attached to the steering shaft. The steering arm includes an extending portion extending to an outer side of the housing. A joint member is provided on the extending portion. The joint member includes a connection portion to connect to the steering cable and a support portion to support the connection portion. When the steering shaft is in the neutral position in the rotation direction, the connection portion is located in a position corresponding to the tilt shaft as viewing the housing from the lateral direction.

An operation apparatus configured to operate a ship propulsion machine includes: a remote control device including a holder and an operation lever swingably supported, and configured to perform a shift switching operation of the ship propulsion machine and an operation of increasing/decreasing a rotation speed of a power source of the ship propulsion machine; a gauge device including a display device and configured to display information regarding the ship propulsion machine including information indicating a shift position of the ship propulsion machine and the rotation speed of the power source; and a case to which the remote control device and the gauge device are each attached, and which integrates the remote control device and the gauge device. In the case, the remote control device and the gauge device are disposed adjacently to each other in a front-rear direction of the ship.

Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods to disengage an autopilot drive of a mobile structure based on a steering wheel torque applied manually by a user. A system includes a logic device in communication with a torque sensor unit, such as a strain gauge, load pin, or load cell. Sensor data and/or signals provided by the TSU are used to determine a force applied to a steering mechanism of the mobile structure while the mobile structure is on a heading provided by an autopilot drive of the mobile structure. The force may be a torque applied to the steering mechanism corresponding to manual control of the mobile structure. The system disengages the autopilot device of the mobile structure based, at least in part, on the determined force.

A marine propulsion system includes at least two parallel propulsion devices that each generate forward and reverse thrusts, wherein the parallel propulsion devices are oriented such that their thrusts are parallel to one another, and at least one drive position sensor configured to sense a drive angle of the parallel propulsion devices. A lateral thruster is configured to generate starboard and port thrust to propel the marine vessel. A user input device is operable by a user to provide at least a lateral thrust command to command lateral movement of the marine vessel and a rotational thrust command to command rotational movement of the marine vessel. A controller is configured to control the parallel propulsion devices and the lateral thruster based on the lateral steering input and/or the rotational steering input and the drive angle so as to provide the lateral movement and/or the rotational movement.

A method of controlling a steering system on a marine vessel includes, in response to receiving a user input to engage a quick steer mode, employing a reduced steering ratio to translate positions of a steering wheel to desired steering angles of a marine drive. A vessel speed of a marine vessel is determined and then compared to a threshold vessel speed. An output limit is determined to prevent the marine vessel from further exceeding the threshold vessel speed while the quick steer mode is engaged. The marine drive is automatically controlled based on the output limit and a steering actuator associated with the marine drive is controlled based on the reduced steering ratio.

A watercraft running system includes a propulsion device, a steering device, a course changing operator, a port-side attitude control plate and a starboard-side attitude control plate, a port-side actuator and a starboard-side actuator, and a controller. The controller is operable in a first control mode in which the steering device is controlled according to the operation of the course changing operator and a second control mode in which the port-side actuator and the starboard-side actuator are controlled according to the operation of the course changing operator. The controller is configured or programmed to prohibit shifting from the first control mode to the second control mode if the steering position of the steering device is not a neutral position, and to permit the shift from the first control mode to the second control mode if the steering position is the neutral position.