For anyone who's ever been out riding the waves on a PWC, you'll likely know two truisms. One, a PWC is far more fun than any boat will ever be, and two, despite that, boats are still better in terms of protecting you from the sun's baking rays. After all, the good ones have roofs and/or sun shades to shield your fragile skin, while PWCs don't.
And that's a problem, as people often want to use these machines not just to light their hair on fire—i.e. RideApart's own Robbie Bacon—but to park up, chill on the water, have some fun, or go fishing. These are multitools of both fresh and saltwater and folks need shelter sometimes. I wish I had an umbrella the last time I went fly fishing as I made the mistake of not reapplying sunscreen.
Ask me how burnt I felt...
But no manufacturer has really come out with a proper accessory to solve this issue, and it's been left to the aftermarket and/or beach umbrella crowd to supplement those hoping to anchor their PWCs and not get burned. That is until now, as RideApart's discovered that Yamaha has patented this dope-looking manually-operated sunshade for its PWCs.
The shade assembly patent basically turns your Yamaha PWC into a floating cabana, as what appears to be a lightweight tarp connects from two outrigger poles at the back of the machine to the PWC's handlebars, thus giving you a semi-enclosed space to shelter from the sun.
According to the patent's abstract, "A shade assembly for personal watercraft to provide shade for the user from direct exposure of at least some sunlight. The shade assembly comprises a shade top, a front fixing structure, and a rear supporting structure. The shade top is designed to be attached to the front fixing structure and the rear supporting structure to create a shade that extends over the user. The front fixing structure comprises two or more fasteners to securely attach the shade top to the steering control handle or two or more supporting pillars, while the rear supporting structure comprises two or more supporting pillars to be fixed on the aft side of the personal watercraft. This shade assembly provides a simple and efficient solution to protect the user of personal watercraft from harmful sun exposure."
The poles then retract within themselves and can be stored, along with the sunshade itself, within the PWC, so you don't lose much space in your storage.
It's a neat little solution to a problem that many people have, and have complained about for years. I could definitely see myself using this when I hit the water either to go fishing—this would be perfect for late summer deepwater jigging—or just out for a rip and want to chill out for a bit. And it doesn't affect the performance or capabilities of the craft like a regular roof would either.
But what do you all think? Are you ready to find a sunny spot and pitch the sunshade or do you like skin cancer?
