Following the recent Memorial Day Weekend, summer is officially upon us here in North America. And that means that bodies of water across the U.S. and Canada are now covered in marine vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Much like every year, watercraft season is approaching full tilt.
One of the more popular types is the personal watercraft (PWC), also known as the jet-ski. These little and not-so-little “motorcycles of the sea” roar their way through the water and are perfect for zigging and zagging and riding the waves of some of the larger vessels out there.
We used our media monitoring and analysis software to analyze all the U.S. online news mentions of the top PWC brands in May, in order to find out who rode the waves best last month. (Newer brands like HSR-Benelli and Gibbs-Sports were included in the analysis, but did not garner enough coverage to be included in the final list.)
The result? Industry stalwart Sea-Doo came out on top, although it was followed very closely by Yamaha, with Kawasaki not far behind.
Sea-Doo received coverage surrounding the launch of a Facebook/Twitter video contest for the 2016 boating season ━ using the Twitter hashtag #SeaDooLife ━ where individuals can win Sea-Doo brand riding gear and accessories for sharing their watercraft videos. There was also a smaller amount of coverage notifying that Sea-Doo’s parent company BRP would be holding its first-quarter results conference call later in June.
Sea-Doo, Yamaha, and Kawasaki all received significant coverage from a well-distributed article that mentioned that U.S. watercraft thefts dropped by three per cent in 2015. The list noted that personal watercrafts were the top stolen type of marine vehicle, at 34%. All three of the top brands made the list for top five recovered types of watercrafts as well (40%, 34%, and 16% respectively).
At a Fuels America briefing in Washington, D.C., Kawasaki, Honda, and Yamaha all received positive coverage for approving the use of ethanol (E10) in their watercraft engines.
Yamaha also received coverage after it received major boating industry awards, including the Yamaha FX SVHO WaveRunner being named the 2015 Watercraft of the Year. This award is presented annually by Watercraft Journal magazine.
Kawasaki received a smaller amount of coverage from the marking of its 50th anniversary, having been founded in 1966.
Due to their high-speed and popular-use across the U.S., all brands researched were also included both in water safety notification advisories and in the reporting of a handful of accidents in 2016 so far.
So as temperatures continue to warm up and the waters become more crowded with various types of marine vehicles, it looks like we will see a good showing this year from all the major PWC brands, tearing their way through the waves and riding the wake. Just remember to always drive safely.
