Motorized watercraft

Abstract

A motorized watercraft includes a board and a cassette coupleable to the board. The board may be a surf board or a wakesurf board with a top surface and a bottom surface. The top surface includes a mounting space for receiving the cassette with an outer surface of the cassette in alignment with the top surface of the board and the bottom surface of the board includes an intake. The cassette includes a power source, an electric motor, an impeller, and a controller. The controller executes instructions to activate the electric motor and rotate the impeller to provide a short burst of forward thrust during operation of the watercraft in response to an input from a user. The thrust assists a user with maintaining their position on a wake during surfing or wakesurfing.

1 . A system, comprising:
 a cassette removably coupleable to a board, the cassette including:
 a power source; 
 an electric motor in communication with the power source; 
 an impeller coupled to the electric motor; and 
 a controller in communication with the power source and the electric motor, the controller including a memory configured to store instructions and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:
 activate the electric motor to rotate the impeller and provide an intermittent forward thrust in response to an input from a user. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the memory is configured to store further instructions, the at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:
 activate the electric motor to provide the intermittent forward thrust to propel a rider on the board on a wake of a boat and increase a relative speed of the rider with respect to the boat.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the board is a surf board. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the board is a wakesurf board. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the board includes:
 a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface;   a mounting space in the first surface; and   an intake in the second surface.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the cassette is received in the mounting space in the first surface of the board and aligned with the first surface. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the cassette is configured to intake water from the intake in the second surface of the board and output water from the impeller in a direction aligned with the board. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of time is less than ten seconds and the forward thrust is between 100 to 600 Newtons. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the memory is configured to store further instructions, the at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:
 repeatedly activate the electric motor to rotate the impeller and provide the forward intermittent thrust for the amount of time at several different instances during the operational time of the cassette in response to additional inputs from the user.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a remote control device in communication with the controller of the cassette, the remote control device configured to receive the input from the user and transmit one or more signals to the controller.   
     
     
         11 . A system, comprising:
 a board, including:
 a body with a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to the top surface; 
 a mounting space in the top surface of the body; 
 an intake in the bottom surface of the body; and 
 one or more fins coupled to the bottom surface of the body; and 
   a cassette removably coupled to the board, the cassette receivable in the mounting space in the body of the board with at least a portion of an outer surface of the cassette planar with the top surface of the body of the board, the cassette including:
 a power source; 
 an electric motor in communication with the power source; and 
 an impeller coupled to the electric motor. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the cassette further includes a controller in communication with the power source and the electric motor, the controller including a memory configured to store instructions and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:
 activate the electric motor to rotate the impeller and provide an intermittent forward thrust in response to an input from a user.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a remote control device in communication with the controller of the cassette, the remote control device configured to receive the input from the user and transmit one or more signals to the controller.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the amount of time is less than ten seconds and the forward thrust is between 100 to 600 Newtons. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the memory is configured to store further instructions, the at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:
 repeatedly activate the electric motor to rotate the impeller and provide the forward thrust for the amount of time at several different instances during the operational time of the cassette in response to additional inputs from the user.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the cassette is configured to intake water from the intake in the second surface of the board and output water from the impeller in a direction aligned with a central axis of the board between the first surface and the second surface of the board. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the board is a surf board. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the board is a wakesurf board.