Watercraft

Abstract

A watercraft includes a propulsion device, an accelerator operator, a trim adjuster, a trim operator, and a controller configured or programmed to control a trim position. The trim positions include a bow-up position to attain a bow-up attitude in which a bow is raised and at least one ordinary position to attain an ordinary attitude in which the bow is closer to a water surface than in the bow-up attitude. The controller is configured or programmed to determine whether or not a hull is in the bow-up attitude and, when a duration of the bow-up attitude reaches a predetermined time limit, executes a forced trim down control by which the trim position is controlled to the ordinary position. The controller may be configured or programmed to prohibit a change to the bow-up position for a predetermined resume prohibit time after executing the forced trim down control.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A watercraft comprising:
 a propulsion device to generate a propulsive force to propel a hull;   an accelerator operator operable by a user to change an output of the propulsion device;   a trim adjuster including a plurality of trim positions to change a trim of the hull;   a trim operator operable by the user to change the trim of the hull; and   a controller configured or programmed to control the output of the propulsion device according to an operation of the accelerator operator and to control the trim position of the trim adjuster according to an operation of the trim operator; wherein   the plurality of trim positions include a bow-up position to attain a bow-up attitude in which a bow is raised and at least one ordinary position to attain an ordinary attitude in which the bow is closer to a water surface than in the bow-up attitude; and   the controller is configured or programmed to determine whether or not the hull is in the bow-up attitude, and to execute, when a duration of the bow-up attitude reaches a predetermined time limit, a forced trim down control by which the trim position of the trim adjuster is controlled to the ordinary position.   
     
     
         2 . The watercraft according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to prohibit a change of the trim position of the trim adjuster to the bow-up position for a predetermined resume prohibit time after executing the forced trim down control. 
     
     
         3 . The watercraft according to  claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to execute an automatic restore control to restore the trim position of the trim adjuster to the bow-up position after an elapse of the predetermined resume prohibit time. 
     
     
         4 . The watercraft according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to interrupt measurement of the duration of the bow-up attitude when the watercraft is brought into an attitude other than the bow-up attitude before the duration reaches the predetermined time limit, to resume the measurement of the duration when after the interruption the attitude of the watercraft is restored to the bow-up attitude within a predetermined hold time, and to end the measurement of the duration when the attitude of the watercraft is not restored to the bow-up attitude even after passage of the predetermined hold time. 
     
     
         5 . The watercraft according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to change the trim position of the trim adjuster at a first speed according to operation of the trim operator and to change the trim position at a second speed slower than the first speed when changing the trim position of the trim adjuster independently of the operation of the trim operator. 
     
     
         6 . The watercraft according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the propulsion device includes an engine; and   the controller is configured or programmed to:
 acquire an alert related to the engine; and 
 prohibit the change of the trim position of the trim adjuster to the bow-up position when the alert related to the engine is generated. 
   
     
     
         7 . The watercraft according to  claim 6 , wherein the alert related to the engine includes at least one of an abnormality determination information about the engine, an overheat warning determination information about the engine, or an oil pressure warning determination information about the engine. 
     
     
         8 . The watercraft according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the propulsion device includes an engine; and   the controller is configured or programmed to prohibit the change of the trim position of the trim adjuster to the bow-up position until a predetermined prohibit-at-start time elapses from a start of running of the engine.   
     
     
         9 . The watercraft according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured or programmed to determine that the hull is in the bow-up attitude when the trim position of the trim adjuster is the bow-up position and the output of the propulsion device is not less than a predetermined determination threshold. 
     
     
         10 . The watercraft according to  claim 1 , wherein the propulsion device is a waterjet propulsion device including an engine and a jet propulsion pump drivable by the engine. 
     
     
         11 . The watercraft according to  claim 10 , wherein the watercraft is a personal watercraft including a steering handle bar.