Stand Up Jet skis are one of the best items on the market when it comes to fun factor. Not only do you have to ride it, but you have to start on your knees, pull yourself up, and balance for fun. It is not a simple pull the throttle and go. Standup jet skis can be used for fitness as well as fun riding.
It is a good workout to go riding for a half hour or so. Stand-ups are simple, yet provide hours of enjoyment. Most of the time you ride you may fall off if you are a standup rider.
When you do fall off, your jet ski may be going faster than you and have glided 50 feet before it finely came to a rest. Fear not, you have your lanyard on and it has stopped, or if you have an older model, then it will start circling around to pick you back up. Truly the chauffeur of its time.
Do jet skis turn around when you fall off? Yes, older standups will circle around if you fall off as they have no way to kill the engine if you fall off. If you have a newer jet ski with a lanyard, no, they will simply shut off and you will have to swim to the ski.
Why do Jet Ski’s turn around and come back?
Jet skis will turn around and come back as the motor is typically still running when you fall off and if they went straight, you would never catch your ski. A jet ski cannot idle without moving, so it turns one direction to circle around and meet you.
There has been times on my stand up jet ski that it does take some time to start to circle, but you always worry and hope that it will, in fact, start to turn. Most of the time you will have to swim to where you believe the jet ski will be, so you will get good at gauging its speed and predicting where it will be on its way to pick you up.
Newer jet skis will have a lanyard so when you fall off your engine will kill. A lanyard can be added to older models as a safety measure if you would like.
Lots of the time if I know I am about to take a fall, I will hit the stop button by instinct, then I don’t have to trust that the ski will circle back around to get me. It does suck if you do happen to pull yourself out and not fall, but your ski is off so you fall because you are stopped.
What Jet Ski’s will turn around?
Most jet skis after 1993 have lanyards. Yamaha had lanyards on their 1991 models whereas my old 1991 Kawasaki 650sx did not have a lanyard. Kawasaki did not have lanyards on their skis from the 70’s through the early 90’s.
I believe most Yamaha stand ups have lanards.
Is it dangerous not to have a lanyard?
No, it is not dangerous to not have a lanyard as long as you don’t ride near boats or docks as the jet ski could keep going 50′-75′ after you fall, however, you may have a better peace of mind if you have a lanyard.
Can I add a lanyard to my ski?
Yes, you can add a lanyard to your ski. It is as easy as replacing the switch. If you have a Kawasaki, then this is a great safety upgrade that comes with the lanyard.
Always make sure your lanyard is fully attached to either your wrist or your life jacket. If not, you can risk your jet ski going and going and not turning around.