Sea-Doo GTX Limited iS 255

Rocketing along the water at 60 mph in a personal watercraft (PWC) is a lot of fun, but it’s not traditionally the safest pastime. PWCs make up less than 10 percent of recreational boats yet account for 24 percent of all accidents, in large part because they have no brakes and cannot be steered when the throttle is released. After eight years of research and development aimed at reversing those gloomy statistics, Sea-Doo finally unveiled the GTX Limited iS 255, the first PWC with on-water braking.

Conventional PWCs merely slow to a stop after you let go of the throttle, but when a rider squeezes the Sea-Doo’s bicycle-like hand brake, a computer cuts the power so the forward jet quickly stops thrusting. Calculating the precise amount of thrust needed to counter the forward momentum, the computer also drops an aluminum gate up to two inches below the hull, creating drag and reversing the thrust to slow the craft down.

This complex orchestration can bring a Sea-Doo traveling at 50 mph to a dead stop in about 100 feet—half the distance of a brakeless PWC. But this isn’t just the safest PWC on the water; it may also be the most comfortable. A unique gas-shock-equipped full suspension—another PWC first—swallows choppy water and can be adjusted on the fly for either a stiffer, performance-oriented ride or a cushy cruise. Look for the braking system and full suspension in three additional Sea-Doo models for 2010, including the newly upgraded 260-horsepower GTX Limited iS 260, and for the braking system alone in four other models.

$16,500; sea-doo.com