• 16 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a PWC (Personal Watercraft)

A personal watercraft from the side, then its handlebars and its jet drive.

Parts of a PWC (Personal Watercraft)

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Hull
  2. Seat
  3. Handlebars
  4. Hood
  5. Mirrors
  6. Handgrip
  7. Throttle lever
  8. Start switch
  9. Engine stop switch
  10. Lanyard
  11. Jet pump
  12. Impeller
  13. Drive shaft
  14. Intake grate
  15. Steering nozzle
  16. Reverse bucket

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

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All 16 parts on the diagram

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From the side 6

  1. Hull The lower shell of the craft. It sits in the water.
  2. Seat It is a long saddle. The operator sits astride it at the front, with room for a passenger behind.
  3. Handlebars The operator steers with the handlebars. Turning them turns the steering nozzle at the stern.
  4. Hood The lid over the front of the craft. The front storage compartment is under it.
  5. Mirrors One on each side, ahead of the handlebars, for a view behind.
  6. Handgrip A handhold behind the seat, for climbing aboard from the water.

Handlebars 4

  1. Throttle lever Squeezing it speeds the craft up; letting it go slows it down.
  2. Start switch A button by the left grip. Pushing it starts the engine.
  3. Engine stop switch A button by the left grip. Pushing it stops the engine.
  4. Lanyard A cord from the engine cut-off switch. It goes to the operator's wrist or life jacket. If the operator falls off, it pulls free and the engine stops.

Jet drive 6

  1. Jet pump It draws water in through the bottom of the hull. It forces the water out the back under pressure. That jet drives the craft.
  2. Impeller The screw-shaped rotor inside the jet pump. The engine spins it to drive the water backward.
  3. Drive shaft The shaft that carries the engine's turning back to the impeller.
  4. Intake grate The grille over the opening in the bottom of the hull. It keeps weeds and debris out. The pump takes in water there.
  5. Steering nozzle The jet leaves through this nozzle. It swings left and right with the handlebars, and that aims the jet and turns the craft.
  6. Reverse bucket A scoop that drops over the jet to give reverse thrust. The craft can then back up. Not every craft has one.

How this list was compiled: Part names checked on 2026-09-30; a name is kept only when two independent sources use it. (1) A maker's owner's and operator's manual for a sit-down personal watercraft, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7297431 (its location of main components: handlebars, hood, handgrip, seat, intake grate, throttle lever, start switch, engine stop switch, engine shut-off cord (lanyard); and hull, jet pump, impeller, drive shaft, jet thrust nozzle). (2) A second maker's service manual for a sit-down personal watercraft, https://archive.org/details/manualsonline-id-de82ffbc-d4b2-487b-92d6-defef07abc2f (hull, engine hood, handlebar, mirrors, seat, handgrip, throttle lever, start switch, engine stop switch, lanyard key, pump grate, drive shaft, impeller, jet pump, steering nozzle, reverse bucket). (3) Handbook of Missouri Boating Laws and Responsibilities 2024, https://archive.org/details/2024MOBoatingLawsHndbk (its section on personal watercraft: the pump, the steering nozzle, the engine cut-off switch and its lanyard, mirrors, hull). (4) Wikipedia, its personal watercraft article and Pump-jet, text only, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_ski and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump-jet (the impeller, the intake grate, the nozzle, the reversing bucket). No maker or trade name is used. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; own work, no maker's model copied. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a PWC, a personal watercraft of the sit-down kind, drawn with its bow to the left. The first view is the craft afloat. The second is the handlebars, and the third cuts the hull open to show the jet drive.

Read the full guide

On the outside

The hull is the lower shell. The hood covers the front, with a mirror on each side behind it. The operator sits astride the seat and steers with the handlebars; the handgrip behind it is for climbing aboard.

On the handlebars

The throttle lever is by the right grip. By the left grip are the start switch and the engine stop switch, and under them the lanyard, which stops the engine if the operator falls off.

The jet drive

A PWC is driven by a jet of water. The drive shaft spins the impeller inside the jet pump, which draws water in through the intake grate and forces it out through the steering nozzle. The reverse bucket drops over the jet to back the craft up.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a PWC called?

Outside: the hull, the hood, the seat, the handlebars, the mirrors and the handgrip. On the handlebars: the throttle lever, the start and stop switches and the lanyard. Inside the stern: the jet pump with its impeller, the intake grate and the steering nozzle.

How does a PWC steer?

The pump forces a jet of water out through the steering nozzle at the back. Turning the handlebars turns the nozzle the same way, and the jet pushes the stern to the other side, which turns the craft.

What is the lanyard on a PWC for?

It links the engine cut-off switch to the operator's wrist or life jacket. If the operator falls off, the lanyard pulls free and the switch shuts the engine off.

What is the impeller on a PWC?

The impeller is the screw-shaped rotor inside the jet pump. The engine turns it through the drive shaft, and it drives water out through the nozzle to push the craft along.

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