People just love messing about on the water, or so the song goes, and there are so many options available to you it can be hard to choose. You might like to relax in your little dinghy floating about on a nice lake in the English countryside or travel down the canals of the industrial cities in your barge. However, there are some of you that might want something a little more exciting and exhilarating. Now, here you can have some real fun. White water canoeing, surfing, and if it is speed you are after then you need to get yourself on a jet ski.

Not to be confused with Sea-doo’s which are the sit down version, the history of jet skis begins in 1972 when the Kawasaki company built the first stand up craft. The first craft that they built was a 450cc model but the company worked tirelessly right through to the 1990’s when they released a model that was powered by a 750cc engine. As you can imagine this increased the speed dramatically to around 30 miles per hour which might not seem fast but if you fall off it will certainly leave you a little winded!

So what are the mechanical principles behind how a jet ski works? Well, believe it or not we have Isaac Newton to thank for this. Newton’s third law of physics, ‘for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction’, is basically how it works. The jet ski is fitted with two main components to apply this principle. A pump and an impeller. The pump is used to suck in water which is then forced through the rotating impeller which then in turn pushes the water out of an exhaust at the back creating forward motion. The faster the rotor turns, the faster the jet ski goes. Simple as that.

The sport has become so popular that there are now many major international competitions held around the world which include straightforward flat speed racing where competitors race around a course but there are also what is called free-styling. This kind of competition can be very exciting to watch as the competitors can perform some amazing stunts like spins and even backflips.

There are so many places to jet ski around the UK but some of the best sea jet skiing can be found around the Southwest English coast, in particular Newquay, where the water can be a bit warmer – it’s easily one of the best things to do in Newquay.