This invention relates to lifts for watercraft. The invention .has particular application to lifts for jet-skis but it may have application to other types of watercraft. Launching and recovery of Jet-skis is often a time consuming and difficult task requiring a degree of strength which many riders do not have. Consequently, recreational use of jet skis is severely hampered for a significant part of the population. . • The present invention is aimed af providing a lift which allows jet-skis to be more easily launched and recovered.

With the foregoing in view, the invention in one aspect resides broadly" in a lift for watercraft including: a pontoon; support means adapted to support the hull of a jet-ski thereon; _ connecting means connecting said support means to said pontoon for movement relative thereto so as to raise and lower a jet-ski resting thereon; and drive means operatively connected to said support means for causing said relative movement.

In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in alift for watercraft including: a pontoon; support means adapted to support the hull of a jet-ski thereon; connecting means connecting said support means to said pontoon for movement from a lowered position to a raised position relative to said pontoon; and . drive means operatively connected to said support means for driving said support means from said lowered position to said raised position and/or vice versa .

Preferably the support means includes a cradle having two spaced apart longitudinal members adapted to engage the underside of a jet-ski on either side of the keel line. Preferably, the connecting means includes a link assembly operatively connected to the pontoon and to the support means for pivoting movement relative thereto for raising and lowering the support means. In such form, it is preferred that 5 the connecting means include a parallelogram link assembly adapted to raise and lower the support means while keeping it generally at the same pitch relative to the pontoon.

Preferably the pontoon includes two spaced apart personnel platforms, the space between the platforms being

10. sized to accommodate a jet-ski therebetween. In a preferred form., the platforms are the top respective upper walls of spaced apart floatation boxes. In one such form, one or more mounting members depend from the floatation boxes and the parallelogram link assembly is operatively connected to such

15 mounting members. Advantageously, such members can be connected at their lower ends by horizontal cross members and the parallelogram link assembly can be pivotally mounted to such cross members.

Preferably, the parallelogram link assembly includes four 0 lift members, two spaced apart front lift members and two spaced apart rear lift members and preferably the front and rear lift members are arranged such that the support means is automatically self lowering upon release of the drive means. In a preferred form, the lift members are slightly less than 5 vertical when the support means is in the fully raised position.

Preferably, the drive means includes a cable winch which is secured to the pontoon with the free end of the cable being connected to the support means for moving the support means 0 relative to the pontoon. Advantageously, as the cable pulls the support means forward the lift members pivot relative to the pontoon so as to raise the support means and the jet ski resting thereon.

Preferably the lift includes anchoring means adapted to5 anchor the lift to a sea floor or a structure within or overlying a body of water.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to. the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a pictorial representation of a lift according to the invention with the support means on which a jet-ski is ^' to be parked in the raised position;

Fig. 2 is a pictorial representation of the lift of Fig. 1 with the support means in its lowered position; . Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the lift illustrated in Fig. 1 showing a jet-ski parked on the lift in phantom/ and

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the lift illustrated in Fig. 1,-

The lift 10 illustrated in Fig.l includes a pontoon 11 -having two elongate parallel spaced apart floatation boxes 12.

The boxes are connected together at one end by two other

. floatation boxes 13 which themselves are connected together in a generally U-shaped arrangement. The respective upper walls

14 of the floatation boxes form a U-s.haped personnel platform of chequer-plate construction and the space 15 between the boxes is sized to accommodate a jet-ski 16 therebetween.

Bigger pontoons . may- be used for bigger jet-skis and smaller ones for smaller jet-skis.

Front and rear columns 17 and 18 are connected adjacent their upper ends to the opposed inner walls 19 of the parallel floatation boxes and depend therefrom. The columns are connected together at their lower ends 20 by front and rear horizontal cross members 21 and 22 and corresponding side horizontal cross members 23 to form a rigid frame 24. The lift also includes a cradle 25 which has two parallel spaced apart elongate members 26 of generally U-shaped cross- section.

Pivotally mounted between the side walls 27 of each of the U-shaped members are identical front and rear downwardly depending lift columns 28 and 29. The lower ends 30 of the front lift columns are each pivotally mounted between respective pairs of walls 31 which upwardly extend from an upper wall 32 of the front cross member of the frame while the lower ends 33 of the rear lift columns are similarly pivotally mounted between respective pairs of walls 34 which upwardly extend from the upper wall 35 of the rear cross member of the frame. The parallelogram link assembly so formed enables the cradle to be raised above and lowered below a waterline while keeping it generally at the same pitch relative to the pontoon. When the cradle is -in its fully raised position, the lift columns are slightly inclined to ■ -the vertical making the cradle automatically self lowering.

To provide structural rigidity to the front pair of the ^' lift columns, they are connected together by a horizontal brace 36. An identical brace 37 connects the rear pair of lift columns.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the rear ends of both U-shaped members are connected together by a horizontal U-shaped connector 38. A horizontal- bar 39 is mounted to the midpoint of the conneqtor and extends rearwardly of it and ^■ a bow roller 40 is mounted to and extends upwardly from the bar.

The curved upper wall 41 of each U-shaped member is covered with a rubberised strip 42 along its length and it is upon these curved rubberised strips that the underside of a jet-ski will rest either side of its keel line 43 when it is parked on the lift. The curved and rubberised nature of the surface that the jet-ski will engage is likely to minimise any wear and tear damage to the underside of a jet-ski.

A battery operated cable winch 44 is sited within a winch housing 45 centrally located on the personnel platform at the closed end of the generally U-shaped arrangement.

The free end of the cable winch's cable 47 passes through an aperture 48 in the housing and is connected to the cradle through an eye bolt 49 mounted to the bow roller. The location of the winch housing is such that a vertical plane 50 of the longitudinal axis of the pontoon passes through the aperture of the housing, along the bar and midway between the spaced apart elongate inverted U-shaped members. With such an arrangement, lateral stresses on the cable winch and the cradle are minimised.

The front and rear columns as well as depending below the floatation boxes also upwardly extend above them and as illustrated in Figs 3 and 4, the upper ends 51 of columns are connected together by an obround frame 52. Opposed parallel sides 53 of the obround are connected by three parallel spaced apart arcuate beams 54. A fabric canopy 55 connected to the frame passes over the beams to provide a jet-ski parked on the cradle with some protection from the sun.

Each column above the floatation boxes is arranged to be telescopically extendable 56 so the height of the canopy can be adjusted. The ability to adjust the height of the canopy together with the- arcuate nature of the beams minimises the danger of an individual banging their head on the frame or the beams during the process of getting on or off a jet-ski parked on the cradle.

A push button 57 which actuates the winch is located on one of the rear columns, its location enabling the winch to be easily accessed by an individual seated on a jet-ski which is parked on the cradle. A solar powered battery charger .58 is connected to the top of the winch housing. The charger is used to charge the winch battery and when connected to the battery of a jet-ski will enable the battery to receive a 'trickle charge' from the charger. Such trickle charging will keep the battery of a jet- ski parked on the cradle virtually fully charged until the jet-ski is required. The provision of the charger means that the lift is a self contained unit in so far as it does not require a mains source of electricity to operate. The lift also has a tethering point 59 fitted to the pontoon to enable the lift to be secured by a line to a bollard in a marina or if a free end of an anchor line is tethered to the tethering point, the lift could be anchored to the sea bed.

In use, a user of a jet-ski parked on the cradle mounts the jet-ski via the personnel platform and presses the button on the column to actuate the winch. As the lift columns are slightly inclined- to the vertical when the cradle is in its fully raised position the cradle is automatically self lowering upon actuation of the winch. As the cradle lowers below the waterline, it disengages from the jet-ski allowing the jet-ski , to be reversed away from the lift. The cradle continues to lower and comes to rest when the side walls of the U-shaped members abut respective front and rear braces, At this point the bow roller will also be below the waterline".

Upon returning to the lift, with the cradle in its lowered position, a jet-ski rider will manoeuvre the jet ski between each of the elongate floatation boxes • of the pontoon, which serves to guide the rider over the submerged cradle.

Pressing the button to actuate the winch now raises the cradle. The bow' roller first abuts the keel of the jet-ski which causes the keel to "ride" the bow roller and settle into ^' the correct position before the arms of the cradle contact the hull and lift the jet-ski and rider out of the water and back into the parked position.

Advantageously, with the jet-ski parked on the cradle of the lift, access to (and thus cleaning of) the underside of the jet-ski is straight forward. In addition flushing the salt water from the motor of the jet-ski with fresh water is also relatively straight forward. Furthermore, as the lift has a canopy, there is less requirement for the owner of a jet-ski to fit a jet-ski cover over the jet-ski if it is going to be unattended and exposed to the sunlight for long periods.

While the foregoing description has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in many other forms and all such forms are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as hereinbefore described.