1990 marked a monumental year in the personal watercraft industry. Bombardier would invent a new segment in the fledgling industry with the introduction of the Sea-Doo GT (grand touring), the first ever three seater-watercraft. The GT wasn’t alone as the 1990 Sea-Doo watercraft line included three new models and added in a touch of color. The Sea-Do0 SP was introduced as the base model and the SPi was a step up (the “i” stood for stainless steal impeller, that was a substantial performance gain over the standard aluminum cast impeller) and of course the GT model.
The Sea-Doo GT received its share of criticism as industry insiders argued if people really wanted to ride three-up on a watercraft. What the GT did offer was a legal platform to pull skiers with that opened an entirely new usage of watercraft with room for a driver, observer and skier. The longer platform with a, relativly, oversized storage bin in the bow made ‘touring’ a reality on watercraft. The 1990 Sea-Doo GT also included reverse, substantially assisting in docking situations. Little did anyone predict that eventually three-seaters would eventually make up roughly 90% of the market. The 1990 Sea-Doo GT was a monumental watercraft in the history of the industry.
