Personal watercraft with pivotable platform

1. A personal watercraft comprising:

a hull;

a deck disposed above the hull;

an engine disposed at least in part in the hull;

a propulsion system connected to the hull and operatively connected to the engine;

a helm assembly disposed on the deck;

a straddle-type seat disposed on the deck at least in part rearwardly of the helm assembly;

left and right footrests disposed on the deck laterally of the seat;

left and right storage compartments disposed at least in part rearwardly of the seat; and

a rear channel merging with the left and right footrests and being disposed on a longitudinal centerline of the watercraft rearwardly of the seat, the rear channel being defined at least in part between the left and right storage compartments; and

a rear platform pivotally connected to a rear portion of the watercraft,

the rear platform extending laterally across the rear portion of the watercraft,

the rear platform being pivotable relative to the hull between a raised position and a lowered position,

the rear platform permitting access to the left and right storage compartments when in the raised position,

the rear platform sealingly closing the left and right storage compartments when in the lowered position,

the rear platform extending laterally above at least a portion of the rear channel when the rear platform is in the lowered position.

2. The personal watercraft of claim 1 , further comprising a sub-deck disposed on the hull, the hull and sub-deck together forming a hull and sub-deck (HSD) assembly, wherein:

the engine is disposed in the HSD assembly; and

the deck is disposed above the sub-deck.

3. The personal watercraft of claim 1 , further comprising:

a left sealing ring disposed on one of the rear platform and an outer edge of the left storage compartment; and

a right sealing ring disposed on one of the rear platform and an outer edge of the right storage compartment,

wherein the rear platform sealingly closes the left and right storage compartments when in the lowered position by compressing the left and right sealing rings between the rear platform and the respective outer edges of the left and right storage compartments.

4. The personal watercraft of claim 2 , further comprising a latch having a first portion disposed on the rear platform and a second portion disposed on one of the deck and the sub-deck; and

wherein the first portion selectively engages the second portion when the rear platform is in the lowered position and prevents the rear platform from moving to the raised position.

5. The personal watercraft of claim 1 , wherein the pivot axis is disposed rearwardly of the storage compartment and oriented generally transversely.

6. The personal watercraft of claim 1 , wherein a rearward portion of the rear platform has at least one grab handle disposed thereon.

7. The personal watercraft of claim 6 , wherein the pivot axis is generally longitudinally aligned with the at least one grab handle.

8. A personal watercraft comprising:

a hull;

a deck disposed above the hull;

an engine disposed at least in part in the hull;

a propulsion system connected to the hull and operatively connected to the engine;

a helm assembly disposed on the deck;

a straddle-type seat disposed on the deck at least in part rearwardly of the helm assembly;

a storage compartment disposed at least in part rearwardly of the seat; and

a rear platform pivotally connected to a rear portion of the watercraft,

the rear platform extending laterally across the rear portion of the watercraft,

the rear platform being pivotable relative to the hull between a raised position and a lowered position,

the rear platform permitting access to the storage compartment when in the raised position,

the rear platform sealingly closing the storage compartment when in the lowered position,

the rear platform having first and second heel rests disposed generally rearwardly of the seat when the rear platform is in the lowered position, the first heel rest being disposed to the left of a longitudinal centerline of the watercraft, the second heel rest being disposed to the right of the longitudinal centerline of the watercraft, each heel rest having an angled portion sloping upwardly from a front toward a rear of the heel rest for receiving the heels of a rearward-facing rider while seated on the seat.

9. The personal watercraft of claim 8 , wherein the heel rests are protrusions on a top surface of the rear platform.

10. The personal watercraft of claim 8 , wherein the heel rests are recesses in a top surface of the rear platform.

11. The personal watercraft of claim 8 , further comprising a sub-deck disposed on the hull, the hull and sub-deck together forming a hull and sub-deck (HSD) assembly, wherein:

the engine is disposed in the HSD assembly; and

the deck is disposed above the sub-deck.

12. The personal watercraft of claim 8 , further comprising a sealing ring disposed on one of the rear platform and an outer edge of the storage compartment, wherein the rear platform sealingly closes the storage compartment when in the lowered position by compressing the sealing ring between the rear platform and the outer edge of the storage compartment.

13. The personal watercraft of claim 11 , further comprising a latch having a first portion disposed on the rear platform and a second portion disposed on one of the deck and the sub-deck; and

wherein the first portion selectively engages the second portion when the rear platform is in the lowered position and prevents the rear platform from moving to the raised position.

14. The personal watercraft of claim 8 , wherein the pivot axis is disposed rearwardly of the storage compartment and oriented generally transversely.

15. The personal watercraft of claim 8 , wherein a rearward portion of the rear platform has at least one grab handle disposed thereon.

16. The personal watercraft of claim 15 , wherein the pivot axis is generally longitudinally aligned with the at least one grab handle.