Key Figures · Inventor

Clayton J. Jacobson

Named inventor on US patents for jet-driven craft ridden standing or seated, five of them granted from 1968 to 1974 and held here, among them a stand-up craft built to right itself.

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Design and invention

1966 and 1968 · Confirmed

US patent 3,369,518, Aquatic vehicle, filed on 3 November 1966 and granted on 20 February 1968, names him as inventor. Its first claim describes a hull with a propeller in a tube at the stern that discharges a jet of water through a pivoting nozzle, and a handle on a support at the bow.

Sources: US patent 3369518

1968 and 1969 · Confirmed

US patent 3,426,724, Power-driven aquatic vehicle, filed on 19 February 1968 and granted on 11 February 1969, claims a jet-driven craft whose nozzle is steered by an operator sitting astride a seat.

Sources: US patent 3426724

1969 and 1972 · Confirmed

US patent 3,658,026, Marine vehicle steering assembly, filed on 18 November 1969 and granted on 25 April 1972, claims a pivoting jet nozzle arranged to keep the jet close to horizontal through a turn.

Sources: US patent 3658026

1970 and 1971 · Confirmed

US patent 3,623,447, Powered aquatic vehicle, filed on 21 January 1970 and granted on 30 November 1971, claims a jet-driven craft operated by a rider standing on its deck.

Sources: US patent 3623447

1973 and 1974 · Confirmed

US patent 3,826,220, Self-righting power-driven aquatic vehicle, filed on 22 January 1973 and granted on 30 July 1974, claims a stand-up jet craft that circles when the rider comes off and pivots back upright after it has overturned.

Sources: US patent 3826220

1976 and 1982 · Confirmed

A reissue of that patent, RE 30,978, applied for on 5 January 1976 and granted on 22 June 1982, includes claims for a steering arm pivoted to the hull, raised for a rider standing on the craft and lowered flat for steering from the water.

Sources: US reissue patent RE30978

197019751980

• US patent 3369518 filed 3 November 1966, granted 20 February 1968, 1 year 3 months between
• US patent 3426724 filed 19 February 1968, granted 11 February 1969, 11 months between
• US patent 3658026 filed 18 November 1969, granted 25 April 1972, 2 years 5 months between
• US patent 3623447 filed 21 January 1970, granted 30 November 1971, 1 year 10 months between
• US patent 3826220 filed 22 January 1973, granted 30 July 1974, 1 year 6 months between
• US reissue patent RE30978 filed 5 January 1976, granted 22 June 1982, 6 years 5 months between

start of 1966end of 1982

Recognition

Likely

The International Jet Sports Boating Association's hall of fame is the Jacobsen-Stjernstrom IJSBA Hall of Fame, created in 2006 and dedicated on its page to Clayton Jacobsen and one other. The page gives the name in that spelling and nothing more, so reading it as the patents' inventor is the archive's inference.

Sources: IJSBA hall of fame page

Names as printed

Clayton J Jacobson (US patent 3369518); C Jacobson (US patent 3826220); Clayton Jacobsen (IJSBA hall of fame page); Clayton Jacobson II (Wikipedia article on Jacobson)

What the archive has not read (4)

• The printed face of 3,369,518 is held and gives nine claims (read 2026-10-09). The faces of the other patents were not read: their inventor names and dates are Google Patents' record of each patent, their claims were read only as a summary, not as the full text, and the number of claims in 3,826,220 is unconfirmed (checked 2026-10-05). This page describes the claims rather than quoting them.
• No patent read names a licensee or a manufacturer (checked 2026-10-05, five patents and one reissue, filed or applied for from 1966 to 1976). The licences described on this archive's origins page rest on the sources that page cites.
• The earliest patent held was filed in November 1966, and no text in the archive's mirror or research cache dates a running prototype (searched 2026-10-05 for prototype and Jacobson). The origins page's 1965 prototype rests on its two cited sources, neither held as text.
• Google Patents lists three later patents in his name, of 1984, 1985 and 1987, as citing 3,826,220; the archive has not read them (checked 2026-10-05).

Documents cited on this page

• US patent 3826220 (patents.google.com): US patent 3,826,220, Self-righting power-driven aquatic vehicle (Google Patents record), United States Patent Office, read on Google Patents, 1974-07-30; government, high. Filed 22 January 1973, granted 30 July 1974, inventor C Jacobson in Google Patents' record; a stand-up jet craft weighted to right itself. Held as a summary of the page; whether the patent has more than the one claim it gives was not confirmed, because the page could not be read again that day.
• US patent 3369518 (patents.google.com): US patent 3,369,518, Aquatic vehicle (Google Patents record), United States Patent Office, read on Google Patents, 1968-02-20; government, high. Filed 3 November 1966, granted 20 February 1968, inventor Clayton J Jacobson in Google Patents' record. The held text is a summary of that page; the printed face of the patent is held too and was read on 9 October 2026: it gives nine claims. The claims are described on the page, not quoted.
• US patent 3426724 (patents.google.com): US patent 3,426,724, Power-driven aquatic vehicle (Google Patents record), United States Patent Office, read on Google Patents, 1969-02-11; government, high. Filed 19 February 1968, granted 11 February 1969, inventor Clayton J Jacobson in Google Patents' record; a jet-driven craft steered by an operator seated astride. Held as a summary of the page, with ten claims; the printed patent was not read.
• US patent 3658026 (patents.google.com): US patent 3,658,026, Marine vehicle steering assembly (Google Patents record), United States Patent Office, read on Google Patents, 1972-04-25; government, high. Filed 18 November 1969, granted 25 April 1972, inventor Clayton J Jacobson in Google Patents' record; a pivoting jet nozzle. Held as a summary of the page, with two claims; the printed patent was not read.
• US patent 3623447 (patents.google.com): US patent 3,623,447, Powered aquatic vehicle (Google Patents record), United States Patent Office, read on Google Patents, 1971-11-30; government, high. Filed 21 January 1970, granted 30 November 1971, inventor Clayton J Jacobson in Google Patents' record; a jet craft operated by a rider standing on it. Held as a summary of the page, with nine claims; the printed patent was not read.
• US reissue patent RE30978 (patents.google.com): US reissue patent RE 30,978, Self-righting power-driven aquatic vehicle (Google Patents record), United States Patent Office, read on Google Patents, 1982-06-22; government, high. A reissue of US 3,826,220, applied for 5 January 1976 and granted 22 June 1982, inventor Clayton J. Jacobson in Google Patents' record, with seven claims including a steering arm pivoted to the hull. Held as a summary of the page; the printed patent was not read.
• IJSBA hall of fame page (ijsba.com): The Jacobsen-Stjernstrom IJSBA Hall of Fame (IJSBA page), International Jet Sports Boating Association; sanctioning body, high. The association's own roster, read on 22 September 2026, giving the hall's name, its creation and dedication in 2006, and inductees by year to 2014, names only. It publishes no selection criteria and no citation for anyone.
• Wikipedia article on Jacobson (en.wikipedia.org): Clayton Jacobson II (Wikipedia article), Wikipedia; encyclopedia, medium. Not held as text. Listed for one thing, the form of the name the encyclopedia prints and the origins page uses, which no patent or roster held prints. The origins page grades and cites the same article in its own table (wikipedia-jacobson); here it is evidence of nothing.

Changes to this page

• 2026-10-09: The held face of US 3,369,518 now gives its nine claims, so only the claim count of 3,826,220 is still unconfirmed.

Cite this page

“Clayton J. Jacobson”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/clayton-jacobson/

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