If you like truly small boats -- like the fun rental boats at Disney World -- you will fall in love with Mercury’s Water Mouse. This sporty little 10 foot, 5 inch vessel looks like a 35 foot express cruiser that got caught in a Shrinky-Dink machine. It has a tiny radar arch (for looks only), a foot-size foredeck and a white-out wrap-around windshield that doesn’t shield much.

What the boat design does do is guarantee a chuckle, and all the amazed and admiring looks you can stand from other boaters passing by. If it looks like something out of an amusement park, there’s a reason: The design was originally a Disney World exclusive.

Two people can sit in the cockpit of the Water Mouse -- and you really do sit down in this boat. As in a kayak, your legs stretch out all the way inside the boat (under the foredeck). Your top half sits upright behind the wheel, making it look to the rest of the world as if you have legs that are about a foot long.

It’s undeniably fun to drive. With a 9.9 hp Mercury outboard engine, it cruises along at around 12 mph and hits a top speed of around 20 mph. If you want to add an optional 15 hp outboard, you can go a tad faster -- up to around 24 mph.

But speed is not the main attraction here, and neither is spaciousness (and that’s a good thing, because the Water Mouse is not especially roomy). It’s built for regular everyday use, with a tough impact-resistant polyethylene hull that is very forgiving of novice boaters. The Water Mouse is also remarkably maneuverable and it handles surprisingly well.

If you’re looking for the fun of personal watercraft, but want the styling and feel of a conventional power boat, the Water Mouse just might be your dream machine. Priced at just $5,000, you might want one for every member of the family.

The news come from www.bossgoo.com

Mouse Boat

Mouse Boat