Admittedly, it’s been a good week for Yamaha. What with yesterday kicking off the company’s 30th anniversary celebration of the WaveRunner, Yamaha Australia supporting the Terra Australia-Girt by Sea world record attempt, and y’know the season kicking off with some already solid sales numbers for the company with the tuning forks in its logo, you’d think everyone at Yamaha Motor Corp. was popping champagne corks. To cap off an already stellar week, we’ve got not one, but two great videos from this year’s 4th annual Yamaha NZ Festival of Freeride.
Now, we did bring you a quick teaser snippet earlier this week as one freeriding WaveBlaster perfectly knocked a quadcopter clean from the air, which has gotten so stinkin’ viral that even mainstream news outlets were sharing the same clip we published. Now, with filmographer Guy Mac’s complete recap video finished, we’ve got that and Yamaha’s own video to share with you this Friday! Of course, as the above flyer shows, IFWA World Champ Mark Gomez was a guest of honor and showed the locals just how the Gomer Bomb goes off.
The promoters had this to write: “Firstly, and most importantly, a huge thank you must go to Brendan and the team at Yamaha Marine NZ. Their support for our event has been instrumental in what we have achieved over the last 4 years and without them we simply wouldn’t have the Festival of Freeride at all. As with previous years, Yamaha again were the first sponsor on board and that support really does give you the confidence to push ahead and aim for new heights with the event.
“A huge thank you must also go to JetskiJunk.co.nz for jumping on board as our presenting sponsor. It was fantastic to have them back involved with the event this year and greatly appreciated.
“The contribution to the event from our major sponsors this year was amazing. Otago Personal Watercraft, 701 Industries, and Krash Industries all returned again and were outstanding. It was also very humbling to have some new sponsors this year – a huge thank you to Farnleys Jetskis, and Rotoma ITM for coming on board. We hope you all enjoyed the event as much as we did.
“As with the last few years, the team from Rogers Boat Shop have been unbelievable with their support and great spread on the day. Not only did they feed everyone on both days but they were spotted getting amongst some wrenching on the beach to keep some of the guys and girls up and running. Really is fantastic commitment to the event.
“To the ever generous support of KP Parts, Random Performance, Gull New Zealand, Rickter RRP, MX100, JetManiac, CRC Industries NZ, JetPilot, OZfreeride, Thrust Innovations, ProRider Magazine, Glenbrook Performance, and NZfreeride – Thank you. All of these sponsors made sure you had some awesome product and swag to choose from at the prize giving. We said this last year and will say it again, there are so many events on these days and for the these sponsors to choose to support and for us to be chosen is very humbling.
Yamaha New Zealand Festival of Freeride 2016 from Guy Mac on Vimeo.
“To all the participants of the FoF4 – thank you so very much for supporting the only free ride event in New Zealand. Each year we really do appreciate how everyone gets together and all your attitudes at the event really make it a one of a kind in the world. A large number of you had a long way to travel so we greatly appreciate you making the effort to support and attend the event. A huge thank you to our American friend, and current IFWA World No. 1, Mark Gomez for finding the time to come to NZ and experience the FoF. We hope you enjoyed the NZ hospitality mate.
“A special thanks to Red Bull for their support of the event, ensuring everyone was suitably energised and enjoyed some sweet tunes from the awesome rig. Having the most iconic energy drink brand on board with the event is just awesome. And to couple that with generous support from iconic action wear brand, ilabb, as well is just the icing on the cake. Thanks to Red Bull and ilabb.
“A huge thank you to Leif Neilson for having time to come out and sit on the marshal ski for both days. Leif is a professional surf lifesaver and when you have an experienced, qualified, individual like that on the water for everyone safety certainly makes things easier. Also a big thanks to the Marine Medics team for being there both days to make sure we had the appropriate medical cover.
“To all the others that have contributed to the event this year thank you so much. From those that helped out with timing and monitoring to ensuring things kept running smoothly – you know who you are. Thank you to everyone that chipped in with setting up, running, and packing down the event. Awesome stuff and was very much appreciated. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone but if so I apologize.
“Finally, and without further ado, Guy Mac has once again put together something special in terms of a video production of the event. Its a little different this year, but thoroughly enjoyable and most importantly an epic production. We use these event videos to promote the sport and our event to a greater audience in the hopes that one day we might attain significant media coverage, and mainstream recognition. So a huge thank you to him for once again turning around another fantastic event video in such a short space of time. Also a huge thanks to Craig Patterson again for the epic drone footage this year.
“Make sure you go full screen, HD on, and plenty of sound. Enjoy, and remember as always “Support those that support the sport”.”
