It would be hypocritical for us to slight another media outlet for publishing whatever rumors and chatter they hear coming over the telegraph line; but when one source continues to propagate a false story in light of so much evidence towards the contrary, it’s worth addressing in a serious manner.
The week following Christmas, Spanish personal watercraft enthusiast Facebook page Motos de aqua, published a post that read: BREAKING: BRP Sea-Doo confirms the purchase of HSR-Benelli, and its purpose is to launch in 2017 a spectacular 4-stroke jet prepared for competition. The Canadian firm already tried after the launch of the first Hydrospace, but then Benelli went ahead of the agreement. Sea-Doo’s strategy was to wait for the Austrian-Italian crash to be able to pick it up again later, and finally it was time to see powerful BRP Sea-Doo jets!
This of course, spurred a whirlwind of conversation whether Sea-Doo was positioning itself to rival Kawasaki in the 4-stroke stand-up arena, and quickly. Thankfully, The Watercraft Journal went to work to prove (or disprove, rather) the claim. Both Motos de aqua and representatives of Sea-Doo both claimed the post as being a prank in honor of the holiday “Feast of the Holy Innocents” or “Innocents Day,” which is much like our own April Fool’s Day.
Nevertheless, the joke has failed to die, with Greek PWC blog www.jetskiworld.gr not only claiming the purchase of Belassi by BRP to be “confirmed” by a reliable source, but that World Champion Sea-Doo rider, Gyorgy Kasza has been selected to serve as a test rider for Belassi’s runabouts. They write:
“Pro Runabout Open IJSBA two-time World Champion Gyorgy Kasza works for Belassi as a test rider in the R&D Dept. of the company, which has been purchased by BRP. Kasza has been testing extensively a new Runabout however he does not reveal any more information regarding the performance of it or whether this model will be launched by Belassi. Also, he has mentioned that he has not seen or testing the new Belassi stand-up.”
Thankfully, The Watercraft Journal spoke with Kasza this morning who stated boldly, “BRP [has] nothing to do with Belassi. [And there is] no connection between [the two companies].” When asked regarding his role as a test rider for Belassi was true, Kasza confirmed in the affirmative, choosing only to remark that “we will see how [the Belassi runabouts] turn out,” and that the process has been “difficult.” Representatives from BRP chose not to comment and give the rumor any more attention. We merely wished to hammer a final nail in this rumor’s coffin.
