Devil May Care: Meet Stuntwoman Aysha Rensink

October 2, 2013

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Yes, many will protest Aysha’s lack of a lifevest in much of her photo sessions. Aysha explains that each session is monitored by a safety crew ensuring that she is operating under safe and strictly controlled circumstances.

Chances are, you’ve seen Aysha Rensink, although you might’ve not known her name. For the past few years, Aysha has been the eye-catching talent behind a sequence of equally captivating images of some stellar stuntwork.

Although Aysha is not a professional stuntwoman, her talent and mastery of balance, poise and throttle control is enough to justify the title. Her skill comes from a lifelong career as a horse riding instructor, which has provided her a love – and respect – for the forces of nature that she is seen playing with.

The 32-year-old equestrian was born in Istanbul but calls London, England home today. An accomplished rider and performer, Aysha took a shine to personal watercraft, particularly to surf riding. Not the typical cruiser or even racer, Aysha – aboard her supercharged Sea-Doos – regularly catapults herself sky-high before onlookers and camera lenses, contorting her frame around the seat, handlebars or in any other manner in a pseudo mechanical ballet.

Together with a skilled camera and riding crew, Aysha is one of the few – if not the only – to create performance art using personal watercraft as her canvas.

Not always found in sultry outfits or sliding across the deck of her Sea-Doo, Aysha Rensink has also thrown her hat into the ring of professional PWC racing, participating in this year’s P1 AquaX series.

Almost never without a mask and costume, Aysha’s costumes have ranged from harlequin get ups, mermaid fins, or Halloween-appropriate she-devil horns and wings. The daring performer has even tried her hand at competitive racing, choosing to participate in this year’s P1 AquaX series. Whether donning a mask and wings or a helmet and gloves, Aysha is regularly found under Brighton and almost never without a crowd.

“I love to add a bit of fun, colour and fantasy when I’m on the water,” Aysha explained in an interview with P1 AquaX. “So I do tricks and stunts and have my own way of riding.”

Of course, her aggressive riding has lent itself to some problems, though. “I’ve lost so many GoPros,” she admitted. “It’s happened so many times, it’s hard to keep track.” In addition to some lost equipment, she has swamped several times, rolled her fair share of skis and caused enough damage that it was too extensive to list.

Leather pants, wings and horns aren’t the riding gear most would prescribe but for Aysha Rensink’s impressive aquatic performances and her fiery red-and-black RXP, it seems oddly appropriate.

A former professional dancer, Aysha’s natural athleticism has made her performance art look all the more natural. But don’t be fooled, these tricks aren’t as easy as Aysha makes them look. She too has taken her share of falls and walked away with plenty of bruises.

But ultimately, what she does is give our sport a new avenue of interest. Beauty can be found in the human harmony paired with brute force of a supercharged personal watercraft.