It was an eventful week in the PWC Racing World, with World Champions crowned, top tours swapping sanctioning bodies, and initial race schedules announced for the 2025 race season.
Starting with the 2024 WPG#1 World Cup results, USA’s Jonathan Phan took the championship in Veterans Ski GP, in Pro Freestyle, USA’s Demi Morgan secured a silver, edged out by Taiji Yamamoto (Japan), followed by Yuta Kosugi (Japan), and Ty Smith (USA), claimed bronze in Junior (13-15) Ski 4 Stroke Lites.
in Pro Ski Grand Prix, Kevin Reiterer (Austria) walked away with the Championship, with Quinten Bossche (Belgium) taking silver and Toshi “Samurai” O’Hara (Japan) taking the third spot.
In Pro Sport GP, Supak Settura claimed first, Ou Moeut Saly second, and Tapatarawat Joesonnusont third; in Pro Am Ruabout 11100 Open, Suphathat Footrakul (Thailand) is the 2024 World Champion; followed by Kasidit Teeraprateep (Thailand) and Marchael Louie Buhisan (Philippines). In Pro Runabout GP, MOhammad Albaz (Kuwait) claimed the championship, followed by Kasza Gyorgy (Hungary) and Mohammad Burbayea (Kuwait).
Francois Medori (France) is the 2024 World Champion in Pro-Am Endurance Open, while Siiri Sofia Salonen (Finland) edged out Sophie Francis in Pro-Am Women Ski Modified, with USA’s River Varner just short of the podium, taking 4th and USA’s Sadie Mir taking 5th.
In Pro-Am Ski Stock, Tanawid Molee (Thailand) took the championship, while Permphon Teerapatpanich (Thailand is the 2024 Pro-Am Roundabout Stock champion. In Expert Ski GP, Estonia’s Mattias Reinaas claimed the championship.
You can read full results here.
US Race Series news, it was announced this week that Wild West Watercross will be sanctioned by IJSBA for the 2025 competitive season.
In a post on the Wild West Watercross Facebook page, they announced on Dec. 15:
With the announcement of our season finale, Round 5 at the beautiful Sparks Marina. We are very excited to announce a $3,000 minimum payout to be distributed to Ski Grand Prix and other major classes sponsored by @quickchangeenergy , one of our new partners for the 2025 season!
As the event gets closer we will highlight which classes will receive a payout and the payout breakdown structure. We are working on securing additional sponsorship and purse money allocations to be awarded for the seasons finale, with $3,000 GUARANTEED minimum, we anticipate it to be much higher come race weekend.
We look forward to seeing all of you at the fan favorite venue of Sparks Marina, and we can’t wait to see who is going to be crowned King and Queen of the Westcoast!
IJSBA Also posted an announcement about the partnership with Wild West:
IJSBA is very proud to announce the sanctioning of Wild West Watercross events for the 2025 competition season. Effective immediately, Wild West Watercross (WWWC) is the newest grassroots competition series in the territories of Northen California, Utah, Nevada, and parts of Arizona other than the Colorado River. This area of the United States is titled IJSBA Western and formerly known as Region 2.
WWWC was very successful in launching community driven competition making a name for itself in some of the most historically important locations especially Sparks Marina and Camp Far West. Their experience and contribution to the IJSBA program makes the overall racing program stronger and more diverse.
In counterpoint, this past week Great Lakes Watercross posted to their social media page on Facebook that they would not be racing under IJSBA Sanctioning for the 2025 race season, instead moving to be sanctioned under AJSA.
After much consideration, Great Lakes Watercross has made the difficult decision to step away from promoting under the IJSBA. This decision comes after witnessing a significant decline in the organization’s structure and a clear disregard for its own bylaws. We explored the possibility of remaining as a club under the IJSBA if leadership changes were made, but that has not occurred.
Since taking over Great Lakes Watercross in 2021, we’ve seen to no positive changes from the association. Racers continue to pay annual membership fees with nothing tangible in return—not even a finalized rulebook, leaving rules subject to arbitrary changes. The director of the IJSBA has forced us to make changes at our events and to our classes and results without considering our own input which has been extremely discouraging.
Our primary reason for staying affiliated was to allow our racers the opportunity to qualify for the World Finals. However, in the past four years, participation at the World Finals has dropped significantly. After conversations with our racers, it’s clear this decline is due to poor organization, lack of professionalism, and an overall absence of structure and showmanship at the event.
This past week, we had the chance to experience a true world-class racing event—and that experience confirmed that our racers and supporters deserve more, and we know we can move in that direction. We are excited about the future and the new partnerships we’re working on. If you are interested in helping to support this change, please reach out to us!
We know our racers, supporters, and followers will stand behind this decision. Stay tuned for some BIG announcements about the future of Great Lakes Watercross. Rest assured, our 2025 season—celebrating our 20th anniversary—will be our best season yet.
There will be no significant changes to class structure, rules, or current management. We can’t wait to share what’s coming next!
Thank you for your continued support! The Great Lakes Watercross Team
Additionally, Wild West Watercross has announced the organization’s 2025 race schedule (tentative):
April 12-13th: Lake Buena Vista, Bakersfield California
May 17-18th: Camp Far West Whetland, California
June 14-15: TBD
July 12-13: Lake Topaz, Nevada (Series Finale)
August 9-10: Nevada State Championship
June’s is the 14-15th and location is still TBD ,
July 12-13 is Lake Topaz in NV,
July is the series finale and NV State Championship at Sparks Marina August 9-10
The Watercraft Journal will continue to follow the various race series/tour and provide updates on race schedules, rules and sanctioning as more information becomes available.
