After the insane weather that Queensland and New South Wales received in the past two weeks, I’m surprised the conditions hadn’t washed the St. George Sailing Club away. With houses being destroyed and lives lost, it was tragic for all the people affected. So it was good to get some normality back with some good mates and a bit of jet ski racing.
Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2015 Yamaha Australian Jetcross Tour where held in Sydney again with all the points leaders back to try and secure a few more. The likes of Ryan O’Keefe, Mitch Wayt, Jake Barker and Anthony Anteese, all of these boys had to be on their toes with only a few points separating first and second.
Ryan O’Keefe, a flatwater freestyle rider at Jet Stunt Extreme, Gold Coast Australia, O’Keefe earned his Pro Card at the end of 2007, and went on to spend the next 5 years exploring every aspect of the sport from freestyle surf riding to runabout closed coarse and endurance racing before finding a home at Jet Stunt Extreme riding a Dasa Powered Rickter XFS during shows at Sea World. O’Keefe began racing again at the end of 2014 after two years off, he has been the man to beat, winning 17 out of 18 motos so far during this year’s National Tour.
Mick Stevens on his Open class ski was dedicated and persistent. Stevens, from Newcastle, has been racing jet skis for 8 years and still loving every moment of it. A full-time jet ski mechanic, Stevens transitioned from the Amateur Lites class after in 2011 to Pro Lites and winning his first Australian title in 2014 aboard a Worx Racing/Coast-to-Coast Boating SuperJet.
With a relabeled Kawasaki SX-R, Stevens is always a threat. And the same can be said for James Xuereb. Being the current World Veteran champion, he knows how to pilot a SuperJet and just waits for the perfect opportunity to wear you down and slip past.
The weekend’s racing was a bit more favorable to the Sea-Doo riders with some slight chop and some tight corners. But the boats put together by Jordan at the WaveRunner Performance Centre could get enough of a jump off of the line to make it hard for the others to keep up in Open Runabout. Mitch Wayt’s Yamaha FZS was hard to beat, with consistent riding and an aggressive style Wayt was able to take out the weekend once again. Even after giving Jamie Eade’s Kawasaki a bit of a push along and punching a hole in the FZS.
It was great to see Brendan Boyde back on the water after an unfortunate accident while trying to rescue a fellow jet skier on the Gold Coast that was sinking in the surf. Let’s just say the older gentleman was in a bit of strife. Justin Belczowski and Brendan where trying to help him out with a tow, when the ski rolled and the tow rope nearly made Brendon a permanent member in Davy Jones’ Locker.
Brendon went on to take out Round 6 on Sunday in Open Runabout. He gave the ever-consistent and Round 5 winner, Anthony Anteese a great race – with both riding RXP-Xs put together by JSW Powersports.
The final round is going the be held in Queensland at Redcliffe in two weeks’ time. With Yamaha giving away a brand new SuperJet in the aptly-named Superjet cup, I’m sure it will be a massive day. A big thank you goes out to all the marshals and helpers that spent a cold wet couple of days on the water. Your help is invaluable. Also to all the people effected by the recent storms, our thoughts are with you.
