Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Thankfully, in this case, we’re here to help make things better. Over the weekend, the world witnessed a record-shattering top speed run of 135 miles per hour on a Yamaha GP1800R WaveRunner during the IJSBA Hydrodrags in Tavares, Florida. While trying to capture this historic event, the official event photographer almost drowned while trying to save his camera equipment (and footage) as it fell from the side of a PWC.
Manuel Valdes of MVP Productions fell from the side of the watercraft he was filming from, and being laden down with expensive camera equipment, quickly submerged below the waterline. Noticing the fall, others quickly jumped in to rescue Manny, who was nearly as concerned with saving the footage on his cameras as he was not drowning. Thankfully, much of the footage was saved (The Watercraft Journal will have a full report and interview with the record-breaking team shortly), but the expensive camera equipment wasn’t.
Angelica Racing & Repair have organized a GoFundMe to help raise the $10,000 necessary to repair and replace the water-damaged equipment. Manny and MVP Productions have been a major part of the Hydrodrag community, and the response has already been overwhelming. Please share this link if you can. Thank you everyone!
