It may be a bit more than a month before the 44th annual World Championship launches on Oct. 4 at Lake Havasu City, but preparations are ramping up at the IJSBA headquarters, and several releases have been posted in the past few days with updates on schedules, proposed rule changes, and more.
Taking a quick look back at the initial stages of planning for the 2025 World Finals, which began shortly after the closing of the 2024 event, IJSBA announced the tentative dates for the 44th World Finals in mid October 2024, stating, “IJSBA is altering competitors that the 44th annual World Finals event will take place October 4-12, 2025…Competition will begin October 6 and October 13 will be held as an emergency overflow day.” A month later, it was announced that Short Block Technologies (SBT) had signed on as the lead title sponsor for the 2025 and 2026 World Finals.
Towards the end of May, IJSBA announced that Melissa Ellison will return as the lead scoring and registration director for the 2025 Short Block Technologies World Finals. Melissa’s team of Macy, Diane, and the entourage will open check in on October 3 and, then, shift to scoring and results through the remainder of the event.
Also in May, IJSBA Executive Director Scott Frazier posted that IJSBA was soliciting proposals for the production of the annual World Finals beginning in 2027.
As the PWC community reeled under the loss of Dean Charrier in June, IJSBA, working in conjunction with the Charrier family, announced that there would be a celebration of life for Dean Charrier at the end of the 2025 Short Block Technologies World Finals. Also, as part of the SBT World Finals, this year, IJSBA will offer Dean’s Cup, a two heat winner-take-all competition.
IJSBA plans for this to be one Closed Course Heat and one Endurance heat each equally weighted as a moto.
As August began, IJSBA released an updated class list for the 2025 Short Block Technologies World Finals, including Pro Am Ski Modified 1500 and Deans Cup categories for both established competitors and recreational participants; the class list was scheduled to become final on Aug. 19. (See below for the class list as posed in early August)
On Aug. 14, an update to the suggested venue layout changes deliberated for the 2025 Short Block Technologies was posted. Highlights of the post include comments about last year’s event, noting “2024 was a rough year for the event. The reality of cost escalation hit just before World Finals production went underway affecting vendors, the site, and IJSBA. Everyone scaled back. Record heat at the event did not help foot traffic.” The post, which can be read in full here, discussed possible re-design suggestions for the site layout, “Most notably, the pits would be moved far away from the channel which just seems too tempting for competitors to stay away from – a combination of factors that is very upsetting to the local sheriff. A right hand course means that the event has less late afternoon sun in the face of the riders on the back stretch. The new layout provided much more beach space for pits, a streamlined new opportunity for vendors along with vendor provided shade stations in case the event experienced similar temperatures as 2024. Perhaps, most of all, the benefit was just trying something new when consistency fatigue was very palpable last year.”
However, drawbacks to the potential redesign were also noted, including a note that “parking for pits once the trailer was dropped would be close to the vendor area instead of being as closely available as in the traditional layout. Vendors would have had less paved area and would have had to integrate the cement dividers into their booth design. What became the subject of most concern was the fact that we do not have experience with a right hand turn course at Crazy Horse. The estimated starting gate position did not have any test data and probably could not be changed once the event was under way. This concern is coupled with two additional areas of worry: rolling wakes coming from the casino ferry at the end of the back stretch (especially in high speed Ski classes) and adequate buffer sending the first turn towards the channel.”
It was decided by IJSBA to postpone any alteration of the site layout for the 2025 World Finals event, with Frazier posting “After much public comment and deliberation, IJSBA will maintain the standard layout for 2025 and will set up a set start, during the event, and invite riders, teams, promoters, and race directors to do a site walk through to test, contemplate, and prepare an implementation for 2026. Please email questions or comments to [email protected].”
On August 14, it was also announced that “This year, IJSBA is changing to a system of all heats being timed with a “minutes plus one lap” format,” and on the 15th, the tentative addition of the Vintage Ski 550 to the list of competition classes at the 2025 Short Block Technologies World Finals was announced, with IJSBA sending a preliminary entry form to all parties who request one. It was noted that ten fully paid entry forms must be received by September 1 for the class to advance from tentative to finalized. (To receive an entry form, email [email protected] with a request.)
Last week, Frazier issued details on the planned 2025 Poker Run And PWC Fest, noting “Courtesy of support from Go Lake Havasu and the London Bridge Resort, IJSBA is bringing back the first poker run in 20 years as part of a 2025 PWC Fest featuring special offerings to Personal Watercraft enthusiasts to enjoy the amenities of the Lake Havasu City area. PWC Fest is a separate event to the 2025 Short Block Technologies World Finals and the two events are intended to compliment each other…There will be two separate poker runs for participants in the PWC Fest: a land based poker run and one on the water. The land based run will begin at registration where participants will visit a total of five businesses in Lake Havasu City that cater to the Personal Watercraft sport where new products and services will be presented. The water based poker run will have participants finding 5 plaques placed around Lake Havasu where they will take a selfie and upload the picture to IJSBA’s social media. A card will be drawn for each selfie uploaded with a clear picture of the participant and the plaque. The water poker run may be done on Friday, October 10 or Saturday, October 11.
The PWC Fest will include special presentations, complimentary parking for the SBT World Finals event, shop tours, gift bags, and entertainment at the closing party featuring live steel drum music courtesy of Cayman Island racer James Munroe Jr.”
More details on the Poker Run and PWC Fest will be forthcoming.
Earlier this week, a change in the tentative event schedule was noted for the Pro Am 1500 Modified Class, stating “Competitors contacted IJSBA and requested that this class run earlier in the week due to some competitors participating in other intensive categories that take place during the final three days of the event. Therefore, IJSBA plans to move this class to Wednesday, October 8. If you have questions or comments regarding this planned schedule change, please email [email protected].” It was also announced that Vintage Ski 550 and Vintage Super Chicken classes will be added to the World Finals schedule. Vintage Ski 550 will be slated for earlier in the week and Vintage SC will be slated towards Thursday and Friday.
In the latest additions to the 2025 World Finals Prep, this past weekend, IJSBA released the entry form for the 2025 Short Block Technologies World Finals, which has both early registration and standard registration. Each class price now ends with a 7 instead of a 5 to cover the $2 per entry cost of the software the scoring team selected for the event management. The form contains two price structures. The early entry price is good for ten days (as of Aug. 24) and approximates a $20 discount per class. After 11:59 PM on September 3, regular entry fee prices apply. Please register prior to September 29 at 11:59 PM PST. Beginning September 30, only on site entry is available and at higher fees. Download the entry form here: Entry Form 2025.
Also over the weekend, an “updated, but still tentative” schedule was released, noting “As a reminder, IJSBA is switching to a timed heat format this year. This new schedule includes the classes of Vintage Ski 550 Limited and Vintage SC. IJSBA plans to frontload the racing activity to the start of the week to allow for opportunities later in the week to recover from disruptions such as weather. This schedule is still VERY TENTATIVE and competitors should understand that it is likely to change. Classes like Amateur Ski GP, Amateur Freestyle, Endurance Runabout, and all Pro classes will remain fixed unless weather forces change. Additionally, IJSBA holds Monday, October 13, as an emergency overflow day. There are also constant petitions to move classes to other days, there is a current request to move Pro Am Modified 1500 to Tuesday, October 7. Please send your questions or comments regarding the schedule to IJSBA by emailing [email protected].
The tentative schedule is available here.
And finally, yesterday, IJSBA announced that it is accepting petitions to remove restrictor plates in the 13-15 Ski Stock class, noting, “Some nations have experimented with removing the plate but have not produced enough data to be helpful with a decision. IJSBA now offers a 1100 Modified Class for 13-15 riders and this class does not have a restrictor plate due to the smaller displacement. Proponents of this change have argued that the performances of the 1100 Modified Class, with an aftermarket hull, are similar to a SX-R 1500 without a restrictor plate.
IJSBA held rule calibration discussions at the European Championship, in Belgium, last month and several field interpretations are being synthesized so that all competitors have fair preparation for World Finals. This subject is part of that process. Please send questions or comments about this subject, by email, to [email protected].”
PRINCIPAL PRO CATEGORIES:
PRO RUNABOUT GP
PRO SKI GP
PRO SPORT GP
PRO FREESTYLE
PRO AM CATEGORIES:
PRO AM RUNABOUT 1100 OPEN
PRO AM RUNABOUT ENDURANCE
PRO AM SKI STOCK
PRO AM SKI LITES
PRO AM 4 STROKE SKI LITES
PRO AM WOMENS’ SKI (Aftermarket Hull Class)
PRO AM SKI MODIFIED 1500
PRO AM WOMENS’ SKI STOCK
PRO AM RUNABOUT STOCK
PRO AM RUNABOUT SUPER STOCK
PRO AM VETERANS RUNABOUT LIMITED
PRO AM RUNABOUT LIMITED
PRO AM SKI MODIFIED 1500
Pro Am RUNABOUT 1100 Stock
EXPERT CATEGORIES:
EXPERT SKI GP
EXPERT VETERANS SKI GP
AMATEUR CATEGORIES:
AMATEUR FREESTYLE
AMATEUR SKI LITES
AMATEUR RUNABOUT REC LITES
AMATEUR WOMENS’ SKI LITES
AMATEUR RUNABOUT 1100 STOCK
AMATEUR SKI 4STROKE LITES
AMATEUR VETS SKI LITES
AMATEUR VETS SKI STOCK
AMATEUR WOMEN’S RUNABOUT 1100
AMATEUR SKI MODIFIED 1100
AMATEUR SKI MODIFIED 1500
AMATEUR RUNABOUT 1100 LIMITED
NOVICE CATEGORIES:
NOVICE SKI STOCK
NOVICE RUNABOUT STOCK
NOVICE RUNABOUT 1100 STOCK
JUNIOR CATEGORIES:
JUNIOR SKI 10/12 STOCK
JUNIOR 13/15 STOCK
JUNIOR 10/12 FOUR STROKE LITES
JUNIOR 13/15 FOUR STROKE LITES
JUNIOR 10/12 LITES
JUNIOR 13/15 LITES
JUNIOR 13/15 SKI MODIFIED 1100
UNDEFINED SKILL CATEGORY
MASTER SKI GP
MASTERS SKI STOCK
GRAND MASTERS SKI STOCK
MASTERS SKI MODIFIED 1500
RUNABOUT N/A
SPORT SPEC
X2 VINTAGE
SKI VINTAGE
DEANS CUP COMPETITION
DEANS CUP RIDE
