What does the most dynamic personal watercraft cleaning and detailing system have to do with a 600-horsepower high octane massively-rebuilt Yamaha SHO? Plenty, if you ask its pilot Colin Richards. Richards has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Jet Renu and has happily promoted the spray cleaner and wax manufacturer along with his big displacement Pro Open Yamaha FX.
See, Richards steps up to the plate with a storied history of racing open-wheel racecars in the United Kingdom before coming to the States and stepping aboard a PWC. Richards picked up one of the very first big block 1,813cc Yamahas when they first debuted and never looked back. After campaigning his WaveRunner for a couple of years he decided it was time for an upgrade:
“I decided if I was going to rebuild it, then bigger is better!” Richards explained to The Watercraft Journal. “So I started by designing new cylinder liners and with the help of LA Sleeve. They made them to my specs – there is no head gasket. As with all aspects of the engine only the head and the cylinder block castings are OEM. Everything else is to my specs.
Richards intends on his SHO to tout the largest Yamaha engine in the world – totaling 1,987cc and producing in excess of 600 horsepower. He recently recapped, “It is my intention this year to win the [Triple Crown] offshore races.” Although Richards and his wild Yamaha didn’t make it to February’s Mark Hahn Memorial 300, he does intend to be present at the upcoming Long Beach to Catalina Offshore Championship.
