Joshua Dowling acquired the parliamentary transcripts that outlines the 2001 ban on jet skis on Sydney Harbor. He wrote a thorough article detailing all the reasons for the ban. The ban went into effect in October 2001 and is active today.

Coinciding with the ban being introduced to the parliament, the NSW Government put forth harsh new penalties and higher licensing and registration fees for PWC. This in turn would boost funding for more water patrol on the Sydney Harbor and possibly discourage people from pursuing the sport of riding personal watercraft.

Today the fine for riding a jet ski on Sydney Harbor is $500 for the first offense and $750 for the second. Furthermore, NSW Police and NSW Maritime Officers have the authority to seize watercraft for dangerous riding or repeat offenses.

Twenty years ago, NSW Premier Bob Carr addressed the state parliament with a statement that would further seal the deal on the ban on jet skis in the Harbor. This is what Mr. Carr told the NSW Parliament;

“As I have said on many occasions, Sydney Harbor is a working harbor. Ferry commuters pass fishing trawlers returning to their moorings after a night’s work. Cruise boats share the water with tugs and cargo ships. We still see a family out fishing on a rowboat or dinghy. It is the government’s responsibility to protect the harbor and to manage all those competing interests. The use of jet skis on Sydney Harbor raises some serious questions.”

That struck a blow to the jet ski community and veterans of the sport think that PWC riders should get a second chance to ride on Sydney Harbour. To this day, there are no plans to reverse the ban on Sydney Harbor. For the complete detailed article, check it out here.

The beautifully handcrafted Burrasca Marine Hypercraft, from Austria’s Belassi engineering team, received the prestigious Red Dot Award for Product Design 2021. The team is over the moon after receiving the award. They spent months on research and development. The design was inspired by the sharp lines of Italian motorcycles, and it shows. It was created by Genesis Design GmbH and Belassi Inhouse Designer Johannes Scherr.

The Burrasca is an elegant watercraft with sharp well-defined lines and coupled with the “Racing Red” and “Bright White” colorway makes for a stunning appearance. With its lightweight carbon fiber body and powerful turbocharged 320HP engine, this machine will scream across the water! The dual dashboards are the first of its kind with a fully integrated user interface. It is no wonder Belassi picked up a Red Dot Award, which dates back to 1955. It appraises the best products created every year and encompasses about 50 categories.

Manufacturers and designers can enter their innovations in the competition. The competition has grown exponentially over the years and the 50-person jury receives over 18,000 applications from over 70 countries. The jury looks at key categories like degree of innovation, ergonomics, symbolism, and emotional content. The Burrasca met and surpassed all those categories. A statement from the Jury reads: The Jetboat skillfully combines craftsmanship and technology. Its dynamic appearance reveals a deep love of detail.

The team is stoked to have won the award and vows to continue the adventure of creating and pushing the boundaries of what they can do with PWC design.

Despite rapid and surmounting evidence that the cornavirus’ threat to the general public’s health is quickly ebbing, concerns of an influx of foreign carriers has caused management of the Atlantis Paradise Island resort to postpone the Bahamas World Championships until Fall of 2022.

This of course, comes at considerable cost and disappointment to racers and event coordinators. The announcement came across The Watercraft Journal’s desk earlier this weekend; where Roy Mantle of Powerboat P1 wrote:

Powerboat P1 has announced that this year’s P1 AquaX Bahamas World Championship will move to Fall 2022 due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19.

The personal watercraft racing event was scheduled for November at the Atlantis Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas and P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala said, “Ending our 2019 season at Atlantis Paradise Island was a wonderful experience so this is very disappointing for everyone involved. The World Championship features an elite field of international riders and a key factor in the decision was the restrictions on travel that are still in place in many countries.”

“We are working with P1 AquaX to reschedule the event for 2022 and look forward to again welcoming the racers and fans for an exciting climax to the race season,” added Audrey Oswell, President and Managing Director, Atlantis Paradise Island.

A further announcement will be made next month.

Famed freerider and IFWA champion athlete Abraham (“Ho”) Hochstrasser follows in the vein of the world’s best surf-charging freeriders like Joe Kenney, Ross Champion, Pierre Maxient and Mark Gomez.

Hochstrasser has dared some of the biggest breaks around the globe, earning praise both in and outside of the personal watercraft industry. In May of this year, Hochstrasser was honored to be a part of “The Surfer’s Wall.”

Per a post on Hochstrasser’s official Facebook account, the “Surfer Wall” is a museological project, created in 2016, which aims to materialize the recognition of the village of Nazaré by surfers who seek to overcome the waves of Praia do Norte and, in this way, promote Nazaré throughout the world. 

Nazaré, Portugal has become infamous over the last 20 years for one of the most violent, massive surf breaks in the world.

Hochstrasser’s post continues to explain the Surfer Wall Room, stating, the project consists of the permanent exhibition of the boards, offered by the athletes to Nazaré, at Forte de São Miguel Arcanjo. Along with a short biography, each structure in the collection allows the visitor to have a more complete idea of ​​one of the greatest spectacles on a planetary scale.

Check out Broward Motorsports Racing before you go anywhere else to get products for maintenance. They have the Yamahalube Oil Change Kit for 4-strokes on sale for $43.99. It comes with 4 quarts of oil, filter, and the drain gasket. Grab it and go! There is also a kit for the Yamaha 3-cylinder watercraft. If oil is all you need, Broward Motorsports has the gallon sized Yamalube 10W-40 on sale for $20.99 and the quarts are on sale for $8.99. A couple of different sized aftermarket filters for Yamaha WaveRunners are also available.

For the Sea-Doo owners, you are covered as well. Put an “all-in-one” oil change kit in your cart. It includes oil, oil filter, o-rings, and washer. BMS has XPS kits for the ROTAX 900 ACE engine and the ROTAX 1500 cc or more.

Oil filters for several different Sea-Doo models are available. A Sea-Doo Spark oil filter will cost you a little over $10. If you need jet pump oil, BMS has the XPS Synthetic Jet Pump Oil. They also have XPS Synthetic Blend Oil in gallon and quart sizes.

If you prefer Liqui Moly, Broward Motorsports has you covered. It is available in a 4-liter jug and by the quart. Don’t forget to use discount code “BMS10” at checkout to receive 10% off your entire order. Stock up now and save and if you spend at least $99, you can get free shipping the continental USA. If you’ve been putting off an oil change, now is the time to get on it!

Since making the leap from Sea-Doo to Yamaha, Naples, Florida native Erminio Iantosca has been having a heck of a season. The Dean’s Team and RIVA Racing athlete started strong at the first round of P1 AquaX racing in Daytona Beach, earning the second spot on the podium between Tory Snyder and Chris MacClugage.

Iantosca enjoyed another great weekend at AquaX’s Sarasota Grand Prix, bringing his Yamaha FX SVHO across the finish line in the Pro 300 class ahead of fellow Yamaha riders, Tory Snyder and Brian Baldwin. This weekend’s performance places Iantosca within 5 points of Christian Daly for the overall points win.

The Watercraft Journal reached out to Iantosca who shared, “My Dean’s Team/RIVA Racing Yamaha FX ran awesome this weekend, helping me to a wire-to-wire win in Moto 1. We did a lot of testing between rounds and [I’m] really happy with the [combination] we found.”

Iantosca continued, expressing gratitude to his sponsors: “I can’t thank Yamaha, Dean’s Team, RIVA Racing, Jettribe, Jettrim, JetX and Tattoo Rich enough for everything they do for me to make this possible.”