Bopenski Watersports is the maker of a new chair for your personal watercraft. It is a two legged chair that is attached to the rear of the watercraft allowing you to sit back and kick your feet up on the seat. Bopenski realizes that riding is one of the best parts but it’s the time spent with friend on the water that makes the memories even better. Being able to set up your Kickback Chair in under one minutes allows you to soak in the beauty of being outdoors and with friends. Heck you could use this chair to while fishing if you are not planning on keeping any fish.
The Bopenski Kickback Chair is a chair that is an ultimate summer accessory. With its aluminum frame, large foot pegs and comfortable seat, it really is a great accessory to bring out on the water. It is lightweight and easy to set up allowing you to enjoy a quick break or sit back for lunch. Originally offered at a price of $219.00, they are now on sale for $99.00! Get one today!
Bopenski recently ran a drawing for a free Kickback Chair! The flowing winners are: Sherry Cole, Donna Dieckman, Leonard Graff, John Manning, Jeffery Mowery, Angie Oliver, Dale Owens, Holly Passmore, Martha Stafford, Hollie Weidner, Lou Ann Weidner, David Steven Patrick, Deb Springsteen, Jamie Joiner, Wes Fuller, Ron Howes, Matt Malher, Dave Cowan, Clyde Cross, and Sherry Weems. Congrats to all of these winners who each will receive their own Kickback Chair.
While you may be jealous that your name was not selected in the drawing but there is still an offer for you. If you are registered for the 23rd Annual Tennessee River 600, you can order a Kickback Chair and use promo code “tenn60025” and get 25% off when you checkout! Do remember that this promo code is only for registered participants of the 23rd Annual Tennessee River 600 and limited to the first 30 who purchase.
For those hardcore racers or recreational riders out there, it’s all about perfectly dialing in your watercraft for the best top speed, acceleration, and holeshot hookup with reduced cavitation. One of the best ways to do this is to tune your jet pump accordingly.
An easy way is to use the Lucky 13 adjustable pump cone and with varieties available for Yamaha, Sea-Doo, and Kawasaki, RIVA Racing makes it possible for you to tune your ski according to the setup you need.
The basic construction of these pump cones uses a series of anodized spacers sandwiched between the cone and base with a stainless steel tail cone bolt holding it all together. By adding or removing any of the various thickness spacers, you can change the conditions at which your ski operates.
Adding more spacers will extend the cone length and reduce your RPM. By adjusting your RPM and consequently your pump pressure, you will be able to fine tune your ski according to the surrounding environmental conditions as well as aligning it with any modifications you have made to your ski.
For more information on the Lucky 13 pump cone, check out the latest video.
Being able to go into a dealership and pick a watercraft right on the floor is a surreal experience. One that you will always remember, from the time you drove it home to its maiden voyage, the memories will last a lifetime. One thing you will remember is the feeling of sitting on your personal watercraft and how comfortable it is. Yamaha made the FX SVHO and HO Cruiser so that people could enjoy a Cadillac feel while on the water.
Well, after a few seasons of riding, the sun puts a beating on the seat. Factory seats have been known to crack and rip after long exposure to the sun. Even quicker if you are riding in salt water. Jettrim is an industry leading seat cover company and they have the fix for you. If you find yourself needing a new seat for your Yamaha FX SVHO or HO Cruiser, head on over to Broward Motorsports and start browsing the Jettrim seat cover selection. With multiple color options and textured colors, you have the option to choose the original colors or go with something designed by you. Whether you want carbon fiber or a non-slip suede, the options are truly endless.
Keep in mind that Broward Motorsports uses Affirm which allows you to finance your purchase. The price of a seat cover is $325 but if you choose to finance it, your payments could be as long as $31 a month! Give your watercraft a new look with a Jettrim seat cover by checking out Broward Motorsports.
Lake Powell is a reservoir lake located on the border of Utah and Arizona. It is a popular destination for family and friends to travel to. With warm weather, clean water and plenty of things to do, this is a perfect spot for anyone.
Bob Reed is a long time personal watercraft lover and had the idea to take his out one day and go fishing with it on Lake Powell. After enjoying his fishing trip, he decided that he wanted to share his love for fishing on Lake Powell with the public. So he started Up Lake Adventures. With the introduction of the Sea-Doo Fish Pro, he is now hosting 7 day trips where everyone packs up their gear and food onto their Sea-Doo and away they go.
Lake Powell is known for their largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie and walleye. Being on a watercraft allows you to go into narrow channels and really try to find that big fish that will make your whole trip. Adam Eakle with KSL Outdoors joined Bob just last week for a watercraft fishing trip. His experience was awesome and could not speak highly enough of how professional Up Lake Adventures is. Making safety their number one priority and having their clients catch tons of fish, there really isn’t anything better than that.
While Bob loves fishing and taking clients out, he said that he enjoys the freedom his clients have with picking their own spots. Everybody is on their own watercraft so they get to have the controls in their hand. Many of his clients are first timers to Lake Powell so it allows them to experience the lake their way. If you are wanting to go on a fishing trip where a professional guide will make your experience worth it, check out Up Lake Adventures. Bob is so passionate about guiding that you will remember this trip for a lifetime.
The 2019 Yamaha FX Cruiser SVHO, while always at the pinnacle of Yamaha’s premium luxury WaveRunner lineup starting at $16,199, is completely new this year with a plethora of performance and rider comfort. On the performance side, the new 2019 FX lineup borrows hull design from Yamaha’s race-bred GP1800R as well as tried-and-true admirable aspects of previous FX models. The new FX Cruiser weighs in at 820 pounds dry. While still being the largest flagship model, it remains svelte using Yamaha’s NanoXcel2 composite technology which both lightens and strengthens the WaveRunner’s hull over traditional composite layup.
The 2019 model is 16-pounds lighter than the 2018 FX Cruiser SVHO while increasing dimensions slightly to 140.9-inches long, 50-inches wide, and 48.4-inches tall (not to mention adding storage from 33.2-gallons to 44-gallons). Yamaha’s relentless pursuit of producing a better power-to-weight ratio drives out unnecessary heft.
Speaking of power-to-weight, similarities with the GP1800R do not stop at the hull. The FX SVHO Cruiser shares the same supercharged high output 1,812cc four-stroke engine as the race-winning GP1800R. Your throttle hand will appreciate grunty bottom-end torque provided by an industry leading displacement. Hold on tight to those accent color-matched ergonomic grips, because once boost kicks in water flowing from the 160mm, eight vein pump will shove you back into the high-backed cruiser seat.
Moving to the 2019 FX Cruiser SVHO’s creature comforts, the “Cruiser” moniker originates from a stadium style (successive levels higher than the previous) three-tiered seat standard for Cruiser and SVHO Limited models. Wrapped in stitched material, the seat is both comfortable and effective at keeping riders planted even in the roughest conditions. Small grain embossing in the material limits slippage when damp. Redesigned bow ridges deflect spray to grant riders more control when to get wet. Watercraft riders of old would probably chuckle at the thought of choosing when to be splashed on a PWC. That is the world of luxury we currently reside in though, and the FX lineup is a premium example of melding performance with comfort.
Worthy of taking a flagship luxury role, other significant rider amenities in the cockpit of the 2019 FX Cruiser SVHO include a customizable RAM mount on the left, which can be interchanged with the right side Hydro-Turf lined cup holder. The RAM mount accepts a variety of mobile accessories including Yamaha’s optional speaker units ($299) and fish finder ($249), which are available standard on the 2019 FX Limited SVHO.
In between these two features is an industry first color touch screen boasting Yamaha’s “Connext” software. It grants total control to personalize the rider’s experience such as adjusting screen color and brightness, tracking maintenance schedules, or in the case of the Drive Control feature, adjust acceleration and speed curves for less experienced or overly ambitious riders. The FX’s controls are easily accessible with ergonomic color-matched grips on the handlebars, RiDE reverse traction control system and electronically adjustable trim on the left, five-way tilt under the steering, and No Wake Mode, Cruise Assist, and throttle on the right.
Premium cut Hydro-Turf lines the spacious footwells, deck, and reboarding step to keep slippage to a minimum. The FX Cruiser models include the addition of two pull-up cleats on each side for easy docking. Despite being the largest hull in the fleet, the new FX feels downright skinny compared to older models. This facet allows the rider to comfortably use their legs for grip in both a relaxed, leg-forward riding position and a knee-down, aggressive cornering body position. Get a little wild on the water or stuck on the boat lift in the rain? Never fear, Yamaha stepped up to the plate and have introduced a gravity drain in each footwell. Simple design, and as long as it is kept free of debris, allows for simple drainage to keep stagnant water out of the footwells.
The FX was put through a multitude of different riding situations from stormy, bulkheaded, angry lake chop to flat water closed-course buoy carving. A quick press of the start button fired the SVHO engine to life with a quiet, yet aggressive idle note. As we backed in on a narrow boat ramp the RiDE system immediately showed it’s true colors. Personal watercraft have been notorious for being difficult to handle in tight areas or docking due to water constantly flowing rearward, thus propelling the ski forward as the engine turns over. Not so on a RiDE-equipped craft.
The larger FX was perfectly composed dropping into the narrow single-vehicle neighborhood boat ramp. A touch on the left lever brought the FX smoothly in reverse off the trailer, letting go of both levers left the ski to idle in place while maintaining steering to turn in the narrow waterway, and light pressure on the right throttle lever nudged the FX out toward open water.
Tropical storm blowoff was rolling on this particular day with wind gusts at 15 to 25 mph – a perfect testbed for rough-water riding on an already usually choppy, bulkheaded lake. A quick check in the cavernous watertight glovebox confirmed cell phone, keys, and wallet were safe and sound. The new stretchable molded rubber latch was preferable over the older catch style that could, albeit rarely, come open during hard riding.
Straight line handling over heavy chop was impressive. GP1800R-esque dual cove hull design planed over frequent, deep troughs and high wave crests with surprising composure. Handlebar feel around center was not nervous or darty no matter what angle waves were impacted. Like riding on a motorcycle with suspension to absorb bumps, the FX broke through waves without significant transfer of energy to the rider almost as if floating above them. Don’t get me wrong, even the best-designed hull cannot stop a good jostling from hitting a wave at 65 miles an hour, so good judgment is imperative.
Sustained 60-plus mph was possible on significant chop due to Yamaha’s top loader intake grate efficiently funneling water into a 160mm pump. The undeniable seat-of-your-pants power created by the SVHO engine completed an impressive package of speed and handling. Keep in mind, big speed and acceleration mean you’ll be cracking open your wallet as much as you crack open that throttle!
Straight line speed was fun, but the real joy of riding the FX started to bloom when carving corners. Having ridden motorcycles from dirt bikes to superbikes for many years, the turn-in feel of the FX was very akin to riding a sportbike on the road. Steering at center was stable and predictable. With a confident turn of the bars the hull gracefully broke to the indicated side and held a firm line under throttle. Personally, riding PWCs has taken precedence over motorcycles in recent years because of the ability to push the boundaries of the machine farther on the water than the street. All of that with similar performance and fewer consequences, you can see why more and more personal watercraft are turning up in you and your neighbor’s driveways.
Pure confidence in the FX came a split second after the entire WaveRunner took to the sky mid-corner, having launched off the backside of some aggressive chop, only to land and keep the same line without any hint of sliding, catching, or high-siding. The Cruiser seat kept rider and machine together comfortably and confidently as you can tell from the photo. Being marginally longer and two inches wider than the previous model did not affect how nimble the 2019 FX felt swapping bond rail to bond rail. The width did, however, allow for rider comfort due to almost infinite foot placement and riding positions in even the bulkiest of shoes.
One of the new features for the 2019 FX, among other Yamaha WaveRunner models, is the touch screen display. At first, we were skeptical. We wondered how was a touch screen supposed to work when soaked with water? On our tests in some of the roughest, wettest conditions the touch screen never had an issue responding to user input. Truly impressed with the brightness and responsiveness of Yamaha’s Connext software. No complaints whatsoever!
A storm and descending darkness cut the adrenaline-filled lake test short, but that’s not the end of the story. A 2019 FX Cruiser SVHO was available to ride at the June Cycle Shack North Yamaha Demo Day at 3 Palms Extreme Sports Park. Everyone who attended got the opportunity to experience the FX’s confident riding style in completely opposite conditions – flat water and high-speed carving.
Flat water can be a great proving ground for finding faults in a machine since all movement is generated by the machine rather than waves, so irregularities in performance are isolated. Everything was butter smooth as the FX dove in and out of the zig-zag buoy course. All of the previously mentioned stellar handling aspects were noted. Initial confident turn in followed by a glue-like grip on the water with no nervousness when the FX tracked over other wakes.
The FX definitely gave the mighty race-bred GP1800R a run for its lunch money on the buoy course while being incredibly predictable, comfortable, and luxurious on both rough and flat water conditions – further solidifying the FX Series WaveRunners at the top of Yamaha’s 2019 lineup. They combined sleek styling wrapped around a tremendous power plant, almost limitless personalization from an interactive touch screen and genuine Yamaha accessories, with comfort for spirited riders or the whole family out for a day on the lake.
Last time we told you about Sea-Doo’s innovation award-winning Fish Pro. Well to add to that award, BRP has announced that they are the recipient of at least seven new Red Dot product design awards including those for the Sea-Doo Fish Pro and RXT-X models.
The Red Dot award panelists look for product design quality and innovation. This goes to show that BRP and Sea-Doo are driven to provide cutting-edge products that exceed consumer expectations.
You can read more information on these awards through the press release below.
Valcourt, Quebec, March 25, 2019 – Once again, the efforts of BRP’s experts, inspired by the company’s high standards for innovation, and driven by the team’s talent and creativity, have been recognized at the Red Dot product design awards. No less than seven BRP products were favoured by the jury at the 2019 edition, proving that it’s always possible to find new ways to push back the limits of the industry. The winners are:
Lynx Radien-X Platform X-trim SC
Sea-Doo FISH PRO
Sea-Doo RXT-X
Can-Am Ryker
Can-Am Maverick XRS Max
Can-Am Maverick Sport Max
LinQ Premium Storage Bag
“Receiving these awards is always an honour. They represent all teams hard work, the attention to our customers, and BRP’s passion and expertise. This recognition demonstrates BRP’s thirst for innovation, and its success as a pioneer in the industry”, says Denys Lapointe, Senior Vice-President, Design, Innovation and Creative Services.
Last year, BRP marked a record year with 15 design awards in total. 2019 is off to a strong start, and BRP’s design team intends to outdo itself again.
About the Red Dot Awards
The Red Dot product design awards focus, among other things, on the design quality and innovation potential of the products submitted. The laureates of these awards are cutting-edge products, that set trends and pave the way for the future. Red Dot’s panel of approximately 40 experts carefully evaluates them to choose those that merit the distinction.
For more information on BRP’s 2019 Red Dot design awards, visit www.brp.com.
About BRP
We are a global leader in the world of powersports vehicles and propulsion systems, built on over 75 years of ingenuity and intensive consumer focus. Our portfolio of industry-leading and distinctive products includes Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft, Can-Am on- and off-road vehicles, Alumacraft and Manitou boats, Evinrude and Rotax marine propulsion systems, as well as Rotax engines for karts, motorcycles and recreational aircraft. We support our lines of product with a dedicated parts, accessories and clothing business to fully enhance your riding experience. With annual sales of CA$5.2 billion from over 120 countries, our global workforce is made up of around 12,500 driven, resourceful people.
IJSBA just keeps the good news coming! Big O Tires will support the 2019 Blowsion Under the Bridge Freestyle Competition, by making it a free event to all spectators. The Blowsion titled event is part of the 2019 Thai Airways World Finals. The finals take place October 5-13 at Crazy Horse Campground in Lake Havasu City, AZ. The exciting Under the Bridge expression session goes down Saturday night October 12th under the Famous London Bridge.
The latest IJSBA release continues with some words concerning the lengthiness of the press releases. IJSBA only wants the public to know how crucial sponsors are to these events. Without outside support, most events wouldn’t happen. Supporters help create the resources needed for competitors to perform at their best.
The local Big O Tires enables the residents of Lake Havasu City to have affordable tires installed with top quality service. This sponsorship goes hand in hand with the mission of giving more opportunities to the community. 2019 makes 38 successful consecutive years with the World Finals held in Lake Havasu City.
The thirty-eight years of success is due to a network of great support within the PWC industry and huge generosity from local businesses.
IJSBA will be putting out plenty of press releases expressing its gratitude toward all who contribute to making the World Finals happen in Lake Havasu City. Big O Tires gets a huge thanks for providing much needed resources that allow for IJSBA to give free admission to the public for the big Blowsion Under the Bridge Freestyle Competition. That’s good stuff!
Attention all Sea-Doo owners, there is good news coming your way. Brad King posted on Facebook that he found that a Ski-Doo gas caddy will fit on the back of a Sea-Doo and on top of a another gas caddy.
This is awesome news for Sea-Doo owners or if you own both a Ski-Doo and a Sea-Doo. Your range of exploration has just increased! Just as a reminder, Ski-Doo and Sea-Doo are owned by the same company BRP.
The reason they are able to stack on top of each other is because on Ski-Doo Snowmobiles the gas caddy are made to go over the heat exchanger. On Sea-Doo’s, while they do not have a heat exchanger, they do have a rear handle.
Both of these items take up the same amount of space, so now during the summer you can take your Ski-Doo gas caddy and put them on your Sea-Doo! This means you can now go on longer trips and always have enough gas to make it back.
While there are ways you can strap down a gas can on the back of your ride, the chances of it coming off are high. So whether you need one or two gas caddies, you can now get out and spend more time exploring. There is nothing worse than running out of gas and having to call someone to tow you in.
IJSBA is thrilled to announce that Blowsion will be the title sponsor to support the Saturday Night Under the Bridge Freestyle Competition at the 2019 Airways World Finals.
The Saturday Night Under the Bridge Freestyle competition went by the wayside for a while. It took Blowsion offering support in order to bring back this really awesome expression session. The expression session once more has life and you can catch all the action at the World Championships in Lake Havasu City.
Under the lake Havasu London Bridge will feature pro freestyle competitors, junior freestyle competitors, product releases, and many other exciting activities will be on tap, Saturday, October 19.
The planet’s best Ski riders will have already earned points that afternoon over at the Crazy Horse Campground and Resort. They will then compete before a crowd of thousands in front of the London Bridge Resort. The top ten points earner will head back to Crazy Horse on Sunday for a final round of action to crown the title of World Champion. This Under the Bridge Competition is completely free to attend.
We will keep you apprised as more information is released closer to the 2019 Thai Airways World Finals which begin October 5.
We will keep a watchful eye on the IJSBA site for upcoming details on the Blowsion sponsorship of the Saturday Night Under the Bridge Freestyle Competition. It’s one that’s not to be missed!
Knoxville, Tennessee is known for being the home of the 1982 World’s Fair, a healthy population of Red Pandas, some of the finest museums in the South and of course, its native son, Kenny Chesney. It is also home to the Visit Knoxville Grand Prix of Tennessee, the third stop of the 2019 season for the Hydro-Cross National Tour.
Limited, at least currently, to the Pro Sport Class, the Hydro-Cross Nationals tour is run in conjunction with the Powerboat Nationals and is sanctioned by IJSBA, with each Hydro-Cross Nationals event counting as a qualifying event for the IJSBA World Finals in Havasu.
Rounds 1 and 2 of this year’s Hydro-Cross tour took place Tavares, Florida, in April and May, but the first weekend in June brought Hydro-Cross competitors to the shores of the Tennessee RIver in downtown Knoxville, where the rivalries set in motion at Tavares continued, but with a wild card thrown in the mix. Lining up for the tour’s trademark rolling start alongside tour points leader Tom “Killer” Keller, 2018 champion Kyle Hayes, and the rest of the Hydro-Cross racers was the blue and orange Yamaha of Kings Cup World Champion, Christian Daly.
Fresh off helping in the pits as his brother Conor Daly put in a 10th-place finish at the Indianapolis 500, Daly clearly came to race, and to win, and despite his late entry into the tour, he found his rhythm, putting in fast time trials, pulling off wins in the early heats, and nailing down a win in the main event on Sunday, despite some heavy challenges form the rest of the pack.
“Kelly Smith was right there, he was for sure giving me a run for my money,” Daly said in an interview with race announcer Mikey Young following the race.
Breaking into the Hydro-Cross Nationals Tour meant some change-ups for Daly – change-ups that the other riders have come to appreciate in this newest of the watercross tours. Unlike the familiar starting band shore starts, HydroCross uses rolling starts, and routinely challenges riders with a Joker Buoy, adding an extra measure of strategy and planning to the race. Hydro-Cross also stands out from many current opportunities for watercross racers, offering relatively significant purses that pay out well past first through third place.
“I was really impressed with this whole group, it was awesome to put on a great show for the fan, and I really think the joker buoy is a great idea … it adds that next level to racing,” said Daly, who recently joined the Broward Motorsports Racing team.
“All our events are televised (…) 70 million households will see our events,” Hydro-Cross acting race director Rex Hayes said during an interview with the Cardone Race Corner following the Knoxville race, adding that the Knoxville races will be televised at 8 a.m., noon and 8 p.m. on July 6. “We formulate our race off the Supercross format, single lap time trials Saturday morning, it’s you again; the clock and the fastest guy out there has the pole position for heat one. We run Heat 1 and 2 on Saturday, then on Sunday we do an LCQ and then the main event, and that is where the money is paid.”
Hydrocross standard event purse is $4,800, with payments to 1st through 10th place, from $1,200 for a win, to $200 for 8th through 10th. The upcoming race at Guntersville, Alabama on June 29-30, is a double-payout race, featuring a $10,000 purse, with $2,500 to win, and even 8th-10th getting $400 each.
“Our goal is to put together a three hour event per day, where we can provide good entertainment, a pro lineup, and avoid the craters that the sport has fallen in before,” Hayes said.
“Next year we have some things in mind. We’re going to stir the pot quite a bit next year,” he added. “We might just make jet ski racing great again…that’s our goal.”
HydroCross Nationals Round 3 – Knoxville, TN Results 1. Christian Daly, 2. Kelly Smith, 3. Keith Dill, 4. Tom Keller, 5. Eric Degler, 6. Kyle Hayes, 7. Wyatt Hayes, 8. Mike Hamaker, 9. Logan Hayes, 10.Matt Johnson, 11. Brian O’Rourke
This is awesome news for Sea-Doo owners or if you own both a Ski-Doo and a Sea-Doo. Your range of exploration has just increased! Just as a reminder, Ski-Doo and Sea-Doo are owned by the same company BRP.
