The ordeal this family survived demonstrates why it’s imperative to take a safety course before launching a PWC or other watercraft. Knowing how to operate your craft, understanding water conditions, and making safety a priority are of utmost importance. Fortunately, the family knew to wear PFD’s while on a PWC.

An Auckland man named Gerald, purchased a new jet ski and took his wife, mother, and daughter for a ride. Four people were aboard the ski when they launched from Greenhithe. They were underway when Gerald stopped near Herald Island in Auckland’s estuary waterways. The family was about 500 from meters form shore when a rogue wave flipped the machine. The jet ski was too heavy for the family to upright so they clung to it, hoping for rescue. Gerald’s father, older daughter, and a son were left stranded in a dinghy 300 meters away. The son jumped off the dinghy and attempted to swim to help the family. Fortunately, Ramon Saxon and friends were sailing by and spotted the family in the water.

Saxon and his friends pulled them aboard and wrapped them in blankets before helping Gerald right the ski. They then sailed to Herald Island where they met with a waiting Coastguard team. The team checked out the family and returned them to Greenhithe.

Coastguard Duty Officer Hemi Manaena stated that if the family hadn’t been in lifejackets, the outcome may have been much more serious. Manaena encouraged inexperienced boaters to take a course in boating education. Gerald will soon register. He learned the hard way as to why it’s important to put safety first. He and his family were very lucky that a Good Samaritan sailed into their lives.

Knowing how to properly correct a capsized personal watercraft is important, and believe it or not, manufacturers have placed decals on all new units giving step-by-step instructions on how to do it. Here’s also a great video demonstrating the process:

With winter in full force in many regions, some of you might be daydreaming of the warm springtime weather. If you are anticipating getting back on the water, now is also a nice time to find good deals on a watercraft.

Sure a brand new PWC is nice to have and gives you peace of mind but you can also find very reliable used watercraft that have been cared for at a fraction of the price of a new unit. So how do you make sure you aren’t buying a lemon?

We found a good article from Steven in Sales that lists some good tips and things to check before buying that used watercraft. These tips can be especially helpful when buying from a private seller.

A first impression will give you a lot of information right off the bat. Sure all used watercraft will have some sort of bumps or scrapes but you want to make sure that it’s limited to the main wear areas such as the side bumper rails. Check the hull and deck for any major damage or holes.

A clean watercraft including the engine bay, pump intake, and outlet areas will tell you how well-maintained it was. Some minor corrosion on fittings or bolts might be normal depending on the number of hours on the unit, but it is recommended to steer clear if you see major rust in any areas.

Start the watercraft and perform a test ride if possible. If you must buy something with higher hours, check the compression or ask the seller if you can have a mechanic check it out. If the seller gives you a hard time, chances are they may be trying to hide something.

There are many other helpful tips and guides online and videos on Youtube as well as some of our previous articles . For more details, you can check out Steven’s full guide here.

Every year, the Watercraft Superstore hosts the Skyway Ski Show in Tampa, Florida. The collaborative effort with Cycle Springs Powersports, welcomes half a dozen PWC enthusiasts of every stripe, skill level and interest to test ride some of the newest models from the major manufacturers – Kawasaki, Sea-Doo and Yamaha. There, these riders test out each unit, evaluate it one on its own merits, and the winner is crowned in the Watercraft Superstore’s annual magazine/catalog hybrid.

This year, The Watercraft Journal is happy to invite one lucky reader to be a guest judge at the Skyway Ski Show! You’ll be flown in, set up in a luxury waterfront hotel room, fed some seriously great food, and get to spend the day riding brand new watercraft – all at zero cost to you (except for a couple vacation days at work)! You’ll then be featured throughout the Watercraft Superstore’s massive “magalog” as well as an article here at The Watercraft Journal. It’s pretty much the jet ski lover’s dream come true.

All it takes to enter to win is 1. log on to Facebook; 2. visit The Watercraft Journal’s official Facebook page; 3. click the “Like” and “Follow” buttons; 4. Comment on the Facebook post with this picture why you should be chosen as the winner and “Share” the same Facebook post to your wall. 5. Finally, visit the Watercraft Superstore’s official Facebook page, and 6. click the “Like” and “Follow” buttons as well. We will be checking to make sure that entries fulfilled all of these steps!

The winner will be selected one month from now, on February 15th, 2019 and announced on The Watercraft Journal’s Facebook page. We’ll also be privately messaging you to let you know that you won. Oh yeah, and you’ve got to be 21-years-old and living in the continental US to enter.

Late last year marked the final moto of 2018 in the Grand Prix of Sharjah. After ten years of determined competition, Jeremy Perez finally took home the overall victory becoming the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Champion.

Snatching that title meant so much to Perez because of all of his hard work. After capturing the moment, Perez stated “Finally after all these years I have done it. I am so happy I just can’t explain it.”

The press release details can be seen below and to check out the overall race results, you can visit aquabike.net.

Friday, 14 December, SHARJAH (UAE): France’s Jeremy Perez kept his nerve in today’s final moto of the year finishing in second to secure overall victory in the Grand Prix of Sharjah and, after ten years of trying, became UIM-ABP Aquabike World Champion.

Perez went into the final moto with an 11 point margin over defending champion Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq and after leading at the end of the start lap let the Kuwaiti through knowing that a top four finish would seal the deal. “Finally after all these years I have done it. I am so happy I just can’t explain it,” he said. “I let him go because it would not change anything and there was no need for me to push too much and risk everything. The last lap felt like ten minutes but when I cross the line it was amazing.”

The two title rivals traded Grand Prix wins in the early part of the season and continued their intense rivalry in Sharjah, Perez finishing ahead of Abdulrazzaq winning motos 1 & 2 with Abdulrazzaq winning today but it was not enough. “At the end Jeremy deserves the title 100%. He has worked so hard for this and he is a really great sportsman. We have made some mistakes but that’s racing and we can always come back next season and try to win it back.” said four-time champion Abdulrazzaq.

Lars Akerblom fought his way up from starting on the outside of 19 riders to finish in third and secure third overall in the world championship standings, but narrowly missed out on the Grand Prix podium to Lorenzo Benaglia who rounded off a remarkable few days with his best performance of the season finishing fourth, with Andrzej Wisniewski fifth ahead of Mattia Fracasso.

Wu Ronghua looked to be on course for a top three finish but his moto ended on lap 7 of 13, James Bushell’s charge from the back to fourth ending on lap 10.

In Ski GP1 Victory Team’s Kevin Reiterer was once again in a class of his own producing a faultless performance to win the Grand Prix title and seal his second UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship.

Second place went to outgoing champion Quinten Bossche to end the year in third place, with Raphael Maurin coming home in third to secure second overall in the Grand Prix and world championship standings.

Reiterer controlled the race from the start and was five seconds clear by the end of lap 1 and disappeared in to the distance to run out the winner by 32.76s. Maurin kept Bossche at bay for 4 laps then made a mistake and dropped a place, Steven Dauliach maintaining fourth throughout the race, with Anders Keller’s fifth place putting him onto the podium.

In the Ladies division Latvias’s Krista Uzare produced the ride of a champion to win the Grand Prix title with victory in the final moto and clinch her first UIM Aquabike World Championship.

Uzare went into the final moto with a seven point advantage over two-time champion Emma-Nellie Ortendahl and only needed to finish in second but took the title in style, leading from the start to beat her title rival and win by 3.89s. “I don’t know what to say at this moment,” said Uzare. “I really believed I was going to win the title but I wanted to do it the right way by winning the moto. It has been a wonderful season for me and everyone who has helped me to get to the title.”

Third place in today’s moto went to Jonna Borgstrom, with the final podium place and third in the championship standings going to Jasmiin Ypraus who finished fourth.

Freestyler Rashed Al Mulla celebrated his world title by closing out his year with another characteristically flamboyant set of tricks to record his highest points’ score of the Grand Prix and extended his perfect unbeaten run to six. Portugal’s Paulo Nunes recorded his best result of the season finishing second ahead of Alexander Kuramshin, and moved into second overall in the championship standings ahead of Roberto Mariani.

Can’t wait for racing season to pick back up? Well, have no fear! The 2019 Hydro-Turf Jet Jam Racing Series is closing in fast – so much so that registration is now open for Rounds 1 & 2 at Lake Havasu City’s Nautical Resort this coming March 30-31st. All the details are listed below:

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! We have opened registration for Rounds 1 & 2 of the 2019 Hydro-Turf Jet Jam Racing Tour presented by Bud Light and River Rat Motorsports on March 30^th-31^st, 2019 at the famous Nautical Resort in Lake Havasu City, AZ. There is a large amount of information to go over so please read below:

1. Please get your membership with the AWSA. If you do not have this, you cannot race the Jet Jam Series. It is important to get this ahead of time!!  We are expecting a very large turnout for this event so please save us all time by doing this early!  You can get registered at www.awsa.racing. You will receive a card, a t-shirt and decals with each paid membership.

2. Like last year, your second class of the day will be 50% off.  This will only be for this first race! After the first race, each additional class after your first, will be 25% off for the rest of the season. This will be discussed at riders meeting if you have any questions. So please take advantage while you can. 

3. Payment Options: There are now 3 ways to pay for your races. Credit Card, PayPal or Pay onsite. So please know that you are not obligated to pay until you arrive at the race just like before. 

4. On the registration form you will see that we are hosting a Friday night opening social dinner at the Nautical. This dinner is free to the rider plus 1 guest. Every guest thereafter is a $5.00 charge per person. Please choose the correct option when registering so we can get a correct headcount. This will be pizza/salad dinner. Alcohol is not included, but you will be able to purchase it at the Turtle Bar.  

5. Hotel information: Please we encourage you to stay onsite as we are trying to build up a relationship with the Nautical so they will have us back year after year.  Room nights count towards better discounts for all of us.   We have secured buildings A, B and C for our group rooms in the cove area overlooking the start area. This will give you, our riders and their families great views of the race.  Please use BOOKING CODE #376887 when making your reservation.  Reservations must be made BY PHONE at (928)855-2141 and must be made at least 15 days prior to the event to get the discounted room rate of $169.00 + tax for up to 4 people with a 2-night minimum.   After that the room rate will increase. The more people that book as soon as possible the better chances we have of getting a better rate. There are PET rooms available but these will sell out fast so if you plan on bringing your pets please book ASAP. If you absolutely must camp, please call Kary @ 801-647-0767 or Nicole @ 714-875-8200 to discuss this.  

6. Parking/Pits – We will have a large pit area for parking. More info to come as we get closer to the date.  We will post a site map.

7. Vendors – We will have a vendor ally at this event. If you know of anyone who would like booth space, please contact Kary at 801-647-0767 or [email protected] for more information.

8. If you have questions regarding what class you should be in or where to fit your ski, please call Matthew Goade asap at 928-208-2211 or email [email protected]. He is our Tech Director and is here to help you!

9. If you have any questions regarding registration or any other information, please contact Nicole at 714-875-8200 or email [email protected]

We are very excited to get this race season underway! 

The annual Sea-Doo Boat Shows may have already started, however, there’s still plenty of time to get in on the action. See the complete line up of 2019 Sea-Doo models in a city near you. Check out the all new Fish Pro and the new gadgets and accessories that Sea-Doo has on offer. Get a hands on experience attending one of the boat shows. Test rides will be available. The boat shows are family friendly events with plenty of fun and food on offer for everyone.

The shows kicked off January 4 in Houston and will end at the Atlantic City Boat Show in New Jersey. The last day to catch a show is March 3,2019. A complete schedule is listed here. If you can’t find a show in your area, choose your Sea-Doo life by visiting a dealer show near you. People visiting the regional dealer shows are eligible to receive the exclusive boat show offers.

The highlights this year include the BRP Audio-Portable System, and LinQ accessories. The LinQ system and accessories are now available for all Sea-Doo platforms. Sea-Doo is also ringing in the new year with the Fish Pro. It is the latest addition to the Sea-Doo line up and the base price is $14,799. The PWC comes standard with many key features, including trolling mode, a bench seat specific to fishing, and a Garmin Navigation and Fish Finder. The list of add-on accessories is incredible. This machine can be totally decked out for the serious fisherman.

The usual suspects from 2018 will be in the show. Those categories include the Rec Lite, Recreation, Touring, Tow Sports, and Performance. All of the models have been updated to reflect Sea-Doo’s 2019 drive to take their machines deeper into the watercraft industry.

While at a show listen to the all new portable audio system, ride some new skis, and try out the LinQ system; no tools required, just snap and attach. Have fun! Also, make sure you fill out an entry form for a chance to win a 2019 Sea-Doo. If you don’t enter, you can’t win.

While some of us are living in places with freezing temperatures and snow, many people south of the Equator are getting out and fishing. One of these is Andrew Donovan. He and Club Marine teamed up for a video on how to fish from your PWC.

In the past we have talked about how fishing from a PWC is growing since they require less fuel than boats, are smaller and more nimble and tend to be a much cheaper alternative. One thing I thought was very interesting was that Andrew Donovan pointed out that on one of his fishing trips, he was able to ride in places that had less than one foot of water.  This allows anglers to go to new places and potentially have better luck fishing in places that rarely see any anglers.

With proper gear and a trusty fish finder, you should have no problem hooking into a fish. When you do catch a fish, you may ask yourself where you are going to put it. If you plan on having a seafood lunch you are going to want to bring a cooler with you. While there are many coolers on the market specifically designed for PWC’s, choosing one with a live well is a pretty sweet addition. This keeps your bait fresh or for keeping your catch fresh. Many coolers now even come with rod holders equipped with them so that you can troll or put them there for storage.

The new 2018 Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 is what Andrew Donovan is using in this video. With Sea-Doo’s new design, you are able to strap on a jerry can along with a cooler. This allows you to travel even further and still bring your cooler and fishing gear. Sea-Doo has come out with a brand new Fish Pro model of personal watercraft that is specifically designed for fishing but many different watercraft are able transform into an ultimate fishing machine.