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Gallery: 2018 Pro Watercross World Championships in Naples, FL

By
Kevin Shaw
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The grounds of Sugden Regional Park in Naples, Florida erupted with traffic almost overnight. The normally placid shores of the shorelined park buzzed with moving trucks, crews erecting scaffolding, bleachers and marking off the buoy course. The annual Pro Watercross World Championships had returned. Although the jet ski racing would officially begin November 1st and last until the afternoon of Sunday, the 4th, the event began over a week earlier (October 26-28th) with the Hydroflight freestyle championships.

Spectators and film crews were wowed with flips, spins, dives, and more aerial acrobatics in fine fashion. Meanwhile, between October 27th and October 31st, the Pro Watercross event hosted the SUPcross, Hydro Expo and MotoSurf World Cup, welcoming standup paddle board athletes and jet-powered surfboard races, which has exponentially grown in both participation and public appeal in recent years. Albeit exciting in its own right, all of this was preamble for the main event.

Hundreds of racers flanked by their respective crews and families poured in, the parking lots and grounds filling with multi-colored rigs and vibrantly-wrapped enclosed trailers. In addition to its own live feed broadcasting, camera crews from local newspapers and television stations began staking out desirable locations from which to film from. For Sunday’s “Pro Show,” CBS Sports Network rolled in, setting up $100,000 high definition cameras from which to broadcast with. The energy was palpable.

The singular thrum of energy circled around local hero Erminio Iantosca, a hometown Sea-Doo X-Team racer, who several months after losing his father, was competing for glory in the Runabout GP and Pro Stock classes. Iantosca started the weekend with a large target painted on his back, as he was the returning GP champion, having won it the year before. With six world championships under his belt, Iantosca was no stranger to pressure. Aboard a stealth-black Sea-Doo RXP-X, Iantosca beat back the limited field of contenders earning his second consecutive championship in the top tier class.

Sunday’s Pro Runabout Stock class would prove much more difficult. Facing off against 2017’s World Champion, Brian Baldwin and former Naples resident Chris MacCluggage, both riding carefully-honed Yamaha GP1800’s, Iantosca was in tight contention with Baldwin, after a mechanical issue plagued Macc right out of the gate. Baldwin had won the first race of the day, putting him close behind Iantosca heading into Moto 3 and on pace to take over Iantosca. The two fought hardscrabble, narrowing in on each other with every passing buoy. It was, fatefully, a drag race down the final stretch that put Iantosca just ahead of Baldwin, earning his second title in as many days.

Drawing all eyes to the shore of Lake Avalon was Pro Freestyle 1200, Chris Anyzeski retained his undefeated title with a wild array of aerial tricks and dizzying backflips, beating out Ryan Doberstein who put on a strong performance but not enough to unseat Anyzeski. Another impressive performance came from Cameron Frame who boarded a turbocharged Yamaha EX built by Kommander Industries and swept the IROC GP. The Kommander team fared quite well this weekend, as Quinten Bossche became the new world champion in Pro Ski Modified.

Of course, the big win went to Kommander’s own team captain, Dustin Motzouris aboard his arm-stretching Kommander-built GP1 standup in the Pro-Am GP Ski class, who also destroyed the lineup with a blistering 3-out-of-3 holeshots that weekend. In an equally impressive feat, Richard Taylor – flanked by friends Jeremy Schandelmayer and Don Anderson (among a few others) – built what Jeremy has called a “Sea-Doo FrankenSki” to rise above the ranks of frankly a massive field of contenders to clench the Sport GP world championship. Equally, Sammy Nehme represented the Broward Motorsports team strong by winning the Junior 10-12 World Championship title.

In Novice Sport, Rylee O’Flaherty battled back Broward team racer Jessica Milone to grab her first World Championship title, the two giving the crowd an awesome bit of excitement out on the water. And that’s how the weekend’s racing went: pure excitement and fantastic sportsmanship. The evening’s award ceremony was a great endcap to the season as racers were able to express their gratitude to the Pro Watercross team, their sponsors, families and teammates. So as the year draws to a close, many are already gearing up for 2019 where big news and talk of changes to the series are bound to bring all the more excitement.

Video: Yamaha’s Scott Watkins Introduces The New 2019 EXR WaveRunner

By
Kevin Shaw
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We at The Watercraft Journal have been making quite the racket about Yamaha’s newest entry into its Rec-Lite segment, the EXR. This little, lightweight hot rod is the perfect blend of old school rowdiness and up-to-the-minute modern technology. Yamaha WaveRunner Product Manager Scott Watkins was the most recent subject of this video taking us inside the development of Yamaha’s new EXR WaveRunner, which has the distinction of being the only ultra-lightweight, performance-focused Rec Lite watercraft in the industry.

We’ve been lucky enough to get our hands on one of the very first 2019 EXR units and have done a few videos with it as well as a feature-length photoshoot. We’re currently working on the article itself while the video will be published in 3 weeks’ time to our YouTube channel as an episode of “Long Haul.” Until that time, check out the Facebook Live walkaround we did on the EXR as well as this exclusive inside-look with Scott that you can watch below:

Find The Ski You Want at The Watercraft Journal’s PWC Trader-Powered Classifieds Section

By
Kevin Shaw
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As we enter into the “off season” for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere, now is the time that folks interested in purchasing a new or pre-0wned personal watercraft start doing their homework and shopping. It makes sense too, as many dealers are just receiving the newest models and the pre-owned stuff is now being priced down.

To help better equip you wintertime shoppers, The Watercraft Journal partnered with the world’s largest online marketplace for PWCs – be them used or new – PWC Trader. Together, we offer you, the readers of The Watercraft Journal our own customized access portal to PWC Trader’s massive selection of “new and used stand-up and multi-seat PWC models to experience the thrill of the water” through our Classifieds section. The search engine is incredibly easy to navigate, providing users best service possible with immediate access to PWC Trader’s massive selection of watercraft and boats.

PWC Trader has welcomed millions of visitors a year and together we look to combine our total reach to help get more PWC enthusiasts out on the water! How? You can look forward to seeing many segments of The Watercraft Journal’s industry-leading editorial content on PWC Trader in the coming weeks and months, as well as in newsletters and email blasts. We at The Watercraft Journal are always looking for ways to make our publication a better resource for you and by partnering with PWC Trader we see a very bright future ahead of us! Make sure to check it out and give our new Classifieds section a look HERE!

Get Your Hydro-Turf Christmas Tree From N&C Jet Ski Ltd. Today!

By
Kevin Shaw
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0

Here in the ‘States we’ve got a problem with folks beginning to celebrate Christmas a month too early. We’ve got a whole month of November to prepare for the Christmas season, and before now and then, we’ve got a national holiday of Thanksgiving where we traditionally gorge ourselves on giant birds laced tryptophan while American football plays in the background. Yet, for those in the United Kingdom, you’ve got no such holiday so ramping up the Christmas cheer a little early is fine.

That’s where N&C Jet Ski Ltd. has you covered! While we still can’t seem to find them listed on Hydro-Turf‘s own website or Facebook page, the guys at the Wallasey shop (just north of New Brighton) have their hands on the first run of Hydro-Turf Christmas trees! Replete with multicolored tabs acting as ornaments and even a Christmas star topper, the Hydro-Turf Christmas tree is a fun addition to your shop, showroom or even home. Priced at £14.95 (about $19.50 USD), it’s a fun bit of holiday decoration you’ll come to love.

Gallery: RIVA Racing 2019 Yamaha FX1800R Custom Build

By
Kevin Shaw
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0

RIVA Racing Yamaha FX1800R

“It’s really to test the waters,” RIVA Racing’s Dave Bamdas confessed. “We want to see how people react.” The response, by all observations was unanimous in the positive. RIVA Racing had wheeled out its one-of-none custom FX1800R prototype onto the checkered floor of its booth at the 2018 IJSBA World Finals to quite a bit of fanfare. The one-off custom build really was meant to be demonstrative of what a fully-equipped 2019 Yamaha FX SVHO could be, if outfitted with the latest in performance parts from RIVA Racing.

Unlike the company’s annual Limited Edition builds, wherein RIVA Racing hand-builds an exclusive run of 25 units of a particular unit, this was only a dry run to gauge the public’s reaction. For the past two years, the RIVA Racing Limited Edition watercraft have been exclusively Yamaha GP1800’s. Prior to that, RIVA modified the now-retired FZR. And unique to the Limited Editions, certain performance parts were specially anodized to match the craft’s new custom paint and decal package.

Months earlier, Dave had inquired what people might think of the Limited package being offered on the redesigned FX platform instead of the new GP1800R, a moniker which RIVA Racing used for its previous two special offerings. “I think it’d be a great fit,” we encouraged. “Plus, you’re not gravitating too far away from the performance parts used on the GP.” As often is the case, RIVA’s team had early access to the new FX full-sized runabouts and the R&D team were very confident that the new runabout could be a top performer.

Based on the standard 2019 FX SVHO in Pure White and Torch Red Metallic, RIVA did little to radically alter the Yamaha’s aesthetics. In fact, RIVA’s dedication to replicating the factory appearance of the graphics are enough to fool the layman as he glaces the ski over. Smartly placed “RIVA Racing” billboards adorn the hood and hull below the bondline, with a single call-out beckoning “FX1800R” below the custom-stitched grippy seat cover. Only the eagle-eyed observer will spot the radical “350 horsepower, custom build” lettering high on the fairings.

“This one’s a more low-key than previous builds,” Dave noted. The custom CNC-cut Hydro-Turf mats are two-toned black-and-gray, but only the slightest difference in hue. The aforementioned seat is equally subdued, making it almost appear unchanged, with two small dashes of red to break up the black-and-silver (RY5-FX19-1). The red hull is of course, factory, so the RIVA Pro Series Sponsons (RY26070) stand out particularly well. During their testing, RIVA discovered that not only does the FX share the same bolt pattern as the previous FZ models, but the 5-way adjustable blades work remarkably well for the new hull.

Observing from behind, the one-off FX1800R displays RIVA’s new through-hull Rear Exhaust Kit for the 2019-up FX (RY15120). Next to that, the FX brandishes some necessary traction and handling improvements including a Solas Yamaha 160mm Concord 13/20 Impeller (YV-CD-13/20); a RIVA Yamaha FX SVHO & FX SHO/HO 2012-19 Top-Loader Intake Grate (RY22070) and accompanying RIVA Yamaha Pump Seal Kit for 2012-19 FX’s equipped with the new grate (RY25070); and a RIVA Yamaha FX1800R Performance Ride Plate (RY211020) – this being a prototype, and not the final ride plate for FX’s.

Aft of the new LCD full-color touch screen dashboard is RIVA’s Pro-Series Steering System for the new Yamaha FX (RY20120), equipped with RIVA PRO-BAR 30-inch Runabout Bars (RY205BK-BAR-2), ODI Lock Ring End Caps (03-05-343) and ODI Ruffian Lock-On Grips, 130mm, No Flange, Black (L31RFB-S), replacing the plastic steering components with aircraft-grade billet aluminum giving the rider significantly better steering input and responsive feel.

Of course, the biggest additions to the FX1800R are found beneath the reupholstered seat; engine modifications begin with a RIVA MaptunerX Yamaha 2018-up 1.8L Bundle (RY110SC-B-1); a RIVA Yamaha SVHO Power Cooler with Free BOV (RY17080-PC-BV); a RIVA Yamaha FX SVHO 2019-up Power Filter Kit (RY13120); a RIVA Engine Breather Upgrade Kit, 2012-18 Yamaha 1.8L (RY19040-12-EBUK); a RIVA Pro Series Engine Cooling Upgrade Kit, SVHO (RY10080-ECUK-PC-2); a RIVA Yamaha Valve Retainer Upgrade Kit, 1.8L (RY19040-SRU); the RIVA Yamaha SVHO/SHO Supercharger Shaft Upgrade Kit (RY17040-UK-6S5-3); and a RIVA Yamaha 1.8L High Flow Billet Fuel Rail (RY12040-BFR).

All of this adds up to a dyno-tested, proven and (most importantly) reliable 350-horsepower at the flywheel, which when tested out of RIVA’s private lake, delivered a sustained top speed of 83mph at 8,600rpm. That’s a considerable jump when the stock machine typically turns in a consistent 68mph at 7,500rpm. Of course, RIVA notes that all of its testing was performed with 1/3 tank of fuel, the trim set at neutral at sea level elevation, and the air temperature at 80-degrees F. We at The Watercraft Journal are eager to take this one-of-none machine out for a spin, but have been told to wait. Rats.

Until that time, it’s pretty cool to know that while you might not be able to order a FX1800R from RIVA Racing, you can get pretty close to replicating the proven performance of this custom build buy purchasing a new NanoXcel2-made, 818-pound 2019 Yamaha FX SVHO WaveRunner and ordering the list of parts to either install yourself or have installed by a reputable shop. And if RIVA does in fact decide to offer it’s short run Limited Edition machine as a FX1800R (or a 350-horsepower GP1800R), The Watercraft Journal will be the first to bring you pictures, information and video as we test it.

Hydro-Turf’s Mark Gomez Claims 2nd Overall at IFWA World Championships

By
Kevin Shaw
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It was a hard-fought battle for Southern California local Mark Gomez, who traveled the globe to compete in the 2018 IFWA Freeride World Tour. Gomez is no stranger to competition though, having won the World Championship before. This year came down to a final between he and fellow freeride all-star Abraham Ho on the shore of Japan.

Gomez wrote, “This year a new Freeride World champion is crowned, congratulations to my brother on tour Abraham Hochstrasser. I finished 2nd in the world this year on the IFWA Freeride World Tour and 5th place at the event. Conditions were less than ideal, which made it extremely tough across the board for all riders. Timing, luck, and skill, were all factors this weekend in every heat. Abraham and I both fought neck and neck by points until the very end.

“It was such an insane and competitive year with the tour points that every riders result combined with our own was intense to keep track of. I am incredibly proud of Abraham especially for his efforts that I now understand personally from coordinating a World Tour stop to grow and promote our sport. It’s not easy at all but it takes an athlete and a big heart in this sport to accomplish what he has.

“I am grateful for all of my sponsors help this season in freeride as its been a big one. I am blessed to have my beautiful fiancé Kaley McNay who has been at my side every tour stop this year. I am extremely thankful for those who attended this event as it has been very intensive on the side to assist coordinate the championship event here in Japan.

“The mayor of the local town came to the event ecstatic about our presence and has extended an invitation to come back next year at Sunset, the heart of freeride in Japan. I am not Japanese, but this filled me with pride since I have been looking out for the tour’s interest as well as making sure this was as positive of an event for the supporting Japanese community at Sunset.”

The Watercraft Journal By The Numbers: Celebrating 5 Years of Fun (2013-2018)

By
Kevin Shaw
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0

It’s been a year since we last published an installment of “By The Numbers,” and in our last update, we erroneously stated it was our 5th anniversary since launching The Watercraft Journal in 2013. While at the time of the writing it would have be fair to commemorate the commencement of our fifth year, the true celebration of that benchmark is in fact, today. Yes, The Watercraft Journal has been around for 5 years! That’s quite a feat considering the average shelf-life of companies in the personal watercraft industry, if we can say so ourselves.

The Watercraft Journal has succeeded where others have failed because of two major factors: The first is consistency: At no time have we missed a day of publishing (apart from major holidays, of course). We deliver new articles Monday-through-Friday as well as our free newsletter recapping the week’s content. Full-length feature content, fresh event coverage and even expensive-to-produce video content is all delivered 100-percent free to the reader; there’s no passwords or downloads either. As long as you’ve got a WiFi signal, you can read us.

The second is reliability: Advertisers have come to expect that working with The Watercraft Journal is like suddenly discovering you’d added an extra division of your company. It’s our job to get the word out, to advocate and illustrate your company’s products and services. Partnering with us is the fastest way to gain instant access to literally hundreds of thousands of potential customers that you might not have been reaching before. Our reviews have persuaded new and returning buyers, our industry networking has connected manufacturers to distributors, and much more.

Lastly, The Watercraft Journal reminds you to have fun! We inspire literally thousands of readers a day to get out and ride, to pick up the newest gear or accessories to maximize their experience on the water, or to take the leap and purchase a new watercraft so that they can hit the water in style. The personal watercraft industry is surprisingly diverse – from sporadic rider to the avid weekend warrior, from the diehard racer to the casual cruiser; from the daring and thrilling freestyle athlete to the first-time novice – we reach them all and provide them with entertaining, informative and inspiring articles and videos that can’t be found anywhere else.

Lifetime Readership of The Watercraft Journal

Growth Over Half a Decade
Beginning from nothing, The Watercraft Journal has expanded its readership to include a whopping 1.275-million readers devouring over three million articles over our five years of publishing. Let’s just repeat the word million once more. Yup, that’s something to talk about. The Watercraft Journal has certainly seen its peaks and valleys as the seasons change, but year-after-year we see continued average growth, increased duration and more articles read as time progresses. So much so, that we’ve spent much of 2018 radically restructuring the back end of the magazine, making it easier for smartphones and tablets to read every page, to scroll through tens of thousands of pictures or just pop in quickly to see what the latest news is.

Total number readers: 1,275,547*
Total number of articles read: 3,046,438

*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.

Diversity of Content Continues
Our publishing schedule is pretty radical; every week The Watercraft Journal produces nine new articles as well as a easy-to-click newsletter that shows up in your email’s inbox every Friday recapping the week’s stories. Except for national holidays, we’ve never “taken a day off” or decided to make up work the following day. Nope. That’s not us. Our readers have come to depend on The Watercraft Journal as a reliable source of industry news, product releases, event coverage and of course, reviews of some of the best stuff the PWC industry has to offer. We value our relationships with these companies who let us try out their latest products, beat on their toys and deliver to you our honest opinions; and in turn, we hope you support those companies who support us!

Total number of articles published: 2,289
Total number of news articles published: 1,574
Total number of feature articles published: 641*

*When this number is divided to reflect monthly publishing equals 11 full-length feature articles a month, combined with an average of 26 news articles per month, totaling a 122-page print magazine.

Much More Than A Website
Although video has always been a major contributor to The Watercraft Journal’s array of content, it was only in the past 18 months that a major push for unique, creative and entertaining video content has been a focus. In that time, The Watercraft Journal has produced a steady supply of professionally-produced videos twice a month to our YouTube channel. This, combined with our strident efforts to grow our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram social media channels has resulted in a dramatic growth in audience reach. Add to that unique access to PWCTrader’s search engine of used and pre-owned personal watercraft and our own T-shirts and decals in our store, and The Watercraft Journal is suddenly much, much more than just a single website posting updates on the PWC industry. If you’re not already following us, subscribed to our channels, or otherwise, you’re missing out big time.

Total number of Facebook followers: 26,194
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico
Total number of Twitter followers: 954
Total number of Instagram followers: 12,623
Total number of YouTube subscriptions: 4,022
Total number of YouTube videos: 52

All That Glitters is Not Gold
There’s a few who would like to disparage what The Watercraft Journal has accomplished these past 5 years. Gratefully, we have a scoreboard of wins to show for our labors. We’ve welcomed more readers than our competitors and even legendary print titles of old; we’ve written more content; provided more information; and produced more multimedia than many would produce in double the time. If there’s one failing that we’ll admit to is that we still struggle to convince many holdouts of our value to their business; whether its because of loyalties to our few competitors or a complete misunderstanding of how they can benefit from partnering with The Watercraft Journal. But if you’re ready to reach literally tens of thousands of would-be customers and have us spread the word about your product and services, then please email [email protected] about advertising your company in the single-most popular PWC magazine today.

Video: CRT Racing Mourns Tragic Loss of Teammate After Fatal Accident

By
Kevin Shaw
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0

[Correction as of Monday, November 5th at 10:45am CST] Previous reports both here at The Watercraft Journal and those made by 7 News Miami (from whom we quoted extensively) were incorrect pertaining to the nature and results of the accident that claimed Manuel “Lito” Aladro’s life on Thursday.

Emergency response found Lito unresponsive, but showing no physical injuries. Rather, the cause of death was attributed to cardiac failure, particularly tragic considering both Lito’s age and physical fitness. CRT Racing’s own Carlito Del Valle stated that Lito was wearing a helmet as was his commitment to safety.

The red Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 shown in the video by 7 News Miami was that belonging to the riding partner accompanying Lito on the ride, who dove in to rescue the downed rider.

Obviously, this is a tragic loss and all of us at The Watercraft Journal want to express our condolences to Lito’s family and friends, and want to thank them for helping quickly correct this report, particularly as the original report improperly represents Lito’s commitment to safety.

[Original report published Monday, November 5th at 12:01am CST]

Late Thursday, word went out that famed top-speed PWC performance-tuning shop CRT Racing had lost one of its key tuners and team members to a fatal accident. According to 7 News Miami, “Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the scene off Krome Avenue, about two miles north of Okeechobee Road after a jet ski rider fell off the watercraft and suffered severe head injuries, just before 5 p.m., Thursday.”

First-responders found Manuel Aladro, known as “Lito” to friends and the racing community, unconscious with several cuts to his face. The Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 he was riding was filmed still idling nearby, the lanyard still attached to the handlebars. Lito was loaded onto a rescue helicopter and airlifted to Kendall Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a short time after arriving at the hospital.

A memorial service was held yesterday for friends and family, and a GoFundMe page has been launched to raise the money necessary to return Lito’s remains to his mother and wife in Cuba, which you can support by clicking HERE. Amid this tragedy, it bears recognizing that Lito had substantial experience riding incredibly fast machines, and yet suffered a horrible accident. Please, always wear the proper safety gear, always attach your PWC’s lanyard to your vest or person, and when possible, always ride with a friend.

Video: Krash Riders Display Aerial Superiority at Blowsion Surf Slam

By
Kevin Shaw
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0

Undoubtedly, there’s no company in the sport of freeride more dedicated to revolutionizing the industry than Krash Industries. In recent years, the company has not only developed and produced a series of lightweight and affordable skis for an entry price of $8,500, but has engineered its own super-efficient 2-stroke KV997 powerplant and introduced to the world the first turnkey freeride ski for $12,000. Heck, they’re even launching their own web series to watch the brand’s team riders.

So it comes as no surprise that at this year’s Blowsion Surf Slam that Krash riders Tom Scaccianoce and Ryan Savage took control of the waters of Pacific City to display their aerial wizardry. Krash Industries helped commemorate their performances with this cool video that’s already tracking nearly 8,000 views (and hopefully many, many more after this). Freeride is easily one of the most impressive and visually stunning forms of athleticism in the sport of jet skiing and these two are some of the best. Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/krashindustries/videos/496710444146842/

Video: Timelapse Blacktip Seat Cover Installation on Sea-Doo Seat

By
Kevin Shaw
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0

If left out to the elements, it won’t be long before your brand new watercraft’s seat will lose its luster and vibrant colors. That’s just a fact. No matter how much time and development the OE manufacturers put into developing new and advanced materials, if the owner doesn’t keep the ski covered, some degradation is going to happen.

Equally, contaminants like sunscreen, gasoline and even harsh cleaners can discolor and even leech out essential oils in the vinyl to keep it soft and pliable, resulting in cracking and tears. That’s why BlackTip Jetsports offers such a massive array of quality seat covers – not only to return the once-new look and feel of your PWC but also a chance to toss in a little personal flair.

Believe it or not, recovering a cracked, torn or discolored seat cover is surprisingly easy. We’ve shown you how to do it before. And thanks to BlackTip, installation instructions and tips are at the ready as well. Recently, they even published this video showing a timelapse installation of a new cover on the front and rear seats from a pre-2010 Sea-Doo GTX – illustrating that a new BlackTip cover can be installed after removing the old cover, or directly over the existing cover.

The latter is not ideal, because of fitment and increased chance of moisture penetration and collection, removing the existing cover is the preferred method. Yes, removing all of the staples can be tedious work, but beginning with a nice, clean working surface is always the preferred way to do things. So check out the video below and head on over to BlackTip’s webstore to see what patterns and colors would look best for you!

https://www.facebook.com/BlackTipJetsports/videos/307234416745359/

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