Located literally on the Florida-Alabama state lines, the Flora-Bama Lounge and Bar will again be hosting the Emerald Grand Prix which is returning for the 2019 season.
This unique IJSBA-sanctioned event is geared toward younger, junior riders with the aim to expose the growing sport of personal watercraft racing. You can check out the full press release below and see the video teaser at ijsba.com.
The Emerald Grand Prix is returning in 2019 to that quintessential American landmark, The Flora-Bama Lounge and Bar. With dates booked in for Mar 15-17, The Emerald Grand Prix aims to grow jetski racing for junior riders as well as expose the sport to members of the military, in a professional, IJSBA sanctioned event over the St Patrick’s Day weekend.
The Emerald Grand Prix is all about providing opportunities for those who are curious about jetski racing. It is a great chance for seasoned jetski racers to warm up before national tour season kicks off but is also a unique chance for new riders to come along, give racing a go or even just see what it is all about. The Emerald Grand Prix committee has appointed several ambassadors who will be here exclusively for the event to mentor new riders, answer questions about getting into watercross racing and help guide new racers into the sport. Along with racing events, The Emerald Grand Prix will be hosting a Military Day, exclusive to members of the military, who will have the opportunity to get a glimpse and have a hands-on experience on our world class racing boats.
Often called ‘America’s Last Great Roadhouse’, The Flora-Bama consists of 6 bars in one and gets its name by being located close to the interstate line between Florida and Alabama. It is always bustling with frequent live entertainment (music 365 days a year!), it is even kid friendly (until about 6pm!) and has been mentioned in various rave reviews on USA Today, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone and the Huffington Post just to name a few.
With a stellar location such as this, even more talented and new racers than ever, and watercross experts putting on the anticipated race of the season, it is an event not to be missed.
For more information and to register, please visit www.watercrossworld.com
While the kiddies are preparing for a night of free candy and chilling thrills, Sea-Doo is offering up some thrills of their own with its all-new 2019 Sea-Doo FishPro 155. The only PWC designed specifically for the personal watercraft fishing enthusiast in mind, the FishPro is what we at The Watercraft Journal are thinking to be the next been game changer in the PWC industry. Effectively opening up the multi-billion dollar recreational fishing market to a mainstream, OE-built watercraft is already a hit with “jet anglers” in the Southern Hemisphere as the first shipments of FishPros have entered Australian and New Zealand dealerships.
We’re hard at work editing, trimming and mixing over 3 hours of footage from our exclusive test day on the FishPro 155 and will have an all-new episode of “Long Haul” reviewing the machine in two weeks’ time. Until then, the crazy ghouls at Sea-Doo have whipped up yet another spooky Sea-Doo snippet showing the return of the Frankenstein monster doing his best to land a tasty treat from a skeletal vulture. Landing his reward, ol’ Frankie drops the candy in the massive FishPro’s 13.5-gallon cooler – which by the looks of it, appears to be several cavities-worth of sugar!
So you bought two brand-spankin’ new personal watercraft sitting on a nice double trailer. Now your family and friends can go with you when you go riding. Well what happens when nobody is available to tag along or you simply want to go tear up the local waterway and blow off some steam by yourself?
In the past you would either have to unload one watercraft onto a rolling cart before heading to the boat ramp or take your chances that nobody will drool on your spare ski as it sits patiently in the parking lot.
Even worse, how about those would-be thieves who will surely take notice of your beautiful new ski sitting all by its lonesome self? Well now you don’t have to think twice because you can pick up this double/single conversion trailer posted by Robert Buduen of Florida PWC Riders.
This cool idea gives you the option of taking either one or two watercraft with you. You can check out the full description below.
2018 magic tilt Single/Double Combo Jet Ski Tr Magic Tilt, Single/Double Combo Jet Ski Trailer WOW! New product [that] we’ve put together a very competitive single aluminum trailer and built the conversion kit to mate two single trailers into a tandem. Standard features: fully grounded wiring, tongue jack, LED clearance lights [with] incandescent tail lights, plastic fenders, galvanized torsion axle with lifetime bearing system. Great look with hidden mounting hardware. Options include LED taillights, aluminum fenders, aluminum rims. For the customer that wants to pull one jet ski sometimes and two at other times here’s your chance. Easily stores in your garage. $2,000. For more information call 786-617-3237 Hablo Espanol.
Just by glancing outside the office window, it’s easy to tell that Summer has been over for a while now. Northern states and our friends in Canada are reporting snowfall already (making the prospect of having to rake leaves this weekend seem not so daunting). What that also means is that many are quickly prepping their personal watercraft for a long hibernation as temperatures continue to plummet. But what about those who choose to brave the winter’s chill and continue riding? What about them? We at The Watercraft Journal typically find ourselves with little choice, as we publish new articles every day, Monday through Friday, all year long. We have to ride. It’s our job. So cold weather gear is just part of the package.
Unless you’re an avid gym rat or naturally blessed with stellar metabolism, wetsuits are not everybody’s cup of tea. They’re form-fitting, uncomfortable and often leave little to the imagination. We’ve had readers say, “I’d rather wear a pair of jeans and a down jacket before squeezing myself into a wetsuit.” Normally, we’d feel the same were it not for Slippery Wetsuits, one of the sport’s longest-running developers and manufacturers of PWC-focused wetsuits. We recently got our hands on their Breaker Wetsuit & Jacket combo and were surprised to find it both uniquely comfortable and even a little complimentary. Sure, we were quickly reminded to drop desserts from our diet, but the Breaker didn’t have us feeling naked as a jaybird.
In the realm of wetsuits, 2mm-thick neoprene isn’t what would be deemed a cold weather suit; but for most, a wetsuit is the last line of defense before wrestling into a rubberized dry suit. The Slippery Breaker is designed to retain body heat while not raising your core temp while active. Slippery has always kept its more active and athletic riders in mind, and the rest of us simply reap the benefit of large arm and neck openings for maximum range of motion without chaffing or itchy patches. That’s accomplished through flat-stitched seams that don’t rub and also protect those high-friction areas. Rather than other manufacturers who try to focus on gimmicky features, Slippery puts all of its focus into excellent molding and superior materials.
The heavy silk-screening or busy patterns is gracefully absent on the Breaker, giving a nice, vertical design to the wetsuit, which also helps us more self-conscious types. (Believe us, modeling a wetsuit to a worldwide audience is embarrassing enough.) While the wetsuit itself is cut into a john pattern, entry is made easy by a large “hook and loop” shoulder closure. The neoprene jacket fits snug and a little like a compression garment, drawing everything in (again, that’s likely not the intent but it helps). A single, large zipper runs up the center and is backed by a flap to keep from snagging chest hair (for you fuzzier riders). The collar is low and open at the throat. Although deceptively simple in its appearance, the attention to detail is noticeable.
The rubberized traction padding on the knees don’t necessarily provide any cushion, but do give some added grip, which we liked while riding our Ergolock-equipped 2018 Sea-Doo RXT-X 300. Standup ski riders will be all-too-familiar with the necessity of this added traction while climbing into the tray, particularly in deep water. Comfortable, confidence-inducing and protective, we’re frankly surprised at how much we enjoyed the Slippery Breaker Wetsuit & Jacket. Priced at $124.95, it’s an investment worth having particularly if you’re like us and planning on riding all season long. For the racer, range of motion is key and Slippery has it in spades.
You may not know it, but one of the most exciting new watercraft to hit showroom floors for 2019 is the radically retuned Yamaha EXR. Wanting to seriously make the “R” designation mean something, the newly minted EXR takes the already super-fun EX, shaves off an impressive 60-pounds, spools up the 3-cylinder, 4-stroke TR-1 EX engine to 110-horsepower, bolts in a top-loader intake grate and extends the prop back to give the lightweight go-kart some serious hook-up.
We’ve got an upcoming episode of “Long Haul” coming specifically on this machine, as well as a full-length feature review on The Watercraft Journal coming in a few weeks. But before that time, there’s something else to get you all revved up: RIVA Racing already has a full line of performance parts ready to go. That’s right! Wasting no time, RIVA went to work developing a EX Stage 1 Kit (remember, we already test rode that) that fits the EXR perfectly – including a Solas Yamaha Concord 144mm 12/17 impeller, a RIVA Free Flow Exhaust Kit, a RIVA Power Filter Kit, and a MaptunerX TR-1 bundle.
Now, considering that the EXR already comes tuned from Yamaha (over the 100-horsepower EX), we’re expecting an EXR tune to show up soon. But hey! That’s not all they’ve got! RIVA also whipped up a set of EX/EXR Pro Series Sponsons, a EX Ride Plate, an aggressive Top Loader Intake Grate, Mirror Block Offs, and a super-trick billet aluminum EX Steering System. There’s a lot of stuff there capable of seriously making the EXR a race-ready performer, as well as a buoy course contender and we’re excited to see starting lines filled with these new machines in 2019. Check it all out HERE.
Being a world championship-winning competitor takes its toll on the human body. World renown big wave surfer Laird Hamilton has broken his ankle so many times that the bones fused together after not healing correctly. Jet skiers are no different, and we’re sorry to hear that Lee Stone, fresh from winning his 6th IJSBA World Championship, recently had to undergo some severe surgery to repair damage done to his shoulder.
Regarding the top image, Lee Stone wrote, “This is one of my [favorite] shots from World Finals. However, this shows just 1% of the story. Behind the scene the blood, sweat and tears that goes into making this happen. Over the last several years I have pushed myself behind limits in order to try and bring you all innovating and previously thought impossible tricks. Unfortunately, all this comes at a high price. Leading up to this year’s world championships I was suffering a major shoulder injury and at times I questioned if I’d make it [through]; multiple times during training I dislocated my shoulder and with no other option than to put my shoulder back and continue to train if I wanted to win the championship.
“Tomorrow I’m in surgery having a shoulder reconstruction and a bone graft to repair the damage I did. I’m going to have a long road to recovery and it’s definitely not going to be easy but having that World Number 1 trophy to look at each day makes every paracetamol I had to take worth it! No matter what, I’ll be back on the start line next year ready to bring you some more crazy [stuff].”
That post was followed up by a second that earlier today, writing, “It’s been a rough few days but I’m back home and resting up! Surgery went well, slightly more complex than they thought but they were able to replace the damaged anchors and re attached the labrum successfully, a ton of stitches and a bone graft from my collarbone which they fixed with screws into my shoulder to [stabilize] the movement. I have 6 weeks in a sling with no movement then I can start physio [physical therapy].”
All of us at The Watercraft Journal are sorry to hear of Stone’s injury and wish him a very speedy recovery. Lee is a true champion both on and off the water and off. And for those who didn’t get to see what elevated Lee to superstardom at this year’s World Finals, watch the video below of his flatwater double barrel roll, below.
A recent Facebook post caught our attention as it is a pretty unique idea. The video begins by showing a Yamaha FZR Waverunner as it is being lifted out of the water by an electric lift.
As the ramped lift continues to elevate the watercraft, its vertical motion transitions into horizontal motion as the watercraft is recessed into the housing unit. As the camera pans around, we immediately begin to see a whole new take on this video.
The situation becomes clear. We are not only dealing with an average PWC lift system, but an entire PWC storage phenomenon. It is essentially a parking garage for personal watercraft.
From what we can gather by the post, this appears to be at a marina located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The elevated storage system is packed full of watercraft clearly designed to minimize the overall floor space needed.
The design concept has been around for years in mega cities around the world where cars and other storage items are placed in elevated unit spaces however this is the first time we have seen such an application applied to personal watercraft storage.
We imagine the design is related to a vending machine such that your watercraft has its own slot assignment. When that “parking space” slot is called upon, the robotic elevator arm knows exactly where to go to retrieve or store your watercraft. Simple concept, yet ingenious design.
Unfortunately, we’re ramping up for winterization season, and it’s easily the saddest part of the year for those PWC enthusiasts in the northern hemisphere. And for those in the Great White North, there’s only one shop that The Watercraft Journal to get the job done – and that’s JetX Powersports! Earlier this month, JetX announced a super-competitive winterization package for $249.99. And if that wasn’t enough, JetX also offers shrink wrap and storage available. If you want to get it done right with a trouble free season for next Spring, JetX Powersports is it!
The Woodbridge, Ontario service center has been providing service for personal watercraft, jet boats, ATVs, dirt bikes and snowmobiles for over a decade, supporting the Greater Toronto Area and Northern Ontario area. Whether you’re in need of a tune-up, jet pump service, or a full-blown engine rebuild, JetX Powersports has the capabilities and expertise to get the job done. And if you’re looking to pump up your PWC’s performance, they’ve got that covered too.
But the biggest outlier between JetX Powersports and most service shops, its that JetX offers a Mobile Service that will come to you. “We have built our reputation on providing a wide range of services that can be performed at a location convenient for our clients such as winterization of boats, skis and other vehicles. If the services required cannot be completed via our Mobile Service, JetX Powersports can also provide a pickup and delivery service,” stated Ryan Dalli, owner and chief technical expert at JetX.
Back in June’s first “Heads Up Showdown” where we pinned the 2018 Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 ($15,699) against the 2018 Yamaha GP1800 WaveRunner ($13,999), we were frankly floored by the results. Despite it’s horsepower advantage, we were certain that the lighter and smaller GP would’ve been the winner. So much so that Jerry teased whether we wished to place a small gentleman’s wager on the outcome. Ironically, both of us would be dumbstruck by the results. The larger, heavier and more-equipped Sea-Doo eked ahead of our Yamaha – if only by fractions of a second. This result not only surprised us, but our readers who struggled to cope with our results.
So when the opportunity to attempt a second “go” at another acceleration test arose, we couldn’t say no. Our reasons for doing so were both mainly scientific, and thereby justified in our experiment, and that we simply had both of these machines in our possession at the time and wanted to see how’d they do when squared off the other. But let’s back up a little; we wanted to revisit our shootout because frankly, many felt that the far larger and heavier ’18 Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 beating out the smaller, lighter and more nimble GP1800 was a fluke. Others – most notably fans of the new Sea-Doo’s “Launch Control” mode – were upset that we chose not to use the feature when battling the Yamaha.
Our reasoning was sound, but left many feeling the comparison was incomplete. “Fair enough,” both The Watercraft Journal’s Kevin Shaw and Jerry Gaddis of Greenhulk.net agreed. So a second bout of testing including runs both with Launch Control engaged and without were planned. Because we had installed a pair of RIVA Racing Pro Series Sponsons months earlier, we swapped the new adjustable sponsons back for the one-piece, molded plastic factory sponsons. And just as we had done back in June, this month’s test would also have both machines topped off with fuel. Yes, this alone was a major point of contention and every manner of sandbagging was suggested to equalize for the weight, but we felt being filled to the top was the most fair and frankly, the least likely solution to spur cries of bias or cheating on our end.
As mentioned, we had in our hands the first 2019 Yamaha WaveRunner FX SVHO (albeit a pre-production unit). The ski itself had nearly 40 hours on the clock, which wasn’t too far off from our Sea-Doo (which also was a pre-production unit), guaranteeing near-equal engine wear and run time. And as last time, we had Jerry be our sole pilot, thereby eliminating any potential differences in rider weight, skill or throttle response. Finally, we employed both a Garmin GPS for tracking top speed as well as a Vbox Sport accelerometer – tracking acceleration times beginning at 5 miles per hour and tracking in 10mph increments. The choice to begin at 5mph was simple: PWC are always in motion, even when set in neutral. Wind, current or the reverse bucket’s redirection of thrust never has the ski at a true zero. Alas, we wanted to be as scientific as possible by eliminating as many variables as we could.
Like we had in June, we drove down to Morgan City, Louisiana to attend the Mudbug, the Fall Mudbug, that is. The second event is far less populated as the summertime event, and doesn’t feature the Speed Alley radar run session on Saturday morning, which was OK by us. We had already scheduled a series of rides with a couple of groups and were looking forward to hours of exploration through miles of shady bayou. Admittedly, most of our casual riding was aboard the Yamaha primarily because we had so little time aboard it and doubted we’d get another opportunity before the beginning of the main riding season next year. So the Sea-Doo sat on the trailer for most of the weekend, that is until it was time to face off against the new FX SVHO on a quiet stretch of canal running a few miles behind Jerry’s home where Greenhulk conducts most of its testing.
Taking the Yamaha first, Jerry sped off into the distance, wanting to get some heat into the engine. The staccato whine of the SVHO’s supercharger howled over the water as the red-and-white WaveRunner slipped across the ever-so-slightly-rippled surface. Then, pausing to set the Vbox and Garmin, he snapped off the first and a sequence of follow-up passes, alternating directions to equate for wind direction and current. He returned to the trailer with a curious look on his face. What was he seeing in the data? we wondered. Without hesitation, the Sea-Doo was next. We remounted and activated the GoPro cameras, the instruments were reset and off Jerry went to repeat the process but on the RXT-X 300. This time though, the Sea-Doo would get a double dose, as Jerry was testing both with and without Launch Control.
The newest feature for the X-series performance Sea-Doos is a little misunderstood. There’s no tapering of throttle or engine response as some have claimed. The “control” in Launch Control is merely articulating the position of the trim nozzle. Activating Launch Control requires being set in Forward motion, as a racer would be at the starting line. When armed, Launch Control trims the nozzle all-the-way down, ensuring the craft won’t leap out of the water upon acceleration. Then, as the ski reaches top speed, the trim nozzle automatically toggles back up to the last preset position, whether that’s at neutral plane or wherever. We agreed with Jerry that a seasoned rider could manually toggle the VTS better, and sought to prove it. The result was everything opposite of our thoughts.
First, the ’18 Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 handily bested the ’19 Yamaha FX SVHO both in 5-30 and 5-60 acceleration speeds, and by a considerable amount. The Sea-Doo carried over a half-of-a-second lead over the WaveRunner, which in drag racing terms, is considerable. If weight was a factor, it didn’t show here. In fact, in stock trim, the RXT-X is only 10-pounds heavier than the FX SVHO (828lbs. vs. 818lbs.); albeit equipped with the BRP Premium Sound system (weighing 19-pounds), fully fueled, the Sea-Doo tipped the scales a 942-pounds, the Yamaha coming in at 930-pounds, effectively closing the gap between the two quite a bit. Yet, despite being heavier and more equipped, the sheer grunt of the Sea-Doo’s 300-horsepower was enough to compensate and earn the ski yet another win.
There’s still some pretty exciting racing left in 2018 and we’d hate for you to miss out. This coming November 2nd-through-4th welcomes the Motosurf World Cup back to Naples, Florida, joining the returning Pro Watercross World Championships. Jetsurf racing has really taken off in recent years, despite the invention of the craft being so new. The footage below is exciting enough and we can only imagine what it’d look like in person. So if you’re planning on attending, make sure to schedule your hotel room now and we’re sure neighboring sites are going to fill up quick.
Here’s the original press release: Sugden Regional Park in Naples, Florida as it is formally known, hosts a variety of programs taking advantage of Lake Avalon, including sailing, kayaking, water skiing instruction and demonstrations, paddle boat rentals, and one of the only freshwater beaches in Collier County. After an astonishing racing premiere in 2017, the Sugden Lakes will again experience the taste of MotoSurf World Cup action. High paced racing on a buoy course on the lightest and fastest motorized carbon fiber surfboards will deliver the name of the 2018 Champions.
The race will be attended by 50 riders in the men class and 14 riders for the Women World Cup glory. Among the riders from 15 nations all around the world, it will be only two competitors leaving the Park as 2018 World Champions. Captain Candy’s Lukáš Záhorský is closest the title in the men’s competition while BV-Dex Jetsurf Team’s Aneta Šacherová will be defending her leading from reigning champion Martina Bravencová. JETSURF FACTORY TEAM is set to be the wild card making their World Cup debut against the topguns.
Double World Superbike Champion & AMA Superbike Champion Troy Corser recently joined the team and after really hard preparations, the Australian known for his unique crocodile style dominating the fastest production bikes in the world, is ready to race. Second wild card slot has been granted to another two wheels master. MotoGP premiere class podium finisher and Yamaha MotoGP Team test rider – German Jonas Folger has used his JETSURF for body fitness and finally comes to gauge his performance against the world’s fastest jetsurfers on the race course.
The race will kick off this year from November 2nd through 4th and will be co-organized by Jetsurf USA and the race governing body, the MotoSurf WorldCup.
“Tomorrow I’m in surgery having a shoulder reconstruction and a bone graft to repair the damage I did. I’m going to have a long road to recovery and it’s definitely not going to be easy but having that World Number 1 trophy to look at each day makes every paracetamol I had to take worth it! No matter what, I’ll be back on the start line next year ready to bring you some more crazy [stuff].”
A recent 
