Recently, we caught some grief after noting in our super-popular-yet-wildly-contentious 2018 Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 vs. 2018 Yamaha GP1800 shootout, that the GP1800 has been sweeping championships and podium finishes since the day it was released. Many wanted to argue the veracity of our statement, but the facts are facts: the Yamaha GP1800 continues as the winningest runabout in recent years. And backing this claim (again) was a stellar weekend for Yamaha and North Carolina’s Brian Baldwin.

Baldwin, who reigns as the standing P1 AquaX champion, went into Round 4 of the AquaX American series ready to contend with some serious players, including Aero Aswar, Eric Francis and of course, Chris MacClugage – all of whom pilot Yamaha GP1800s. Despite some erratic weather, and a 4th place finish during the first moto, Baldwin battled back the Pro level field twice to take consecutive wins in Motos 2 and 3, earning him top billing. MacClugage followed with Francis closely behind. Our complete recap from the race weekend was published yesterday.

Here’s the complete original release:
WINNING! Yamaha Pro WaveRunner Racers Sweep the Top 10 Spots at Round 3 of the P1 AquaX Enduro Pro Series in Sarasota, Florida

Yamaha GP1800 racer and current P1 AquaX world champ Brian Baldwin overcame rain, wind, and very choppy water conditions on Saturday to finished 4-1-1 overall on Sunday, followed by fellow Yamaha GP1800 riders Chris MacClugage and Eric Francis who finished the weekend 2-3 respectively.

In all, Yamaha rider swept the top 10 positions, shutting out Sea-Doo and Kawasaki who have yet to beat the Yamaha GP1800 in Enduro Pro racing the past two seasons.

Round 3 Race Recap:
Moto 1: #1 Chris MacClugage, #2 Eric Francis, #3 Aero Aswar
Moto 2: #1 Brian Baldwin, #2 Chris MacClugage, #3 Aero Aswar
Moto 3: #1 Brian Baldwin, #2 Eric Francis, #3 Aero Aswar

Overall Series Standing:
#1 Eric Francis (Yamaha, 130 pts), #2 Brian Baldwin (Yamaha, 116 pts), #3 Chris MacClugage (Yamaha, 94 pts), #3 Aero Aswar (Yamaha, 94pts).

The next round of the P1 AquaX Enduro Pro Championship sees the riders and teams heading to Chicago on Lake Michigan for more exciting action on Sept. 1-2, 2018 in Chicago.

According to Baltimore CBS Local, Joseph B. Ireland was arrested for intentionally using his personal watercraft (PWC) to ram and inflict injuries on swimmers in Magothy River. Ireland and the two men were said to have been arguing earlier that day prior to Ireland purposely striking the two as they swam in the water.

Ireland has since been charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder, and is being held by the Maryland Natural Resources Police without bond. The brief report of the incident is included below:

ANNE ARUNDEL CO., Md. (WJZ) — A Glen Burnie man has been arrested after police say he struck swimmers with his jet ski, Joseph B. Ireland has been charged with attempted murder for the incident Sunday night.

Any witnesses or anyone with additional information is asked to call police at (443) 699-5297.

It’s that time again for the Apple Pie Jamboree! One of the most anticipated events in the Pacific Northwest, in addition with IJSBA sanctioned watercraft racing, the Jamboree also includes a bass fishing tournament, 3-on-3 basketball, a parade, motorcycle run, food, entertainment and fireworks. In fact, there’s something for everyone and a great family event.

Here’s the official press release:
Watercross racing action resumes in the Pacific Northwest on July 21-22 during the annual Apple Pie Jamboree.

The city festival is anchored by watercross racing on the Columbia River, but it also includes a bass fishing tournament, 3-on-3 basketball, the Color Run, a parade, motorcycle run, food, entertainment and fireworks.

Racers can camp for free in the city’s Methow River boat launch park, just a short walk or ride to the race site at the confluence of the Methow and Columbia rivers.

Camping opens Friday, July 20, promoter and organizer Roger Harnack said.

The Apple Pie Jamboree is the Northwest Jet Sports Association’s longest-running event; this will be the eighth year watercross racers have been invited to participate.

“This is by far our best venue and event every year,” Harnack said, noting the 95-degree plus temperature and cool Columbia River provide for a perfect weekend of racing.

The event usually draws more than 45 racers who bring nearly 100 skis to the small town of about 400 residents.

“Everywhere you look, there are skis,” Harnack said.

There will be a variety of classes for runabouts, sport boats and skis, as well as gender and skill level, Harnack said.

Registration opens Friday evening in the camping area and continues Saturday morning. Racing kicks off about noon Saturday at the conclusion of the Apple Pie Jamboree parade and the presentation of the National Anthem, both on and off the water.

Racing continues until late Saturday afternoon, when the race site closes for the town’s evening of music and fireworks, put on by the city of Pateros and the Apple Pie Jamboree Committee, led by organization president Tracy Miller.

This year, International Jet Sports Boating Assocation’s Blake Corning will be assisting with the race that also traditionally draws a few racers from British Columbia, as well as Oregon, Washington and Idaho, Harnack said. Volunteers that put on the event include Bill and Dawn Cox, Jen Effrig and Angela Clements, among others.

The Apple Pie Jamboree is the first of two association events — the second is the international Lake Osoyoos Cup.

On Aug. 4 and 5, watercross racers will converge in Deep Bay Park in Oroville, Wash., for the Lake Osoyoos Cup.

The Oroville Chamber of Commerce is building a town festival around the racing action on beautiful Lake Osoyoos, which lays half in Washington state and half in British Columbia. (American racers do not have to enter Canada to get to the race site on U.S. Highway 97.)

That event, too, often attracts Western Canadian Watercross Association competitors.

Free camping is available in Deep Bay Park beginning Aug. 3, Harnack said, noting the Oroville Chamber of Commerce makes the event possible every year.

For more information on either event, contact Harnack at [email protected] or text him at 360-461-7347.

We recently shared videos by Dean Banyon setting up his Yamaha VX Deluxe and a brand new 2018 Yamaha FXHO all for offshore PWC fishing. The rigging and towers are reminiscent of Brian Lockwood’s setups, which we’ve featured on The Watercraft Journal before as well. Banyon’s a South Florida resident and gets in quite a bit of riding (and fishing, obviously), and has done a fantastic job documenting his setups and rigs respectively.

Recently, Banyon was joined by his daughter, Kasey and a friend, Destiny as they explored the Christ of The Abyss statue fixed off of Key Largo in the Florida Keys. Besides some astoundingly clear blue waters, Banyon and crew took in some snorkeling and swam through the wildlife teaming around a coral reef. The bronze statue was, according to Wikipedia, “presented to the Underwater Society of America in New York in 1962 (…) On August 25, 1965, it was placed approximately in 25 feet (7.6 m) of water off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, near Dry Rocks, approximately six miles east of Key Largo in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. The statue weighs around 260 kg, and the concrete base to which it is attached weighs approximately 9 tons.”

If you haven’t already, now is the time to start planning your next big ride. Seriously, if this video doesn’t get you stirring to load up and get in a big ride, we don’t know what will.

All of us at The Watercraft Journal are excited to welcome Slippery Wetsuits as the newest member of the magazine’s ever-growing congregation of supporting advertisers. The manufacturer of some absolutely superb products (and some of the highest reviewed products by The Watercraft Journal over its five years of publishing), is also stepping up in a big way as a new sponsor for The Watercraft Journal’s bi-monthly YouTube show, “Long Haul” providing us fresh new riding gear and apparel.

The wetsuit, lifevest and riding apparel manufacturer hit the ground running with a new fast-paced, edgy announcement video and a new marketing strategy. This, combined with a catalog of eye-catching designs, new names, some seriously vibrant color options and offerings (including a redesigned high-ankle boot, the retirement of the Switch vest, and much, much more), makes for a very interesting catalog of product to choose from.

Particularly interesting is Slippery’s new neoprene side-entry vest, the Array Neo Vest. The faux camouflage pattern, segmented paneling and strong colorization makes for a unique item that is sure to excite the racer in most. Speaking of which, very notably present in the announcement video is Kawasaki’s own Minoru Kanamori aboard a 310R and brand-new SX-R standup, while the dashing male model and the seasoned World Champion skirt around San Diego’s Mission Bay.

In today’s politically-charged world of hypersensitivity, emo-politics, hate speech, microaggressions and every other made up hoopla that didn’t mean a dang thing 20 years ago, it’s nice to sit back and enjoy some fresh, honest and hilarious comedy. Hopefully, the dregs of social media and biased newscasters hasn’t seared the humor out of you (as it has with so many others), but there used to be a time in this world where it was OK to laugh at ourselves and everybody else together. Everyone and everything was fair game and that’s what made comedy fresh, fun and frankly, a little dangerous.

Comedian Josh Pray is an absolute riot and has the chops to prove it. A graduate of Florida Memorial University in Miami FL, Pray jumped head first into the world of comedy, writing skits, routines and his own standup. Recently, a friend showed us his “5 Things I Learned Jet Skiing With White People” (although the title of the video was changed for YouTube), which is absolutely hilarious, unoffensive fun. Please take a minute, push play and enjoy a couple minutes of fun. We hope you’ll like Pray’s comedy as much as we did.

OK, that tears it. We don’t know what the guys over at Cycle Springs Powersports are smoking, but it’s gotta stop. First, Cycle Springs offers Lifetime Engine Warranty. Then they upped the ante with their famous Money Back Guarantee on extended warranties, employee cost on accessories (on the day of sale), 50% off Pre-paid Maintenance and offering no “additional cost” protection for 500 miles of pre-owned machines. That’s a heck of a lot of incentives to purchase a new personal watercraft from Cycle Springs, right? Well, they just dialed the incentives up to eleven.

From now until the end of September 2018, if you purchase any new Sea-Doo from Cycle Springs’ full inventory, they’re not going to charge you ONE payment for seven months, or any interest for the first half of a year. Oh yeah, and you don’t need to cough up a down payment either. Sounds crazy, right? Well, it’s all part of Sea-Doo’s “Ride All Spring & Summer For Free” promotion that frankly, sounds too good to be true. But according to Cycle Springs, they’re standing by their “Zero Payments For The First 7 Months + Zero Interest For The First 6 Months + Zero Down!” tag line.

So again, you cannot go wrong purchasing a new Sea-Doo from Cycle Springs Powersports. They’re really taking out every excuse you can think of not to buy one.