“Let’s step up ‘Long Haul’s’ production value,” Sea-Doo’s Tim McKercher teased the night before. To this point, our arsenal of video equipment was a pair of GoPro Sessions (y’know, the little cheapo versions of the indestructible GoPro camera) and a DLSR Canon 70D. We knew we needed to spring the cash for a good microphone, but those ain’t cheap either. So until now, our style of filming was more “art house/guerrilla” style than “full fledged production company” if you catch our drift. So when Sea-Doo offered a camera crew with high range microphones and the use of a $100,000 high-resolution digital RED camera, it was hard to say no.

And why not? We were halfway into a four-day introduction and test session with Sea-Doo’s coup d’etat, the ST³ platform-based 2018 RXT-X 300. While we preferred the rich metallic silver Ice Metal-and-Lava Red livery, the melt-your-retinas-Neon Yellow definitely popped off the screen. Plus, we were also filming the equally-gorgeous Liquid Grey Metallic-and-Equestrian Brown GTX Limited 230 and 300s, so we had enough silver to go around. Sea-Doo’s film crew-for-hire were great, but lugging a $100K digital camera around (especially near water) made the cameraman more than just a little skittish. Some of those upclose shots? Yeah, he’s using my camera.

Then there was the problem of actually trying to download the files themselves. When using a camera that George Lucas used to film the “Star Wars” prequels, things tend to get a little sluggish when you don’t have a few extra terabytes of storage. That, more than anything, held up the release of this latest episode of “Long Haul” – so for that we apologize. Stepping up our game required a lot more work (and equipment) than expected. Yet, you can’t argue with the results. We’re incredibly proud of how this episode turned out and we hope you like it as much as we do. Of course, we touch on a lot of stuff both covered in our full-length feature story as well as a couple of things we left out, so there’s a lot to digest.

If you haven’t yet, please click and subscribe to our YouTube channel. The Watercraft Journal is the ONLY personal watercraft enthusiast magazine to deliver two professionally-produced videos per month, all year long. Combined with our “like clockwork” publishing schedule here, and you’ve got hours upon hours of PWC-focused content to enjoy. And by subscribing (which is 100% free), you’ll be notified of updates, new videos and notifications happening on our YouTube page, so you’ll never miss a thing!

According to recent media release out of Sydney, Australia up-and-coming young racer Nik Pazanin will be backed by the local dealership Sydney Sea-Doo for the 2018 AquaX endurance series. The young rider has already begun the New South Wales PWC ‘NSWPWC’ race season with this support.

The up-and-coming young hopeful will contest the Showroom Stock class aboard his personal Sea-Doo RXP-X 300 before climbing aboard the all-new 2018 Sea-Doo RXT-X 300 that will be owned by the store once released later this month.

“I decided to offer this opportunity to Nik based on a couple of reasons,” said dealership principal James Masterton. “First being that for 2018 I want to be a strong competitor in the UIM World Championship and with UIM motos being close to 30 minutes in duration it is critical we test engine/parts durability for this amount of time. Nik will actually be running different versions of my ‘Pro GP’ spec engines in the new RXT-X platform and endurance racing is the ideal testing arena for this purpose. Secondly, Nik started racing runabouts at the grass-roots level, on naturally aspirated equipment allowing him to learn race-craft in the correct manner. This was a key decision on why we chose Nik for the job.”

The latest trends in discussion is of the all-new ‘ST3’ hull platform and its prospect of being the number one choice amongst endurance-style racing competitors. It will certainly be interesting to follow the 2018 race season.

Wow, this is really exciting for the African continent of Morocco. The final round of World Finals Endurance racing will be held in Agadir, Morocco. The Grand Prix 2017 will be take place from November 11 to November 19th and King Mohammed VI will be in attendance. Personal watercraft pilots from all over the world will travel to Morocco to compete in the last round of endurance competition.

This is great news for the seaside community of Agadir. Not only is the race a big deal, the economic boon it will create is beneficial because it offers an opportunity to bring Agadir,Morocco’s tourism to the forefront. The people who live in the area are looking forward to watching the race and being recognized as a hot spot for tourism and water sports. Competitors are stoked to push their endurance limits in a brand new venue.

Endurance racing is tough and hard on the body. Racers also have to know how to manage fuel and become efficient with time management. This is hard core racing! We can’t wait to see what happens in Agadir!

Sixty confirmed competitors who represent close to twenty nationalities coupled with staff and media, brings the total number of guests to the area to 1,500. The challenging endurance race will definitely bring attention and create a positive economic impact to Agadir. If the race is successful, maybe we’ll see a return to Morocco.

It’s that time of the year again. The time when Sea-Doo is ramped up in their production of the new models, the time when dealers are trying to get rid of their leftover 2017 models, and most-importantly for you the time when prices drop.

Sea-Doo has now launched their pre-season sales event making now the perfect time to go pick up that brand-new Sea-Doo you’ve always wanted or an excellent time to lock in your low rate on that beautiful new 2018 model.

Included in this promotion is the low starting price of $5,399 on 2018 Sea-Doo Spark models. Act now to lock in your 3-year warranty coverage on select 2018 and prior models. You will get the 12-month BRP limited warranty in addition to the 24-month B.E.S.T. coverage. Saving has never been easier now since you can also take advantage of up to $500 rebates on select new 2017 and prior leftover models.

These savings are early enough to take full advantage of prior to the holiday season and while many of you may try to cram a fresh new Candy Blue / Chili Pepper Spark Trixx under the Christmas tree, Sea-Doo is allowing you to fit some more modest size goodies under there as well. Act now and you could get Sea-Doo’s life jacket offer also which includes a $40 rebate with the purchase of two or more 2018 Sea-Doo life jackets.

So head on over to Sea-Doo’s Pre-Season Sales Event now to get more details or to have a dealer contact you today.

As part of the 2017 Broward Motorsports Pro Watercross World Championship events that have been taking place this past week in Naples, the Hydroflight World Championship has wrapped up and the results are in.

The 2017 Pro Watercross Hydroflight World Championship was a weekend of firsts: the first youth competition. Pro Watercross had 4 outstanding young athletes, breaking barriers and ushering in a new generation of flyers!

The nighttime competition provided a breathtaking glimpse into the future of hydroflight competition as flyers illuminated the sky like angels dancing in the night and LED suits ablaze in tune with the music filling the air over Lake Avalon.

TJ Andrews stunned the crowd and his fellow competitors with a mesmerizing front flip, being the first athlete to successfully complete the maneuver in competition. This never done before trick in competition brought the crowd to their feet and raised the bar for the 2018 Pro Watercross Hydroflight World Championship.

Congratulations to the 2017 Pro Watercross Hydroflight World Champions and the 2017 Flyboard National Tour Champions. You can go to prowatercross.com for the full results in each class. CBS Sports was onsite for the variety of events that took place during the 2017 Pro Watercross World Championships. You can check out the weblink above to search for nationwide airing times for your area.

The JSRA British Jetsport Championships have wrapped up last month in the final round 6 at Kinsbury Jetbike Centre. You can check out the full scoop in this YouTube video here. Wetsuits and jackets were the proper attire for this chilly time of year over in the central part of UK.

Up first in the stand-up closed course circuit 64-year-old Kevin Pope took the hole shot and stayed the course throughout. On the final lap, he nearly took a spill but his quick recovery saw him take the win and championship. For the runabout two-stroke race, Wayne Bedford took the holeshot but in the end, was overtaken by James Bushell for the round win. The championship title went to Tyler Morgan who finished third and with the highest season points.

The final race was the four-stroke runabout and saw a heated battle between James Bushell and Lewis Aitken. Bushell ultimately took the round win but due to points standings for the season, Aitken was crowned the champion.

While this video definitely gives a good re-cap of the event with some nice footage, it’s not all about statistics. There are even some bits about racing tips education with the first interview of Lisa Gilbert giving some cornering tips.

The next education bit interviews two-time IJSBA World Champion Dawn Dawson who gives some insight and comparisons of the British JetSport racing to some of the other worldwide scenes.

A typical question among new buyers looking at the Sea-Doo Spark with its Polytec hull is just how durable is it and will it hold up to the rigors of use? Simply put yes, this material is durable and will last. The Polytec hull and deck has been used in the Spark for four seasons now and going into its fifth year of production.

We’ve already seen the transition of the Polytec hull into the GTS, GTI, and GTI SE for the 2017 year and for 2018, the expanse continues to even more models including higher horsepower models including the 155 HP Wake 155 as we have already detailed here. Sea-Doo is utilizing Polytec and expanding its use, no ifs, ands, or buts.

This strong, lightweight, durable, and environmentally friendly material is a testament to itself in the fact that one of the largest watercraft manufacturers is trusting its design to a wide range of its portfolio. No sane business would do so if the design was unreliable or could not be trusted.

Sure, it can be damaged but this is almost always a case of repeated or high-speed collisions with hard objects such as rocks but the same holds true for fiberglass hulls. The fact of the matter is that the Polytec hull can withstand just as much harsh riding conditions as conventional hulls. Take for example our numerous articles related to Spark wave jumping such as this one.

Needless to say, we don’t have any worries about this material and look forward to its continued and expanded use. Dare we even say that we will be looking for its expansion into some performance models and that other manufacturers have noticed its benefits and are taking notes. To see all model offerings utilizing Polytec, be sure to visit Sea-Doo.

Four races in the Moto Surf World Cup have gone down and the final showdown is happening in Naples,Florida. This inaugural event will take place in Naples’ Sugden Regional Park. It is said to be a perfect location for the Moto Surf Final. Naples is a beautiful place and excellent for flat water sports.

The best surfers on motorized boards will go head to head on the course and only one man and one woman can take a world title. Leading in points on the men’s side is Sebastian Kubinec, a rider from Slovakia. He holds a slim 37 point lead over Lukas Zahorsky. Will Kubinec hold on to take the title? He has a tough road ahead of him with 216 points still available.

JetSurf USA racer, Petr Vencovsky, currently sits in third on the leaderboard. Fourth place Jakub Kornfeil is the fastest rider out of the bunch,yet he hasn’t had a stellar year on the race courses. He is still a major threat.

JetSurf’s Women’s Division’s Martina Bravencova has dominated the field all season and is is full of confidence and consistency. She leads the pack with a 52 point lead over Aneta Sacherova. However, Sacherova wants to grab a second world title so it’s going to be a fight for the number one spot. Bravencova is coming in with big time momentum.

Moreover, we can’t count Renata Kelemenova out of contention. She’s holding fast to third place in the standings. A couple of other contenders are in the mix, like JetSurf USA’s Ale Rivas from Mexico and Anya Colley hailing from the U.K. These ladies want some points! Expect some fierce competition to take place in Naples, Florida November 3-5.