The International Jet Sports Boating Association (IJSBA) is entering its 37th consecutive year of World Finals operations. The IJSBA recently announced the dates and location of the 2018 IJSBA World Finals. The IJSBA World Finals will be held October 1-8 at Crazy Horse Campgrounds in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. This prestigious event is the world’s only trade show full of vendors with their latest and sometimes greatest personal watercraft accessories and other watercraft related products.
The trade show also showcases hot new models of personal watercraft. All of the product representatives will be on hand to show you what’s new and improved. This is an awesome event for both amateur and professionals to network and check out what’s new in the PWC realm. It’s especially cool if you’re someone who thinks you may be interested in the sport. This is a great place to learn and maybe get some hands on experience.
Previous World Final events included Closed Course Racing, Slalom Racing, and Freestyle Competition. This is an exciting event for both spectators and the competitors. Usually, hundreds of athletes representing more than 50 nations attend this coveted event. We hope to see you in attendance! Sponsor details, race classes, and the new website layout have not yet been released. We’ll let you know when they are. In the meantime, questions regarding the press release can be emailed to [email protected].
It’s back and happening now. The 2017 Broward Motorsports Pro Watercross World Championship presented by Heyday Wake Boats is going on in Naples, Florida for its third straight year. The event will go through November 5 at the Sugden Regional Park. Televised by CBS Sports, this location offers a pristine 360-degree view of the event.
Additionally, there will be a variety of water-sports events and entertainment leading up the Pro Watercross World Championship. The event week which began this past weekend starts with the 2nd annual Hydroflight World Championship October 27-29th, which is just one of the five unique watersports on the lake. The remaining schedule will be as follows.
October 31: Heyday Wake Boat Board/Surf Competition and Heyday Wake Boat demos November 1: Paddleboard Closed Course and Long Course Competition November 3-5: MotoSurf World Cup November 2-5: Broward Motorsport Pro Watercross World Championships
“Pro Watercross has been working with Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors’ Bureau to make this event, one to be remembered.” Nick Handler of Pro Watercross stated today “Pro Watercross strives to push our sports to the highest level of professionalism. Sugden Regional Park in Naples, Florida, continues to be the ideal location; a fun atmosphere and substantial purse would entice riders from all over the world.”
In 2016, the Flyboard World Cup Championship joined the event week, bringing over 60 competitors representing countries all over the world. “The Pro Watercross World Championships is growing each year, as we add more watersports,” continued Handler. “We are really pleased to add three new events; Heyday Wake Boats have been with us all season long and have been a great addition to the tour and now the world championships. SurfJet, producer of MotoSurf, joined us at the Daytona Freeride and we were thrilled when they asked if they could be part of our world championship – this is their first ever competition in the USA. And with paddleboard, we wanted to have a little bit of everything and introducing Paddleboard Closed Course racing seem like a natural fit.”
Pro Watercross will continue to add to the event week to enhance the program, starting with an encore appearance with the real-life Iron Man and Flyboard inventor, Franky Zapata. Heyday Wake Boat demo rides will be a fun way to check out the first affordable wake boat as Heyday introduces its brand new 2018 WT-3 wake boat.
For more information about all the events happening throughout the week go to www.ProWatercross.com and social media @ProWatercross. Pro Watercross is looking to take the sport to the next level, working to reinforce the positive image of PWC’s and PWC enthusiast’s around the world.
Today is a pretty special day for us here at The Watercraft Journal. Five years ago, we launched what would fatefully (and surprisingly quickly) become the world’s most popular personal watercraft enthusiast magazine. With a continued year-after-year growth of over 30-percent and an explosive third year of publishing (thanks in large part to the reveal of the long-awaited 2017 Kawasaki SX-R 1500), not to mention an impressive fourth year of consistent readership month-after-month, and a major paradigm shift to mobile and tablet readership, The Watercraft Journal is welcoming more readers, commenters, shares and “likes” than some major forums.
And how did we do it. The answer is simple: we supply the PWC industry with the only daily source of uniquely-written content every single day, Monday-through-Friday. Besides some major holidays, we’ve never missed a day. At no point has The Watercraft Journal paid for “likes”; we’ve adhered to upstanding promotional tactics of purchasing traditional Google ad words, “boosting” published articles, and advertised our magazine through social media channels. And if you’d like to verify that fact, merely look at the percentage of followers who interact, comment and share our content versus others – you’ll find them exceptionally high.
No other PWC magazine – print or digital – comes close in producing so much original content. No other PWC magazine produces so much original content consistently, either. Unlike so much of today’s modern world, we are reliable. You will wake up each morning to find new articles, videos and product reviews each and every day on The Watercraft Journal. Oh, and it’s free. That’s right, we produce all of that awesome content at absolutely zero cost to the reader. There’s no passwords to memorize, PDF’s to download, or subscription fees to leech on your bank account. We only ask that you support the companies who support us, because without their advertising dollars, there wouldn’t be The Watercraft Journal.
Speaking of which, no other personal watercraft magazine has a greater advertisers. Not only do we work closely and enjoy open-access relationships with all three major OEMs (Kawasaki, Sea-Doo and Yamaha), but also some of the biggest names in the performance industry, including RIVA Racing, SBT, Watercraft Superstore, Greenhulk.net, Hydro-Turf, JetPilot, Krash Industries, JetRenu and many, many more. We even welcome regional dealers who advertise on The Watercraft Journal to better service their local enthusiasts. We are truly grateful for these companies and wish to extend our thankfulness for their support. And to you, the reader for making us your go-to resource. Thank you for your loyalty and we look forward to another great 5 years!
Lifetime Readership of The Watercraft Journal
Here Comes The Cool Down
It happens every year, and yet, it’s never as bad as people think it is. Yes, we operate in a seasonal sport, but there’s really only a very slight temporary dip in readership and social media activity before cabin fever steps in and the diehards start clamoring for more PWC content. Sure, we never stop cranking out content and our library of articles, videos, reviews and more only increases, so there’s just more reasons to keep coming back and wasting your lunch break perusing the endless pages here at The Watercraft Journal. Heck, go ahead and open up a second browser screen, your boss won’t notice.
October 2017
Total number readers: 30,281*
Total number of articles read: 43,801
Percentage of new readers: 57.2%
*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.
Diversity of Content Continues
These past few months have brought us some very interesting sources for new and exciting articles. Not only did we publish local and regional race coverage from different corners of the United States (and beyond), but we also welcomed contributors from across the globe. Add to the not one, but two exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at the manufacturing and design process of some incredibly exciting watercraft and of course, our annual IJSBA World Finals coverage, and The Watercraft Journal has risen to being a worldwide publication rather quickly. World domination always sounded rather silly, but like any good James Bond villain, it’s now our only goal.
News articles published in October 2017: 24
Feature articles published in October 2017: 13
Total feature word count: 13,415 words*
*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 122-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.
So Who Reads Us?
As stated above, The Watercraft Journal is working hard to bring its industry-leading content directly to the personal watercraft enthusiast wherever they may be; be it at home, the office or wandering aimlessly while staring at their phone. Our break-neck publishing schedule brings the latest event coverage, product evaluations, hands-on watercraft reviews, and more to more readers than anywhere else – and now we’re dishing out two doses of uniquely-created YouTube videos every month. Add to that unique access to PWCTrader’s search engine of used and pre-owned personal watercraft as well as our own T-shirts and decals in our all-new store, and you’ve got quite a bit to check out! And if that’s not enough, we’re constantly flooding your Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram feeds, and your inbox with our weekly newsletters. If you’re not already following us, subscribed to our channels, or otherwise, you’re missing out big time.
Nothing Short of World Domination
Currently, the OEM sales market is looking at securing its foothold in other countries. Sure, the North American market still reigns supreme for new vehicle sales, and everybody is elated with the double digit sales growth for 2017, but is simply not enough. And the same goes for The Watercraft Journal. We are continuing to expand our swathe of international contributors (and advertisers). Equally, we want our current advertisers to enjoy access to a larger, more robust audience of potential customers. Companies who partner with The Watercraft Journal and actively engage in an aggressive media campaign, find almost instantaneous results. Those who join but do little to nothing might see some marginal success, but nothing like the former. To help you reach a broader audience of would-be customers and spread the word about your brand, product and services, The Watercraft Journal must be a resource, a tool in building your brand. If you’re ready for that, email [email protected] about advertising your company in the single-most popular PWC magazine today.
In case anybody is interested in setting up their Yamaha WaveRunner for a great fishing rig, we recommend that you check out this youtube video posted by Dean Baynon. In this particular video, he details his VX Deluxe setup but also says he has a fishing rig setup on a FX platform as well. For this setup, he has certainly left no stone unturned and for those who aren’t interested in a fishing rig, well you could still follow along as the cleverness here is pretty amazing.
He initially takes us on a walk-around of the whole WaveRunner setup. Popping open the front storage bin, he first shows us his battery system setup which includes two AGM marine gel batteries wired to a selector and on/off switch. At first, any normal WaveRunner recreational rider would think this is a bit overkill but we see a reasoning behind this madness later on.
The rod holder setup consists of an all-aluminum front bar as well as a rear bar with a support rest and baskets with a cooler, live-well, and extra fuel storage. The bars have rod holders as well as angled trolling holders and a GPS mount up front.
Here’s where things get interesting. As Dean takes us down below his live-well, we see that he has conveniently plumbed a line from the rear water spout riser up into the live-well with an optional electric pump and toggle switch for pumping water while the WaveRunner is off. He then details his fuel reserve setup.
For his massive twelve gallon reserve tank on the back, he has plumbed a fuel line from the main fuel tank to the back of the WaveRunner with an in-line fuel pump. A quick disconnect retractable hose allows hookup to the reserve tank.
Remember those two heavy duty batteries up front? Now we begin to see why this is important. Just make sure you make secure electrical connections and use a trusty ground if you wish to transfer that highly flammable octane. The last thing we ever want to do is to actually have to use our mandated fire extinguishers.
This video does a great job of showing a fine example of a fishing rig setup for your Yamaha WaveRunner. Dean even had us laughing a little bit as he had his trusty helper open the cooler and pop him a fresh cold one. Just make sure there is plenty of under-21 products in there as well for the WaveRunner operator.
Start by saving $20-$45 off the Apex Race Series. Check out JetPilot’s 2MM ultra stretchy neoprene Apex Race John, which is 100% stitched flat-lock style. The velcro shoulder entry is a nice easy in and out feature. It wouldn’t be complete without leg zippers. The John is available in black with flashy blue, grey, or green accents
Moving on to the United States Coast Guard approved Apex S/E Neo PFD. This necessity is a steal at $59.99 The Apex pfd has a custom side entry with 100% super strong flat-lock seams. It also features a simple 2 buckle zip closure and is available in gray, blue, and red.
The final sale piece available from JetPilot’s Apex line is the pull over 2MM Apex Race Jacket with 100% Flex-Lite flat-lock stitching. This jacket has the comfortable flex-lite ultra stretch neoprene panels allowing for the freedom to move. It will cost you $59.99, not bad for a nice looking race jacket.
The Hellcat Comp Vest is down to three available colors out of the usual six. Grab it with green, red, or blue JetPilot logos. The vest also features 100% Flex-Lite panels. It’s lightweight, comfortable, and has a good fit. The vest boasts ultra soft PVC foam flotation with a ribbed design. This front zip makes for an easy entry. $99.99 gets you one of these bad boys.
Check out the Women’s Lady Luck Signature Comp Vest with its color woven into a tie dyed appearance. The vest has a women’s specific cut and the sweet front zip for easy entry. It also includes the 100% Flex-Lite panels and ribbed design. The vest is lightweight and has the ultra soft PVC foam flotation. This vest is $109.99 and will serve you well.
Next on the list is the Men’s Icon Active Top designed with moisture-wicking and quick drying materials. It also doubles as a rash guard and blocks U.V. Rays. No sunburn for you! Grab one in black and white or blue and white. Flip a coin if you can’t decide and pick one up for $19.99.
The final available item is the $19.99 Shane Bonifay Signature Hat with its fancy 3-D Puff, signature, and flat stitching. The hat comes in blue or black. They both look hot. Head over to JetPilot.com to score a great deal on some high quality swag before it’s gone!
The sale includes the UTV Savings Bundle, which includes a TruckBoss Base Deck, Ramp Package, winch kit, six tie down rings, and under deck lighting. The Deluxe Savings Bundle includes all of the above PLUS a SmartBoxx, and two sets of Caliber Retrax Tie Downs, four total.
The ATV Savings Bundle is available as well. It includes the TruckBoss Expandable Deck, Skinny Ramps Upgrade, six tie down rings,and under deck lighting. The Deluxe Savings Bundle has all those pieces and two sets of Caliber Retrax Tied Downs, SmartBoxx, and a winch kit.
We can’t leave out the Snow Package! It includes the TruckBoss Expandable Deck, Carbide Kit, six tie down rings, three ski clamp D-rings, two sets of Caliber Ramp Grips,and under deck lighting. Add Sled Locxx for $185! Yep, they’re on sale too! A Flip Extension is available at a sale price as well. It’s also an add on to the Snow Package. The Deluxe Package includes even more good stuff. A SmartBoxx, Caliber Traction Ladder, and a winch kit come with the Deluxe. Add a FlexLoader Snow for $799. It’s a cradle for your beloved snowmobile.
Moving onto what you came here for is the Large PWC Savings Bundle. Grab a TruckBoss Expandable Deck, PWC Ramp, winch kit, six tie down rings, two X FlexxLoader water cradles, two X FlexxLoader push back systems, and two X dual axle FlexxLoader buggy systems. All of this is available for $7399 or $7699, depending on the preferred size. This is a savings of almost $2000. This Bundle is just what you need for two sit down PWCs .
Rounding out the sale is the Stand Up PWC Savings Bundle, perfect for hauling two stand up skis. This package includes a TruckBoss Base Deck, PWC Ramp, winch kit, six tie-down rings, and two FlexxLoader Small Water Cradles.
The 2017 Sea-Doo Spark is equipped with the Rotax 900cc HO ACE engine and it is easy on the fuel consumption. The machine uses 2.4 gallons of gas an hour and that gives you plenty of time on the water. The PWC is a 3-up so grab a couple of passengers for a day of fun on the water.
The Spark also comes equipped with Sea-Doo’s Intelligent Brake and Reverse system (IBR) and Convenience Package Plus (CONV). The CONV includes a front storage bin kit to hold all the extras you want on board. The package also includes a Reboarding Step, making it easy to reboard your ride. Lastly, the CONV comes with Sea-Doo’s RF Digitally Encoded Security System (D.E.S.S). The system’s key is designed and coded to match only your Sea-Doo Spark. No one can grab your ski and go for a joy ride unless you allow them.
The Spark is comprised of lightweight Polytec material, which is more resistant to scratches than fiberglass.
A closed loop cooling system is used to prevent corrosion from saltwater exposure and also keeps damaging debris out of the engine. This makes the craft more reliable.
Intelligent Throttle Control (ITC) provides choices as to how you want your ski to ride. A Sport mode is available on the 2017 Sea-Doo Spark that Americas Motor Sports has on offer. In addition to the Sport mode, a standard Touring mode is available on all models. Sport mode provides faster acceleration and engaging in Touring mode leads to a nice cruisy pace.
The 2017 Sea-Doo Spark with the Convenience Package weighs in at 442 pounds. That’s lightweight! Interested? Contact America’s Motor Sports to schedule a test ride.
We are certainly no stranger to Ride Power and their useful charging systems. With limitless charging power on tap, these products not only make life aboard your personal watercraft or other powersports equipment easier and more enjoyable, but they can also come in handy in an emergency situation where you need to make a call for help.
Along with the growing personal watercraft industry, Ride Power is also growing and increasing their product catalog. You can purchase full kits with everything you need for installation and usage or you can buy accessories separately depending on your needs. The full kits come in ten- or six-feet lengths.
The kits include a four foot Ride Power cable with SAE connector on one end and micro-USB on the other end, a two or six foot battery terminal connector cable depending on which kit you choose, and an iPhone adapter plug to give you the ability for charging either Android or iOS devices.
You can additionally purchase any of these items separately in case you already have the other items or find yourself in need of a spare. They also offer a micro-USB female to male USB-C adapter plug so you can keep the juice flowing to a wide variety of devices.
Installation is straightforward as seen from our previous installs. The first step is to connect the terminal leads to the battery terminals and route the connector cable. Then you plug the Ride Power charging cable into the SAE connector on the battery terminal connector. Next, simply plug your phone into the Ride Power’s micro-USB or other adapter and you’re ready to go.
As of early this month, Ride Power is now a patent and registered trademark. According to Ride Power, the patent technology is located within the Ride Power cable. Its circuitry automatically adjusts for voltages between 12V-48V DC. It has integrated shorting protection technology, and only draws power when your device is connected.
It also goes without saying that Ride Power is weather and water resistant with a rugged design for outdoor powersports use. According to the company, they have even put their products through durability testing by running it over with trucks with no ill-effect.
All Ride Power products are currently available for purchase online at ridepower.net and other major websites. They can also be found in select stores and powersports dealerships across the country. The company also has plans to bring their products to major retail stores in the near future.
You can be on the lookout for even more product offerings in the future from Ride Power as they are constantly evolving and coming out with new solutions. Next year they will be coming out with some more new products including a phone holder. So far reviews for these products are great and with continued expansion, we don’t see Ride Power or your phone’s battery status slowing down anytime soon.
Predicting the future, particularly with no true means to inside developmental intelligence, is pretty tough to do. Every now and again, my position within the media allots me a brief snapshot into what might be coming around the immediate bend, but a sincere, honest-to-goodness pull-back-the-curtain sort of look is pretty tough to do without being an employee of the company itself. When a prediction is made, it’s often done so with a pathfinder’s ear to the trail; you might be able to sense vibrations and predicate whether the footfalls are traveling fast or slow, and a rough estimate of how far away. That’s pretty much it.
So when I publish not one but several articles espousing the same prediction(s) again, and again, and again, it’s worth taking notice. Now, as all of the year’s revelations have been dealt to the public I’m able to review those predictions I made and with affirmation say boldly, “See? I told you so.” Normally, I wouldn’t gloat but for this year in particular, many older and (self-presumed) wiser readers chose to doubt my assertions pertaining to Sea-Doo’s next moves, even going so far to openly berate me and the magazine on social media. Sure, I could be the bigger man and let it slide, but I’m feeling particularly petty today and would like to rub their collective noses in it.
A Sea-Doo Standup: I can see how many would think the initial investment on Sea-Doo’s behalf to develop a standup ski would be, at most, minimal. Much if not all of the electronics, powertrain and auxiliary systems could be harvested from a 90-horsepower Spark HO and dropped in a standup hull. Many enthusiasts even encouraged the use of the brand’s lightweight Polytec material. And as this is certainly possible it remains very improbable. Why? Because Sea-Doo is interested in two things: volume and new (first time) owners, and standup skis simply do not have the numbers to back it. (To date Kawasaki has sold just over ’17 SX-R 1,000 units compared to Sea-Doo’s 12,000 Sparks this year.) We debunked this in July here.
So Long Suspension: This too we called back in July and was pretty easy to predict, yet I received quite a bit of push-back. Sales of Sea-Doo’s suspension-equipped units were never really the runaway hit that most would have liked. Beginning with the first iS (Intelligent Suspension) RXT iS 255 and GTX Limited iS 255 for 2009, the system was heavy, complicated and expensive. Add to it costly and time-consuming service hours, and things added up quickly. It wasn’t long before the “adjust-on-the-fly” iS was replaced with self-regulating version, before becoming completely mechanical (requiring a socket wrench to tighten/loosen). For the RXT-X, a racier “aS” system was offered for a few short years before being dropped back in late 2014. For those still wanting one, the final GTX 155 S is still available as a 2017 model.
Consolidating CM-Tech: This was the first of the big predictions that we got right, and we made it back in February. Companies do not spend literally millions of dollars in developing a entirely new molding process just for a single model, unless they plan to sell tens of thousands of them a year (ie. Spark). That’s why the introduction of the new CM-Tech material on the 2017 GTR-X 230 introduced last year was such a big deal. Sea-Doo ditched its conventional molding process for laying multi-layer thermoformed sheets of acrylic and ABS into the mold before the fiberglass is injected, resulting in a high gloss acrylic finish that is more resistant to chipping and cracking due to the flexible nature of the acrylic sheets.
So again, why is this a big deal? Because for 2018, every single runabout on the ST³ platform, and all of Sea-Doo’s GTI/GTS models are now made with CM-Tech. Heck, both the deck and hull of the ST³ units are made from the stuff. Technicians and tuners will appreciate the smooth inner surface (no more itchy, irritated skin thanks to fiberglass strands), and Sea-Doo has its own proprietary process that they don’t need costly licensing agreements to contend with. It’s a pretty big win-win for the brand. Oh, and speaking of the ST³ platform, we called a new “offshore/rough water” hull for 2018 in July as well.
Popularizing Polytec: This one I’m particularly proud of because Sea-Doo actually tried to bury it. Well, kinda. In late 2016, when introduced to the then-new 2017 lineup, the reveal of the 90-horsepower ACE 900-powered GTS, GTI and GTI SE was overshadowed by the Trixx. (And understandably so, the Trixx outsold every other PWC in the market. Literally. I’m not joking. The Sea-Doo Spark Trixx was the best selling PWC in 2017. Crazy!) What was significant about the change to the GTS/GTI was the addition of the Polytec hull material to the larger craft. Right then, I predicted that this was a harbinger of things to come and reiterated it two more times.
Many scoffed, saying, “The bigger horsepower 130 and 155 Rotax would tear the motor mounts out of the Polytech hull. There’s no way they’ll do it.” Well, for 2018 many thought they didn’t…that is until I looked closer at the Wake 155. Yup, not only had Sea-Doo integrated the Polytech hull on a GTI-based runabout with the larger Rotax NA 1503, but did so on one of its more popular models. The 155-horsepower Wake indeed comes with a Polytech base and CM-Tech deck, dropping the weight to 718-pounds over the previous 799-pounds. An 81-pound drop is significant, yet interestingly, Sea-Doo made zero fanfare over the move. Sure, there’s still a handful of GTIs with optional fiberglass hulls, but it is likely all will be Polytec by next year. And the GTI-based supercharged GTR and GTR-X 230? We’ll have to wait and see when/if those transition as well.
Now that we have seen the official release of all the big three manufacturers for their 2018 lineup, it’s time to do a little comparison. With each successive year, we are seeing more and more consumers getting into the personal watercraft scene and with so many options now, it can be really confusing for first-time buyers.
Okay so we could literally write an entire novel on this subject which would likely take up nearly as much room on your bookshelf as your Bible. For the sake of our readers’ eyes and sanity, we will only look at the entry level and high-end luxury watercraft. This way new buyers can quickly and easily compare as well as previous owners who may wish to upgrade. You can always check out our individual lineup articles for Yamaha, Sea-Doo, or Kawasaki details.
The entry level category is called Rec-Lite. This category is mainly, but not strictly for the price-conscious buyer who just wants to get on the water or for first-time buyers. Sea-Doo’s model for this category is called the Spark. Characterized by its lightweight and playful Polytec hull, it is an excellent way to begin experiencing the amazing Sea-Doo Life. There are different sizes, engine options, and accessory options but the price ranges from $5399 to over $7500.
Yamaha’s Rec-Lite model is the EX. There are different model offerings here as well ranging in options and accessories. Its starting price at $6699 is a bit higher than the base model Spark, but it does start out with more storage and fuel capacity. Kawasaki does not have a Rec-Lite category but their closest entry level Recreation Jet Ski is the STX-15F. This can be a great entry ski as well as its heavier hull and more powerful engine offer better stability and comfort for family riding. It is however priced higher at $9699.
On the other end of the spectrum is the luxury category of personal watercraft. This category is mainly for those who have owned before and are looking to get the most comfort, power, and options available or for those who are just looking to blow some cash. For Sea-Doo, this is the GTX Limited 300. Priced at $16899, you get Sea-Doo’s new ST3 hull with its 300 horsepower engine. You also get pretty much every option your heart desires including the new 100 watt Bluetooth audio system.
Yamaha’s top-line luxury WaveRunner is the FX Limited SVHO. Pricing is right there with Sea-Doo and you also get an impressive list of options including a towable single-rider tube. For Kawasaki, there is the Ultra 310LX. It has the highest sticker tag at $17999, but you get a monstrous 310 horsepower engine with lots of storage, fuel capacity, and other accessories.
While we cannot sum up every single model in such a short article, there are other resources that give a generous amount of information on each make, category, and model out there including this comparison article by an unbiased third-party person.
