An article was recently published on aquabike.net concerning the injury-plagued Mickael Poret, a two time Aquabike World Champion from France. Poret was gunning for another world title this year when he took a fall in a recent race. The fall aggravated an old back injury and may have beached him for the season.
Here’s what he had to say about the incident: “I fell while competing and took a big hit recently and aggravated an old disc injury to my back and now I have squeezed a vertebrae which is causing me big problems down the back of my leg,” Poret said. “I am really not sure if I can start, but will see how it goes in practice and qualifying. For sure after these races I will need an operation.”
If Poret can’t make it to the opening races his title chances are out the window. The two time world champ was stoked prior to the opening race in Porto Cesaraeo. He switched from riding Yamaha skis, which to him were like runabouts after his riding experience on the new Kawasaki SX-R JetSki with it’s powerful 1500 4-stroke engine. With that said, he believes the ski will offer him much more power and stability no matter what the sea surface state is like.
Poret’s confidence was extremely high until the fall and re-injuring himself. A downtrodden Poret isn’t even sure he’ll make it through the next practice runs much less the qualifiers. We wish him the best!
Looking for some killer hats to keep you shaded and cool this summer? Love Hydro-Turf products? Hydro-Turf has exactly what you are looking for! Show your support with Hydro-Turf’s new trucker hats. They have just been added to their already huge product catalog and have arrived just in time for summer! These hats look absolutely awesome and are guaranteed to look better on your head. They are available in a few different styles, sizes and colors and are sure to catch people’s attention.
These hats will be available on their website for purchase soon however if you want to get one soon, give them a call today at (714) 635-8429. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet however pre-existing hats on their website range from $10.00 to $15.00 so we figure they’ll be in the same price range!
RIVA Racing has been around for many years and has greatly helped this sport. They provide awesome gear, high-quality performance parts and have a excellent customer service center that is always able to help. They are now offering a limited time offer that you do not want to pass up on. Now with every purchase of a Solas Performance Impeller it will come with a free Impeller tool. In purchasing a new impeller you are giving your personal watercraft a new set of shoe, allowing it to pick up some lost speed. There is no doubt that the first ride you go out on, you will feel a huge difference.
Solas Impellers are made from very high quality, high strength stainless steel, offer a burst of low-end power and to see higher numbers in doing high speed runs. Solas has been a industry leading for performance impellers thanks to a dedicated employee staff that loves this sport.
RIVA Racing prides itself in offer free shipping on every purchase over $150 so you will be guaranteed to not pay any shipping or handling charges with your new impeller purchase.Installing a new impeller can allow you to gain more top end speed, have a better hole shot or overall have better performance. Whatever your preference is, be sure to check out RIVA Racing and don’t miss out on this great opportunity. Remember, when installing your new Solas Performance Impeller you will need a Impeller tool so what better time is it to take RIVA Racing up on this offer and make this riding season one to remember.
This might not be the right venue to discuss it, but it’s been a relevant point for a while: professional racing no longer dictates the current of the industry. In tracing the behavior of nearly half a million annual readers, we’ve noticed that racing coverage, albeit popular, pales in appeal, attraction and retentive interest than nearly anything else we publish. Case in point: because of extraneous circumstances, we weren’t able to provide coverage from the second round of Pro Watercross racing two weeks ago, and we witnessed no undulation in readership. When a review of a gas can can eclipse that of our IJSBA World Finals coverage, we know for certainty that racing is no longer the “taste maker” in our industry. Consumer interest is.
In fact, that is why The Watercraft Journal excels over those few remaining publications who focus so tightly on racing coverage. The wide appeal simply isn’t there. The recent upswings in riding groups, social media organizations and those peddling lifestyle over competition are seeing marked growth over racing venues and starting lines. Sure, we’ll never argue that a leisurely 3-hour cruise is nowhere near as exciting or captivating as standing on the shore watching a full lineup of Pro Open standups roar off of the line, but that’s not the point we’re arguing. When it comes to producing a publication with significant and widespread appeal to the largest audience of personal watercraft enthusiasts it’s a matter of “the less helmets, the better.”
Yet, here’s where things get sticky: performance enthusiasts love to know what the latest go-fast performance parts used by the professional racers are. They want all of the performance of a Pro Limited or GP Runabout without the actual talent or fitness to properly compete on them. We’ve ridden side-by-side with 50-year-olds touting the very best parts from RIVA Racing or Dean’s Team, who by at intents and purposes couldn’t cut a buoy if $100 bill dangled in the balance. While racers will sneer at this prospect, this fact is no different than millions of motorcycle, UTV and automobile enthusiasts. The point is to be able to balance that line and provide readers the information they crave, and companies with the clients they need.
May 2017
May 2016
On The Road to Half a Million Annual Readers
While projections are often always wrong, most well-informed projections (based upon recorded trending and consistent experience) are usually directionally sound. In following the steady growth of The Watercraft Journal over the past five months, as well as our previous 3 years of publishing, maintain that we will reach half a million unique readers this year alone. That is a number never before achieved by any personal watercraft (PWC) publication. Be it a digital or printed publication. More importantly, when a digital magazine within this industry continues to draw in new and return readership every single month since launching its launch in 2013, it’s uncanny. More and more PWC enthusiasts are coming to The Watercraft Journal, and why? Because we provide this industry a level of professional and consist publishing unlike any other.
May 2016
Total number unique readers: 28,672*
Total number of articles read: 57,120
Percentage of new readers: 69.7%
May 2017
Total number unique readers: 35,809*
Total number of articles read: 65,270
Percentage of new readers: 63.8%
*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.
Quantity In & Quality Out
While there’s certainly something to be said for raw, natural talent, it’s ability, commitment and professionalism that elevates The Watercraft Journal above the rest. There is no more reliable source for top quality, professionally-written magazine content in our industry, particularly one that produces said content each and every single weekday. Regurgitation, cut-and-paste and blatant plagiarism are the trades of our competition, and it’s a sorry state of affairs when we are compared to such persons. Nevertheless, we pride ourselves on delivering on our promises, satisfying the requests and needs of our advertising partners, and providing our readers with the most satisfying and entertaining content available today.
News articles published in April 2017: 27
Feature articles published in April 2017: 10
Total feature word count: 9,478 words*
News articles published in April 2017: 24
Feature articles published in April 2017: 13
Total feature word count: 12,889 words*
*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 118-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.
Always Active & Ever Present The Watercraft Journal doesn’t require any sort of download, or paid subscriptions or even a password to log in and access our industry-leading content. That’s right! We’re 100-percent free to you! And in addition to publishing our content across more social media outlets – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and weekly newsletters – we also are actively producing quality video content unique to our written articles on our YouTube channel. That’s right, we not only maintain the most active PWC magazine in the world, but also its own YouTube channel wherein new videos are uploaded every 5-6 weeks. If they’ve got a computer, a laptop, tablet, smartphone or Apple Watch, they can read The Watercraft Journal
May Facebook likes: 22,701
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, France, United Kingdom, Japan
Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week…
We’re not going to go so far as to say you must be sniffing glue to not be advertising on The Watercraft Journal already, but we are going to question how you expect to reach the most potential customers without access to our half million readers. Don’t be satisfied with buying a few digital ads on a forum or a luckluster Facebook campaign, begin a program with The Watercraft Journal and start an active relationship with a media outlet that is working together with you to get your company out in front of more eyes than anywhere else in the personal watercraft industry. And we both know that there are still plenty of people that you’d like to reach. So again, if looking to grow your clientele, reach a broader audience of would-be customers and spread the word about your brand, product and services, let The Watercraft Journal be your resource and email [email protected] about advertising your company in the single-most popular PWC magazine today.
Last week the city of Nazaré, Portugal hosted the 3rd stop of the Freeride World Championship. Nazaré is home to beautiful beaches, world-renown seaside resorts and home to one of the best stops along the freeride tour. With swells being known to beat world record heights each year, every freerider yearns to go out and ride at this location.
This year’s event went well but the swells were not what they were hoped to be. This made it difficult for the riders as they had to pull every trick out of the bag and show the judges what they could do on small swells. The crowds expectations were met when they were able to see Abraham Hochstrasser/Bruno Jacob, Joel Barry/Brandon Lawlor, Hugo Goirre/Gil Beurnier and François Lavergne/Mark Gomez battle it out for the quarterfinals.
After a great performance by each rider, the semi finals were set and the Brazilian Bruno Jacob, the Ivorian Hugo Goirre and the Americans Brandon Lawlor and Mark Gomez were left but only one would be crowned champion. It was a sad sight as the famous local rider, the “flying Mexican” Abraham Hochstrasser was unable to perform completely because of mechanical problems. After the semifinals, it was the Americans who were left to battle it out. Ultimately, Mark Gomez was able to secure the victory.
All of these riders are extremely thankful for their sponsors as it allows them to ride some of the industry’s leading equipment and be able to travel around the world to do the thing they love most and help grow this sport.
It’s always great to share something you love with others who just seem to get it. Others who also get ride withdrawals. Others who wait for rides season with child like anticipation, others with the same passion for jet skiing. Others who also look for a safe way to explore and to do what one might not normally do by ones self. That’s what the watercraft community and ride groups offer. It’s a place for everyone to get together and just ride. It’s awesome to see new riders who come out for the first time and get hooked on what some of us take for granted and to see others who were thinking about getting out of jet skiing have an epiphany and their passion reignited while riding in new areas with fellow cool people. It’s also special when local businesses see the value in it and support the ride community with cool events. So to kick off our season, Beach Boulevard Motorsports, or BBMS for short, sponsored a jet ski Poker Run.
For those that may not know, a poker run consists of several stops along a route where you gather playing cards to make up a poker hand. The better your hand the better your chances to win prizes. The event was actually postponed due to Hurricane Matthew, which also forced several local restaurants to temporarily close from storm damage. We figured what better way to get back in the saddle that to pick up where the hurricane left off. This time the weather still had something to say and we had to reschedule the event two weeks later due to a storm. This time when the event day finally came the weather report showed 15 to 25 mile an hour winds with gusts in the 30 plus mile per hour range. At this point we decided to take advantage of that earlier favorable conditions and ride!
As this was our first ride of the season, we had many new riders who along with us were very eager for this event. The ride itself was from Jacksonville to San Augustine, which is about 30 miles each way. With a 10 AM launch time and other riders coming from other ramps in the general area, we headed south towards Saint Augustine down the Intracoastal Waterway. The initial wind and chop gave way as we got to sheltered waters and made for better conditions that we had imagined. After our first rider checkpoint and after a quick headcount, we were off to our first Poker Stop at a ramp near Aunt Kate’s. Aunt Kate’s is another great place to eat on the Intracoastal, but be careful of fishing lines! The public ramp provided a dock for the skis to swoop in and for riders to collect to their first card.
The next stop was at Conch Island near the Vilano Inlet. The stop also served as a place for riders to get off and stretch their legs. After a quick recharge, jokingly too quick for some, it was a short jog to the Vilano Boat Ramp which also provided another easy access dock for the riders to get their third card. Fellow group riders who didn’t mind paying it forward for others to enjoy manned the stops and they helped to make the event awesome for others. At this point, everyone’s poker hands were shaping up and it was off to the fourth stop. The weather picking up and our lunchtime being upon us, stops 4 and 5 were consolidated to make time for lunch. No worries there as Andy, the owner of BBMS, made sure that all had a full hand before the drawing.
Beach Boulevard Motorsports sponsored a fantastic event at the local hot spot Beaches in Vilano. Beaches is a rider favorite for its spacious beaching area, great food and awesome atmosphere. The Beaches in Vilano management also had over 10 loads of sand brought in to replenish their beach area from the past few storms and to ensure everyone’s skis won’t get banged up. How’s that for service! The BBMS crew had several of the 2017 watercraft for everyone to check out as well as sponsored all the food and prizes for the Poker Run.
We can’t say enough about BBMS and other businesses that show their support for the watercraft community. This was their first watercraft Poker Run, but they’ve done it many times with their motorcycle riders. We call that progress! One of the JJR riders, Ben had trip kings which ended up being the winning hand. There were many other prizewinners even down to a pair, so everyone had a shot. You really can’t lose when you’re hanging with friends and making new ones. After lunch and with the weather picking up, it was time to get on back. All riders know the ride back is usually the best part and with the weather picking up, we was about to get our fair share of it. This is where group riding soars, as it’s an all for one and one for all mentality, which made for great riding.
In group riding, we also ride for each other, making sure everyone is OK, accounted for and that no one is left behind. Adverse rides that we make it through as a group creates memories and camaraderie. The new riders were literally baptized and many felt that anything better in the future would be a breeze! How’s that for a winning attitude! On the home stretch and with the ramp in view, everyone was still all smiles. The first group ride of the season was in the books and what a time it was.
Even with two storms that caused it to be rescheduled and with unfavorable ride day weather, the riders showed up strong! Many were glad to be riding whole again with riders they haven’t seen in a while and some were glad to have made their first successful ride with their new group. Ride leaders were glad everyone was in and accounted for, but really it was more than that. It’s why we catch ourselves with that jet ski grin and doing it with others that get it, makes it even better. So here’s to great rides, great friends and great times along the way! Let’s Ride!
If you are a fan of Chris Lauber, we have the eBay auction for you! Chris Lauber was the premier jet ski racing photographer, having been around since the late 1970s. Chris was never without his camera and quickly became well known for his talented camera skills. If you didn’t already know, it was Chris and his brother Mark that were the ones that founded the USJSBA (United States Jet Sport Boating Association) in the early 1980s before the IJSBA (International Jet Sport Boating Association) was formed and absorbed them.
Over the years, Chris has built quite the collection of photography prints, signs and banners among lots of other racing memorabilia. Recently, Chris has decided to downsize his collection and take to eBay with a lot of his stuff. Some of the stuff he has and is selling you will never find again! It’s definitely worth looking at!
Back in January, he listed some of his incredible photos on eBay. Now, he’s listed a set of 8 World Cup WaterCross Tour race programs from 1991-1998. These programs are from the IJSBA Super Jet Ski. Priced to sell at just $40 (plus shipping), these programs are from when the sport was at its highest peak. The World Cup Tour was staged entirely in Florida and was second only to the IJSBA National Tour in terms of prestige, prize money, pro racers, and television coverage. These programs are in excellent, brand new condition! According to the ad, this set of race programs captures the sport in all its glory from that period and feature;
• Gorgeous color photography of the sport’s stars
• Tour schedule each year
• Historical stories, facts, and photos
• Champion Title Contenders
• Lists of champions from prior years
• Ads of the day
• Welcome letters from Florida Governor Lawton Chiles
• Improvements in racing, including introduction of the split course design, computerized scoring, contingency award programs, etc.
• Specialty awards like Pro Rookie of the Year Awards, Factory Team Awards, the Rusty Simpson Novice of the Year Award
In addition, this set of programs feature profiles of defending World Cup champions: Chris MacClugage, Tina Martinez, Tim Judge, John Stevens, Lloyd Burlew, Tera Laho, Bo Dupriest, Dustin Farthing, Jeff Jacobs, Dan Fitzgerald, Kelly Kurpil, Rick Roy, Frank Romero, Jojo Ludwig, Emmett Hood, Chris Mays, Karen Contryman, Mark Rodgers, Matt Alligood, Team RIVA Yamaha, Team Greater Yamaha, Team Westcoast Sea-Doo, Team Rocketship Racing, Team Butch, Team Kawasaki.
To make the deal even better, Chris will also include the 1998 Calendar of Champions that features his race action photography!
How many of you are scuba divers? Odds are, a few of you are since many of you readers are avid water enthusiast. Well, if you are a veteran scuba diver, novice scuba diver, or someone looking to get their feet wet with scuba diving, we have a product that will interest you!
AirBuddy is a new product that allows you to scuba diver without all of the equipment! This simple package is small and lightweight which means you do not have to haul air tanks around. Here is the run down, AirBuddy is a product that takes fresh air and compresses it into a hose and delivers you fresh, pressurized air up to 40 feet. This is a revolutionary product as it allows to take it wherever your travels take you, it is a compact product that boasts “fun things fit in small packages”! There is a 40 feet long air hose that goes from the diver to the red buoy with the air compressor on top. The buoy will float with you so that when you underwater you can travel anywhere.
Scuba diving is a very expensive sport as it requires the proper gear, hoses, air tanks and refilling air tanks along with many others components. If you are looking to get into the sport of scuba diving and do not want to break the bank, try AirBuddy! The price of a AirBuddy is roughly $600 but everything is included. This is a great package that not just you can enjoy, we guarantee you that your friends and family will be wanting to try it.
We can’t think of a better way to sneak into some areas in the beautiful islands of Malaysia than by jet ski. A guided tour with Mega Water Sports is one way to go on a trip of a lifetime. A jet ski tour beats a boat tour says a novice operator. Riding a jet ski allows more freedom because it can reach remote areas and a person can cruise at their own pace while taking in the sites.
An article published on the CNN website provides us with some details of what goes on during the jet ski tours. The ride begins at Canara Bech where an instructor provides a quick riding and safety lesson and before you know it, you’re underway on the Andaman Sea heading 12 miles to the Island of Dayang Bunting where Pregnant Maiden Lake is located. Dayang Bunting’s south side has a pier that’s the perfect place to moor skis. Once secured, you’ll take a five minute walk through a lush jungle on the way to the warm green waters of the lake. Monkeys hanging in the dense trees are a common sight along the way. Tourists usually kayak, swim, or just float on the surface of the lake while admiring the scenery that surrounds them. Approximately after 40 minutes of lake life, the tour group gets underway again and the guide allows a little freestyle action on the skis before heading to the next stop; Singa Besar Island. The island is known for its huge white bellied sea eagles and Brahminy kite eagles.
Langkawi is located off northwest Malaysia and is home to more than 100 islands which hold an abundance of biodiversity within them The islands rise from the sea and have lush forests atop where numerous animals reside, ranging from large raptors to monitor lizards. A person can sit and view the animals from their ski or just peer into the water to watch pretty tropical fish swim by!
“Most people never in their life can do this—explore the ocean, see the animals, feel so free,’ says Mega Water Sports Guide Shahrul Rizwan. I’m always smiling, always happy when I’m out in the ocean. I feel like I can do anything I want.”
The Watercraft Journal: For those of you, who do not know who Tanner Thomas is, tell the audience about yourself.
Tanner Thomas: Friends call me Tanman, I’m 25 years old. Born and raised in Ketchikan Alaska. I have been riding jet skis now for ten years. Five of which have been involved with professional competition. I started off riding 550’s in AK for a few months out of the summer and each winter with the support of many great people and influences upgraded jet skis. I’ve worked my way up from 550’s and 650’s to SJ’s and SXRs and then to Rickters. I started off traveling from Alaska and doing summer tours in 2009 with my Ford Ranger to race my SXR and freeride my SN SJ. I drove all around the west coast from Washington to California chasing Freeride and Racing events. Couch surfing with great friends to make it possible.
WCJ: You were born in Alaska? How does a guy from Alaska get involved with riding stand ups let alone competing professionally? What obstacles have you overcome living there?
TT: I was given the opportunity by my Dad’s great friend Brent Johnson in AK to ride my first JS 550 when I was 14. In Alaska we didn’t have motocross tracks or anything other than being surrounded by water. So in the summer time when we couldn’t snowmobile anymore, jet skis were about the best thing to get to ride. Living on an island in Alaska is great for a lot of people, for me it was tough with shipping challenges, lots of rain and cold weather, and the jet ski scene was very small. Thanks to the support of an amazing community I was able to work hard and venture out into the big world to chase jet ski competitions. That in turn allowed me to travel the US with a purpose and meet a ton of amazing people in the jet ski community. Jet ski forums like X-H2O.com and PWCToday.com was the source for a lot of my excitement and knowledge in the early days.
WCJ: You offer your own riding school, but not only that you give up-and-comers or expert riders the chance to flip your own $35,000 Rickter. Tell us a little more what your school offers.
TT: TNT Freestyle school is my way of offering the 10 years of knowledge and experience that brought me my first World Championship to other people. My team and I have spent years developed world class equipment for the rider who wants to accelerate their abilities and take jet skiing to a whole new level of fun.
I now offer different levels of freestyle training. For years I’ve been working with people like Rick Roy, Taylor Curtis, Hiro “Ninja” Ogino and learning along side team mates like Mark Gomez and Abraham Ho. I have worked hard to find the right techniques and input to help people improve their riding. This DOES NOT substitute the 100s of hours you will need to truly perfect these techniques, but for most people we can speed up the process and allow them to enjoy the sport of freestyle more. It is best if you have your own ski, but I do rent my Rickter XFS Ninja 1200 to clients for guided training.
The Backflip clinic is for riders with stand up riding experience that have always wanted to do a flat water backflip but do not have access to a capable ski. I have offered the Backflip Clinic to 5 riders so far, all of which have completed the rotation of a backflip. It is like a bucket list item for most and something that I am happy to be able to share with people. For more information on the TNT Freestyle School and Backflip Clinic visit Tanner-thomas.com/school
WCJ: What else do you like to do besides riding your jet ski?
TT: I have recently been getting into riding motocross and have backflipped my KX250F thanks to FMX Rider Jimmy Fitzpatrick. I would like to continue riding my bike and doing more freestyle on 2 wheels. Otherwise my time is mostly invested in my new job working for Renu Chem Inc. the makers of Jet Renu. I am an International Factory Representative opening up a distribution network of distributors and dealers of our products.
WCJ: What do you do to prepare for an event or competition? What type of training do you do before the big day? Do you have any rituals you do the day of?
TT: Every location you go to ride at can hold its own set of challenges. Talking with other riders and experiencing these events first hand is the only way to know how to fully prepare for them. The water can be very unpredictable, so hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Nothing makes you a better rider than actually riding. Riding as much as possible in the weeks/months leading up to an event. Then allowing your body to heal and be in good health for your best performance. Then most of your ability will be almost muscle memory. Having a good positive attitude and faith in all the hard work you put in beforehand, will allow you to do the best you can do. When you know you tried your best you’ll never regret a thing.
My biggest advice to riders before a contest is stretch especially in cold water or weather conditions. I have thrown my back out of alignment 3 times in the air doing big extended tricks that my brain was ready for but my body was not. That ruins weekends for sure.
WCJ: Tell the audience some of your major riding accomplishments?
TT: 2015 IJSBA AM Freestyle World Champion; 2015 IJSBA AM Freestyle National Champion; 2016 IJSBA Pro Freestyle National Champion; First in the world to do Double Backflips off a V-wake
WCJ: Congratulations that is quite the list of accomplishments. I saw your video online of that double back flip. Awesome! Is there any one you would like to thank?
TT: The list of people to thank is truly 10 miles long. Everyone in the jetski community has supported me in one way or another. Whether I slept on your couch, you sponsored me directly, or you just clapped your hands after watching me ride. I appreciate this sport for what it has given me. That has been many life lessons and exciting experiences to hang onto.
For some people who don’t know, I have mostly made my jetski career possible through working commercial construction in Alaska. I do not get free jet skis, I rarely receive free parts. In order to be good at anything you have to make a full investment. The top guys in the world are there because they love the sport and love to push themselves individually. The ultimate personal challenge of man/woman with his/her machine.
With that said though there are some people that have given me the non-stop support and opportunities over the years to reach the level of riding I am at today; Taylor Curtis of TC Freeride, Kyle Kennedy at Dasa Racing, Hiroyuki Ogino “Ninja”, Rick Roy of Rickter, Skat Trak, Jet Lift, KMG Racing and Jet Renu.
I also want to thank the people that supported me whether I was good as jet skiing or not. People that wanted to see this small town kid from Alaska go out into the world and live his dreams. Nothing I have done would be possible without you.
My entire family who would come to every event they could; my friends who rode with me and traveled with me chasing the same dream; and companies in Alaska that sponsored me to actually make ends meet after what I worked for just wasn’t quite enough: BAM Construction, Tyler Rental, Alaska Diesel Power, Dawson Construction, Hoyt Enterprises, Azeo Vodka, Sign Pro, Alaska Marine Lines, Eichner and Eichner, KH2O and Swinburnson
