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Video: The Full Story Behind The Most Infamous PWC Crash In Surfing

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Tow WAVES in Tahiti/2005

Tow WAVES in Tahiti/2005

It’s possibly the most seen PWC wipeout ever. Now here’s the story behind it:

The year was 2005 and an epic swell hit the island of Tahiti. Surfers from around the world descended on a crazy wave that sits below sea level and breaks over a sharp deadly reef. Called Teahupo’o, it’s literally at the “end of the road.” Surfers come from around the world to charge the heavy swell that made its way to infamous surf spot, many of them had experienced or witnessed many heavy wipeouts, none like the one you’re going to read about.

It was a tow-in day and surfers Reef McIntosh and Raimana Van Bastolaer showed up to pull into some giant waves. McIntosh, an inexperienced jet ski driver had no idea what he was getting into when Bastolaer asked him to drive the ski into the line up and attach the tow rope. The surfer admittedly had no experience driving personal watercraft and had no intentions of doing anymore than what he had already accomplished.

Unfortunately, Bastolaer’s tow-in partner was not around so McIntosh was told to jump on and prepare to tow him into a wave. McIntosh was like, “No way,” yet Bastolaer insisted that he could do it. After some coercing, McIntosh still uncertain, agreed to the task.

There was big chop on the waves and it was a little stormy on that crazy day in May. This was definitely no place for a dude with no driving skills to attempt towing a surfer into a wave. Bastolaer almost paid the ultimate price for their actions. The ski that McIntosh was steering was literally picked up by a thick heaving wave. He bailed off the back after losing control, leaving the jet ski alone in the surf. That’s when the riderless machine tumbled precisely over Bastolaer’s head while both were within the confines of a massive barreling wave. It’s amazing that he wasn’t hit by the ski and came out unscathed. We aren’t so sure about the watercraft though.

Prior to the incident, a video shows surfers being safely towed into monstrous caverns, with some guy getting worked while others made successful rides. The jet ski drivers simply dropped them off and quickly motored out the back; which was not the case with McIntosh. His first experience as a tow-in driver was not only a debacle, it was caught on film as well.

Here’s what McIntosh says in a quote from GrindTV.com, “Once I popped up, I was just praying that I’d see him kick out into the channel; that’s all that mattered to me. Once I saw him do so, I was so relieved. After that, I just had to deal with a bruised ego and a lot of embarrassment. Andy Irons was in the channel, and he was like, ‘You shouldn’t have been out there,’ and I was like, ‘I know!’ It was in Sports Illustrated, the “[Late Night with David] Letterman” Show, ‘Good Morning America’; that @#$% was everywhere! I can look back on it now and laugh, and once I saw Raimana, I was like, ‘I told you I couldn’t #$%@-ing drive!’”

Video: Grayland Open Sports Television Show To Premier This Sunday

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The official release of the 2016 Grayland Open sports television show will be released to the masses this Sunday afternoon! The show will air on multiple television networks over the next year but will also be available on demand through a link that we will provide this Sunday!

Paul Higgins and his crew at Athletes in Motion (in association with ESPN) have really worked hard to put together a great show that showcases a lot of different riders and even some fans and spectators. I am very happy with the way it turned out and I think you will all like it as well! For now we will trickle out some extra interviews AIM sports has provided to get you pumped! Check it out! you may just be in it!

For a sample of Athletes in Motion’s work, make sure to check out their videos from this year’s past Grayland Open; stating, “Athletes In Motion Sports Television hits the beach with Zoe Zehren as she catches up with riders, spectators and fans of the sport of Jet Ski Free Ride. Enjoy.”

Auction For Customized Electric Polaris Slingshot by Slingshot Only

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OK, that headline might be a little misleading. This isn’t some state-of-the-art Tesla-powered Slingshot, but a kid’s battery-powered four-wheeler (remember “Power Wheels?” Sorta like that -Ed.). This super cool toy has been heavily customized by Slingshot Only, the Polaris Slingshot custom shop and retailer out of Cycle Springs Powersports in Clearwater, Florida.

The auction is to raise proceeds to help 10 less fortunate children have an awesome Christmas. To do so, Cycle Springs and Sling Shot only specially modified features some cool dress up mods including custom-designed Marine Mats and B2B Slingshot Only stickers. The 12 volt electric cart is also slated to get some exhaust and LED lighting.

The auction ends on Sat Nov 12th at 2:15PM EST at the Cycle Springs/Slingshot Only Christmas Charity Event being held at the Innisbrook Golf & Spa Resort, so you gotta act quick if you’re going to place a bid. To do so, you must be logged in as a registered user. Click “My Account” Tab to login HERE. Again, this is a great toy for kids aged 3-to-8 years, and your winning bid goes to help some deserving kids who haven’t been as blessed in life as you have been.

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Date Announced for 2017 Mark Hahn Memorial Havasu 300

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Like many PWC enthusiasts, riders all over the world know about the Mark Hahn Memorial 300 Mile Endurance Race. This is the “World’s Longest Continuous PWC Race” available to the PWC riding community. This race will test you and your team to your limits, test your machine to unprecedented speeds and test your body to see if it has what it takes to last in the race against the conditions.

Mark Hahn was a dedicated PWC rider and gave back to our ever-growing community. Sadly he was involved in a crash during a race in 2004. This race was created to continue his legacy and the impact he left on us. Many riders do everything in their power during their race to complete it and use his legacy as fuel to continue on.

This is a “Team” event which means that there are allowed two riders per team for the sitdown class and three riders per team for the stand up class. While many riders form a team to increase their chances of completing the race, a select few choose to ride solo the entire race to gain the title of Ironman. The riders that sign up for this races are by no means, new to this sport. This is a race where the best riders in the USA and surrounding countries will show their ability to withstand any condition and have the endurance to race and complete a 300 mile race.

A race with this magnitude could not be put on without the help of very supportive sponsors: Hot Products USA and Yamaha Motor Corp USA. This year’s race has built a ton of anticipation and is projected to bring in a record setting number of entries. The stakes are higher, the prizes are bigger, and the giveaways are plentiful. We understand if you are unable to make the trip and participate in the race but any support to give to fellow races would be greatly appreciated!

The race has been welcomed back to the Crazy Horse Campground’s Main Beach in Lake Havasu City, Arizona for the starting line of the race. The race date is Sunday February 12, 2017. Get your plans and team ready because the countdown is upon us!

Be sure to read the full press release below:
13th Annual Hot Products IJSBA Mark Hahn Memorial Havasu 300 Presented by Yamaha Set for Sunday February 12, 2017 in Lake Havasu

The 13th Annual “World’s Longest Continuous PWC Race” was announced today by the event promoter Jim Russell, DSM Events owner, and Executive producer Mike Follmer. The 2017 Hot Products IJSBA Mark Hahn Memorial Havasu 300 Mile National Team Endurance Race Presented by YAMAHA is all set to launch on Sunday, February 12, 2017 from Crazy Horse Campground in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The 2016 event attracted teams and riders from 14 Countries around the world and will once again be sanctioned by the International Jet Sports Boating Association (IJSBA), and it is expected to draw a new record number teams from around the globe as well as all of the top PWC racers from the USA. The Teams will be competing against each other while trying to break the 300 mile record of 4 hour 46 minute and 13 seconds set by the 2016 Mark Hahn Memorial Overall winners Pastorello and Botti of Team Kawasaki France.

For the 13th consecutive year the race is being held again in the memory of endurance racer Mark Hahn who was instrumental in providing the momentum to keep endurance racing going strong and growing across the country before his untimely death during a PWC race in 2004. The “Team” format features two riders for runabout (sit down) boat teams and up to three riders for a stand-up craft. Solo riders are also welcome to “Ironman” the race on either style of boat, a real test of endurance and stamina reserved for only the true endurance zealots. The 2011 event was the second PWC event to use transponders in the United States and it was well received and helped to increase the professionalism of this national event. Transponders have been used since that time and will be used again in the 2017 event.

“The race is returning to Crazy Horse Campground’s Main Beach site for this very important event”, said Jim Russell, “and the 10 mile course we have approval from the Coast Guard will pit all the teams against the wind, rough water and long runs that this event has become synonymous with.” In addition to all the weather and water conditions all the teams have to contend with, they will also be required to make fuel stops, without spilling fuel, and make rider changes several times during the race, while modifying their race strategies as the race progresses. There will be six different classes competing on the race course simultaneously, with all the racers competing for the overall title. At the conclusion of the race, each class winning team will be crowned the IJSBA National Team Endurance Champion for their respective class. A first-class awards program will feature a sit down dinner and will once again be held at the Aquatic Center – Rods and Recs room.

“After the gigantic success and worldwide recognition received in the press of the 2016 Hot Products Mark Hahn Memorial Presented by Yamaha, it is expected that a new record number of entries will come out for the thirteenth annual event,” Mike Follmer said. “We’re already in high gear making preparations so the 2017 event outshine what we did in 2016 by getting more giveaways and even nicer trophies for the massive awards banquet at the Aquatic Center that will far surpass what we did in 2016. We have on the water still photography and magazine coverage to chronicle the event for the riders. The awards banquet will feature a sit down dinner for over 300 people and over 75 award trophies to be presented too overall and class winners with a host of special awards that will once again surprise their worthy recipients.”

We are very fortunate to have Hot Products USA return as the title sponsor of the 2017 event as well as Yamaha Motor Corp USA and all our many other great sponsors that have helped support this exciting event for many years. All of the pre-race attention and planning for the 2017 IJSBA Hot Products Mark Hahn Memorial Presented by Yamaha will guarantee that it will far surpass the previous years which have been heralded by many as the “Best PWC race on the planet”! Get your teams together and your entry in early to make sure you don’t miss out on this great experience.

Entry forms and entry information sheets will be released soon for the February 18th event. Entry forms, race information, updates will be posted on the Mark Hahn Facebook page and web sites at: www.pwctoday.com, www.pwcoffshore.com, www.ijsba.com

Gallery: Refinishing Your Finish With Finish Renu

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For anyone who paints cars, you’ll know that black shows everything. Every little flaw in bodywork, every shortcut in prepping the surface. You name it, black will reveal it. Heck, even if you do a shoddy job washing down you ski after a long ride, a black hull will reveal every waterspot and bit of residue you didn’t wash off. It’s too bad black looks so good, because it is just so hard to maintain. We learned this first hand this year with our long-term loaner, a 2016 Kawasaki Ultra 310X SE JetSki.

While the Candy Burnt Orange glimmered under any light, the inky black deck and hull showed every bit of dirt, grime and salt that we couldn’t (or didn’t) wash off properly. Worst of all, a year’s worth of heavy usage left the angled deck lines scuffed and gouged as one too many riders failed to slow down enough to tie up to the dock or mount the trailer bunks without a collision. One such impact with a dock left a palm-sized circular scratch on the front left corner that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Above left: Finish Renu is the parent company of PWC cleaning gurus Jet Renu, supplying industrial-grade car car products to the automotive world. Above right: Our loaner Kawasaki Ultra 310X SE has built up a lot of wear and tear, most notably a heavy scratch on the side after rubbing up to a dock a little too hard. Below: We masked off our damaged area where we were going to be working primarily to keep our buffing wheel from wandering too far. A more mindful job would’ve had us masking off the whole front of the ski so we wouldn’t need to rewash it later.

In conversation with the team from Jet Renu, we mentioned our hard luck Kawasaki and its roughed-up exterior. Immediately, they recommended their Finish Renu Renu Cut, Renu Glaze 2.0 and Banana Wax. While Jet Renu has its own line of gel coat cleaners and waxes, Jet Renu offered up their industrial body shop-grade car care products from their Finish Renu line so that we could use them on other projects for our sister publication, Mopar Connection Magazine. With our Kawasaki in dire need of some cosmetic TLC, we figured, “What the heck” and went to work with a few microfiber rags, a household electric drill, a buffing cone and a couple applicator pads.

Within an hour and a half’s time, not only were the scratches all but completely invisible, but the tuxedo-black finish of the Kawasaki was as reflective as a bathroom mirror. Over those that advertise “all-in-one,” we have found that multiple-stage buffing is worth the added time and effort as the single-bottle variety don’t offer the cutting compounds necessary, or the finalizing glazes strong enough to extract that mirror-like end result. All of Finish Renu’s products come with specific instructions to guide you through each step, to which we followed to the T.

Above left: We picked up this cone-shaped buffing wheel at our local auto parts retailer for $10, which works great with our battery-powered electric drill. Finish Renu suggests applying the Renu Cut directly to the surface, which you can see us not doing. Don’t do what we did. Below left: We made several passes with the Renu Cut as it was going to be most of the work knocking down the scratch and exposing the small cuts in the surface. Below right: The result of a few minutes of buffing with the cutting compound show how effective the Renu Cut is in smoothing the surface.

Beginning with a clean surface, we properly masked off our injured areas so that we didn’t wander with our buffing wheel too far off course. While we only masked off the area to keep us focused, a more thorough job would’ve had most of our work area masked off in case of overspray, which we definitely encountered. Because we were using an electric drill and buffing cone, we applied the Renu Cut compound (rated for 1000-grit sand scratches) directly to the surface. Because Finish Renu’s materials are a zero residue chemical, we operated at a slow speed, making concentric circles until the surface was lightly hazed.

With a microfiber cloth, we wiped the surface clean and reviewed our work. Satisfied, we moved on to step too: Renu Glaze 2.0. The gray compound removed 2500-3000 grit sand scratches, which makes it ideal for removing swirl marks on darker cars and surfaces. We first opted to apply the Renu Glaze by hand with an applicator, but found that too slow for our tastes, so our came the buffer. This not only removed the tiny etches left by the more aggressive Renu Cut, but also the deeper scratches made to the JetSki over time.

Above left: The Renu Glaze 2.0 is ideal for removing finer scratches and swirls, as well as being a great blend for darker-colored surfaces. We first applied the glaze by hand with an applicator pad and some harder pressure. We then followed up with the buffing wheel (and a little less pressure). The intermediate result was nearly enough to call it a day. Below left: The final step was applying the Banana Wax with a microfiber cloth, which rightly fills what little swirls and surface markings are left. Below right: Compare this image with the two images of the original scratch and half way through the process, and you’ll be believer as well.

Finally, we applied the polymer/carnauba blend Banana Wax. This perfectly fills what little remains of swirl marks and faint scratches, leaving a flawless, mirrored finish. We made two passes with the Banana Wax for effect, and the result was well worth it. Not only were nearly any trace of the scratches completely vanished from the black surface, but the finish look brand new. Moreover, Banana Wax won’t leave a stain or discolor mouldings, so it’s safe to make a pass over the entire vehicle.

Scratches are common on personal watercraft, but that’s no reason you have to live with them. We spent a little over an hour (including stopping to take pictures), and the end result was a near-perfect looking watercraft. We strongly suggest looking into the complete lineup of Jet Renu and Finish Renu products to find the right tools to help you keep not just your PWC, but all of your cars and toys looking new.

Above: The final result of the three-step Finish Renu process gave us a near-flawless finish that would be worthy of any showroom display.

Video: Daiwa Wraps JetSkiFishing.com’s Sea-Doo In Cool Vinyl Kit

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With the explosion of interest in personal watercraft fishing, riders from all over the world have started rigging their crafts with fishing pole holders, GPS’, and coolers along with many other accessories. Riders love to personalize their ride to fit their lifestyle, adding a custom wrap will accomplish just that.

The crew over at The Sign Studio has made a great looking DAIWA sponsored vinyl wrap for JetSkiFishing’s 2016 Sea-Doo GTX 155. These guys are the kings of jet ski fishing and are always finding news ways to improve their time out fishing. This particular ski was “Rigged for JetSkiFishing with the latest Raymarine ES78 Sounder/GPS with a chirp thru-hull transducer, dual battery system, navigation lights and the Ultimate Rod Holder fishing kit,” explains JetSkiFishing.

While DAIWA owned the canvas with the size of its letters, there were many other sponsors present that made it possible to have this custom vinyl wrap done. Whether you are fortunate to have support from sponsors or are financially providing for your passion, there is a vinyl wrap for you.

These wraps are durable enough to protect the paint from rubbing up on a dock or any other objects like a fishing pole or fish! Putting a vinyl wrap on your craft will give you the peace of mind that when you have a fish on, you don’t need to worry about your paint. View a wrap as an investment because if you decide to retire your watercraft from fishing and want to use it recreationally, removing the wrap will be no problem.

Check the video out for yourself and see the process of applying a vinyl wrap and the end appearance that will surely turn eyes when people see a cooler full of fish and a great looking watercraft sporting a great looking vinyl wrap.

Come To Jet X Powersports For Service or Winterizing, Or They Can Come to You

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Whether you’re tucking your personal watercraft in for a long winter’s nap, you’re just needing to give your ride its regularly-schedule maintenance, there are few shops providing better service, more attentive care or professional hands-on labor than our friends at Jet X Powersports. 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, Jet X 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 Jet X Powersports and most service shops, its that Jet X 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, Jet X Powersports can also provide a pickup and delivery service,” stated Ryan Dalli, owner and chief technical expert at Jet X. In fact, Dalli was on the road to a customer when we spoke this morning, stating: “[I’m] still busy with winterizing! We usually go through 400-to-600 litres of coolant every year. It’s a large part of business.”

Recently, Dalli shared one happy customer who brought their Yamaha FZR in for routine maintenance. Amazingly, the Yamaha has racked up a staggering 377 hours with needing one supercharger gear and the usual service items (oil, plugs, etc.) throughout that whole duration! It’s a testament to the quality of the machine and the attention to detail that Jet X Powersports puts in to each of their customer’s toys.

Dean’s Team Riders Sweep Hydro-Turf Hydrodrag Stock, Spec and Superstock Classes

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This weekend’s Pro Watercross Hydro-Turf Hydrodrag World Championships shook the personal watercraft industry to its core with an all-new world record top speed of 114.2 miles per hour on a Sea-Doo Rotax-powered Yamaha FZR piloted by UJET’s Uva Perez (more on that later). While the record-setting run is clearly sucking up all of the oxygen in the room, there were some seriously impressive performances in other classes that bear noting:

Three Dean’s Team riders, Scott Rice, Tonito Lopez and Ron Allison had a tremendous weekend. Rice swept the podiums of the Stock, Spec, and the Superstock classes; Lopez, also performed great in Stock class, coming in second against Rice; Ron Allison won the Stock class Speed Alley with a run of 92.8 MPH. All these skis were Yamaha FZ WaveRunners with Dean’s Team Performance reflashes.

The Watercraft Journal spoke directly with Dean’s Team founder Dean Charrier who said, “Scott Rice was impressive and raced the best performance I’ve seen yet from him. To sweep all those three classes is no easy feat and he consistently ran great on his Dean’s Team FZ’s.” Not only has the Dean’s Team ECU Reflash proven itself in the realm of endurance racing with AquaX all year, it’s also lead the world in closed course races earning multiple world titles at this year’s IJSBA World Finals, and now with three world titles in drag racing this weekend at the Hydro-Turf Hydrodrag World Championships.

Gallery: Inside of RIVA Racing Development Team

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What would you do if you had at your command a team of highly trained engine tuners, technicians, fabricators, electronics specialists and machinists all dedicated to developing every part necessary and calibrating every spectrum of performance to ensure that your personal watercraft was performing at its highest peak?

If you holed these guys up in their own 6,000-square-foot facility equipped with every tool, machine and material needed to accomplish their goal, how do you think they’d do? If you’re thinking you’d be the most dominant force in PWC racing, you’d be right – and you’d also be the head of RIVA Racing‘s Development Team.

Since launching in 1992 – under the banner of the Factory Yamaha race team – RIVA Racing division of RIVA Motorsports has occupied the same off-campus 6,047 square-foot facility. When RIVA was first tasked with running the Factory Yamaha race team, they have maintained dedicated staff of employees – comprising the Performance Parts Team – since 1992.

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At that time, an unmarked off-site facility, separate from RIVA Motorsports’ Pompano Beach, FL. headquarters, has served as RIVA Racing’s “skunkworks.” The building’s location is both secure and confidential, with its own stand alone security to protect both all of the equipment and watercraft inside.

Beneath its roof is more than most shops could ask for. Three major rooms occupy the building, separated into a manufacturing/machine shop, with welding stations, fabrication tables, drill presses, mills, a lathe and tube bender – all put to use for developing rough-hewn prototypes that are trial fit and matched to brand-new watercraft stored in the room adjacent.

The larger room serves as the build floor, where each of the RIVA Edition watercraft (25 hand-built FZRs in 2016 and now the new GP1800R for 2017), as well as other prototype craft are assembled, as well as a prop table, and equipment for electronic testing are found.

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Next to it is RIVA’s state of the art engine dyno, fed by temperature-controlled air and cooled by a separately temperature-controlled water reservoir. The Borghi Eddy Currant Magnetic Brake Dyno works in tandem with Superflow data gathering acquisition software, providing RIVA’s Development Team all of the pertinent information to make adjustments to their electronic tunes and hardware.

Next to the engine dyno is a clean room for engine prep. Yet, all of this serves as preliminary preparation for the final battery of testing held at RIVA’s private test lake. Located a scant 5 minutes away, the fresh water lake facility features a private launch ramp and dock currently under renovation. When complete, the waterfront facility will feature permanent cabanas, benches and lounge chairs, a full BBQ kitchenette and separate bathrooms.

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Yet, all of this would be moot without the team to operate it. Bruce Clarkson’s participation with the team dates back to 1994 when he moved from South Africa to Florida for the Factory Yamaha effort; as the senior member has earned the position of senior development specialist.

Described as a “jack of all trades,” by team leader Dave Bamdas, Bruce handles all of the design and fabrication of RIVA’s intakes and exhaust systems, fuel prototyping systems, as well as the brand’s top-of-the-line steering systems. As head over the machine shop, Bruce is a talented welder, fabricator, machinist. Bruce also works closely with RIVA’s vendors, overseeing quality control, which fits his perfectionist work ethic.

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The newest member of the RIVA Development team is Jesus Garcia, having joined the ranks mid-summer of this year. Jesus’ experience with EFI tuning placed him immediately over RIVA’s engine management development, specifically the MapTunerX, as well as the ViPec ECU in a lesser extent.

Skilled with on water tuning, Jesus’ talents in setting up pumps, impellers, and ECU tuning has elevated RIVA’s level of deliverable performance and even broadened RIVA’s appeal to European racers, as well as those within the USA. Jesus is regularly seen on the beach and in the pits at local races, working with all racers regardless of their participation with RIVA Racing. Jesus’ commitment to offering superior track support has been just one of the benefits of his addition.

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The last two members of the RIVA Development team – Mark Nystrom and Dave Bamdas – are just as important. With over 20 years with RIVA under his belt, Mark is the team’s engine specialist, providing valuable mechanical insight regarding development of engine internals, namely aftermarket pistons, rods, cams, valve kits, and coding systems. In addition to overseeing the entire dyno facility, Mark is also the leader of all special builds projects (RIVA Edition GPR, FZR) as well as the team’s head technician, and designer of parts too.

Overseeing all of this madness is Dave Bamdas himself, who serves as the team’s leader, providing projects their direction, ideas, priorities as the department reports to back on their progress and input.

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In all, the process wherein a new part is proposed, designed, prototyped, tested and developed happens both in a short amount of time as well as with a surprisingly small collection of like-minded individuals. At the time of this story, the RIVA Development Team is currently working on several performance stages of the Yamaha GP1800 as well as assembling models to be sold as their RIVA Edition GP1800R units, as well as developing product for the soon-to-be-released Kawasaki SX-R.

“RIVA is dedicated to the new ski,” Bamdas explained to The Watercraft Journal. “We have a long history and rich background in building standup performance.” With 2017 just over the horizon, we’re certain the RIVA Development Team are hard at work getting a full catalog of products ready for the new year.

Case of The Mondays: Zapata Breaks Hoverboard Flight Record

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In case you missed it, earlier this year 37-year-old Franky Zapata, inventor of the Flyboard Air, broke Alexander Duru’s record of the furthest flight on a hoverboard. The record shattering flight made by the French Jet Ski champion took place April 30, 2016 off the coast of Sausset-les-Pins in the south of France. He rode his specially designed jet-powered board called The Flyboard Air, which uses an “Independent Propulsion Unit” to fly hose-free and can stay airborne for up to ten minutes. The Flyboard is not equipped with a jet ski or tether like other types of hoverboards.

The Gizmag staff was anxious to check out Zapata’s  world record attempt so they boarded a ship named Albatros, which got underway in the Mediterranean near Marseille, France. Also among the guests aboard the vessel were other members of the press and selected VIPs. The Albatross dropped anchor opposite a take-off platform at Carry-le-Rouet while everyone waited for Zapata to get suited up and fly away.

After Zapata performed a quick systems test, he climbed into the attached boots of the Flyboard Air’s carbon fiber platform and prepared for launch.  Once he cranked the jets, he was quickly airborne and cruising along the coastline. This lasted for close to ten minutes before he flew roughly 100 feet above the water, hitting a maximum speed of 44 miles per hour, prior to making his landing in the port of Sausset-les-Pins.  Zapata totally smashed Duru’s old record of 905.2 feet with his own amazing flight of 7,389.76 feet! You can check out the video right here. It’s really cool!