The 2015/16 AquaX Championship, hosted by NSWPWC was a four round club series in Sydney, Australia. The series was designed to allow new riders to join and start racing and for more experienced riders to hone their skills out on the track. The NSWPWC has a strong contingent of loyal local riders who come down each and every time to battle it out against their friends.

This year’s season saw a lot of interest from Queensland riders and even an international guest, AJ Luinstra from Wichita, Kansas. AJ traveled out to Australia to compete in three rounds of the AquaX Series and explore what Sydney had to offer.

Round One held on the 8th of November saw a smaller number of entries to our following rounds but still kicked off the season with a strong showing from NSWPWC regulars Corey Styles, Nick Pilgrim, Paul Leven and Enduro rider Chinni Rao. Ski class had some familiar faces of James Xuer,eb, Michael Stevens Tom Aiken and master rider Michael McMillan, however it was junior rider Jett Cavanagh who showed nothing is impossible and topped the podium for the round against an array of older riders, some by a few years and others by a generation.

The strong presence on social media attracted some new riders to the fold, including Ash Deadman, Stuart Fell, Mick Butler and Nik Pazanin. All raced in the endurance in their first race meet to understand the lay of the track and the close quarters of racing.

Round Two on the 31st January 2016 rang in the new year with almost doubled in entrants with many riders cross entering in many classes to start gaining those valuable points. Showroom Stock and Lites ski proved to be the pick of the classes, proving you don’t have to spend a fortune to race jet skis. Round Two also saw a large Queensland contingent travel down across state lines including Yamaha Waverunner rider Mitch Wayt and determined racer Brett Douglas.

Brendan Boyd and Sam Barratt are always faithful to making the trip down and we appreciate your efforts boys! Lites Ski saw a huge twelve entries, biggest we have seen in a few seasons and the addition of a few more juniors including Jason Moujally, Jordan Farrow and AJ Luinstra. Sydney Sea-Doo also sponsored a first ever Spark class putting up prize money for the podium finishers. This class continued to grow over the season and was a great addition to race day.

Round Three, a month later, on 28th February saw another big collection from Queensland again making the trip down south showing real commitment to jetski racing in Australia. This time everyone was in for a real treat with a Vintage class being run. Some awesome vintage 550’s standups were raring to go with nine on the line, all skis stickered up and adding some real colour to the day. Yet another new junior was added to the starting line with Austin O Halloran, coming in and dominating his first race coming third in Lites and first in junior ski.

Showroom Stock continued to grow in both the enduro and circuit, with the new riders starting to gain on the seasoned riders with their consistency in placing. Stock class was also biggest in Round Three with Mitch Wayt proving that although he is the current Australian Champion there are many including Mark Quitadamo, Adam Wildin, and Sam Barratt biting at his heels if he makes one wrong move.

The fourth and final round held on the 10th April 2016, unfortunately saw a clash with QPWC’s Second Tropical Heat round. However this did not stop another huge round with big classes across the field. Ski class again proved popular with 15 skis on the line including 3 open skis. Once a junior not too long ago, Tom Aiken proved too good, claiming the top prize, followed closely by Jett Cavanagh and Austin O Halloran.

An eleventh hour entry by Kylie Ellmers was also great to see, debuting the Sea-Doo Centre’s SD Trak, jumping into Lites class to give it a run around the track. Sport class exploded back on the scene, doubling round three’s entries to six on the line including James Xuereb on his Yamaha Waveblaster and Richard Holmes on his Naturally Aspirated Sea-Doo. Junior ski class followed a similar pattern with now a huge six skis on the line. Jett Cavanagh took out first, Austin O Halloran in second and US junior AJ Luinstra rounding out his Australian trip with a well deserved third.

Showroom Stock class proved popular once again, with Corey Styles proving too good for the rest of the field. Stock class would not be the same without Mitch Wayt, managing to secure first place on a borrowed Showroom Stock Ski. Open Runabout seems to always be a battle between Brendan Boyd and Paul Leven, however Leven proved too quick for the ski they call “The Incredible Hulk” and took out first place.

The AquaX Championship was a huge success for the NSWPWC and it is a credit to all of the volunteers that make race day go ahead each and every round. A big congratulations goes out to Nick Pilgrim who was awarded Most Improved Runabout Rider and Jordan Farrow who was awarded the Most Improved Ski Rider for the 2015/16 Season. However the racing season isn’t quite over yet! We are very excited to announce the National Endurance Titles hosted by the NSWPWC on 21st May 2016. Keep your eyes peeled for information being released very soon!

Lites: 1. Jett Cavanagh, 2. Michael McMillan, 3. Tom Aiken; Juniors: 1. Jett Cavanagh, 2. AJ Luinstra, 3. Jordan Farrow; Open: 1. Michael Stevens, 2. James Xuereb, 3. Tom Aiken; Showroom Stock: 1. Corey Styles, 2. Nicholas Pilgrim, 3. Mick Butler; Stock: 1. Mitch Wayt, 2. Sam Barratt, 3. Mark Quitadamo; Open: 1. Paul Leven, 2. Brendan Boyd, 3. Mitch Wayt; Enduro – Showroom Stock: 1. Nick Pilgrim, 2. Stuart Fell, 3. Nikolas Pazanin; Enduro – Stock: 1. Chinni Rao, 2. Sam Barratt, 3. Mitch Wayt; Enduro – Open: 1. Chinni Rao, 2. Dany Moujally, 3. Mitch Wayt

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As we now are heading into the cooler months, the QPWC held their final round of the Tropical Heat Tour for 2016 at Bells Beach, Redcliffe, AUS. The stakes were high and racers were battling down to the final points in order to come out on top. The second round presented racers with near-perfect conditions with low wind and fantastic sunshine and warm weather all morning. Jamie Eade, owner at Brisbane Kawasaki, was the official Race Director, giving the chance for points in the series up, to ensure racing in QLD keeps charging ahead. It was good to see our loyal race director Ross Moore attend the event as a spectator, always willing to lend our club a hand.

With well over 70 entrants in the two-part series, the excitement built between the fellow competitors, as well as onlookers! The QPWC attracted a noticeable increase in beginner riders to the tour, which excites us to think that jet ski racing is about to heat up again. The beginner classes filled up and were split into two, due to large numbers and to ensure safe racing. Thank you to the sponsors of the Tropical Heat tour: Liquid Industries, BRP, Brisbane Kawasaki and Talk Toyota, as well as the QPWC committee for holding a successful two-part series. Element Imagery was onboard to ensure riders were captured behind the lens for the series also.

The Open Runabout class is always a favorite. The high power and sheer noise tends to attract spectators to the track at Redcliffe from far and wide. Brett Douglas was unrivaled over the two-part series on his open Sea-Doo #71. Dan Fox came in second on the podium, with Brendan Boyd taking home third, also on a modified Sea-Doo #23.

The Pole Ski class had a fantastic line up and it was great to see so many on the start line giving it a shot. Jordi O’Keeffe was a clear stand out in round one taking home top spot, coming back to round two and taking home the podium first place. Thaine O’Keeffe, from Shoreline Yamaha came in a strong second, with Jason Barrett on their tails, but still taking home third place on the podium. Clyde Grant just missed out, but secured a fourth place. Congratulations to all the Pole Ski competitors. It was great to see an increase of interest in this class and we hope it continues to grow and be maintained within the club.

The Sports/Spark class had fantastic attendance at both rounds, with BRP generously donating $800 worth of vouchers for the series. The fast growing class is exciting to watch, and is a great class for attracting beginner racers to the sport. Joel Batt took home the goods on his Spark #28, showing a total domination over the two round series. Luke Hudson came in second and Brendan Mandzij followed, securing a third for the final podium.

The Beginner/Amateur Runabout classes were exciting to watch and held some fierce competition between the two rounds. The finals weekend saw Bailey Cunningham and Sebastian Birch head to head for final points to get that top spot on podium. Bailey #81 came out on top, showing some amazing endurance after also competing in the Sports/Spark motos throughout the day. Sebastian secured second, and third place became a tie for points between Anthony Batrouni and Brett Whittaker. Fortunately for Anthony, he took home the trophy after placing higher in lap score points than Brett.

The other Beginner/Amateur class showed similar heated competition with only a few points separating podium places. Paul Rubach took first place on his ever reliable Kawasaki 310R, closely followed by Sea-Doo rider Ryan Sponseller in second. With his own music cheering him home; Paul Bazely placed third on his Kawasaki 310LX blaring the on board stereo sound system as he rode.

The Vintage team racers had the weather on their side this time round. Normally they are faced with white caps and rain, making it rather difficult handling conditions on some of these well-loved older machines. There were some great close competitions between the crew with the smooth water conditions, being rare for Redcliffe.

The series consisted of two endurance rounds with an exciting Le Mans start. It seemed that Kawasaki skis dominated the podium once again, both rounds with Brett Douglas a clear stand out in each race meet on his #71 Kawasaki 310. Paul Rubach #26 was not too far behind, coming in second overall, followed by Jay Schull #330 keeping the competition exciting.

Thank you to everyone that attended the working bee for the QPWC prior to this series. We rely on volunteers to get racing underway in QLD and we thank everyone that lends a hand. A special thank you to Brett Douglas, Zac Humphries, Wayne Tauhore, Joanna Kristoffersen, Joel Batt, Jamie Eade, Tim O’Neill, David Marsh, Steve and the score tent helpers; Amanda Mitchell, Sandra, Taylor, and Sam; as well as everyone else who helps out on the day.

Congratulations to all our QPWC racers for the series. We have an exciting few months of PWC racing coming up! The QLD titles are coming! For many years, Queensland has produced some of the fastest PWC riders in the country. On May 8th QPWC presents the 2016 Queensland titles. Come and take a chance at putting your name alongside the legends of the sport. All skill levels catered for including beginners. May 8th, 2016 – Bells Beach, Redcliffe!

The Sunshine Coast Jet Sports Club is holding their annual Freeride event at Alexandra Headlands, attracting national and international competitors! The King of Freeride is being held on May 6th and 7th, targeted at beginner to pro level free riders on a range of stand-up and small run about jet skis. There is over $20,000 in cash and prizes to be won!

The AJSBA is also working towards an event, holding the Australian Endurance nationals in New South Wales on May 21st! An exciting month of May is in store for Jet ski racers and enthusiasts! All imagery provided by Element Imagery. Originals can be purchased HERE.

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It’s amazing how quickly things can change. Two years ago, the new-to-the-States P1 AquaX personal watercraft racing series lured greenhorn and seasoned veteran pros with $50 entry fees, promises of top tier media coverage and “box stock” level competition.

From then to now, AquaX has experienced some necessary growing pains including tripling the entry fee to $150, heavily amending the rules to cater to the new class arrangement, and even picked up for the non-existent IJSBA National Tour, expanding outside of its once Florida-only reach.

For the first round of 2016’s AquaX Rookie Cup series, 34 racers were greeted with noticeably less fanfare than most were accustomed to. Media coverage was effectively absent (apart from this admittedly slapdash report – Ed.), gone were the photographers and camera crews, or the once promised television coverage – clearly being reserved for the “pro show” set to begin in Daytona Beach this weekend.

Racers though were put through a stringent technical inspection that felt to many as being more a demonstration of seriousness than anything else. “I think they were trying to set a precedent,” Brad Clark told The Watercraft Journal. “We were supposed to get out of there by 4pm, but they took until 8 that evening.”

Because of the added rules applied to the Amateur class, only the slightest of handling modifications could be made to the craft ensuring that top speeds didn’t exceed 70 miles per hour. This of course, didn’t dissuade some from trying to push those preset boundaries; “There were a few DQ’s,” Clark continued. “They [AquaX] were really good about tracking the speeds.”

Some racers noted that although AquaX’s use of transponders were effective in monitoring the racers’ speeds, tracking the laps and racers’ positions were still done by sight, which several participants contested the final scoring for the weekend, with one anonymous racer stating, “The scoring was off.”

Nevertheless, the field was rife with new and returning athletes ready to prove themselves and their craft. In the first two tiers (200 and 250 Classes), two of the podiums’ top spots belonged to Yamaha each followed by a lone Sea-Doo.

For the 300 Class, the Top 5 finishers were a blend of SVHO-powered Yamahas and supercharged Kawasakis, surprising many who bandied the theory that Sea-Doo’s new 300-horsepower machines would sweep the podiums. Daniel Steele, Tommy Olswang and Chris Saxon came home the points leaders in their respective classes, all of whom represented Yamaha.

Brad Clark concluded, “It was a very professionally-ran series as always,” praising the thoroughness of the tech crew and event organizers, and even praising the few professional racers who came out to watch: “It was nice to see the pros out there, talking to the racers, cheering them on.”

All photography courtesy of Danielle Gavagni, from whom originals can be purchased.