Evan Kassing has done something very unique with his custom turbocharged 2012 Sea-Doo RXP-X 260. Usually a supercharged ski, when Evan upgraded it to a GRF TiAL/Garrett turbo system, he decided the original factory Sea-Doo iControl display system just wouldn’t cut it for what he needed.
Enter the MoTec C127 digital display system. With some custom programming and management from a MoTec M150 system, Evan has managed to mate the C127 with his RXP-X jet-ski and it works brilliantly.
The C127 is a new model in MoTeC’s line-up of displays and display loggers. Featuring a high resolution, full color, 178mm ultra bright and anti-reflective screen, the C127 is sure to impress. Stylishly designed with powerful functionality, the C127 provides a sophisticated display plus data logging, auxiliary control and programmable LEDs all in one streamlined device.
Numerous selectable layouts are supplied with configurable channels, labels and color schemes. If none of the pre-loaded layouts suit your fancy, it gives you the full ability to treat your screen as a blank canvas and design your own layout with unique graphics, sponsor logos, custom icons and gauges with the new Display Creator upgrade.
The C127 also features a total of 16 full color LEDs integrated into the unit for use as shift lights (for motorcycle and automobile applications), warning lights or other driver alerts. The color, function and intensity of each LED are fully programmable allowing users to develop their own unique strategies and sequences.
West Coast racing is as strong as ever and Ross Wallach of RPM Enterprises just announced the complete Spring/Summer schedule for the 2016 “Best of The West” racing series. Teaming again with Jettribe Core Watercraft as the Title Sponsor for the Arizona/California-exclusive series, 10 rounds of racing will take place over five weekends throughout the year, spanning from April to August.
Beginning in Lake Havasu, Arizona, with the 3rd Annual Lake Havasu Watercross IJSBA Regional Championships Gary Hart Memorial, the action continues on Parker, Arizona; Lake Perris and Lake Elsinore, California; before returning back to Perris, California for the Lake Perris Jettribe Season Finals, which hopes to also turn things on its ear with a possible night race. We’re excited to see residents from Arizona join the strongest riders from across California, and expect to see a fantastic series unfold this year.
Here’s the original press release:
Jettribe Signs On Again As Title Sponsor For The 2016 IJSBA “Best Of The West” Series
RPM Racing Enterprises is proud to announce that JETTRIBE CORE WATERCRAFT Co. – www.jettribe.com has signed on for a fourth consecutive year to be the title sponsor of the IJSBA sanctioned 2016 “Best of the West” Series. RPM Racing Enterprises has been promoting PWC racing, both closed course and endurance, for the past ten years in Southern California, Arizona & Nevada.
The 2015 season ended on a high note at Round #7 of The Jettribe Best of the West Season Finals at Mossdale Quarry Lakes in Lathrop, CA with DJSA that featured the 2015 North vs. South California State Championships under the lights! With Jettribe’s continued involvement, the 2016 season looks to be even bigger & better than last year which saw the largest attended closed course races in the nation. This year RPM Racing is undertaking an ambitious 10 round series,*” according to Ross Wallach, President of RPM Racing Enterprises.
“I can’t thank Tony and the Jettribe staff enough when it comes to helping me promote these great events! Jettribe always goes above and beyond that of a typical sponsor and try’s to find more ways to help out not only the individual event but the entire sport! Tony has been an unbelievable asset and a direct reason why racing continues to thrive!” Beginning in April and running through August fans will be treated to some spectacular competition on the water at some of the best race sites when racers will be on a quest to win the title of JETTRIBE “Best of the West” Series Champion. The action on the water promises not to disappoint!
JETTRIBE Core Watercraft Co. is recognized as the industry leader of PWC Watercraft gear. From PWC covers to wetsuits, gloves, footwear, goggles, protective gear, rashguards, etc., JETTRIBE is a one stop shop for the racer and enthusiast alike. JETTRIBE’S expert knowledge and superior quality is what separates it from the rest and why more racers choose JETTRIBE when buying PWC gear. The partnership between JETTRIBE and RPM Racing Enterprises continues to serve the racer and fan alike. For More Information, Please Visit www.jettribe.com
Race Schedule Round 1 & 2: April 9th & 10th- 3rd Annual Lake Havasu Watercross IJSBA Regional Championships Gary Hart Memorial, LHC, AZ Round 3 & 4: May 14th & 15th – Blue Water Resort & Casino IJSBA Western States Nationals, Parker, AZ Round 5 & 6: June 11 & 12- Lake Perris Open, Sail Cove, Lake Perris State Park, Perris, CA Round 7 & 8: July 9th & 10th – Lake Elsinore or Vail Lake Open of Watercross (TBD) Round 9 & 10: August 13th & 14th – Lake Perris Jettribe Season Finals (North vs. South State Championships, possible night race) Sail Cove, Lake Perris State Park, Perris, CA
In a recent surprising announcement, long time Kawasaki endurance specialist Christian D’Agostin and fellow racing teammate Cameron Martin have jumped ship from their factory sponsored team Brisbane Kawasaki rides to form a new team called PTS Racing.
Racing Yamaha’s for the 2016 season; the pair announced they have recently picked up the 2016 Yamaha FZR and FX from Gold Coast WaveRunners in Queensland, Australia.
“I can’t thank Shaun and Judy Hale from Gold Coast WaveRunners enough as well as Mark Harman from Yamaha Australia for making it such an easy decision. Now the real work begins with us and the team from Worx Racing Components to fine tune both the FX and the FZR for China in March,” said Martin.
Christian and Cameron earned top honors this past year during the 2015 Yamaha Australian Jetcross Tour and Australian offshore endurance series while racing Kawasakis; so it should be interesting to watch how the team does with their new Yamahas this year! For more information on their new team PTS Racing, check out their website.
There’s no question about it, the fuel curve gurus at V-Tech Tuned are making a name for themselves when it comes to getting in and unlocking the innermost potential found within today’s high tech four-stroke machines. Their handheld MapTuner is already seeing tons of attention for both Yamaha and Sea-Doo, especially for the latest crop of ACE 300 models!
Recently, our friends at PWC Muscle announced a very cool special on V-Tech Tuning’s MapTuner for your ACE 900-powered Spark. For those already familiar, the V-Tech MapTuner allows for quick and easy engine map tune downloads, allowing you to gather and replace your factory engine map for a custom one via V-Tech.
Now, for $600, you can purchase an ECU Flash Credit that can be applied to downloading a new digital map tune for your Sea-Doo and “significantly boost your Sea-Doo’s performance!” states PWC Muscle’s website. Although the map won’t push you to speeds equal to V-Tech’s radical turbo Spark kit, it will push you well past the stock configuration’s maximum of 90-horsepower.
Of course, if you have any questions regarding application or how to get the most out of your Sea-Doo Spark, give PWC Muscle a call at (888) 605-2335 today!
In 2011, Kawasaki Motor Corp. USA quietly announced that the SX-R 800, the progeny of the original JS400 and subsequent genealogical line of two-stroke stand-up JetSkis, would be phased out after that model year. From 2003 until that final year, the 8-year run of the SX-R was hailed with significant fanfare. The JetSki featured the widest tray of any Kawasaki before it. The hull was the direct result of decades of racing experience, incorporating several key design features to better allow the unit to rise to plane quickly, turn sharply and allow the rider to lean into said corners with confidence. The 800cc inline twin-cylinder was equally tried-and-true, bolstered by a deep well of aftermarket support.
So why did Kawasaki kill the stand-up JetSki? The quick answer is a rising trend in outlawing marine craft with two-stroke engines from lakes and rivers throughout the United States at the time. The groundswell of legislation quickly put the manufacturer under the ecological microscope, and combined with an underlying public distaste for “jet skiers” (primarily among older boating enthusiasts and private waterfront property owners stemming from decades of unmitigated bad judgement on behalf of early PWC enthusiasts), made outlawing the machines an easy target. But was that truly the central cause for Kawasaki to end a near 40-year-run of the stand-up JetSki? Sadly, the answer is no. It’s our fault.
Yes, jet ski enthusiasts could’ve written their congressional representatives strongly-worded letters. Yes, we could’ve voiced our arguments before local and municipal legislation. Yes, we could’ve filed private and class action lawsuits to stymie these bills. And yes, some of us did do such things. But the real fault that we as a community carry is that Kawasaki simply didn’t sell enough of them. The cost of production weighed against the number of units sold compacted by the growing vilification by an uneducated public made the ski’s demise a budgetary line item, not a decision of passion. So then, the query emerges: why did Yamaha continue (and continues today) to offer the SuperJet? They weren’t selling that many more SuperJets over SX-Rs. Simply put, their production costs were less and sales sightly higher.
Those two factors were enough to buoy the SuperJet through the economic storm of these past seven years; and Yamaha’s perseverance has paid in fold. SuperJet sales have increased year-to-year since 2013, so much so that demand has called for yearly increases in production. Spurring demand, Yamaha has also boldly incentivized sales, offering heavily-reduced monthly payment programs that price the two-stroke to nearly the cost of an average cellular data plan. Fatefully, the future of the SuperJet leans strongly at the introduction of a new hull design and modern 4-stroke plant to boot, while sources within Kawasaki have revealed little to no genuine interest in resurrecting the stand-up JetSki any time soon.
So, it could be argued that as our community let the Kawasaki JetSki slip into the mists of history, our collective support of the SuperJet may quite possibly reward us with a new 50-state emissions-legal stand-up. This, for all of you who forgot their high school economics class, is meant by a “free-market” – the Longman British maxim, “voting with your wallet” has never been so apropos. We, being a capitalist society, support the companies, products and venues best when we patronize them (a fact sadly lost on so many racers), and the free market allows those companies who do not garner equal support to fall by the wayside. Naturalist Herbert Spencer observed it as “survival of the fittest.”
But what if, as Darwin hypothesized, the environment – or in this example, the marketplace – fails to sustain enough life; enough for larger, more advanced predators thrive? (Because where there are several forms of predators, there is a successful ecosystem.) The African Serengeti teams with life from all links of the food chain, from pasturing impala and giraffe grazing from the billows, to packs of African wild dogs, caracal, mongoose, lions, cheetahs and pythons preying upon the first. Yet conversely, the lowest depths of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, located just east of the Philippines, can only sustain mainly soft shelled foraminifera living in the silty bed floor, feeding on particulates and bacteria. The almost extraterrestrial temperatures and crushing pressures make the environment seemingly inhospitable.
To best understand where I’m going with this, consider the motocross industry as the African plains: the environment is lush in resources (the total US motorcycle manufacturing industry is valued at over $4 billion dollars), is rich in competition (an estimated half billion in aftermarket and correlated brands), and rife with life (a total 115,510 off-road/dual motorcycles were sold in 2014 alone). Compared to that of the personal watercraft industry (an estimated 55 million in total combined OE and aftermarket annual sales, and just over 30,000 new units sold in 2014), we start to come to terms with the hostility of our environment towards new life (ie. shops, vendors, dealers, manufacturers, media).
As is with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, new life is often small, parasitic and nearly translucent – except for one: the angler fish. This terrifying creature is an unchallenged predator, deviously evolved to its environment and faced with no natural threat. Its bio-luminescent toggle hanging from above its enormous crescent-shaped mouth filled with sharp, cagey teeth is the solitary source of light in the blackness of the inky ocean. This is the best living example of being a “big fish in a small pond.” And like the crushing depths of the ocean, there are few predators within the PWC industry who have proven that can not only survive in this hostile environment but thrive. As new unit sales continue to increase, so will the aftermarket and consequently the industry as a whole. The way to grow the industry, and thereby make the environment more friendly towards new life, is to support those who support the sport.
OZPWC reports that jet skis are banned again at Henley Beach in Southern Australia. This has been an ongoing saga for the Sturt Council who voted 8-to-7 to ban PWC’s and motorboats from coming within 200 meters of the shore between Torren Outlet and Grange.
The Charles Sturt Council is accepting full legal responsibility for for the zone slated for exclusion. Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan said he was pleased the council “had put its ratepayers and beachgoers first by taking this decision.”
Henley Ward Councillor Jassmine Wood, who called for the vote, was pressured by angry and worried residents for not implementing the ban this month.
“This is about safety,” Cr. Wood told this week’s council meeting. I do not have anything against jet skis — I’m happy for them to ride at West Beach — but Henley is a family beach.”
The new application will not allow ratepayers to hold the government responsible for accidents in the area. Henley Ward Councillor Bob Randall was against this specific decision and was distressed that Charles Sturt ratepayers would be prone to the legal risk the license carries with it.
The councilors did vote to ask Mullighan to put a permanent ban in place for future summers in Henley and Grange since concerned residents are really pushing for one because Henley is a family beach and safety must be a priority. Charles Sturt Mayor Angela Evans and Mullighan are seeking a permanent solution to banning personal watercraft and motor boats between Henley and Grange by using government regulation.
OK, right off the bat we’re gonna tell ya that the Aegis Lifeshirt will not replace your traditional USCG-approved personal flotation device, so don’t expect to never have to don your PFD again. But, what this incredible bit of ingenuity does provide is some added assurance when it comes to keeping your loved ones and yourself alive.
Created by Aegis, the Lifeshirt features an inflatable bladder that inflates around the upper torso and neck to keep the head above water (thanks to a tiny CO2 cylinder woven into a small compartment on the back) when either a shoulder-mounted handle is manually pulled, or automatically when a sensor detect when the wearer has been submerged for a specified period of time.
According to Gizmag, Aegis “keeps the Lifeshirt as comfortable as possible using carefully selected materials and design solutions. The current design is a form-fitting shirt with an internal moisture-wicking liner, mesh ventilation panels and UPF 50+ fabric. The inflation system is built into the upper-middle back. An integrated waistband ensures the shirt stays in place.”
They continue, “Lifeshirt has been approved by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as a Level 50 device. The company has a Level 70 design in the works. ISO classifies Level 50 (50 newtons/11.2 lb of buoyancy) devices as ‘buoyancy aids’ that ‘require the user to make swimming and other postural movements to position the user with the face out of the water” and differentiates them from lifejackets, which “provide face up in-water support to the user regardless of physical conditions.'”
Lastly, while the 50 N rating meets ISO standards, the Florida-based Aegis Lifeshirt does not meet US Coast Guard (USCG) vessel carriage requirements for recreational boats and paddle craft, currently. Aegis has hopes that the USCG will soon come to harmonize its standards with ISO at a future date.
The single most recognizable name in personal watercraft traction mats and equipment – Hydro-Turf – offers its customers much more than its top-of-the-line traction mats, seat covers, and hardware. The venerable brand also supplies its iconic molded foam padding for stand-up paddle boarders, surfers, bass boat fishermen and even duck hunters!
Below, you’ll see a before-and-after example from Camo Toad of this duck hunting low-slung craft being fitted with “swamp camo” camouflage Hydro-Turf matting prior to heading out into the reeds to land their next big prize trophy.
Likewise, Hydro-Turf offers a larger array of products and apparel to get you feeling right for the upcoming season. Case in point: Hydro-Turf’s new baseball caps just in time for Spring!
Available in either black or navy and tan, each cap features a two-tone bill with embroidery on three sides, and an adjustable Velcro strap. Priced at $10 a pop, these caps are both stylish and a bargain! Get yours today and represent the biggest name in the watercraft traction business by ordering one by following this link HERE.
Of course, Hydro-Turf also offers a wide selection of other FlexFit fitted hats, t-shirts, visors and much, much more. So get yours before the season starts!
In cooperation with the city of Charleston, West Virginia; Pro Watercross is very excited to announce that the Pro Watercross National Championship’s Pro finals will air on CBS Sports Network this fall 2016.
The Pro Watercross National Championship which will take place on Charleston’s Magic Island on the dates of August 20-21, 2016. The National Championship will see the world’s top athletes competing in this fast and exciting sport of closed course personal watercraft racing to become the 2016 Pro Watercross National Champions.
As part of a three-year agreement, Charleston has committed to improve the site of the event to better accommodate competitors and their equipment. “Charleston is a great little city with a friendly atmosphere and lots to do in the downtown area. The site improvements are going to make this event first class”; Brian O’Rourke of Team Faith from Nashville, TN stated.
The National Championship is the anchor to the city’s annual SportsFest which includes Beach Volleyball, Charleston 3 on 3 Basketball, Jiu-Jitsu Wrestling as well as tons of tasty local food.
Tim Brady, VP of Sales and Marketing of the Charleston, West Virginia Convention and Visitors Bureau commented; “We’re excited to continue this relationship for at least the next three years. Charleston and Pro Watercross have developed a strong partnership that I believe has benefited both the city and the tour. The event has grown every year and it’s become something that locals look forward to each August. As the tour stop has grown, so too has the entire SportsFest weekend here in Charleston. New events are added each year, but it’s the foundation laid by Pro Watercross that has really made it possible. With the added exposure of CBS Sports this event truly becomes a national showcase for Charleston, as well as the state of West Virginia.”
For additional information about the Pro Watercross National Championship please visit go to www.ProWatercross.com
Sea-Doo is always looking for ways to interact with their fans and customers. This time, they are giving Sea-Doo riders a chance to win some cool Sea-Doo gear, accessories, and clothing, up to a $750 AUD ($540 USD) value. All you have to do to enter is share a video of your epic, exciting Sea-Doo life.
Just share a video demonstrating your awesome experiences and adventures on a Sea-Doo watercraft. Your video will be directed to the Sea-Doo Australia/New Zealand Facebook fan page. Unfortunately, this contest is exclusive to residents of Australia and New Zealand, so those of you here in the States wanting to go out and battle the cold will not be able to enter.
The videos will be judged on creativity and originality. So pretty much, just make a video of you having a blast on a Sea-Doo watercraft, then follow the entry procedure and share it for your chance at winning a prize. The top three entries will win one of the following:
First Prize
One voucher valued at $750 AUD ($540 USD) of Sea-Doo accessories, riding gear, and clothing.
Second Prize
One voucher valued at $500 AUD ($360 USD) of Sea-Doo accessories, riding gear, and clothing.
Third Prize
One voucher valued at $250 AUD ($180 USD) of Sea-Doo accessories, riding gear, and clothing.
