While this isn’t exactly a PWC, we do think many of you will see some design similarities that’ll blur the lines between a personal watercraft and a personal hovercraft. And c’mon, it is still a very cool build worth sharing.
This one of a kind creation built by New Zealander, Rudy Heeman isn’t your average back yard build, either. He has successfully manufactured a functional hovercraft! This hovercraft took precision engineering and serious know-how to make it work properly. There’s very little room for error when building something like this. Heeman did a terrific job designing and building a craft this unique. With no baseline as to how a hovercraft should look, Rudy Heeman had to dream it, design it, then manufacture it from scratch.
Along with being a functional “hovercraft,” once it exceeds 40 miles per hour, it is capable of flying. It promises to give you the ultimate air, land, and sea experience. It’s a boat, a plane, and a land-going vehicle all in one! After watching the video, it looks like it would be a blast to ride, and a very versatile craft, too. I can’t think of many places this thing couldn’t go. Who wouldn’t want one of these?
It floats, flies, hovers, slides, there’s not a whole lot it doesn’t do. If you’re anything like we are, you’re probably thinking “Sign me up!” But you don’t want to go through the trouble of building one yourself. You don’t have to build one to own one, as Heeman plans on marketing his design at a price of $13,000. Watch it in action HERE:
Last week, Peru played host to some of the world’s best racers in the sport, as they held the INKA Jet Raid in Lima, Peru. This eight day rough water racing gauntlet was a tough, demanding challenge for both riders and skis alike. Only the ultimate rider/machine combo can come out on top.
American Eric “The Eagle” Francis came into the event with high hopes, partnered with Kiko Chia and Rafael Davila, who are also outstanding riders. But things didn’t look too good for US rider and the rest of Team Chia after Day 3. They battled issues with their Kawasaki Ultra 310, from broken supercharger belts to a ride plate coming off. It was obvious that luck was not on their side going into Day 4 either. Some may have counted Francis out after struggling early, but if you’ve ever seen this guy in action, you know he doesn’t ever give up.
On Day 8 (last day of racing), there was an 85 km (about 53 mi.) race in very rough water around the islands. This was Team Chia’s last chance at taking the lead in the F3 class. The team decided to put their fate in Francis’ hands. That turned out to be a great decision, as he won the event with a lead of around 10 minutes over the next rider!
Just getting a podium finish in the F3 would have been a huge feat for this team after a rather unfortunate start to the week, but they weren’t willing to settle for second or third. They fought back all week to take the win in the F3 class! They also managed to get third overall for the event. It’s amazing what they were able to overcome to leave Peru with a win.
Francis summed up the week stating, “After a very rough start to the week, my team and I pulled it together and finished 1st in our class and 3rd overall at this year’s INKA Jetraid in Peru! It has been an amazing experience and I can’t thank my friend Kiko Chia, my manager Valerie Chia and the rest of the Chia team for all the help and support here.”
The fundraiser for multiple sclerosis is accepting personal watercraft entrants for The Great Australian Poker Run in Sydney, Australia, according to OZPWC. That was great news since that meant raising more money for a great cause. The run takes place December 12th on the Hawksbury River, starting at Wisemans Ferry, heading downstream to hit Checkpoint 1 at Spencer. Participants must ride in single file and a crew will be on hand doing a drive by to pick up cards.
Riders will continue to a private beach located in front of the Broken Bay Sports and Recreation Center, which is also the half way point. A 70 foot Predator Sunseeker will be set up with a band playing. People can enjoy listening to music while eating lunch, provided they bought an entry that included food.
The beach stop includes a landing area and an area to anchor offshore. Toilets, shade, and a netted swimming area will be located along the beach. The plan is to leave Broken Bay in single file by 1pm and the boats will head upriver for another drive by checkpoint located in Spencer. From there, all watercraft will head back to Wisemans Ferry to complete the run.
Del Rio Resort is booked for participants so they can enjoy more live music, buckets of prawns, cheese platters, and bars until 7pm. This group enjoys raising funds for MS, having a great time on their boats, and giving people joy on the water in a family friendly environment. You can book your tickets for the run and get more information here. Just click the link and it will direct you to the correct page.
Yamaha’s Sports Ride Concept car was revealed at the 43rd annual Tokyo Motor Show which shouldn’t come as a complete surprise to folks who have kept up with the company. According to an article at Cycle World, Yamaha has been involved in the four-wheeled business for a very long time. The company built the original Toyota 2000GT and then top-quality engines for the Ford Taurus SHO and Volvo XC90 V-8.
According to Road and Track Magazine, this new concept car by Yamaha is really stylish and lighter than a Mazda Miata. The Sports Ride Concept weighs in at a mere 1,653 pounds and even 400 pounds less than a Lotus Elise. The interior looks quite futuristic and just all around great! it is comprised of leather, metal, and carbon fiber. It is a 2-seater with a front-engine/rear-driver and a mini McLaren look on the outside. It is built using the iStream process developed by famed F1 designer Gordon Murray.
The carbon-chassis Yamaha is touted as rigid and extremely light. This makes for a sports car that’s a half-inch shorter and a half-inch narrower than the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Moreover, this new Yamaha concept presumably hasn’t had to meet any sort of crash standards. There is still no information on what type of engine Yamaha plans to install in this beast or has installed.
For all we know, it may have a motorcycle engine under the hood. Mind you, this is speculation along with the rumor that the Sports Ride Concept may be the basis for the new Toyota MR2. Time will tell! In the mean time take a look at some pictures of this rad vehicle.
High performance engines simply require better care, high quality parts and studious maintenance than their less potent siblings. Since its introduction in 2003, the supercharged Rotax 4-tec 3-cylinder has remained one of the most prolific and popular performance powerplants in the industry; finding its way in more top speed-pursuing conversion skis, more race-ready watercraft and more enthusiasts’ machines than feasibly any other personal watercraft engine.
With its popularity comes the need to service it regularly, and we’re not just talking about regular oil changes. From 2003 until 2008, Sea-Doo used ceramic clutch washers in their shaft-driven supercharger assemblies. When subjected to high instant loads over a long period of time and use (without proper maintenance), these ceramic washers have been known to fail, fracturing into many pieces, which can lead to catastrophic engine failure.
We discussed this matter with PWC Muscle’s Joe Zammataro, whose shop offers comprehensive supercharger maintenance and rebuilds service to hundreds of Sea-Doo enthusiasts annually. Zammataro was willing to not only draw back the curtain on PWC Muscle’s process, but also walk us through how a supercharger can fail, what happens when it does and finally, what goes into rebuilding one if and when it does.
“When the ceramic washers fail, they leave highly-abrasive materials in the oil pan. This can affect all of the bearings in the engine’s lower assembly,” Zammataro explained. “The supercharger clutch sits directly above one of the engine’s oil pumps. Usually the material gets caught in the oil screen (not to be confused with the oil filter), but eventually works past it. If this happens, it will ruin the oil pump and you’ll get oil starvation. That’ll lead to what is known as grenading the engine, as the whole thing will lock up due to lack of oil.
“Supercharger clutches exist so there can be a variance between engine speed and the impeller in the supercharger. The highest amount of wear comes from jumping the ski out of the water, allowing the revs to get very high with the unloaded jet pump, and then coming back down into the water and having that instant drop in RPMs. While the engine might go from say 9,000 rpm down to 4,500 rpm, the supercharger impeller has to decelerate from 50,000 rpm to 25,000 rpm.
“It takes longer to slow down the impeller, so it needs to be asynchronous from the engine. The clutch allows it to do this. There is a very specific amount of hold (called “slip moment”) that the supercharger clutch must have. Too strong and it will break, too weak and it will slip under normal operation. A combination of shims and different spring washers must be carefully combined to make sure the tolerances are correct.”
Aggressive riding or surf jumping is directly attributed to producing the most wear and heat on these clutches. Throughout the life of the clutch, aggressive riding of this type will drastically reduce the hold of the clutch, inducing additional slippage, which generates more friction and heat. And although metal clutch washers do manage to fail every now and again, Zammataro revealed that it is the bearings that suffer the worstwear and tear.
“The bearings get essentially splash oil. They do not have a dedicated oil passage, despite revving to up to 50,000 rpm,” Zammataro explained. “Because of this, plastic cages need to be used to reduce friction. If metal cages were used, they fail due to the additional friction. These plastic cages, however, become brittle over time and heat. When the clutches slip, we see the bearings fail more often due to the additional heat.
“When the clutches fail (especially with metal clutch washers), usually if addressed immediately, the affects are reversible. You need to rebuild the supercharger and extract the metal washers from the engine. If the owner continues to take out their ski and ride, the metal washers will work their way past that oil screen and severely damage the engine.
“When a bearing fails, the shaft of the supercharger becomes unstable and begins to wobble. This allows the impeller to make contact with the housing, creating what is known as a touchdown. When this occurs, a new impeller is typically required.”
PWC Muscle prides itself on its quality, and its rebuilt superchargers come assembled with absolute precision, with each of the impellers individually balanced prior to reassembly. When rebuilding the supercharger, Zammataro and his team keep strict adherence to the clearances, as they are extremely important for the longevity and reliability of the supercharger. Zammataro noted that due to the design of the plastic cage bearings, the bearings must be installed in a special sequence to avoid adding lateral stress or risk a premature failure.
“When maintained, supercharged Sea-Doos are very reliable. Since Sea-Doo had the last revision of their rebuild kits, we are no longer seeing supercharger failures within the service interval from normal use,” Zammataro noted. “To check the supercharger, while the ski is off, remove the intake hose and carefully try to spin the impeller by hand. If it can be spun more than 20′ degrees, then the clutch is slipping and a rebuild is required. Likewise, if the ski won’t go over about 50, it usually is from needing a rebuild.
“In about 99.5% of the supercharger rebuilds we do handle, we can repair them. Additional costs may be involved (ie; new impeller), but typically we don’t raise the price for this. Luckily, we have the art of rebuilding down to a science. Our supercharger rebuild service is the most affordable and reliable way to keep the supercharger maintained. We use only 100-percent OEM parts.
“OEM rebuild kits are the only way to go. Aftermarket kits usually have several problems with them. For one, many use metal-caged bearings, which just isn’t safe in these engines. Also, we’ve seen aftermarket kits literally rust while inside the engine. Overall, the aftermarket kits are design to be cheap, which cheaper materials. Only OEM gives you the quality to keep a reliable 100 hour or 2 year service interval. The two year portion is because the plastic cages will start becoming brittle past this point.”
Maintenance is key to any and all high performance engines, and the incredibly popular Rotax 4-tec engines are no different. PWC Muscle sees plenty of superchargers come in that look as pristine as the day they left the assembly line, their owners simply fulfilling their obligation to keep their skis running in tip-top shape. Others, sadly, don’t take care of their watercraft and often see damage like this or worse.
In last month’s segment of “By The Numbers” we celebrated our two-year anniversary, documenting our almost unnatural growth in an industry that so many naysayers deem as being well past its “heyday.” Although the manufacturers aren’t moving 200,000 units a year like 1995, we are seeing exponential growth in new and pre-owned OE unit sales, a boom in aftermarket hull and engine sales, products, apparel and riding gear, and accessories. In fact, it hasn’t been this good in nearly a decade. And that should be reason enough to celebrate.
For The Watercraft Journal, our growth patterns the OE industry almost in lockstep. Besides our median demographic being exactly the target audience that manufacturers look for – 44-to-46 years old males with some college or vocational schooling – we too are growing event during the so-called “off season.” While our readership numbers aren’t that of July or August, they are double that of November last year, for which we share below.
In fact, it’s so important for us to illustrate that we took a different take on this month’s “By The Numbers” to compare 2015’s November against last year’s November, rather than this past October. Showing how much our audience is growing, even when many of us are shoveling snow off of the driveway, is the best way to evidence how The Watercraft Journal is North America’s most popular personal watercraft magazine regardless of season or time of year.
Again, these monthly updates are written primarily for the benefit of manufacturers looking to expand their reach to new and returning customers. We are a completely transparent publisher, so much so that we publish our numbers openly every month and our ad rates at all times (see “Advertise” in the navigation bar above). So if you’re looking at putting your company and/or product before the biggest audience of actively engaged PWC enthusiasts, then there is only one place: The Watercraft Journal!
November 2015 November 2014
Continued Growth Through Winter
Wintertime notoriously shrinks the industry all the way around: be it new vehicle sales, product and accessory sales, and of course, recreational use. Heck, it even cuts the average monthly user count on the biggest forums in half. Admittedly, much of the same happens with us. Such is life in a seasonal industry. Yet, why it’s significant to show this year versus last year’s numbers is to illustrate how our November readership has doubled over 365 days. And why? Because no other publication offers more consistent and reliable coverage of the industry, be it important announcements, race coverage or product reviews.
November 2014
Total number unique readers: 8,895*
Total number of articles read: 21,725
Percentage of new readers: 56.8%
November 2015
Total number unique readers: 16,297*
Total number of articles read: 38,598
Percentage of new readers: 56.6%
*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.
Cold Weather Won’t Slow Us Down
As many “pack it in” for the slow season, we see less content coming from those few remaining media outlets. Fortunately, The Watercraft Journal doesn’t take a winter break, but rather, continues to crank out some of the industry’s best content from throughout the globe, and coverage from the entire personal watercraft industry – be it touring, fishing, racing, freestyle/freeride, or do-it-yourself tech. We bring the enthusiast the widest array of coverage possible – and completely free to the reader!
News articles published in November 2015: 27
Feature articles published in November 2015: 10
Total feature word count: 8,699 words
*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 98-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.
Social Animals
Unlike other publications or sites, The Watercraft Journal doesn’t require its readers to download, or pay for a subscription, or even a setup a password to log in and access our content. Why? Because trending shows that people flee from such websites. Rather, we give our content freely and easily-accessibly to them; whether it’s via a desktop, a laptop or a portable device, they can read our content. And with our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and weekly newsletters, we bring our content directly to them. And that’s a huge part of our success!
November Facebook likes: 14,684
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, France, United Kingdom, Canada
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Many find that the diehard PWC enthusiasts will either brave the winter’s chill and continue to riding (that is, in states where weather actually plays a factor in recreational riding), or will dedicate the months to working on their skis in preparation for the coming Spring. That is why getting your company and its products and/or services on The Watercraft Journal now is so important. Get in before the rush and establish your brand in front of the biggest readership of PWC lovers before all of the latecomers try to jump in. The Watercraft Journal has a variety of editorially-supported ad programs that will fit your budget and meet your goals for the coming year.
There’s some pretty exciting news being shared by the IJSBA: the 2016 US National Championships will be held in downtown Chicago, Illinois over the September 10th and 11th weekend. In contingency with an already growing AquaX series, the US National Championships is locked in to bring in tons of exposure to the sport by hosting the event in the city’s most trafficked area. And for those taking note, the announcement of AquaX USA’s expansion outside of Florida is also equally as exciting.
Additionally, the IJSBA is currently at work to arrange transportation for jet skiers and their equipment to travel from Chicago, Illinois to Lake Havasu City, Arizona in time to attend the quakysense IJSBA World Finals held October 1st-through-9th. For those taking note, that’s a relocation from 2015’s pairing of Round 5 of the AquaX series and the US Nationals in Cocoa Beach, FL. As more information is unveiled concerning the host location, The Watercraft Journal will be sure to share it post haste.
You can read the original announcement here: IJSBA is very pleased to announce the dates for the 2016 United States National Championships: September 10-11.
The National Title will be bestowed upon the high points winner, of a small set of categories, after the completion of the stand alone event. The 2016 United States National Closed Course Championship will take place in Chicago, Illinois allowing for a very centralized location for the US contingent. The event will take place in the famous Downtown Chicago with high visibility opportunities for athletes and sponsors alike.
The 2016 USA National Championships will be produced by IJSBA’s partner in the USA, P1 AquaX.
Plans are underway for possible transportation support from the USA Nationals in Chicago to the 2016 quakysense World Finals which take place October 1-9 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Please visit IJSBA.com regularly for more news an information regarding this exciting event.
With only days left until the first band snaps at this year’s 2015 King’s Cup, many of the world’s best racers are sparing no expense to ensure that their machines are running in tip top condition. In preparation for the week long’s event in Pattaya, Thailand, MRG Racing’s Jesus Garcia was personally flown in by the EME Performance Team from Malaysia to make sure their skis were running their very best.
The Dubai-based PWC engine tuner has been operating from the UAE billionaire playground since January of 2015, working on some of the most top level, big dollar builds in the industry. Garcia, who founded MRG Racing (or Moto Racing Garcia) back in his homeland of Spain in 1996 as a successful motorsports dealership first cut his teeth as a licensed Sea-Doo, Kawasaki and Hydrospace watercraft dealer, overseeing the sales, service and parts departments.
His close involvement with the parts and service departments spurred the MRG Racing Division in 2008 where Garcia was directly over the development of engine management systems in addition to his responsibilities providing racing support and performance product development for his team. Here, he found his true calling as a master of personal watercraft engine management, honing his skills of system development, tuning of racing engines and support of professional racing teams.
Garcia has been instrumental in the co-development of the V-Tech engine management system for personal watercraft. As a subcontractor for V-tech Tuned (of Sweden), Garcia was tasked with bringing their automotive software technology to the watercraft industry. This also led to Garcia’s co-development of the MaptunerX engine management system for Maptun Performance of Sweden – adapting more automotive hardware and firmware technology for the PWC industry.
Now established as a primary source of top level engine tuning, Garcia has become a “go to” for international PWC racing teams, with a list of accomplishments including the Doha Aquabike World Championship, China Aquabike World Championship, UAE Aquabike World Championship, Aquabike Slalom World Championship, and Aquabike World and European Championships to name a few.
[Update: With more than 350 competitors on the field at the prestigious IJSBA-sanctioned race, Garcia’s efforts resulted in two podium finishes for the Team Malaysia riders – a first place finish for Tee Chen Jet, and a third place for Lin Hong Hao – as well as a fourth place finish for Kuwaiti racer Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq. This, in addition to a solid third place finish for Canadian Tammy Seibel at this past IJSBA World Finals in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, only solidifies Garcia’s contribution to the world of top performance PWC racing and engine tuning.]
Like a favorite pair of jeans or a well broken-in pair of Chuck Taylors, we’ve been using the same heavily scratched and discolored pair of sunglasses for well past a decade. They don’t float, they don’t exactly block out the elements particularly well, and usually a conversation piece when people pay close attention. But they’re comfortable, fit our face nicely, and have only slipped off once while riding. So every time we test a new pair of riding glasses, they’re almost unfairly judged against our old beat up shades.
In two years’ worth of bi-monthly episodes of “Real Review,” we’ve come to realize that Jettribe is nothing if not dedicated to infusing the utmost in features and nuance of design into their products. Even when we might’ve found qualms with fitment and such, we’ve always complimented the riding gear, apparel and accessory manufacturer for its dedication to integrating new bits and pieces into their products that never fail to make us pause and appreciate their addition.
When it comes to developing a riding goggle, you wouldn’t think there’d be a whole heck of a lot that could be crammed into such a small package, but like us, you’d be wrong. Jettribe’s Hybrid Goggles earn their namesake for their transitional use as either sunglasses or riding goggles through the snap-in release/attachment of a goggle strap or sunglasses arms. In getting our hands on the futuristic-looking Storm Trooper Convertible Hybrid Goggles, we found the easy-to-remove arms a nice touch (including rubberized grips that help the glasses stay put above your ears), and the goggle strap soft on the touch.
Likewise, the shatter-proof polycarbonate lenses are 100-percent UV Protection and CE Certified, and are easily removed and swapped out from the injection-molded frames. In fact, the swap is so easy it might fool you into thinking that these might allow moisture to collect on the inside or fog, but quite the contrary. The thick foam padding (that also attributes to the goggle’s flotation) allows the goggles to breath quite nicely while at speeds or stationary.
Our only issues with the Jettribe Hybrid goggles again falls under the category of fitment and comfort. The Hybrid lacks any sort of pad for the goggles to perch on the bridge of our nose, leaving the plastic frame to rest on exposed skin. This not only required persistent readjustment, but also made for the goggles sit very low on our face. All that being said, the inner foam padding does excel at keeping the goggles afloat, whether fitted with the goggle strap or the plastic arms.
Adding to the value of the Jettribe Storm Trooper Hybrid Goggles is the hard-backed zip-up case that comes included in the $64.99 price tag. It’s another touch testifying to Jettribe’s effort to maximize the overall value of its products. In returning back to our original point, we wish the Hybrid Goggles simply fit a little better. The neat design features and 6-inch wide shape is cool, but we felt the goggles could greatly benefit from a bridge guard to keep them from slipping off (we couldn’t help but recall Steve Martin’s “Opti-Grab”). Obviously, fitment is subjective, so if given the opportunity, we suggest test fitting a pair prior to purchasing.
The Juárez BRP Manufacturing facility was given the honor and award for Best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices in Mexico, according to a recent report in PowerSports Business. It all came down to the company’s care and preservation of the environment. The prestigious award was given during a ceremony held during the 10th International Seminar on Best Practices in CSR.
Cemife, the Mexican Philanthropy Center, recognizes a company for its environmentally friendly practices that are deemed original and sustainable. These ordinances must be in place for at least one year in order to show a true commitment to the environment and policies set forth by the company. BRP did exactly that and for their rigorous commitment, Cemife saw them best suited to receive the award. The ceremony took place October 9,2015 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The Executive Chairman of Cemefi, Jorge Villalobos Grzybowicz, said that “the award-winning CSR practices show that businesses can achieve excellence not only in serving their employees and consumers, but also in serving society and the environment.”
BRP stayed strong in its commitment to helping the surrounding communities and environment by reducing its impact on the outside environment The company held the Green Race and Eco Fair 2014 and 2015 and six tons of electronic waste was collected! BRP also helped plant 2,000 trees and implemented a program designed to dispose of waste in a more eco friendly manner.
“Our team in Juárez has been determined to make a positive impact on the environment and community,” said Sylvain Blanchette, BRP’s vice-president of Operations, Mexico and Canada. “We’ve planted trees, sponsored local ecological projects, exchanged plastic bottles for an eco-friendly alternative, and much more – and we will continue to do so in the future.”
The Mexican Center for Philanthropy is a private non-profit apolitical lay organization whose mission is to promote and coordinate philanthropy and social responsibility of committed citizens, organizations, and businesses to achieve a more equitable, united and prosperous society.
