It’s hard to believe that the prime riding months are drawing to a close in Australia as the first big group rides and professional races of the year are kicking off here in the States. Alas, that is the way of living on opposing sides of the equator. As the mercury slowly descends down the thermometer, our fellow personal watercraft enthusiasts are preparing to winterize their jet skis, while others are only starting the beginning of their winter-long project builds. That is, if they’re not choosing to brave the chill and ride anyways.

Recently, we reviewed a build that Melbourne, Australia’s Diptech Performance were installing true 300-horsepower packages on customers’ supercharged Sea-Doos. The package consisted of RIVA Racing’s a reflashed ECU, an open-element cold air intake, through-hull exhaust with a high-flow waterbox, bigger injectors, valve spring retainers, and a “boost-boosting” supercharger rebuild kit. And is with all things, you gotta pay to play – the kit starts at $4,000 and goes up from there.

Earlier this year, one very satisfied customer joined a friend to test out their recently tuned Sea-Doo RXT-X 260…well, 300 off of St. Kilda Beach. The two were met with “average conditions,” that flattened out to absolutely zero wind and perfect conditions to “test a few new mods.” Now for those looking to ramp up their DipTech 300HP package a bit further, you’ll need one of Diptech’s specially-ordered Solas props.

The Sunshine Coast Jet Sports Club (SCJSC) is a non-profit organization run by jet ski enthusiasts. They aim to lead by example promoting safe and courteous riding through public education and hope to create a better public image of Jet skis in the community. In a recent interview with SCJSC president Matt O’Connor, he explained what it is that he loves about jet skiing and what it is that motivates him to run the club and ensure its longevity.

“In the beginning I took over the club not necessarily because I wanted to but more so because if I hadn’t the club wouldn’t have lasted,” Mr O’Connor said. “Riding gets your adrenaline going and I find it addictive constantly trying to master new tricks and reach the goals I set for myself.”

“We’ve got a great group of riders in the club that stick together like a family which is what you need when you’re out on the water, someone to keep an eye on you and make sure you’re okay. We are all about community and practicing safe riding habits while still getting out there and having fun.”

Mr O’Connor also had some advice for anyone wanting to start jet skiing. “Do your research, get your gear and jet ski and then when you’re ready to start contact the club and we will get you out on the water.”

At least once every three months SCJSC try and organize a social ride for club groups to explore outside of the Caloundra and Mooloolaba areas in the safety of a planned ride. These have been very successful in the past with 30 to 50 riders turning up at each ride and then staying on for a planned BBQ afterwards. Over the last 5 years SCJSC have completed multiple Social rides to Moreton Island, Noosa and Bribie Island for the day.

If you would like to participate in the upcoming social ride to Moreton Island on May 9th be sure to contact the club for more information.

All images by Daniel Durkin Images

A field of 48 riders – both professional and amateur – flocked to the 18th annual, world famous Karujet in Guadeloupe. The event, described by those competitors who’ve raced it as the toughest in offshore race in the sport, has a penchant for breaking things, both man and machine. Started in 1998 as a challenge between two friends racing around the Caribbean island nation has evolved into one of the most iconic and legendary events in all of jet ski racing, and as stated by Aquabike, was “in 2006 recognized by the UIM affording it World Championship status.”

For 2015, four of the seven previous World Champions to have claimed the title since 2006, Ugo Fidelin, two-time winner Davy Vaitilingdon, Teddy Pons and Marc Forbin were amid the throng who faced seven grueling stages of racing held over four days, each of which “setting out each day from the event base on the beach at Viard.”

At the end of the four-day crucible, it was Jean-Baptise Botti whose overall score that earned the Frenchman the coveted title of World Champion. “After winning stage 5 and seeing that Alex had a problem I just took it easy the whole way,” Botti told the UIM in an interview, “I knew I just needed to finish the final stage with a decent time, so I didn’t risk any trouble out there. Happy, very happy.”

Below is the incredibly thorough, complete recap from the near-week-long event produced by UIM Aquabike. Their videos are always top notch, so take a half an hour and soak in what possibly is the toughest offshore race on the planet.

As we announced last month, Rick Roy and his Rickter RRP team will be documenting their “World Tour,” showcasing some of the world’s best freeriders from across the globe, namely Mark Gomez, Pierre Maixent, Brandon Lawlor, Taylor Curtis, Brodie Copp and Abraham Hochstrasser, who are embarking on a world tour of sorts, competing in the IFWA Freeride World Tour; from Australia, Portugal, France, England and USA.

These phenomenal freeriders – employing a full compliment of Rickter RRP equipment – will be acting as “ambassadors for the sport of freeride,” to promote the “sport’s true hard core freeriding and wave competitions.” As The Watercraft Journal famously reported in our AJSP OZ Surf Slam coverage from late March of this year, the Rick Roy team swept the floor with the competition nearly dominating every heat.

In the first of many videos from their IFWA Tour, Rickter has provided a great recap of the the Rickter RRP team while visiting Australia and taking part of the IFWA world tour organized by SCJSC. As Rick Roy stated, “Congratulations to all our riders who performed extremely well taking from first to fourth place! Thanks to all the people involved in the tour and this event, a huge thanks to Craig from Ajsp for helping make this possible for the team!”

Some successes come overnight. Others come after decades of dedication, hard work and perseverance. Ever present among the names of Harry Goatcher, Victor Sheldon, Nicolas Rius and Chris MacClugage has been Rob Flores. For the past 28 years, Flores has been in the fight, leg-dragging his way into jet ski history.

The Las Vegas, Nevada native jumped into the fray in 1988 aboard a Kawasaki JS440 before moving into Expert class and eventually Pro. Since those early days, Flores has represented many companies throughout his career, but two have remained more constant than others: Yamaha and Body Glove.

Rumors were flying by early December that Flores had been hand-picked by Yamaha’s own Scott Watkins to assist in the development of an all-new SuperJet hull. Because of the legality of introducing a new SuperJet hull, this would imply the impending release of a 4-stroke powered standup from Yamaha. This, of course is contrary to everything we’ve been told from Yamaha.

Addressing the new SuperJet rumors, The Watercraft Journal talked up Flores who diplomatically sidestepped the question: “I can’t speak for Yamaha. I’m […] developing hulls for my race program and to sell. Now if Yamaha ends up using what I come up with, that [remains] to be seen, but I am not contracted to do hulls strictly for them.”

The new redesigned SuperJet features a broader tray, elongated pump inlet duct and significantly improved strakes to the original hull design. Intended for competition in the 2015 Pro Watercross Tour, Flores debuted his new Raceski.com Yamaha SuperJet in an exclusive video for his longtime riding gear partner, Body Glove International. Joined with Judge Motorsports, MotoTec and Optima Racing, Flores is proud of his long career and looking forward to the 2015 season.

We gotta admit. This one had us fooled for a good ten seconds. AS you can see, this hilarious Craigslist ad is a joke, at least we sure hope to heaven it is (we’re pretty sure it is). Beginning with this erroneously naming of the watercraft in question as an ’84 X2 and the assurance that “the hoes will flock,” this laughable post is best if left for you to enjoy.

Oh, and lest us not forget the fantastic “made in America” hand-made trolling motor that comes included in the purchase (as shown). Below we’ve decided to leave side-splitting spelling, punctuation and syntax “as is,” so don’t come after us for its questionable legibility. Although we did edit some rather unsavory language that you can read on the original listing HERE. Rather, just enjoy the comedy on this Monday morning:

“1984 Kawasaki X2 with a 18 horse outboard johnson. Sumbeech will fly. Nicknamed the honey hauler for a good reason. Float up to the beach on this bad boy and the hoes will flock. Happens to me every year. Every summer it’s the same old thing, give me a ride they say.. “I’ll take my bikini top off” they say, but it doesn’t end there. Will this 1984 saki powered by a 18hp two stroke johnson you’ll feel like breaking bad mixing the oil and gasoline. Plus that extra seat and power means you can load this baby up with all the biggest beach whales without lag… (Trust me, I know.)

“This wave slammer hauls!! If the girl doesn’t take her top off, that’s okay ’cause the wind will blow it off for sure. 40 year old virgin? Girlfriend of wife cut you off at home? No problem. This is the ship for you, mate. Built in 1984 the engineers had [REDACTED] magnet clearly spec’d on the buildsheet. This ain’t no fishin’ boat but it’s been hauling [REDACTED] for years. This is a bachelors dream right here and you wont find a better price for this mini-yacht – one easy (reduced) payment of $350. I hate to see her go but it’s time to let some other guy take this gem down to [REDACTED] town.

“[REDACTED]”

“2014 ‘drill-kota’ included – hand crafted by yours truly. (Made in America)”

Parasitic loss. That’s a term most gearheads know all too well. In relationship to engines and powersports, parasitic loss is when power is pulled or drained from the engine with little or zero beneficial gains. In an automotive application, these “parasites” can take the form anything driven off of the accessory belts such as an alternator, power steering pump, air conditioning compressor, or even a supercharger.

Now, now hold on. We know what you’re going to say, “A supercharger adds power, how can it be a parasite?” And you’d be right…to a degree. Superchargers are driven from the crank, either via a belt/pulley system or geardrive, and that pull can pull on an engine’s ability to produce precious horsepower. This reason is why so many personal watercraft tuners and top-end racers prefer the use of an aftermarket turbo system.

Rather than drawing its power from the front crankdrive, the turbo is spooled by exiting exhaust flow, the turbine therein spins a driveshaft that spins a second turbine producing positive boost pressure that is ultimately, plumbed into the throttle body. The process of developing and manufacturing a turbo is actually a very interesting one. So much so, that we thought we’d drop a little knowledge on ya this Friday and offer up this interesting segment from “How It’s Made” giving us a little behind-the-scenes look at how Turbonetics produces their high performance turbochargers. Enjoy!