The Asian Beach Games though, are not merely a jet ski race. Hosting Olympic athletes from across the Asian continent, competitions are held in swimming, volleyball, water polo, track events, parasailing, basketball, handball, soccer, wrestling and a wide variety of other beach-centric sports, which includes PWC racing. Unlike Western Nations, Asian Olympic councils recognize the mental and physical prowess necessary to excel in jet ski racing, and has welcomed it into part of the pantheon of watersports held throughout the week-long event (November 14-23).
During the three-days of racing, Dean’s Team racers – consisting of Aqsa Aswar and his brother, IJSBA World and Pro Watercross National Champion Aero Aswar (both representing Indonesia), and Abdullah Al-Fadhel, representing Kuwait – bested the competition and took Gold, Silver and Bronze metals, respectively. Impressively, all three each won a moto in the single-day’s three moto race, Aero suffering a broken hose clamp in the first race, leaving the win to his brother Aqsa; Abdullah running out of gas the following moto, handing the win over to Aero; Aqsa remaining consistent throughout.
Aqsa recounted, “The race was very tight between my brother, Abdullah, and myself. In the first moto I got first; the second moto I was second and in the last moto, I was third. The 2015 Yamaha FZR was awesome today! With Dean Charrier of Dean’s Team tuning on it, it was a rocket. I pulled two boat’s length holeshot in the first moto and the three of us (Aero, Abdullah, and I) were pulling away from the other riders in every lap. It’s a very good handling boat and also a very fast!”
Abdullah echoed Aqsa, “It was a great race and the course was open. I’m happy to be on the podium for [Factory] Yamaha and Dean’s Team.”
Aero added, “I felt really good after the race. I’m happy that only Yamahas got podium [spots] and especially that my brother took gold. The event was excellent; the government involvement made a major change to the sport itself unlike [any other] single events we have like World Finals or King’s Cup.”
As to the performance of the ’15 FZR, he concluded, “The ski was really good! Dean Charrier of Dean’s Team made a really good boat for the heat over here.”
Charrier went on to explain his pleasure with the execution of the event itself, “[It’s] very good! [I’m] actually I’m having flashbacks of [the] good old days. The track was laid out with switch backs, apex buoys and a good old “2-card, 1-go” starting system that ran like clockwork. Only having three or four classes a day with three long motos is the ticket, and keeps spectator and media coverage happy and [all of us very] busy. The day was filled with excitement and very busy, [just] like I like it.”
Races continue today with Open class and Endurance racing the following. We wish everyone the best of luck!
I’m not sure if you have the problem I do, but pretty much every ride that I do: I find my throttle hand cramping a lot, and it’s not like you can constantly keep stopping when you’re touring with a group. I can imagine that racers have this issue even more with the constant changes in throttle position during their events. Many times I’m doing the left hand throttle “reach over,” which can be dangerous in certain conditions. I also have very bad gout (severe arthritis) that has effected my throttle hand tremendously. That is why I was very excited to find the EZ Throttle.
EZ Throttle was invented in Okeechobee, Florida, by Ron Ripple, a PWC enthusiast who encountered this problem and created a solution. The EZ Throttle, according to it’s website, claims to be able to help keep the hand from cramping, allowing us to ride longer and have more fun. The installation is pretty easy and straight forward.
I picked up two, one for the Kawasaki 310LX and one for the Yamaha FX SHO. Although it is the same throttle for all models of PWC’s, the Yamaha has one longer set screw noted on the throttle by a red dot. I installed the EZ Throttle on both skis today in less than 20 minutes with minimal tools. All you need is a small ratcheting (socket) wrench with an adapter and 1/8-inch hex driver (or Allen wrench) and a 5/64” Allen wrench. Just remember that the EZ Throttle logo on the throttle faces in, not out and you will will be golden.
The EZ Throttle basically slips over your existing finger throttle taking it from approximately two inches to about five inches, which just about mirrors the length of your PWC hand grip. After the installation, I already knew it would make a difference even without riding the ski.
There is two distinct differences the EZ Throttle creates, first it now allows the rider to utilize all fingers versus just one or two. Secondly, as we learned about levers and pulleys in science, the longer the lever, the more leverage you have, which translates to less effort to squeeze and hold the original throttle. This just makes me more excited to get on the water!
This past weekend I had the opportunity to ride nearly 180 miles with the Jetski Junkies crew on the Suwannee River in Florida utilizing the new EZ Throttle. The EZ Throttle does take some getting use to, especially if you are a long time rider and extremely use to utilizing your index and middle fingers only. I found myself reverting back to just the two fingers and then when my hand started to hurt, remembering to move all my fingers up on to the EZ Throttle and then the pain subsided.
The only real quirk I encountered was the distance between the new EZ Throttle to the end of hand grip. The distance is quite a lot, so basically you use your original two fingers to squeeze the throttle and then slip your others fingers on the extension making for a much easier throttle squeeze by the outer fingers. I was having a hell of a lot of fun squeezing the EZ Throttle with just my pinky. The quirks are no big deal, and nothing a little self-retraining won’t fix.
The end result is that neither my hand or fingers cramped at all on the 180 miles we rode! I also wish to add that on Saturday the Air Temp averaged about 55 degrees with wind chill. Anyone with arthritic hands knows that cold is the worst, and even in those conditions, I never cramped up. The EZ Throttle has solved a problem for me, one I had been working on personally, and for $20 the value is 100-times over. If you are like me and have cramping and or arthritis in your hands, I highly recommend putting the EZ Throttle on your Christmas list.
It was famed American novelist John Steinbeck who bereaved, “It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” And a brightly burning light that beckoned to all in the sport of jet ski racing as sadly dimmed. Last Thursday, November 13th, Jettrim owner and founder, Gary Hart passed away from complications to cancer. Hart, (56 years old) who is most commonly known for his company’s unique artisan, hand-crafted non-slip jet ski mats, seat covers and iconic “bitchin’ stitchin’,” is remembered not merely for creating a superior product that was often duplicated, but for a spirit that burned brighter than the noonday sun that shone over his Lake Havasu City, Arizona, home.
Hart developed a passion for jet ski racing that birthed the creation of his original Jettrim “Nada-Hyde” mat in 1983. Not only did his Jettrim mats improve the riding experience, but added a dash of customization to the early standup skis. Hart’s business swelled as did the sport throughout those early heydays, and Jettrim’s logo became an almost synonymous emblem on every racer and performance enthusiast’s watercraft. Many racers over the company’s 30 years will recall Hart’s wide smile being a central fixture at Jettrim HQ, the race site and in Performance Alley at each of the IJSBA World Finals from 1983 to 2013. In fact, a stop by Jettrim became an annual pilgrimage for many, swinging by to see the mayhem as the crew hurried to finish up racer’s last-minute requests.
Yet, Hart’s passion and kindness overshadowed his product services. Hart regularly opened the doors to not only his shop, but his home to racers. Multi-time IJSBA World Champion Dustin Farthing recalled, “Gary was my first sponsor in 1992. I used to live with him 3-to-4 weeks before the Finals in my early years and he was like my family… I am so thankful for him.” As did Victor Sheldon who added, “Gary was a one of a kind. [He’ll] never be forgotten.”
Hart’s love of the sport spread to the riders and their families. Even when there wasn’t a buoy to be found on the water, the deep-rooted friendships Hart made on the lakeshore carried throughout him. Brian Holland, a former Jettrim employee, remembered, “I will always remember park trips with Gary. It was Gary’s get away from reality. To just sit back and relax. He was like gravity with all his friends. Riding down the river with 20 or so skis in a row. Gary always being the leader. He rode with such style. I never saw him happier.”
Those very fortunate to know Hart personally knew of his love for not only jet skis but for the rolling sand dunes of Glamis and for that of vintage American bicycles. In his garage, hanging above possibly the most desirable collection of meticulously-restored vintage race skis were Schwinn Stingrays. In 2010, Hart made his collection of skis public, freely opening up the Vintage Jet Ski Museum at the IJSBA World Finals. With examples from Christie Carlson, Jeff Jacobs, Chris Fischetti and Larry Rippenkroeger (to name a few), the museum was always a major draw to the Performance Alley. Again, that was Hart’s style.
Mrs. Carlson Swaid stated, “the personal watercraft industry lost an icon. God gave Gary the most appropriate last name. He definitely was all ‘Hart'” Gary was famous for trimming out anything and everything that related to jet skis. I had the privilege of speaking with him [the day before he died]… I thanked him for all the ways he made things better for so many racers. …He made the trays of my jet skis more comfortable and reliable, he made my van and trailers safer for travel and he made cabinets to showcase my Jet Gems jewelry. Gary also allowed several racers to camp out at his house during world finals preparation year after year. He was incredibly generous to so many of us racers and he will forever be remembered for his kindness and his passion for the sport.”
In regards to Hart’s presence at Finals and the Vintage Jet Ski Museum, Bob Phares wrote, “When you’ve been involved in an industry for 42 years, you are bound to hear a little bit of negative information about everybody. Not so with Gary Hart. I never heard one word negative about Gary. I met Gary first when I was running Factory Jet Ski in Sacramento. We talked on the phone and designed custom seats for our Race Sponsored ZXI’s and XI’s. He was always thorough and patient. He made everything custom with great expertise.
“The weeks leading up to World finals has always been an extremely busy time at Jettrim, but Gary always seemed casual and professional. I finally met Gary at World Finals in 1997. He was fairly quiet and paid close attention to all comments and suggestions from his customers. He didn’t offer to sell you what he made. He made what you wanted and sold it to you. Gary and I met again at Worlds in 2013 in his Jettrim Museum, a true tribute to a sport that we all loved. Handled and cared for with the loving touch of a parent. This past year at World’s, I was honored to help with the presentation of the Museum in Gary’s absence.”
Hart, whose role in the sport earned him an induction in the IJSBA Hall of Fame, was remembered fondly by the IJSBA who he had a role in forging, “Gary Hart was a true founding father of the personal watercraft sport. Through his company, Jettrim, Gary sponsored nearly every Pro rider that ever competed on a personal watercraft… The absence of Gary Hart will leave a permanent emptiness in the sport. IJSBA encourages everyone to reflect upon Gary’s legacy of his dedication to PWC and the people who raced them.”
Gratefully, Gary Hart’s legacy is one of optimism, charity, kindness and passion. Hart led by example, burned brighter than most and shone a light on a sport and the people who occupied better than most. And its that light that we will miss the most.
All of us at The Watercraft Journal never hesitate to help promote a worthwhile cause, particularly when it’s to help fight a horrible disease like Cystic fibrosis; the hereditary chronic disease that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food. The disease specifically affects about 2,500 Australians and 70,000 people worldwide, and for this reason, Alex Strachan – with the help from a support crew – rode from Australia’s Cronulla to Port Macquarie to help raise awareness of the benefits that Kalydeco can provide to sufferers of CF.
According to the official Kalydeco webpage, the drug is a “prescription medicine used for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) in patients age 6 years and older” previously was exorbitantly expensive – upwards to $300,000 per patient. As part of the effort to help lower costs and make the drug more widely available, Strachan – the son of local radio personality Mark Strachan – embarked on a epic ride to help draw attention to the campaign. Strachan’s partner Bec Roberts, has a cousin who has been diagnosed with the condition, which brought the condition to his attention.
Surprisingly enough, there was a logical connection between Cystic fibrosis and jet skiing. According to the official Ride of Kalydeco page, “In recent years, doctors here in Australia found that cystic fibrosis patients who surfed had healthier lungs than non-surfing CF patients. To find out why, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation conducted a series of studies.
“They found that the inhalation of a sterile saltwater mist helps clear the thick, sticky mucus from the lungs and therefore a beneficial therapy to CF patient. As a result of this discovery, hypertonic saline was developed to mimic a “surf session” for CF patients. Now CF patients worldwide are benefiting from hypertonic saline, a drug developed in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”
Although the ride effort raised over $8,000, it was well short of the original $25,000 goal. Donations are still happily accepted HERE.
To be frank, this project was a very humbling experience. The goal was simple, at least that’s what we thought: to tune a naturally-aspirated 2014 Yamaha FX High Output WaveRunner to run as fast as a stock supercharged FX SHO, and to do for less money than purchasing the SHO outright. Going in, there were a few unavoidable truths we were going to need to accept: 1) that we were going to have to sacrifice the FX HO’s stellar long-distance fuel mileage, and 2) we were going to have to give up using the “cheap stuff” at the gas pump to increase the HO’s horsepower.
Sure, those were two bitter pills we didn’t want to gulp down, but bigger sacrifices have been made at the altar of the horsepower gods. As it stood, the Deep Red Metallic HO had barely cleared it’s mandatory 10-hour break-in before we started wrenching. In stock form, our Yamaha maxed out at 7,400rpm and 63 mph. That kind of performance ain’t too shabby for a 830-pound three-seater equipped with the brand’s big 1,812cc four-cylinder, 4-stroke spitting out just a tad under 180 ponies. But we needed much more to match those supercharged Super High Output FXs.
Our first step to better speeds was to replace the factory flame arrestor with RIVA’s Intake Manifold Kit, this tapered billet collar that dramatically increases air flow to the engine.
[Editor’s Note: Yes, we know Yamaha’s Super Vortex High Output’s horsepower usurps the SHO’s 215HP (estimated), but getting a naturally-aspirated engine to twist out 260-horsepower requires a lot of work that we felt was both unachievable and frankly, unlike to be duplicated by the layman and we wanted this article to be actually useful. – Ed]
In pursuing our goal, we equated that 68mph was to be our goal as most Yamaha SHO WaveRunners we’ve tested land squarely in this range when driven by a single rider and a 1/4 tank of fuel in its 18.5 gallon cell. This left us with a 5-miile per hour gap we needed to close up. As our machine could only suck in as much air and fuel as its reciprocating cycle could draw, we needed to open up the Yamaha’s airways. We did this by removing the restrictive mesh element in the intake manifold with RIVA’s Intake Manifold Upgrade Kit.
Replacing the RIVA collar proved a little time consuming as the throttle body is buried (inverted) below the intake manifold, but is well worth the time spent.
The $39.95 kit is a tapered billet sleeve that replaces the mesh element (or “flame arrestor”) effectively increasing air flow. The exchange is a little time-consuming as the inverted throttle body is a bit difficult to reach for many. Nevertheless, the time spent was worth while as we immediately picked up over a mile-an-hour, hitting a GPS-confirmed 64.3mph.
Our second step was our most radical: We turned to Greenhulk.net’s Jerry Gaddis for a custom ECU tune. Jerry happily accepted our FX HO’s ECU and reflashed it with PWCPerformance’s VXR/VXS/FX HO 1800 Stage 1 ECU tune. Priced at $674.96 (using the “greenhulk” 10-percent discount coupon code), it was our most expensive modification. Not only did this tune bump up the stock rev limiter to an excessive 8,350rpm, but gained us an advertised 20 horsepower.
Don’t judge an ECU by its cover: this new engine management unit was reflashed by PWCPerformance using a V-Tech Tuned program and is worth 20 extra horsepower and an easy 2mph when paired with other aftermarket parts.
Of course, to fully benefit from the new tune certain modifications are strongly suggested including installing aftermarket air intake and exhaust modifications, as well as depitching the stock impeller 2-degrees to allow the engine to turn more rpms. And alas, we now were regulated to running strictly 91 octane fuel. While Jerry promises a 2-plus-mph gain when these modifications are made, we clocked 65.4mph, a solid mile-per-hour over our previous run.
The ECU swap is literally no different from that of a stock ECU, as it is a stock ECU (on the outside), and takes minutes to change out.
With each subsequent modification we knew we’d unlock more performance from the retuned ECU as it was struggling to process air through the restrictive factory air intake and exhaust. But next on our list was to replace the stock 14/22 prop with a beautiful Skat-Trak Swirl 155mm impeller. Like changing the rear gears in your car, a repitched prop can massively effect the performance of any personal watercraft. We need a prop that would spin our engine rpms up and earn us some much needed speed.
We had our 12/19 Skat-Trak prop repitched to a slightly more aggressive 12/16 which bumped up our rpms to 7,700 and earned us one of our biggest speed gains.
The new 12/16 Skat-Trak impeller, featuring a splined front snout, is noticeably different from the factory Yamaha prop. For those who know, breaking the factory prop loose of the shaft can be a serious chore. Because of this, the Skat prop requires their Skat-Trak splined impeller tool. Once installed and topped with the billet locking collar, the pump came back together in short order.
Although we had lost of the morning’s cool, dense air, we were still able to snap off a decent 66.2mph at 7,700rpm. Thinking our day to be over, we had one last hair-brained idea. Pulling the seat one last time, we popped open the factory air box and removed the large paper air filter element. Of course, we knew most of you would dare ride your ski without proper air filtration, but we wanted to see if we could move the needle.
And, surprisingly, it did! With the noonday sun rising into position, we tripped the GPS at 66.5mph. We knew that opening up the exhaust would gain us a few more miles-per-hour but hated the idea of running a noisy waterbox-less exhaust. A true cold air kit too would offer us some more speed, but we couldn’t see it being much better than running without the air filter.
Although we never suggest running without an air filter, we yanked the factory paper element and ran with the OE air box open.
Ending our experiment there, we unfortunately fell below our 68mph goal. All in all, we spent a total of $1,200 in aftermarket in parts and labor to get us from 63 to 66.5mph. What stings all that more when we realized that the difference in price between a FX HO and a FX SHO is just $1,300, so for $100 more, we could gain 2.5mph and keep both our factory warranty and use of 87 octane. While we might’ve failed, we did realize what kind of smokin’ deal Yamaha’s pricing is on their stock watercraft.
No matter every trick we threw at it, we did our very best to match the stock speed of a supercharged Yamaha SHO-equipped FX, but came up a few mph short.
Slated for December 3rd through the 7th, the 2014 Jet Ski World Cup – better known as the King’s Cup – is fast approaching and is promising to be an exciting week of racing and competition. With athletes converging from around the globe, the rosters are filling up fast to quality and enter. That is why the female duo from Team USA from Full Throttle Flyboard Club, Florida need your help. Nellie Kubalek and Kristen Smoyer are vying for fiscal support to compete in the 2014 Flyboard World Cup held December 4-6 as part of the King’s Cup.
Both athletes have qualified for World Cup competition, representing the USA, they just need help getting there. They’ve started a gofundme campaign to help crowd-source the necessary $4,000 to travel to Dubai and participate in the international showdown. Right now, the ladies are quite a ways away from their goal, so any help is appreciated. The official bios on the two are as follows:
“Nellie Kubalek is a female Professional Flyboarder with over 2 years of dedication, hard work, and perseverance taking this sport to a new level. She dedicates her time to training others, advancing their skill set and educating the world on this new gravity-defying new sport. Nellie was the only female in the USA to qualify for the 2013 Flyboard World Cup. She has been featured in the 2014 AquaX and P1 SuperStock series. Follow Nellie and her flyboard adventures at Flyboarder Nellie Facebook
“Kristen Smoyer is an up and coming new flyboarder. She started flyboarding only 5 months ago and has more than proven herself to reach for the gold! Kristen began this sport as a hobby and quickly evolved in the flyboard world under the coaching and guidance of Nellie Kubalek. Kristen’s favorite trick on the flyboard is a backflip. She dedicates her time in the community working with children and strives to be a role model for young female athletes. This is Kristen’s first time qualifying for the World Cup.”
In the wake of a less than chart-topping IJSBA World Finals in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, there’s been a whole lot of chatter that PWC racing is dead or inconsequential. While the latter is the subject of its own year-long series of in-depth reports, the first is definitely untrue. In fact, the statement is so far off base that The Watercraft Journal has made it a point to help announce every new and exciting format for future PWC racing the first moment we learn of it.
PWC Arena Racing is what it sounds like; personal watercraft racing held on the water of an outdoor arena setting. Arena racetracks are commonly used for high-speed boat races and are primed to be a PWC venue. The arena platform “creates a watercraft-racing format that is visually spectator friendly from the bleachers and easily understood by both the crowd attending the event and the racers competing,” as the official PWC Arena Racing website states. Unlike other shoreline-based events, watercraft racing in a closed arena setting provides an up-close racing experience unlike anywhere else, placing the spectators safely near the action.
Now with an all-new website for both PWC Arena Racing and HydroCross Racing, you can keep up-to-date on all the latest action. But until then, here’s a graph of the proposed 2015 events as well as a quick video on what to expect:
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, while many are looking at these winter months as the time to hang it up and curl up by the fire, the hardcore personal watercraft enthusiasts are getting their shops and garages ready for several months of good old fashioned wrenchin’ and toolin’. Superchargers are being rebuilt, jet pumps are being modified, and handling parts are being tightened down…all to be the fastest, hardest-hitting, and sharpest handling PWC on their lake.
That is why all of us at The Watercraft Journal are so proud to welcome Watcon to its family of supporting advertisers. Supplying all of North America with the very best in performance parts from the most established and highest-acclaimed aftermarket companies in the sport, Watcon is all about increasing the performance of your runabout or jet ski.
We spotted a fun little note over on Dustin Farthing’s Instagram feed that read, “If you’re not planning for 2015, you’re already behind.” And that goes for just about everything. That is why now is the time to hit up Watcon. The one-stop personal watercraft shop, Watcon is a major vendor for RIVA Racing, Western Powersports, Fly Racing, Hot Products and Parts Unlimited, not to mention Original Equipment suppliers for Yamaha, Kawasaki, Sea-Doo, Polaris and Honda.
Owned by Rock County Jet Ski in Janesville, Wisconsin, the RCJS crew can do anything from minor maintenance to full-on custom builds and race machines. Available online, via email or phone, get your hands on all the goods necessary to pump new life in to your PWC today!
First, let it be understood that at temperatures over 414°F, all of the polymer plastics found on today’s modern watercraft would pool in to a puddle of sticky goo, so don’t think that what you’re seeing is strictly a Sea-Doo problem. Be it a Kawasaki, Yamaha or Sea-Doo, blistering temperatures that reduced this GTX 155 into a Salvadore Dali painting, would do the same to any machine.
Yet, many are not as lucky. Tens of thousands of personal watercraft enthusiasts entrust their prized machines to dealerships and jet ski shops to properly winterize and store over the winter months. While there are several benefits to this (recently, The Watercraft Journal wrote a feature article on having your PWC stored by such facilities), it is imperative that you investigate which of these are fully insured for such a disaster.
Of course, and here’s the kicker, the best course of action is to personally insure your personal watercraft. McGraw Insurance‘s Personal Watercraft Package (which includes jet boats under sixteen 16-feet, jet skis, wet bikes, etc.) provides coverage against $15,000 in liability coverage, theft, fire, collision, hull damage, sinking, damage to another watercraft and injury to another person.
Play it safe. Just because your ski isn’t on the water doesn’t mean it can’t get damaged.
For many north of the equator, these are the months to either mothball your personal watercraft as the winter chill makes riding just too unpleasant, or the right time to start wrenching on next year’s project. Meanwhile, to our Australian friends, this is the beginning of summer – and just as important to get your ski running its very best. That is why our pals at Melbourne, Australia’s Diptech Performance are offering some seriously sweet deals on ready-to-run performance kits for all 310-series Ultra Kawasaki JetSkis and all 260-horsepower supercharged Sea-Doos.
While Diptech’s Kawasaki kits are boasting an impressive 15-horsepower jump (making it an even 330HP), it’s Diptech’s Sea-Doo packages that are really making waves. Consisting of RIVA Racing’s a reflashed ECU, an open-element cold air intake, through-hull exhaust with a high-flow waterbox, valve spring retainers, and supercharger rebuild kit, the Sea-Doo kit promises a true 300-horsepower. Of course, all that new found power doesn’t add up to much if you can’t it hook up, so the package includes a trick Solas prop.
Currently, Diptech is cranking out quite a few of these Sea-Doo installations, and understandably so as they’re giving them away at $4,500, but there’s always room for you! And owner/operator Anthony DiPietro also reminded The Watercraft Journal that Diptech is Australia’s number one supplier for Jet Trim seat covers and a major retailer of Jet Pilot products, from riding apparel, race gear and even tubes and water toys!
