Well, if you weren’t at this year’s 2014 Jettribe IJSBA World Finals then you missed out on a lot more than being witness to some of the most exciting personal watercraft racing (but more on that in a second). Factory Yamaha’s Aero Aswar earned his win in Pro Stock and Yousef Alabdulrazzaq in Pro Limited Runabout classes. Joining the two Dean’s Team racers were wins in Women’s Runabout, Runabout Open Slalom, Expert Runabout Veterans, Expert Runabout, and Amateur Runabout, making the weekend definitely something for Yamaha WaveRunners to be proud of.

In addition to bringing home a lot of hardware for the brand with the tuning forks, Yamaha was on site in a big, big way with a whole corner of the midway dedicated to the brand, showing off the new RiDE dual-throttle braking and reverse system as well as the return of the last remaining two-stroke watercraft in the industry, the SuperJet.

For those on hand, special fliers were available offering an amazing $1,000 off on the purchase of any 2014 or 2013 SuperJet between October 4th through the 31st of this year. Although the coupon states that it must be present at time of purchase to present the special code printed on the back (code: C2-N2M), we’re hoping dealers will be willing to let it slide just this one time. (Oh, and the offer isn’t valid in either New York or California because those states are jerks.)

Finally, Yamaha is launching it’s all-new ShopYamaha.com e-commerce website for all of you looking to score on some seriously cool Yamaha gear before anybody else. The new site is, according to the press release, “the newest way for you to browse and purchase Yamaha accessories and apparel online. Find every day essentials like dock lines and anchors along with knee and wakeboards. Plus Genuine Yamaha covers to protect your baby this off-season.”

It’s a point of pride for all of us at The Watercraft Journal that we were not only the first, but the only personal watercraft magazine to provide you late-breaking full-length coverage from this past September’s Cronulla Rip N’ Ride. The Australian freeride event continues to swell into the sport’s biggest, welcoming riders from across the globe and providing them with some of the best (and biggest) prizes, including a brand new DASA engine and a 2014 Yamaha SuperJet!

One of the many highlights from the weekend’s event was JetPilot’s “Battle of the Best” showdown. With many of the pros pushing themselves to the limit executing flawless tricks, massive airs and huge carves, it was Southern California’s Mark Gomez who proved unstoppable, besting the likes of Brandon Lawlor and Pierre Maixent, and took out the title of Jet Pilots’ Best of the Best.

The Watercraft Journal had an exclusive opportunity to chat with Mark after his ride, telling us, “That was the best I have ever rode in my life.” Although the contention was tight, Gomez reigned supreme, leaving second place to Mick Anthony and a close third to Pierre. Below is a short but sweet recap of Gomez’s domination and some of the amazing aerial action that transpired at Cronulla. Enjoy the short video below, and make sure to read the full recap from this year’s Rip N’ Ride HERE.

Y’know what the biggest problem is with personal watercraft racing? OK, OK, there’s a few things, but one major issue is getting the action in front of spectators and the mastermind behind the Hydrocross Watercraft Racing Tour, Brent Venderley has figured it out! New for 2015, the Hydrocross Watercraft Racing Tour will be adding two new venues to their traditional closed course racing schedule: PWC Arena Racing.

The inaugural event, scheduled for March 2015, the “Naples Grand Prix, Power Sports Festival” will be held at the Florida Sports Park in Naples, FL. The first race of the 2015 season will be the IJSBA sanctioned showdown held in 8000 seat, enclosed outdoor arena ideal for spectators who want to be close to the racing action at all times.

According to Brent’s original announcement, “There is a paved food vendor alley, vendor areas for Powersports displays, dedicated racers pits, stage in front of the main grandstand for awards and racers meet and greet, a 7000+ square foot air conditioned pavilion with a stage… and much more!

“Originally built for swamp buggy racing, the Florida Sports Park is the perfect venue for an arena (SuperCross) style watercraft racing event. It will include Closed Course racing, Hydrodrag racing and Freestyle in the evening in front of the main grandstand’s stage and under the lights!”

The all-new Hydrocross Tour will include IJSBA-sanctioned classes for Pro and Amateur Runabout and Ski, Sport, Freestyle, Amateur runabout horsepower based classes, and the fastest PWCs on the water… the Hydrodrags! Wait, what? That’s right, kiddies. The HydroDrags are coming to arena racing!

Not only that, but super-exciting HydroDrags will be joining the Hydrocross for 2015. Brent wrote in an announcement, “We are excited and thankful to Mike for giving us the opportunity to take the Hydrodrag Series to the next level. We are passionate about Watercraft Racing and share in everyone’s vision of where we all want this sport to go. The entire Hydrocross team is looking forward to implementing many of the ideas the racers and the PWC industry are looking for, and that will put Hydrocross Closed Course Racing, PWC Arena Racing and the Hydrodrags among the top watercraft series in the world!

“A full schedule of the 2015 Hydrodrag Series events, along with dates for all Hydrocross Racing events is coming soon. In the meantime, you will able to stay up to date on what’s happening by visiting www.hydrodragseries.com as we build the website, and by staying in touch with all the excitement via Facebook and Twitter @hydrodrags.”

All of us at The Watercraft Journal are excited about Brent’s efforts for 2015 and are happy to commit to covering all of the upcoming HydroDrag and Hydrocross arena events. Together with Pro Hydro-X, we will be offering live streaming links throughout race day to keep you all up on the action. Of course, there’s plenty of good news to come before March, so stay tuned!

The gods of personal watercraft giveth and the gods of personal watercraft taketh away. Two days ago, The Watercraft Journal was excited to announce how BRP, through their BRP Powercraft Equipment Grant, has recommitted to supporting Surf Life Saving (SLS) in its effort to improve emergency response along Australia’s coastlines. By providing SLS with a state-of-the-art Sea-Doo GTI personal watercraft, Can-Am off-road vehicles and even Evinrude outboard engines for their boats.

Unfortunately, that brand-new GTI Rescue craft was recently involved in an accident where a female volunteer sped through a no-wake zone, racing past families on PWC and boats and narrowly missing fellow SLS lifesavers standing on a floating dock who were on-site to oversee the rescue of a sunken jet boat. The SLS volunteer, aboard the recently acquired Sea-Doo ran the ski squarely into the dock, ramping it up and out of the water and bringing it to a halt.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt and the volunteer was taken by EMTs to the hospital for shock. Authorities are investigating whether the matter was due to a “mechanical issue,” but the video below clearly shows the volunteer piloting the Sea-Doo with her left arm dangling straight down only seconds before colliding with the dock. Of course, this flies in the face of Sea-Doo’s entire intent of the iBR system, wherein riders will never have to remove take their hands from the handlebars. Clearly, this volunteer didn’t grasp the concept.

The Colwyn Jet Ski Club, based at Porth Eirias in Colwyn Bay [a “seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea,” according to a 4-second Google search – Ed.] have recently been recognized by the prestigious Royal Yachting Association as a Personal Watercraft Training Centre.

This will allow the Jetski club to train members and non-members at the Porth Eirias site. The one-day course will teach how to use a personal watercraft (PW) safely, responsibly and with confidence, ensuring the rider gets the best out of the craft. Weather, safety and courtesy to others, launching and familiarization, personal watercraft handling, emergencies, rules of the road, essential navigation, recovery and aftercare will all be covered which in turn should make the rider more proficient and safer with other water users and Self-sufficient in good conditions, aware of limitations of themselves and their PWC.

Six members of the Colwyn Jet Ski Club, including four living in North Wales, have also recently successfully completed five days of training with the RYA to all achieve Personal Watercraft Instructor status.

The club, formed in 1996, meet every Sunday at the Porth Eirias slipway between Easter and October with members not only from North Wales but traveling from all over the North West and as far down as the Potteries. The Clubs RYA Coordinator, Jakki Bates said, “We hope to start the first Personal Watercraft Proficiency courses next year. With Colwyn Bay Promenade undergoing such dramatic changes these are really exciting times for the Club and Porth Eirias and we look forward to Easter when the season starts again.”

[If you want your PWC club mentioned in The Watercraft Journal, feel free to email us any upcoming events or club news at [email protected] – Ed.]

DSM Events has officially released a date for the 2015 Hot Products IJSBA Mark Hahn Memorial Havasu 300, presented by Yamaha. On the morning of February 28, 2015, the 11^th annual “World’s Longest PWC Race” will kick off from Lake Havasu City, Arizona’s Crazy Horse Campground.

Once again sanctioned by the International Jet Sports Boating Association (IJSBA), the 300-mile endurance race, in memory of fallen PWC endurance racer Mark Hahn, is expected to attract a record number of international teams and top PWC racers from across the United States. Not only will each team compete for top honors in one of six classes, but many will no doubt be pushing themselves and their pit crews to the limits in efforts to break the existing record time set in 2014 by Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Craig Warner.

“The race is returning to Crazy Horse Campground’s main beach site for this very important event,” said DSM Events owner Jim Russell, “and the 10-mile course we have approval [on] from the Coast Guard will pit all the teams against the wind, rough water and long runs that this event has become synonymous with.” In addition to the weather conditions, crews will be expected to pit their watercraft and perform several safe refuels and rider changes during the four- to six-hour event.

The 2015 race will again feature the mandatory use of electronic transponders on each race craft. The “team format” will allow up to two alternating riders per runabout (sit-down), and up to three riders per stand-up, with solo “Ironman” racers welcome in either category.

Entry forms and entry information sheets are scheduled to be released soon on the Mark Hahn Memorial 300 website. In the meantime, you can check out the full press release at www.pwcfun.com

BRP continues its commitment to supporting its partnership with Surf Life Saving (SLS); in an effort to improve emergency response at dangerous “Black Spot” locations along Australia’s coastlines, BRP recently provided SLS with its state-of-the-art Sea-Doo personal watercraft, Can-Am off road vehicles and Evinrude outboard engines as part of The BRP Powercraft Equipment Grant. In association with Surf Life Saving Australia’s national partnership with Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), the grant has delivered $1.26 million worth of essential lifesaving equipment to more than 160 Surf Life Saving clubs and services around Australia since commencing in 2009.

In a report by JSW Powersports, “‘Black Spots’ are locations SLS has specifically identified with having a high concentration of coastal incidents and a high risk of ongoing reoccurrence. SLS has targeted the most treacherous locations, and part of the strategy to help reduce drownings at coastal danger spots is to ensure lifeguards at these locations have the latest technology in rescue craft at their disposal.  In 2014 alone, the subsidy based grant which was launched in January, has allocated $360,000 worth of powercraft equipment including the Can-Am Commander 800 all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and the Sea-Doo GTI 155 rescue water craft (RWC). Surf Life Saving is Australia’s major water safety, drowning prevention and rescue authority. It is also one of the largest volunteer movement of its kind in Australia, and a not-for-profit entity that exists only through community donations, government funding, fundraising and corporate sponsorship from companies such as BRP.”

Surf Life Saving Australia Coastal Safety Manager, Anthony Bradstreet was quoted, “All-terrain vehicles and jet skis are powerful lifesaving tools. They enable surf lifesavers and lifeguards to move around the beach and water quickly. This means patrolling and rescues can be performed with greater efficiency and there’s better chances of saving lives on the coast. It’s important to remember that Surf Life Saving is a charity and relies on the community to save lives. BRP assists the SLS movement on a grassroots level. They understand our core business of saving lives and help us in our delivery of this emergency response community service at an operational level.”

Kym Pardey, Marketing Manager for BRP Australia, continued, “There is fantastic alignment with our brands including Sea-Doo and Evinrude with SLS’s rescue equipment needs. We can see no better way in which our company can support the community than by providing SLS lifesavers and lifeguards with products that will help save lives on Australian beaches”. Pardey further commented, “The Page partnership also enables us to showcase how our products offer fantastic performance yet are sensitive to the environment; for example our Sea-Doo PWC’s are exceptionally quiet, provide industry leading fuel efficiency, and offer innovative technology such as our unique on-water braking system that delivers real safety benefits. More than just a great rescue craft, Sea-Doo PWC’s offer families the freedom to have a fun and safe time on our amazing waterways.”

Vice President and Regional General Manager – BRP Asia-Pacific, Gregoire Dupont, was pleased with how the BRP Grant participates in assisting Surf Life Saving, stating, “BRP is proud to extend its support in our sixth year of the Grant.  We see no better way for BRP to promote its brands such as Sea-Doo and Can-Am, than by having our product in the community and assisting the many dedicated SLS members perform their important patrol duties.”