Years ago, we had the express pleasure of publishing a never-before-shot of Taylor Curtis getting barrelled in paradisaical surf spot Teahupoʻo on his honeymoon. It was a historical shot and we loved being able to play a small part in it. It’s taken nearly six years, but an equally talented freerider, Mitch Young from the Mornington Peninsula, Australia, has mirrored Taylor’s achievement.
Yet, the 28-year-old didn’t have to travel nearly as far. During a particularly big swell in an undisclosed surf spot, Young put his 5 years of freeride experience to the test. The Watercraft Journal got a chance to sit down with Young who shared his experience:
“I have dreamed about getting barrelled on my ski for a while now. With a surfing background, I knew exactly what swell and wind direction I needed for a particular surf spot that is renowned for big hectic barrels. After discussions with mates and keeping an eye on the charts, the date was set and the forecast was perfect.
“The second rescue ski I had lined up pulled out last minute so I organized a rental ski and the morning of the 21st of August, Ducky, Leggett, Jay and myself loaded up all that we needed and headed out off the Sorrento boat ramp. I had my stand jet ski up on my G-Board behind my sitdown jet ski, the trip on the sitdowns out to the break took us an hour to get to. Once there, Mitch the camera man jumps in and the wave turned on.
“I undertook a number of approaches to the wave until I found one that worked, not every wave did what I needed it to do, so I had to pick the right one which was proving difficult. Once I committed to a wave it was way too steep, there was no turning back. Myself and Jay had to go way out the back and put the standup back on the G-Board to refuel; it was a challenge but we got pretty good at it.
“The day was perfect, the sun was out, big sets on the horizon and dolphins in the distance. Finally, after a few attempts, I managed to get a couple of perfect waves and found myself as I dreamed, inside the barrel! I have never put my ski in such a critical position in the wave before, especially a wave of this size and magnitude.
“Once we got the shot and I was still in one piece we called it a day. Thanks to all that helped out that day without each and everyone of you this wouldn’t of been possible. A big thanks to my sponsors Jetpilot, Krash Industries, AJSP, ATP, Dasa for there continued support.”
The shots included in this article come courtesy of Mitchell Nibbs. Although Nibbs was kind enough to provide us with these few shots, larger full-resolution versions are available by emailing [email protected].
Today I was reminded of the simple bliss of the ride. Jetski Junkies member Travis Powers called an impromptu ride on the Peace River and both my wife and I were able to attend along with Travis’ fiancee Carli and Rich Decker.
The ride was simple in nature, about 60 miles or so round trip from fresh water to salt and back without hardly any real need for planning, spare fuel and as luck would have it, the need to carry lunch.
The ride took us southwest from Nocatee to Charlotte Harbor in Port Charlotte, FL. The river is mostly a 25mph zone that twists and turns from narrow to wide at ease, with some minor dead fall, debris and shallows to lookout for, mainly in the upper section as it narrows.
The water level was about nine inches below normal, some tidal influence in the lower part of the river below the local hotspot called Nav-A-Gators Bar & Grill, where we were able to stop for lunch and fuel as well.
The river was flat with some chop from airboat traffic. There seemed to be quite a bit of river side swimming, relaxing and BBQ’n going on. We also saw quite a bit of tubing, wake- and knee-boarding, which we don’t normally come across. I guess these folks are just use to swimming with those pesky green lizards with teeth [chuckle].
Taking our time and enjoying the scenery with friends and outstanding conditions surely made this ride very enjoyable.
Rides like these aren’t as common for me; most of the riding the Club has been doing are long tours and even recently a once an a lifetime jet ski ride out to the Bahamas, so this ride really allowed my wife and I to step back, take it slow and really enjoy.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it all, but today was a reminder of why we love this sport so much, and it’s because of the riding. I
t’s coming together, putting fiberglass (or plastic if a Spark) in the water, soaking in the sun, breathing the fresh air and carving up some water. When you are out there, nothing else matters, no stress, no bills, no college plan, no government intervention, just you, friends and the ride. I don’t care what your excuse is, what your afflictions are, what group you are with, what race is coming up and what ski you own or ride, because at the end of the day, if you aren’t stepping back to simply ride, then you may have forgotten what it is that truly ignited your passion in the first place.
Hey, it’s cool. We all like to save money. Frugality is a virtue after all. That’s why we’re excited to let you know that Hydro-Turf is ramping up the saving machine again to seriously hack away at their prices – but with a catch. Hydro-Turf is offering 25-percent off all mat kits, seat covers, and sheets of Hydro-Turf, as well as 20-percent all accessories if you pre-order today and pick up your order at their booth at this year’s World Finals.
See, Hydro-Turf won’t be carting out endless piles of mat kits and seat covers to the Finals. Rather, they are only bringing out those Will Call items pre-ordered prior to the event, so if you’re looking to save some cash on both the retail cost and shipping, and you already plan on being at the Finals, now is your chance.
Of course, the special discount code “CODE-TWJ” exclusive to the readers of The Watercraft Journal is still in effect, so if you’re interested in getting Hydro-Turf’s Hydration Roller Bag for $50 (that’s a $30 savings over retail) or a 15-percent discount on all mats, seat covers and sheets of Hydro-Turf, you can always use that (but the coupon code cannot be used on previously discounted items).
Here’s the original press release:
We are offering some pre-order discount specials, this applies to orders being Will Called at World Finals ONLY. There will be no direct shipping of any pre-order. All orders must be paid in advance, no COD’s.
We will NOT be bringing any mat kits or seat covers this year. We will be offering sheets, apparel (hats and shirts), and accessories (shock pads, side lifter wedges, kick tails, etc). If you need a specific mat kit, seat cover, or a particular color sheet we may not be bringing, I would definitely place an order. There are no guarantees that we can accommodate you when we arrive if you do not place an order in advance.
Orders will be accepted starting now and the last date to order is 09/30, as we are leaving with all product 10/07. Please email all orders to [email protected]
Orders must be picked up 10/09/14 – 10/12/14. If you do not pick up your order by the end of the event, you order well be donated to a Junior/Amateur rider on your behalf.
The following discount applies to regular stock material, and will not be applied to already discounted items, or partial kits. There will be no freight charges, as we are taking care of that for you. The discounts below.
Mat Kits 25% off retail Seat Covers $25% off retail Sheets 25% off retail Accessories 20%
The VXR feature a lot of styling DNA from the larger FX series runabouts.
Were Yamaha to simply carry over its 2014 lineup for 2015, many would have little reason to complain. The introduction of the SVHO (Super Vortex High Output) 1.8L powerplant and accompanying 160mm pump setup was enough to place the brand with the tuning forks in the top podium position in all four major runabout classes in the Pro Watercross Tour this year (Pro Open, Pro Limited, Pro Stock and Naturally-Aspirated).
The answer is the VXR. At the exclusive press intro of the 2015 Yamaha WaveRunner lineup, it was almost an unspoken fact that the VXR – and the entirely-revamped VX Series subsequently – was the focus of Yamaha’s attention.
New to the entire lineup is the innovative dual-throttle RiDE system, but unique to the VXR (and VXS) is Yamaha’s 5-stage electronic trim control.The VXR and VXS are also the only two in the VX family to use the naturally-aspirated 1,812cc High Output powerplant.
The complete overhaul of the VX Series came at the height of the recent fiscal crisis. “We were told were the economy to worsen,” Yamaha Product Manager Scott Watkins prefaced, “all other platforms (besides the VX) would be folded up, so we needed to design a hull that could work with all of our engines and perform in all segments.”
Consequently, the VX hull was lengthened from 126.8-inches to 131.5-inches and widened from 46.1-inches to 48-inches. Central to the new hull was increasing excitement, stability and ride comfort. The larger hull features modified hull strakes, softened bow chines and a entirely new keel shape.
These modifications nearly completely eradicate the “loosey goosey” feel of the outgoing VX that many in the media refer to as being “playful.” Rather, the new VX hull is a tighter handling, significantly more responsive ride that is predictable at speed and blazingly responsive.
Many firsts appear on the new VXR, including a larger swim platform, Hydro-Turf mats, a two-piece seat, and the lightweight NanoXcel hull and deck.The new VXR holds an impressive 24.6 gallons of storage, far exceeding the previous 15.1 gallons.
Although larger in overall size, Yamaha saved the VXR from gaining weight by producing the new VX hull and deck out of its NanoXcel material, while the new NanoXcel 2 is exclusive to the ’15 SVHO models. This allows the VXR to come in at a featherweight 767 pounds (dry).
“We gave up a little on the top end to tighten up the handling,” Watkins admitted. Referring to the old racer credo “fast is loose,” the design of the new VXR hull is firmly planted, while other hulls rise on a narrow keel, freeing up a lot of drag.
Remaining glued means there’s little searching or wandering, and the VXR does none of that. While, the VXR won’t break the sound barrier, its optimized power-to-weight ratio ensures it’ll stretch a smile across your face as it hits its low-to-mid-60’s top speed.
Of course, as with all of the VX and FX series, the VXR comes with Yamaha’s all-new dual-throttle system RiDE.
With the new design aesthetic of the VX Series, so comes a new digital dash cluster with very easy-to-read gauges. Fuel, trim, hours, speed and RPM are all highly visible.The new VXR features additional watertight storage beneath the rear passenger seat found in this screw-top removable container.
Yamaha has contorted itself to avoid the word “brake” in describing RiDE for fear of association to Sea-Doo’s Intelligent Brake & Reverse (iBR), but that is ultimately RiDE’s purpose. As an on-water brake, RiDE is excellent, particularly in maximizing Yamaha’s dual-exit reverse bucket to direct water longitudinally, rather than laterally. This does eliminate the telltale vertical roost that alarms vehicles that you’re slowing, but it does keep the bow from diving under hard deceleration.
Although some would argue differently, we discovered that RiDE works to help “load up” or drag in the approach of a turn when the throttle is nearly or completely pinned.
By lightly feathering the left-hand throttle, the reverse bucket will work to slow down the VXR without fully overwriting the throttle, allowing the aggressive rider to maintain constant throttle throughout the turn. We practiced this maneuver several times over our two days with the VXR and smiled that we could in fact, “two foot” through the turns.
In our short two days with one of Yamaha’s pre-production VXR units, we were impressed with the execution of their “Mid-Level Segment” performance craft. This machine is no less as impressive – if not more so – than anything we’ve seen from the company.Five years of experience with iBR has trained us to be too hamfisted. RiDE doesn’t require a heavy hand, but a gentle touch, so take some time to get acclimated if you’ve spent a lot of time on Sea-Doos.
The Watercraft Journal enjoyed an exclusive two-days’ worth of time with the VXR, wherein we were free to explore Lake Oconee, Georgia at our leisure. Our initial impression of the new entry craft to Yamaha’s Performance segment is that it will leave you breathless. Both quite literally and figuratively. The VXR is like a rodeo ride on a rocket. Acceleration is immediate and will likely stretch every tendon and sinew holding your shoulders together.
Dropping a knee in the tray only taunts the VXR to corner harder. Full throttle hairpins will eject lesser riders so you best be ready. In long sweeps, the new hull tracks true and cleanly through mild to moderate chop without much direction, but will need a steadier handle and throttle control through anything rougher.
Ergonomically, the RiDE system and electronic trim pods add an extra inch of handlebar width. The steering head is locked in an upright position. We found it a bit tall for our tastes and wished for a telescoping option akin to the FZR. Nevertheless, everything is well placed, the gauge pod easily legible, and the race-inspired bolstered seat doesn’t have the claustrophobic feel that the larger Cruiser seats sometimes give.
Available in either Black Metallic with Laser Yellow or Torch Red Metallic, the VXR is the entry-level musclecraft that has all the potential of usurping Yamaha’s own FZ Series.
Taking another queue from the larger FX Series, the VXR features a removable screw-top watertight storage bucket beneath the rear passenger adding to the VX’s ample storage. Likewise, the VXR includes Yamaha’s folding swimstep and large platform covered in Hydro-Turf matting.
Retailing for $11,799, there are few runabouts from any brand that can be had for so less that delivers so much. Yamaha’s new VXR is already making waves before it has even hit dealer floors. Racers have already ordered dozens of these machines to be converted into Open class skis. We’re not telling you that there’s a run on 2015 VXR’s, but we are saying there’s plenty of reason not to sit and wait.
We full expect to see these lining up the Naturally Aspirated Runabout and Open Classes next year as well as the 200HP class in AquaX, as the VXR is a born competitor.
Normal, everyday enthusiasts are taking to the water every chance they can get as well. Personally, we think it’s from being cooped up over an extended winter that has so many refusing to give in. Thankfully, the weather is still holding strong (besides from some ill-timed showers) allowing for plenty of fun on the water. And with a new crop of exciting watercraft coming out of Yamaha’s Kennesaw, Georgia headquarters and more of the same from Sea-Doo and Kawasaki, people are strongly considering trading up for the new year.
All of this has spelled some serious readership for The Watercraft Journal. As it has been all year long, August proved our most popular month, welcoming considerably more first-time readers than in previous months, dramatically increasing our Australian and New Zealander readership, in addition to many more domestic regulars. This has allotted us the very humbling position of reaching over 85,000 individual “unique” readers since our November 2013 launch, which positions us to surpass 100,000 readers in our first year – a number that dwarfs other PWC magazines and rivals that of forums.
Over 16,000 readers a month is a lot of eyeballs. And wouldn’t you want those people reading about your company and products? Sure you do, and The Watercraft Journal is here to help you do that. After all, its our job to let the world know about the companies that make the PWC industry! Read the report below and see if The Watercraft Journal isn’t right for you and your brand. We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and earning your business.
August 2014
Daily Content Reliably
We’ve said it before, but there’s nothing like reliability. Delivering on your promises is still paramount to us, and it’s disappointing when others claim to do the same when they simply (or won’t). The Watercraft Journal publishes everyday, Monday through Friday. It’s not hard to prove, just go to the magazine! Our commitment to publishing the best, most exciting, entertaining and informative professionally-written articles is proven. Nobody else can say that.
News articles published in July: 26
Feature articles published in July: 13
Total feature word count: 12,771 words*
News articles published in August: 23
Feature articles published in August: 13
Total feature word count: 14,217 words*
*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 112-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.
Speaking To The Masses
It’s really easy to fall into the trap of doing what’s easy, especially if what’s easy works. What we’ve found though, is that offering a diversity of content is what works best, and that’s a level of commitment that others simply aren’t capable or comfortable doing. Racing coverage is fun, and nobody beats our next-day event coverage, but it’s not what most people read! In fact, we find fishing stories bring more readers than a giant race recap, can you believe it? Our dedication to bring our readers content from across the whole of our industry is what separates us from everybody else.
July
Total number unique readers: 13,696*
Total number of articles read: 34,403
Percentage of new readers: 64%
August
Total number unique readers: 17,028*
Total number of articles read: 42,824
Percentage of new readers: 62.4%
*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.
Publishing With Purpose
Many simply don’t understand how to use social media to their advantage. Having more “Likes” doesn’t automatically translate into traffic. Using our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and weekly newsletter to carefully engage our audience is a bit of alchemy for other magazines, but not for The Watercraft Journal, and our readership numbers prove it. Because after all, it’s all about readership, isn’t it?
July Facebook readers: 9,302
July Facebook weekly reach: 29,423
Top Five countries: Brazil, United States, Philippines, Argentina, Thailand
August Facebook readers: 10,026
August Facebook weekly reach: 21,325
Top Five countries: United States, Brazil, Philippines, Argentina, South Africa
You Just Don’t Turn It Off
The riding season isn’t over, so don’t think we’re slowing down any time soon. In fact, quite the opposite. In the next month – heck, even the next few weeks – you’re going to be seeing quite a few new and exciting changes to The Watercraft Journal. Don’t worry, you won’t be losing any of the stuff you love, but we’ll be radically improving how you access the industry’s favorite PWC magazine. Likewise, we’ve got some really neat announcements coming that will sure to shake up the norm. So if you’re enjoying what you’re seeing from The Watercraft Journal now, just hang tight. Nothing is over. Nothing.
Well, what can we say? Sometimes we get scooped. But this time around it wasn’t from a competitive news source or online blog. This time it was Brisbane Kawasaki who got the scoop on the newest models from Kawasaki. How? By having them show up on a flatbed truck in front of their dealership!
Normally, when manufacturers are preparing to unveil the new crop of products, they carefully groom the media with nondisclosure agreements and handshakes vowing us all to secrecy until a specified date. Media packets are distributed, online files chocked full of photos are shared, and even members of the media are invited out to test ride the new stuff.
Although we haven’t received any hard data on the 2015 lineup, observation would reveal not much has changed for the new year apart from bold new graphics (BNG) and the 310R receiving a pair of iridescent green sponsons. No word on whether these sponsons are reshaped or adjustable (first blush would say no), and the custom-looking blue pinstripe iconic to last year’s model has been replaced with silver.
Speaking of silver, the plane Jane-but-not-boring 310X is resplendent in charcoal, while the Jetsound-equipped 310LX is literally unchanged from last year, metallic green and all. Not shown is a 310X Special Edition (SE), but our understanding is that the SE was as rare as hen’s teeth Down Under, so we can’t report whether the SE will be returning or not just yet.
Of course, we’re over a week away from the “official” reveal of the 2015 Kawasaki lineup, so maybe there will be more to talk about then. Until, then revel in what you see here. We didn’t expect too many changes for this year, particularly as bone stock 310s can compete with fully-built Ultras and Yamahas in the open ocean. Seriously, that’s pretty stinkin’ impressive.
There are some serious “no brainers” out there when it comes to enjoying your personal watercraft: you wouldn’t ride without your life jacket, without proof of registration (or your registration stickers clearly installed), a license plate on your trailer, or anything else any law abiding boater would go without. It’s just good sense and helps ensure that personal watercraft riders are just as responsible as any other boater. So, why would you go through all of that and ride without insurance?
McGraw Powersports Group gets it, buying insurance isn’t exactly sexy, but it is smart. McGraw’s Personal Watercraft Insurance is designed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts to keep you and your favorite toy safe and protected. Protecting your vehicle from liability and/or physical damage, available optional coverages include increased liability limits, trailer coverage, medical payments, and even watersports liability (you read that right, racers!).
McGraw’s available packages are also insanely user friendly, with flexible payment plans with low down payments, competitive rates and a 24-hour claims department. And if you’re a member of the American Watercraft Association (AWA), you can cut 10-percent off.
This is why all of us at The Watercraft Journal are so excited to announce that McGraw Powersports Group has joined the world’s fastest-growing personal watercraft enthusiast magazine, with over 85,000 individual readers coming to read over 260,000 articles in its first nine months of publication! Look for more information on how you too can protect yourself and your PWC from The Watercraft Journal soon!
McGraw Powersports Group is presently made up of McGraw Motorcycle Insurance, McGraw Personal Watercraft Insurance and Western Service Contract Corp with each company’s products underwritten or backed by Pacific Specialty Insurance Company, an A.M. Best “A” rated insurer domiciled in California.
McGraw Powersports Group is committed to providing powersports dealers with and their customers with compliant products of value that build customer loyalty and protects powersports enthusiasts.
The history of Skat-Trak is still found throughout the company’s massive facility. We spotted these still new-in-box 20-year-old props in the inventory.
“I’m going,” my father insisted when I announced that I was scheduled to tour the Calimesa, California, headquarters of legendary Skat-Trak Performance Products. The multi-acre facility perched off of the northern side of the Inland Empire’s 10 Freeway is an industrial version of the Winchester Mansion, a maze of cross-crossing expansions, additions and alterations that date the company’s near-60 years of business like rings on a tree.
The front office is clean and new with a bright marquee hanging above the front door that directly contrasts a faded and weathered hand-painted sign stretching across the facade of the original large aluminum warehouse out back, a few feet off of the side street entrance. Yet, that is the history laden in Skat-Trak.
Spanning over half a century, the equipment inside is a hodgepodge of modern CAD-design computers, high-tech CNC machines, ancient Naval shipyard-grade Bridgeport presses and drills, to custom-designed tooling shielded from peering camera lenses.
All Skat-Trak impellers begin life in wax. The process is exceedingly time consuming to go from a wax mold to a finished stainless steel prop. Want to know why your custom order is a few weeks out? You’ll see why.Molten steel will be poured through the center inlet, filling each of these only after being covered and baked in layers of industrial ceramics.Each component – be it an impeller, a stator or intake grate – starts as a wax mold before being dipped and baked several times to create the final ceramic mold. These vats need to be kept circulating or will immediately harden.
Over its 60-plus-years of manufacturing, the Stuart family has earned incomparable notoriety in both the worlds of personal watercraft and sand sports. Beginning with developing custom paddle tires for dune buggies, sand rails and ATVs, Skat-Trak stepped into offering impellers by the early 1980s.
“I was one of your biggest customers,” my 71-year-old father boasted as he shook Business Office Manager Michelle Stuart-Thompson’s hand. “I had a shop that rented out jet skis, dirt bikes and ATCs in the ’80s. I still use your paddles on my Rhino,” he continued, producing a couple of photos hastily printed from his home computer that morning. Until that time, I had never seen my father “geek out.”
Michelle had volunteered to clear her schedule and walk us through the Skat-Trak headquarters with one key caveat, much of the proprietary processes couldn’t be photographed or documented. That was fine as our tour was intended to be purely experiential, not a nuts-and-bolts breakdown of Skat’s processes.
Snaking from one room to the next, Michelle showed us how each impeller, stator and intake grate is cast in wax before being dipped in several proprietary ceramic solutions, coating it enough to create a mold wherein molten stainless or aluminum is poured and kilned, baking the wax out, leaving a rough, unfinished part.
Once coated and hardened, the wax is melted out leaving a hollow mold where molten stainless can be poured in.Obviously, handling molten 17-4 stainless steel requires proper protection as workers are faced with searing temperatures.
We passed by pallets of dulled stainless steel ingots stacked in the same way gold bricks are in movies, the metal’s luster only to be brought out in the finishing process. From the blistering furnace, the ceramic molds will be shattered, most of their contents to be thrown away. Thankfully, much of the unused slag necessary to fill the impeller molds is recycled, saving Skat-Trak tens of thousands of dollars in material over the years.
Of course, waste is a major issue as California’s strict anti-pollution legislation has all but driven manufacturing from the Golden State. As it stands, Skat has several hoops to jump through to appease such laws, the newest of which requiring the company to collect runoff from its parking lot within 24 hours of a rainfall, and submit it for analysis at any number of “approved” laboratories or face excessive fines.
Once “hatched” from its mold, the impeller is sent off to be polished, measured and finished. Each prop is individually and meticulously evaluated, it’s rough casting polished into a glistening final product. Likewise, every impeller is compared against a final template to ensure that the pitch, angle and blade is correct. Again, the process is time consuming but results in a superior product each and every time.
Skat-Trak’s furnaces are impressively large, able to bake several racks of impellers at the same time.Raw, newly cast impellers are brought to the machine shop where mating surfaces are CNC milled.The keyed sleeves are kept frozen until a new prop is heated up to be fused together.
Prior to final packaging, many props require sleeving to which Skat-Trak freezes the knurled sleeves as they simultaneously bake the prop.
As the metal of the prop expands, the frozen sleeve contracts, providing Skat enough clearance to fit the sleeve inside the other. Once both components have adjusted to room temperature, the bond is as strong as a weld.
The manufacturing of Skat’s Magnum Pumps is very much the same as outlined above. Michelle demonstrated how they can offset the stator, configure blade count and placement and otherwise completely customize the pump to the customer’s requirements.
“Almost all of our work these days is custom,” Michelle admitted. “We don’t do big runs of anything anymore. Now it’s all one-off stuff. We’ve had to adjust to being able to build pretty much anything.”
Upon final adjusting, polishing and evaluation, all props are organized and prepared for shipping.In addition from starting from scratch, Skat-Trak accepts pumps and props for repairs and customization.The total surface area of the Twin Drive impeller setup is mandatory to produce the thrust necessary to launch Flyboarders dozens of feet into the air or achieve the unmatched speeds of the Hydro-Drag racers.
Recently, the advent of the Flyboard and performance enthusiasts wanting the benefits of dual “Twin Drive” impellers has gotten Skat-Trak dusting off some old tricks.
“Oh yeah,” Michelle smiles slyly. “The top [inducer] propeller is pretty much our old 550 prop. We just pitch it to work with the Main impeller.” This added surface area is what produces the thrust necessary to propel Flyboard riders 30-feet into the air, or push drag racers well into the 90s.
“The Flyboards are really big for us,” she continued. “We get orders from all over the planet. We just sent a couple to Australia this morning. One went to Dubai yesterday.” Motioning to a pair of boxes, Michelle admits, “I think this Twin Drive is for Jerry Gaddis for some testing.”
A familiar face to those milling around the pits at race sites since the late 1980s, Glenn Perry is Skat-Trak’s resident guru almost flawlessly being able to diagnose PWC issues at first blush.We caught a glimpse of this Sea-Doo Spark impeller in mid-finishing. The unusual lip of the swirl design helps increase acceleration for the lightweight, underpowered machine.These Intimidator motorcycle paddles feature a mild mohawk center lip with scallops. A pretty cool set of sand tires if we’ve ever seen ’em!
Aside from props, pumps, cones and intake grates, the far larger side of Skat-Trak’s business is its paddle tire industry. Although a far larger majority of Skat’s process is kept under lock and key, we were privy to witnessing the creation of several paddles from beginning to end.
First of all, Skat-Trak doesn’t make tires. They modify them. “Cores” are collected from all over, providing Skat-Trak a variety of sizes and compounds. A very cool machine quickly and pretty violently buffs each tire clean of its tread, leaving the surface smooth or rough, either just on top, or all the way down the sidewall.
Next, uniquely engineered press heats and molds rubber (and available Kelvar fiber mesh) in to the paddles, fusing them to the tire surface. It’s here that as many or as few paddles can be added. Likewise, a bead of knobbies or a single smooth mohawk ridge can be added. From there, the tires are packaged and shipped out.
For more “throwbacks,” we spotted some serious gems hidden throughout the Skat-Trak warehouses, including this vintage neon sign that once hung over the offices and a very custom 650SX that, according to Michelle Stuart-Thompson, Gary Hart of Jettrim “desperately wants to get his hands on.”As the sport has evolved, so has Skat-Trak by offering a variety of pitches of props, products and services unique to one of the biggest names in the personal watercraft industry.
Admittedly, it’s hard to keep your finger on all the latest goings on in the world of personal watercraft. Of course, we do it better than most, but that doesn’t mean we’re completely dialed in (here’s your invitation to “Like” us on Facebook and send us a link or an instant message of anything you deem newsworthy). Nevertheless, there are a few outlets we regularly frequent, one of those being 3FTDeep. For those unfamiliar, 3FTDeep is a YouTube channel documenting the “Sea-Doo adventures” of a pair of friends from White Rock, BC.
Updated on a pretty consistent weekly basis, 3FTDeep manages to do one thing particularly well, and that is capture the true spirit of runabout riders. In recent days we’ve picked up on a lot of “anti-couch chatter” on the intarwebs and can’t help but feel a little defensive of our two- and three-seater friends (y’know, the outlying majority of personal watercraft owners across North America). The biggest gripe has been, “I get bored after a few minutes” to which we reply, you’re doing it wrong.
For an example of how to truly maximize the most fun out of a supercharged Sea-Doo, you need to look no further than this awesome YouTube channel. These couple of guys are truly enjoying their skis – be it touring, exploring, racing, and hot rodding their craft. Below we’ve included one of our favorite videos titled “15-4-50” – wherein these two manage to make landfall on 15 island in a single 204km (126 miles) in a day’s ride, in the chill of winter no less!
In late June, The Watercraft Journal let you know about the Van Beek’s Flip For Emerson GoPro Weekend – a couple of days of great freeride action scheduled for July 11-13th at Van Beek’s Landing, Hanford, CA. But it wasn’t about the backflips, can-cans or underflips that drew people in from several states away. We managed to talk with freerider Pete McAfee who let us know the very touching story behind this honorable and worthwhile event:
He explained: “This little angel is Emerson Meredith. Her father Josh and I were good buds growing up and roommates for about three years after high school. Last year, on June 17, Josh’s wife, Samantha took Emerson to the pediatrician because she had bruises that wouldn’t go away, a 101 fever that kept popping up every few days, a stomach ache and she was looking pale and tired.
“They ran some blood work and an hour later they got the call that made their world stop turning, ‘I need you to come back to the office. She has leukemia.’ Twelve hours later they where in Fort Worth, TX meeting with an oncologist. It was midnight. They started blood transfusions immediately because 85% of her blood cells were blasts (cancer). The next day Emerson went into surgery to have her portacath put in and chemo started immediately after. Their new normal had begun.
“It has been one year since that day. One year of procedures, illness, lumbar punctures, holding down their baby while poison is pumped into her. One year of being more blessed and more grateful than ever before! One year of love and support from friends, family and total strangers!”
While sponsors were reached to help donate to their surmounting medical costs, it was the riders who helped by coming out in droves, purchasing t-shirts and giving of their money, time and talents. Below you’ll see a great video from the mid-July weekend.
The ride was simple in nature, about 60 miles or so round trip from fresh water to salt and back without hardly any real need for planning, spare fuel and as luck would have it, the need to carry lunch.
Rides like these aren’t as common for me; most of the riding the Club has been doing are long tours and even recently a once an a lifetime jet ski ride out to the Bahamas, so this ride really allowed my wife and I to step back, take it slow and really enjoy.
