It’s still pretty dang frozen in Minnesota where Cargo Wave is headquartered but that’s not slowing down their preparations for warmer seasons. With two big announcements for the PWC trailer manufacturer, 2014 is already shaping up to be a great one!
First of the announcements is that Cargo Wave will be “renting” Cargo Wave trailers on the St. Croix River. There’s already been great demand for the enclosed PWC trailer and we suggest that dealers and PWC renters across the country to look into the Cargo Wave for retail and stand alone rentals.
And of course, for current ski customers interested in finding out how well the Cargo Wave works out, make sure to check out their website and stay tuned to The Watercraft Journal for our review of the Cargo Wave coming next month!
And last but not least, Cargo Wave is putting a Grand Prize package together for The Flood Run Benefit Ride the raffle: a 110HP ’14 Yamaha VX Deluxe three-person with 2014 Triton aluminum two-place trailer provided by River Valley Power & Motorsports Red Wing, and a brand new Cargo Wave donated by Cargo Wave LLC, all for benefit of Gillette Children’s Care Centers.
Jake Bright was happy to loan out his brand new Krash Industries Predator for those willing to take it out in to the surf.
This past weekend was the annual Pismo Spring Break Freeride in Pismo Beach, California. There was an awesome turnout this year with lots of new and familiar faces showing up to get in on the action.
We were fairly blessed this year with predominately good weather and more importantly, some pretty good waves; a constant break of overhead-to-occasional double overhead nasty Pismo-style close outs. Which is great for Pismo!
The best waves are always early in the morning, then it gets blown out and you’re left with big lumpy washing machine-style monsters. So the action kicks off early in the AM. You’re awoken by skis firing up and people cheering the riders from the beach.
The waves were claiming victims all weekend this year, with several sunken skis. One ski was lost for 22 hours and another is still missing. These skis were being piloted by seasoned pros, which should give you an idea of just how heavy it was.
Our good friends (right to left) Takaaki Murao, Tomoya Kashiwazaki and Koji Nakano also made it down again from Japan (along with Mark Gomez); those guys love the Pismo Freerides and come down every year for it!Ross Champion and the Champion Timepieces freeride team made a big appearance, with Ross showing why he’s the boss.
Friday morning kicked off the event. The waves were pumping and the weather was hot! The Blowsion crew made it down to this year and with them they brought a whole fleet of beautiful Blowsion boats, among them was a brand new Blowsion-built Krash Industries JB1 brought down to be united with its happy new owner! Along with them was Dane Dials, the one-legged bandit Pete McAfee, and the legend “Air” Darin Anderson!
Also making it down to support the freeride and their riders was Liquid Militia who brought a ton of swag out for the weekend, pimping out everyone on the beach with their dope apparel; they also hosted a big pizza dinner Saturday night, along with TC Freeride, Krash Industries, Burn Industries and Karacters 4 Kids where they were giving out free pizza to everyone at the freeride!
Everybody’s favorite Alaskan, Tanner Thomas also made the trip down to get in on the fun as well as Taylor Curtis and the rest of the TC Freeride team. Kyle Kennedy was also there representing DASA and helping out all his team riders as well as Carl Gramberg of Cold-Fusion. My pops and I were also holding it down for Krash and Burn Industries with the Burn rig!
Austin Lewis showed us all how he could shred on his square nose SuperJet.Randy Lawlor (and brother Brandon) made the trek down to Pismo and showed how to properly air out a TC Freeride-built Rickter.
On Saturday, the waves were a bit more mellow and everyone was able to get into the water and have some fun. This was a great time for some of the amateur riders to push their riding. Joey Morneault almost nailed his first flip, Valerio Antonucci had a few good attempts at flips, river rat Jake Biland landed his first flip, and Filippo Rossetti was launching some of his first legit barrel rolls along with countless other riders who were out there sending it!
This also was a great time for riders to test out new skis, I had people testing my new Krash Industries Predator with nothing but good responses from beginner level riders to pros level riders; proving its superior ride ability.
Sunday brought in some of the biggest waves of the weekend. Before I had even woken up, skis were already lost and the pandemonium was in full effect! When I made it on the water, it took about 5 minutes before I was towing a guy back to his ski in the middle of the gnarly break!
Darin Anderson and Dane Dials are seen here with their Blowsion-built boats with Jordan Fielder and Andrew of Blowsion helping them out on the beach.The fully-dressed pirate is none other than the one-legged freerider Pete McAfee, who doesn’t let his missing limb slow him down one bit.
All the best riders were out on the back set sending it! Jerry Jones made it out and was throwing massive point back barrel rolls, which was super cool because Jerry hasn’t made it to Pismo in years! The Lawlor brothers, Randy and Brandon were throwing down with there relentless style, always a good time on the water with those nuts!
Some of the gnarliest airs of the weekend had to of gone to Darin Anderson, that dude is so gnarly! I have ridden with Darin in the past and even competed against him, but I’ve never been to a freeride with him and was blown away at how insane he is. Darin was chasing down double over head monsters in the back and would come at these things pinned from the middle break and absolutely launch off the lip right as it would be closing out! The dude’s a madman and it was super fun to watch!
Ross Champion was absolutely killing it as usual but it never gets old watching his flawless no handed flips and madonnas.I had a blast out there with everyone and want to thank all of you who made it out and helped celebrate the spirit of freeride!
Randy Laine was on the back shagging big waves all weekend as well, showing off his big wave surf skills and getting deep in the waves! There were so many good riders it was awesome, the skill level is really escalating with all the riders and at all times there was someone in the waves putting on a show for the crowd.
Its always a good time with the freeride family because whenever someone is in need of a helping hand on or off the water, there’s always another freerider whose got your back. You may not even know them yet but they’ve got your back because that’s what freeriders do! If you haven’t made it out to a freeride yet and are thinking about coming but don’t know anyone, don’t be shy. You will be welcomed with open arms and you will leave with a bunch of awesome new friends and memories!
Photography provided by Jack Bright, Mark Fischer and Travis Valtierra.
Only being allowed to bring in one fish (according to Virginia law), my 37.6-pound striper was good enough to earn me second place overall and a nice cash prize of $1,500.
It was cold yesterday morning when I got up at 3am, loaded and towed my ski – an ’01 Yamaha SUV 1200 rigged and wrapped for nearly every imaginable form of fishing – from Poquoson, Virginia across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to the ramp at Kiptopeke/Concrete Ship.
I had entered a Toys for Tots charity fishing contest, the Catchin’ For Kids Tournament. The weather was terrible 25 knot with gusts to thirty winds, steady rain and a small craft advisory. Not exactly the kind of stuff you want to go out in a big boat in. But, it was pretty fun on the jet ski; I felt like I was at Water Country USA or Busch Gardens as I rolled up and over the 4-to-5 foot short duration waves.
I ran about two miles off of the ships and put three lines out with live eels. My first drift I had three knock downs and netted two nice striped bass. I kept one that totaled 47 inches. Pulling that one in was a blast! The next long drift I had no strikes.
According to law, I can only keep one big fish here in Virginia and that is all I needed to hopefully be in contention. Nonetheless, the conditions were getting worse so I decided to go back in. Returning back in, I learned that several other boats either did not go out or had done likewise and came back in early.
The Catchin’ For Kids tournament started at 6am, so I needed to be up by 3am to make there in time. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty uncooperative, which forced many boats in early or kept them from launching at all.It’s not unusual for me to be the only fisherman out on a personal watercraft. But when you’re the only PWC in a tournament and you come in second place to a full-sized vessel, it’s even sweeter.
With time to spare, I went back home, cleaned all my gear, had lunch, watched the bald eagles fly around my backyard and took an hour nap. Life is good! Catching up on some much appreciated sleep, my wife and I then went back to Norfolk and weighed my fish in at Vinings Landing Marina in Little Creek.
My striper ended up weighing 37.6 pounds! This gave me second place and $1,500 in winnings! (My striper came in only .6 pounds under the winner.) Not bad for the only person on a jet ski. Ha!
This was a great tournament put on by Rick and his cadre of volunteers to benefit Toys for Tots, in addition to the entry fees that went to the charity, everyone involved donated new toys for the cause.
As the readership of The Watercraft Journal continues to grow more diverse with each passing day (y’know, because it really does), we get more and more information pouring in from across the globe. Most recently, we received an update on the ongoing UAE Series (that’s the United Arab Emirates).
Cozmo’s switch from Sea-Doo to Yamaha made waves in the UAE Series, particularly as he earned the brand’s first win in Stock class in the series.
In the four month series – beginning in January and running through April, with six rounds divided between three rounds in Dubai and the other three in Abu Dhabi – has seen some fantastic sportsmanship and feats of athleticism. Most notably has been by Kuwait’s Mohammed “Cozmo” Al Baaz.
Cozmo has dominated the Pro Stock Runabout class aboard his 2014 Yamaha FZR SVHO, most recently winning his first place title in Round 4’s close course race held in Dubai, United Arab of Emirates. Up until this time, Cozmo had been leading in points throughout the first three rounds on his Stock class 2013 Sea-Doo RXP-X, but only decided to cross over to Yamaha mid-season.
Cozmo’s change to the FZR also earned Yamaha its first win in Stock class for the series. Built by Abdullah Burbayea and Yousef Al Busairy of ProRider Garage located in Kuwait (and of no relation to the bimonthly print publication). Equipped with parts from R&D, RIVA Racing, WORX and a few other tricks by ProRider Garage, Cozmo’s machine made short work of the field.
A couple of months ago, we got a very nice email asking us if we’d be willing to do a review on a pair of MacWet Sports Gloves. In full disclosure, we had never heard of them prior to then. With a little due diligence we were impressed with what we saw; an all-weather glove used by many athletes both in and outside of watersports, including equestrians, golfers, biking, professional shooters and hunters, and outdoors men. In fact, MacWet is a popular choice in 35 various sports.
Impressed, we sent our reply back that yes, we’d be interested in giving these a try. Within a couple of hours, an email appeared in our inbox, “Great! Now we need you to measure your hand. Please follow our sizing chart.” Our first thought was that these guys took gloves pretty seriously.
The MacWet Sports Gloves are deceiving in their simple design. Free of bulky faux leather padding or rubberized traction points. Rather, the Aquatec is both impressively grippy and naturally breathable, wicking water than any other glove we’ve tested before.
It didn’t take long before a package arrived with our all-black with gold-embroidered MacWet gloves arrived. Looking like a designer glove, the MacWet gloves are beautifully crafted – like something that you really shouldn’t get wet.
What was conspicuously absent from these gloves were the heavy padding, rubberized ribbing or other gimmicky traction-enhancing doodads found on so many other brands. In fact, these feature zero drain holes either. How exactly would these work, we wondered.
As it would turn out, exceptionally well.
MacWet advertises their Sports Gloves as a “second skin” and they’re not lying. The MacWet gloves fit precisely and comfortably. There’s zero bunching or binding, as well as being deceptively breathable. The unique Aquatec material isn’t thick like neoprene or synthetic leather used by other major manufacturers.
Rather, Aquatec wicks water almost immediately; you can literally watch as moisture travels and evaporates off of the surface. While riding at speed, the gloves remained dry and surprisingly warm given the windchill and their minimal thickness. Although not all MacWet gloves have it, the available Climatec – fleece-lined, water resistant option – was definitely the way to go.
All in all, we were wildly impressed with the MacWet Sports Gloves. No other glove we’ve used while riding has provided a better, more natural feel or grip – be them wet or dry. Again, these aren’t the big, padded gloves you might be used to, so such an uninsulated feel might require some getting used to. But if you’re a recreational rider looking for improved comfort and warmth, or a racer looking for better control and grip, we have to admit, the MacWet Sports Gloves are our current favorite.
Unsurprisingly, the MacWet Sports Gloves (including the Climatec all-weather option) are reasonably priced for such a top-of-the-line product, at $49.95.
Many of us would like to use motocross as the measuring stick to compare professional jet ski racing. Although the “big show” has seemed to have drifted away from our sport, there’s still many of us who still ardently believe that the best days are still ahead of us. That being said, we’ll happily take any opportunity we have to blur the lines between the two sports.
At the beginning of last October, world championship and X Games gold medalist Travis Pastrana took a break from racing his Red Bull Dodge Dart rally car from the Global Rally Cross series (GRC) to indulge in some good ol’ fashioned hooning. In an episode of “On Pace with Pastrana,” Travis and crew departed to Florida for “Two Stroke Week” – a week-long competition between he and pals of golfing, jet skiing and shifter kart racing.
While it’s supremely unlikely for Travis to take another bout at jet skiing but in a professional sphere, at 31-years-old, Travis would actually come in on the young side of our current average age of professional racers. But until “Nitro Circus” takes to covering PWC, don’t expect Travis to trade freestyle, supercross, or NASCAR for a life vest any time soon.
If you want to skip ahead, the water fun begins around 4 minutes into the video.
C’mon, how can you say no to a three-day weekend of fun under the Florida sun, riding personal watercraft and raising funds for a children’s charity? Does this sound like something you got to be a part of? Well, the third annual Spring PWC Bash – organized by the Orlando Watercraft Riders and Tampa Bay Jetski Clubs, helps raise money for Give Kids the World Village.
According to Ken MacDonald, “We hold a jet ski Charity Poker Run Fundraiser each year to benefit Give Kids The World – three days of activities including a scavenger hunt, a Poker Run and a timed slalom course race held at the Magnuson Hotel Marina cove in St. Petersburg.
“Last year we had over 100 guests from all around Florida join in the celebration. This year, we are hoping to have the event grow even larger!”
Scheduled for this upcoming April 11th through the 13th, 100-percent of the proceeds raised will be donated to GKTW. “Our goal for the event is to raise more than $4,000,” MacDonald, “All of this to help Give Kids The World fulfill the promise to never turn away a child.”
For more information and to purchase your tickets, simply visit www.jetskibash.com today!
Ladies and gentlemen, Spring is finally upon us. And even if its still a little chilly where you are or even a few piles of icy snowpack are still seen on the side of your streets, the weeks and months are ticking by the calendar meaning that dealers are ramping up the promotions to help connect you with your new personal watercraft.
That is why The Watercraft Journal’s favorite middle Tennessee powersports dealer, America’s Motor Sports is prepping its warehouse and showroom for a stellar year. They know you’re itching to shake off the winter blues and get out on the water, and they’re the dealer to help make that happen.
And if its the inside scoop on late-breaking deals, we are really excited to help direct your attention to America’s Motor Sports’ Facebook page. The dealership is keen on rewarding those who are fat on their feet (and in the seat) so that is why you need to “Like” and follow their Facebook feed, so that you can mobilize on deals when they happen.
OK, so it’s time we started taking the Flyboard a little more seriously. The fanbase for this new sport – because it’s far surpassed that of being a toy or a hobby – has swelled to new proportions. Magazines, international championships and even competitive tours have all joined to make Franky Zapata’s creation a worldwide phenomenon. We should’ve listened when Jerry Gaddis of Greenhulk.net and PWCPerformance.com fame started selling dual props to these guys in bulk…
Now the wakeboard and accessory manufacturers are in on the flyboard as well. Recently Hyperlite System announced their top tier bindings and boots for the Flyboard. A huge name in wakesports, Hyperlite has established themselves as a major player in building strong, durable and comfortable boots, bindings and boards for wakeboarding.
Now, banking off of the similarities between the Flyboard and wakeboards, Hyperlite’s bindings and boots mount directly to the stock Flyboard, allowing the rider to adjust for a personal fit. Equipped with a very handy quick fasten and release system, the Hyperlite upgrades not only add better comfort and use, but safety as well.
The instructional video below overviews how the new bindings and boots work with the stock Flyboard, as well as some great Flyboard action that’ll make you want to give it a try.
Well, the mad scientists at Krash Industries are at it again. With the introduction of their all-new purpose-built Predator hull, the surf-charging design is nimble and agile in the waves (measuring at 200cm in length 72cm wide and 55cm tall).
Unique to the new Krash ski is a tail plate system that allows the rider to change and “tune” the hull for different surf conditions, also permitting for the addition of a second plate for larger conditions, making for slower rotations or faster surf riding.
Additionally, the new Predator includes adjustable lifters, sponsons, dual cooling, scupper, pump shoe, and will accept either a Kawasaki or Yamaha running gear, with a pole bracket for easier assembly. To stir up the hype, the Krash Army of riders stormed the first round of the IFWA at Portsea, Australia.
A small clip of the Predator Photo shoot we did in January and a big congratulations to the Krash Army riders after the 1st round of the IFWA at Portsea Australia. Below is a quick sneak peek at the exclusive Predator photoshoot:
