For the fourth consecutive year the RIVA Racing HydroDrag World Finals was at Lake Grew, in Polk City, FL, right behind the USA Water Ski Hall of Fame. Held over the first weekend in November, the event welcomed some of the world’s fastest personal watercraft – with many inching closer to toppling the standing World Record of over 106 miles per hour (current held by Rayge Sanchez)!
The winter weather was setting in early for November in Florida, causing many to scramble to re-tune their engine’s computers. Others found the temperatures favorable for their setups. Thankfully, the air might’ve been crisp but the rain stayed clear, giving racers a weekend of clear blue skies.
Classes were broken into Hydro Stock, Hydro Superstock, Hydro N/A (Naturally Aspirated), Hydro Spec, and Hydro Unlimited. In addition to the bracket races, the HydroDrags featured a Speed Alley as well as the Blowsion Flatwater Freestyle event and the Waterfrontoo Slalom Competition.
Featured below is a fantastic 30-minute video Manuel Valdes. Recapping the weekend’s festivities, Manuel does a great job of capturing all of the fun, the excitement and fervor of the fastest growing series of PWC racing in the United States.
Ever seen a full-sized runabout pop a wheelie? Now you have. Image: Adam Barbanell
Has the off-season got you down even though it’s only been a month since the IJSBA World Finals? Well, now you don’t have to wait so long to get your top speed PWC fix. The first round of the Greenhulk.net IJSBA US HydroDrag Nationals was just announced over on the official HydroDrags Facebook community page. Scheduled for the weekend of March 1-2, 2014, at Wooton Park, Tavares, Florida.
Kicking off the beginning of a minimum five-round season for 2014, the HydroDrags welcomes some of the fastest PWC in the world to fight it out on the 1/8th mile drag strip. With skis clearing well over 100MPH, it’s becoming a high speed phenomenon that is easily one of the must-see’s for a personal watercraft enthusiast.
If you’re looking to attend this coming March, make sure you join the online community and RSVP for March’s event. They’d like to know who is planning to attend and how many to expect
OK, now this is what we’re talking about. Ever since we first ever stumbled across “Jet Ski Brian” Lockwood’s blog, we’ve been jonesin’ to try our hand at some serious “jet angling.” While Brian might be touting some of the most impressive setups in the PWC world, he’s not the only one – especially thanks to Fishmaster.
Offering a comprehensive catalog of products to store a cooler, mount GPS and places to carry multiple fishing rods, Fishmaster’s fishing arches are the first to be offered to the PWC industry. The arches are designed for easy installation (within two hours each!) and can hold multiple rod holders and mounting options for GPS, fish finder, VHF radio and other accessories.
Both arches are made from 1.90-inch diameter aluminum tubing and come with free shipping, carry a 30-day money back guarantee and 5 year warranty.
Fishmaster sells the front arch for $495, the rear arch for $595, and a PWC Combo Pack (including both front and rear arches, two rod holders and soft storage goods for $995 (a $1230 value). For additional information visit www.fishmaster.com or call (877) 777-8693.
It’s pretty humbling when within a day of its launch, The Watercraft Journal starts getting fan mail. In an email from John Tipton, he included a couple of really cool videos of rides he’s taken with a group of friends up and down the Intercoastal Waterway running alongside Virginia Beach, VA.
John wrote, “The ride started out in Chesapeake, Virginia at the Great Bridge Lock. We headed East on the Intercoastal Waterway 30 miles or so to Munden Point in southern Chesapeake, which is located just north of the North Carolina border. From there, we rode several small trail systems that break off the main Intercoastal Waterway.”
The group include John on his RXT-X 260, Mark Lewis on a RXT-215, Eric Petrone aboard another RXT-X 260, James Champman and his VX110 and Dan Merriam on a Yamaha FXHO. Together they regularly ride the waters from early April to late October each year. As John states, “It’s a great area for jetskiing and seeing the back bays of the Intercoastal, and it also gives you more than just a beach-side view.”
According to John, “Virginia Beach doesn’t have any real organized riding groups, but there are a lot of riders in the area. The riding areas mainly consist of the Chesapeake Bay and of course the Virginia Beach oceanfront.” The area featured in the video below is the Intercoastal Waterway located in the southern areas of Virginia Beach. It runs through the cites of Norfolk, Chesapeake, Virginia. Many riders that are not familiar with the area do not know about the ICW and all that it has to offer as far as riding areas. Its it some of the best flat water you will find and there are numerous routes off of the main channel to explore.”
One central point to the appeal of the 2014 Sea-Doo Spark is its ability for customization. Be it in selecting colors, seating, powertrain or from a catalog of accessories, the Spark allows owner to truly make their Spark their own.
A huge portion of the Spark’s offerings is the addition of literally 60 different custom vinyl wrap and color combinations. Dubbed a Sea-Doo Attitude Graphic Kit, owners can personalize their Sea-Doo. Now, vinyl wraps are nothing new to the PWC community and we at The Watercraft Journal actually strongly encourage the use of vinyl wraps instead of paint, as vinyl wraps helps to protect your ski’s finish and better retain its resale value when its time for you to “trade up.”
With 11 different graphic kits available in three levels of customization – light, medium or fully wrapped – each digital print design is UV resistant and designed to bond to the Spark’s “low energy surfaces.” Check it out:
No it's not Iron Man, and the power of flight is achieved solely by the thrust from a modified runabout. Image: Clay Tolbert
World Champion racer and personal watercraft innovator Franky Zapata took time out of developing V6 and V8-powered runabouts to create the Flyboard, which has literally taken off.
It’s not hard to stand in awe of the aerial acrobatics achieved by those athletes in command of World Champion racer Frankly Zapata’s impressive Flyboard. Part snowboard and part jet pack, the Flyboard looks deceptively easy.
Riders’ feet are strapped into fixed boots similar to a snowboard, which channels the thrust provided by a modified personal watercraft runabout (sitdown) which pushes a torrent of water through the 18 meter-long hose, allowing the rider heights up to 10 meters above the water.
Of course, nobody expects first-time riders to achieve the impressive backflips, porpoise dives and other trick moves executed by those who have dedicated hundreds of hours to learning the intricacies of the Flyboard, but that’s OK; Zapata Racing offers a pair of arm braces that likewise pump thrust through each gauntlet, letting you literally fly like Iron Man.
It’s impressive to see and even more to try and are looking at seeing more Flyboards being used for recreational use rather than just exhibition.
No it’s not Iron Man, and the power of flight is achieved solely by the thrust from a modified runabout.The Flyboard makes for fantastic spectator entertainment and even a fun diversion for daring enthusiasts, but it’s reliance on a secondary source of thrust (namely a full-sized PWC) makes it more of an accessory than its own entity.
The Flyboard has one fatal flaw: it requires significant athleticism to master. A precarious balance of muscle and throttle control are needed to make the Flyboard soar, and there lies its greatest limitation, that is, at least in the eyes of many. For others who might be physically capable of attempting the Flyboard, the deterrent comes from a far more carnal instinct: self-preservation.
For the same reason why normally adventuresome persons are petrified of riding roller coasters, the thought of relinquishing control (and perceived safety) to the pulls of velocity, gravity and centrifugal force as well as man-made machine is all too much to handle. But more commonly, the physical needs of balance, strength and control are simply too far outside of the mainstream.
OK, here’s where we’re going to get mean: There’s not a lot of proficient standup watercraft riders who are overweight or all that clumsy (although imagining one is pretty funny). Once given the option of a traditional standup ski or a runabout, mainstream Americans gravitated towards the craft that required less physical exertion to operate so much so, that OE manufacturers eventually ceased drastically dialed back building skis altogether.
The second major strike against the Flyboard is its dependence on an existing four-stroke runabout; albeit the genius behind the design of the Flyboard. Its redirection of the pump thrust to a pair of nozzles mounted to the board provide the vertical lift necessary to levitate over the surface and – once a certain degree of confidence is achieved – rotate, spin and maneuver. Likewise, as mentioned previous, a pair of stabilizer jets mounted to left and right hand gauntlets provide additional control.
Zapata, as well as many others, have successfully demonstrated the Flyboard before tens of thousands of spectators with even Zapata himself appearing on live television in Spain and performed for Tom Cruise (who voiced interest in trying the Flyboard).The Flyboard has all of the potential to become its own performance-level sport equal to freestyle and freeriding as long as the public embraces it. We love the marriage of PWC, wakeboarding and freestyle but wonder if its uniqueness is its downfall.
Yet, without a runabout at the ready, the Flyboard remains dead in the water, so to speak. A 30-foot hose mounts to a coupler that interrupts the factory pump housing of the watercraft to redirect the thrust to the Flyboard. The PWC remains operable but in a limited fashion as it is serves almost exclusively to propel the Flyboard.
Audiences and enthusiasts have shown interest in the Flyboard but mainly as a source of brief entertainment, not necessarily a sport of its own. The aftermarket has also shown limited interest in the Flyboard.
PWC Performance offers custom-made Skat-Trak Twin Drive impellers. The dual-sided impeller features main drive 4-blade impeller and an inducer impeller to improve thrust while scrubbing vibration and cavitation commonly found on stock-equipped PWC powering a Flyboard.
Owner, Jerry Gaddis, stated, “I think it’s a very small market, but the guys that have them seem very passionate about them.”
Whether the Flyboard is a fad or will become a permanent fixture in the personal watercraft industry remains unseen. Yet, like so much, it all depends on the public’s acceptance.
In 1996, there were an estimated two million personal watercraft sold worldwide. That number is gargantuan when you consider that last year saw the sales of roughly 29,000-plus units. Within seventeen years, our industry has rapidly desiccated to near terminal levels. During this decline, we’ve lost two major manufacturers – Polaris and Honda – and hundreds of dealerships. Of the three manufacturers who remain – Kawasaki, Yamaha and Sea-Doo – the division of market share is radically imbalanced.
The biggest differentiation between the industry’s height in 1996 and today is the age demographic of buyer. Today’s PWC are priced far out of reach of most 25-35 year old buyers.
To the outsider, the personal watercraft industry is woefully ill. Public interest appears to be minimal; vehicle sales are a mere trickle of a once torrential river; and club and sanctioned racing body memberships are paltry.
Yet, in light of all of this bad news, there’s never been a better time to be a personal watercraft enthusiast. Modern safety features have earned the acclaim of the US Coast Guard, boating commissions and regulatory boards. Environmental groups have relinquished their attacks, and even have began employing watercraft themselves.
The build quality of today’s runabouts exceed the standards of full-sized sport boats from only a few years earlier. The performance offered from the factory and dealer floors are equal to, if not superior to the race-bred machines that earned National and World Championships only a few years earlier.
Interestingly – yet not totally surprisingly – youthful buyers trend more favorably towards a “fun experience” than creature comforts and technology.
Yet, why aren’t dealers flocked each Spring with new and returning customers? The answer won’t surprise you.
Building a watercraft lightweight and affordable also required it to be equally durable, as youthful riders are more likely to push the vehicle to its limits.
Over a decade ago, strides were made by manufacturers to appeal to a more mature market in an effort to shed its poor public image. Prior to the large four-stroke runabouts comprising much of the lineups these days, personal watercraft were widely believed to be a pestilence, a swarming mass of irresponsible, intoxicated and inexperienced gnats buzzing around local lakes and waterways.
By repackaging their products as stable, sophisticated and refined machines rather than rowdy, raucous and carefree, manufacturers felt they could kill two birds with one stone – improve public relations and reach a more affluent age group. The problem with this method of merchandising proved extensive.
Although older buyers have the expendable income to spend on a $18,000 runabout equipped cruise control, automated suspended seats and a sound system, they also exhibit low turnover. Frankly put, they typically don’t ruin their stuff. Additionally, the quantity of hours spent riding is lower, thus requiring less maintenance and upkeep as well.
Conversely, youthful riders habitually ride longer, more aggressively and nearly year-round. They also are more prone to want to “trade up” to a newer model, even when improvements over their current model are negligible. Moreover, youthful buyers are more likely to modify or personalize their craft thus encouraging aftermarket growth.
It could be said that Sea-Doo has covered every angle of the Spark. Customers are encouraged to customize their Spark with unique vinyl wraps and color combinations, as well as choose from a broad spectrum of accessories.
It was only until late this Summer that one manufacturer did something to address this. Sea-Doo’s introduction of the Spark is not a marketing gimmick or short-term ploy. It’s a tectonic shift in how the personal watercraft industry should operate.
Differences from a two- and three-seater are a change in seat length and a rear platform extension. Modularity has become the signature trait to this ground-breaking machine.
Arguably, every facet of executing a concerted effort towards a virgin market of youthful buyers has been addressed. Each advancement employed by Sea-Doo to reduce costs overlaps into other categories.
To reduce weight, a new PolyTec recyclable material was developed in addition to the uniquely open ExcoSkel design. This not only reduced gross weight down to 405-pounds but provided improved structural integrity.
The modular component construction not only cut assembly time and weight, but radically opens up the Spark to ease of maintenance and modification. Tuners can remove the top deck with the turn of a few dozen screws. In fact, it’s simplicity is one of its greatest attractors. A color change can be done with the swap of three panels, and damaged portions are as easily replaced.
Less is more with Sea-Doo’s Spark, as first-time riders will familiarize themselves with the nimble and more playful 90-horsepower ACE engine before trying their hand at a supercharged 310HP full-sized machine.
Employing Sea-Doo’s ACE 900cc four-stroke plant – found previously in Can-Am snowmobiles – provided buyers a choice of the 50 and 90 horsepower configurations, access to an already established aftermarket of ECU tuners, and keeps the PWC accessible in two-stroke restricted lakes. Its quiet operation and ability to run on 87 octane pump gas only adds to its broad appeal.
Ease of operation is a central factor to appealing to broader – and previously inexperienced – demographic. Even with BRP’s available iBR, the Spark remains significantly “fool proof” to operate.
When first announced, production of the Spark was already well underway, with units boxed and halfway to South America and Australia. Undoubtedly, Sea-Doo knew that a craft priced below $5,000 would be greedily accepted, and well received it has.
But what the potential lies within the Spark far surpasses that of a much needed boost in dealer sales. It’s the philosophy behind the Spark that can cause a tectonic-level shift in the personal watercraft industry. Sea-Doo’s open-arm embrace of a demographic otherwise ignored for nearly 20 years is almost completely alien to the likes of Kawasaki, who at 7-percent of the market share, is in dire need of wider appeal.
The biggest impact of the Spark will not be found in the public’s acceptance of the new craft, but Sea-Doo’s competition adaption of the same philosophy with its products.
Completely glossing over any refresh of the STX-15F or even the naturally-aspirated Ultra LX, Kawasaki doubled-down on a group already saturated with fully-loaded and heavily optioned watercraft. Whether this “damn the torpedoes” position plays out in Kawasaki’s favor remains to be seen, but it does strike as completely antithetical to Sea-Doo’s maneuvering.
Yamaha’s VX line of affordable performance is a fair middle ground but is too cautious in its delivery – that is, save for the VXR. The “big motor in a little PWC” combination proved a winning combination for hot doggers and racers alike. The Spark though, is something completely different. And it’s that departure from the status quo that is likely to prove the next evolutionary step in our industry.
Here for your viewing pleasure is “Through My Eyes,” a action-packed recap of Australias’ Rip n Ride 6 from Tahitis’ Matthieu Coutois. This video is full of pure madness from Mitch Young’s Superflip tray grab and his heel clicker flip right at the end; Mick Anthony’s clean Flatspin 540 and beautiful Madonna flip; Brodie Copp’s no-footed can-can flips and his nasty one footers all the way to Glen Arena’s absolutely massive double barrels rolls.
The Aussies are awesome riders and are really stepping up the aerial game right now, and Matt did a great job at capturing the riding level and the energy level of a professional freeride contest! Pure energy! Great riding, great contest, great video, see you on the beach! Enjoy!
Are huge speakers, amps, a sub-woofer and insane LED lights what’s been missing from your Yamaha VXR? Well, if you’ve ever wanted your High Output Yamaha VXR to be the talk of the lake, then the guys at Autobarn Lake Haven might be the perfect kind of mad scientists that you’re looking for. Below is a video showcasing their fully customized Clarion marine sound system with about 360 Aerpro SMD lights to give the VXR y’know, some flair.
If blasting AC/DC isn’t enough to whet your whistle, then the bright blue, white and red lights filling the engine compartment, bow storage and glowing out of the hood like Knight Rider will definitely do the trick. You’ll notice the rear of the deck features a very cool injection molded speaker and woofer box and all of the wiring is nicely hidden and tucked away. And as Kawasaki is betting that enthusiasts are willing to pay $18,000 for a JetSki with speakers, we’re thinking this might be the better way to go about getting your tunes on your ski. But that’s just us.
Excellence is equated not by a one-time stellar performance, but the continued exhibition of talent and skill time and time again. This level of reliability is what etches names of persons into the annals of history. And it is this repeated dominance in the realm of jet ski racing that has elevated Chris MacClugage to a new level of competitor.
On his triumphant weekend at this year’s World Finals, Chris MacClugage became the highest winning PWC racer in history. Image: Gerónimo García Burés
On the cusp of his 40th birthday, MacClugag’s performance at this year’s Hot Products IJSBA World Finals in Lake Havasu City, Arizona earned him World Championships in Pro Sport, Pro Ski Open and Pro Ski GP classes, bringing his total to 18 career championships. This of course, only compounds with his near-limitless list of wins, including 15 National championships, three Thailand Kings Cup championships, two Japanese championships, and two European Indoor championships.
In light of this past month’s performance, MacClugage has earned himself permanent entry into legend, equal – if not superior – to the likes of Jeff Jacobs, Victor Sheldon, Scott Watkins, David Gordon and others.
Dubbed the GOAT, or the Greatest Of All Time by friends, colleagues and fellow competitors, Chris MacClugage, who was once known as merely “The Kid” has grown into his own as the sport of jet ski racing’s most decorated and highest winning World Champion athlete.
In an interview with havasunews.com, MacClugage stated, “There has definitely been ups and downs. To win this one (Pro Ski Open), when you win this one, it is like you are at the peak of your sport. I have not won this one since ’95. I have not raced the class every year. I think I have raced the class since ’95 eight times…but those eight times I failed miserably.”
Riding a highly modified Kawasaki SX-R ski and Bullett Racing’s variant on Kawasaki’s X2 platform, MacClugage showed that age, prior defeats and stiff competition aren’t insurmountable. Image: Tim Gewecke
This year, MacClugage came prepared to win. “I was so confident, not cocky, but just confident, like I could do anything on a Jet Ski,” he explained. “I felt like the water was my canvas and I had a brush that just never missed a stroke.”
Considered still the most lauded class in PWC racing, the Pro Open Ski class had escaped MacClugage’s grasp since 1995. Not since 2001’s win by Jeff Jacobs has the Pro Ski Open class been won by an American. MacClugage was more than happy to change that. Image: Frederic Schnaebele
MacClugage, who was also the first to win both Pro Ski Open and Pro Ski GP in the same year, started 2013 with a stellar win at February’s 9th annual Mark Hahn Memorial 300 together with teammate Jean-Bruno Pastorello.
After the Hahn, Macc shared concerns that runabout racing was becoming more about the speed than the rider’s skill and felt safer competing aboard a ski in the closed course.
MacClugage then partnered with Bullett Racing, which provided him not only the support necessary to hone three championship-worthy craft, but a unique level of interaction that would allow MacClugage’s 26-years worth of experience to influence the execution of each craft.
When asked concerning his weekend sweep and his status as the winningest racer in IJSBA history, MacClugage beamed, “I am so grateful to have my wife Rachel, my son Macc and so many friends and family supporting me. I want to thank my sponsors Macc Racing, Bullett Racing, Monster Energy, JetPilot and Hydro-Turf for supporting me all these years.”
With another child on the way, MacClugage will be hanging up his helmet for the remainder of 2013, choosing rather to focus on his teaching and training. “What I really enjoy is helping kids race. I trained Aaron Gewecke,” Chris said. “He basically started racing at the beginning of this year, and he’s only been racing for eight months.”
Gewecke clenched the win for Amateur Ski class at the World Finals. “It was another thing that helped me out through the week; the success of someone that I invested time in.” MacClugage shared. In fact, sharing has become a major portion of MacClugage. As a husband, a father, a mentor and coach, MacClugage’s career success has brought him into a new light, that of a teacher.
