18 Times Over: Chris MacClugage Brings His Total To 18 World Championships

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October 23, 2013

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.

Lead image: Woramun Boonrawd

Funds Raised To Replace RIVA Racing’s Stolen Generator in 12 Hours

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Kevin Shaw

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October 2, 2013

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Sometimes, when bad things happen, it’s solely for good people to gather and show their true colors. When the bright red Honda EU2000i generator was stolen from the RIVA Racing booth at this past final round of the HydroDrags, moods were soured pretty quickly. RIVA does quite a bit to support the industry – particularly in the realm of racing, and for such a petty theft to occur was a pretty low moment.

That was when Adam Barbanell stood up and started rousing the HyroDrag racing community to help either locate the missing generator and/or raise the funds necessary for it to be replaced. While the whereabouts of the little red Honda generator remained a mystery, the online community quickly gathered the moneys through a separate PayPal account to replace the generator within a breakneck speed of 12 hours!

RIVA Racing Marketing Director Mike Hodges wrote, “I can’t thank everyone enough for coming together to help replace the stolen generator. We are very fortunate to have such a close-knit and supportive group. Proud to be a part of the HydroDrag family!”

It’s reassuring to know that while there are some who would take advantage of others, there’s so many more who are wiling to give of their own to help another. It’s just another reminder of the quality of people within the PWC community.

Devil May Care: Meet Stuntwoman Aysha Rensink

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Kevin Shaw

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October 2, 2013

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Yes, many will protest Aysha’s lack of a lifevest in much of her photo sessions. Aysha explains that each session is monitored by a safety crew ensuring that she is operating under safe and strictly controlled circumstances.

Chances are, you’ve seen Aysha Rensink, although you might’ve not known her name. For the past few years, Aysha has been the eye-catching talent behind a sequence of equally captivating images of some stellar stuntwork.

Although Aysha is not a professional stuntwoman, her talent and mastery of balance, poise and throttle control is enough to justify the title. Her skill comes from a lifelong career as a horse riding instructor, which has provided her a love – and respect – for the forces of nature that she is seen playing with.

The 32-year-old equestrian was born in Istanbul but calls London, England home today. An accomplished rider and performer, Aysha took a shine to personal watercraft, particularly to surf riding. Not the typical cruiser or even racer, Aysha – aboard her supercharged Sea-Doos – regularly catapults herself sky-high before onlookers and camera lenses, contorting her frame around the seat, handlebars or in any other manner in a pseudo mechanical ballet.

Together with a skilled camera and riding crew, Aysha is one of the few – if not the only – to create performance art using personal watercraft as her canvas.

Not always found in sultry outfits or sliding across the deck of her Sea-Doo, Aysha Rensink has also thrown her hat into the ring of professional PWC racing, participating in this year’s P1 AquaX series.

Almost never without a mask and costume, Aysha’s costumes have ranged from harlequin get ups, mermaid fins, or Halloween-appropriate she-devil horns and wings. The daring performer has even tried her hand at competitive racing, choosing to participate in this year’s P1 AquaX series. Whether donning a mask and wings or a helmet and gloves, Aysha is regularly found under Brighton and almost never without a crowd.

“I love to add a bit of fun, colour and fantasy when I’m on the water,” Aysha explained in an interview with P1 AquaX. “So I do tricks and stunts and have my own way of riding.”

Of course, her aggressive riding has lent itself to some problems, though. “I’ve lost so many GoPros,” she admitted. “It’s happened so many times, it’s hard to keep track.” In addition to some lost equipment, she has swamped several times, rolled her fair share of skis and caused enough damage that it was too extensive to list.

Leather pants, wings and horns aren’t the riding gear most would prescribe but for Aysha Rensink’s impressive aquatic performances and her fiery red-and-black RXP, it seems oddly appropriate.

A former professional dancer, Aysha’s natural athleticism has made her performance art look all the more natural. But don’t be fooled, these tricks aren’t as easy as Aysha makes them look. She too has taken her share of falls and walked away with plenty of bruises.

But ultimately, what she does is give our sport a new avenue of interest. Beauty can be found in the human harmony paired with brute force of a supercharged personal watercraft.

Kevin Shaw: Welcome To The Watercraft Journal

By

Kevin Shaw

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October 1, 2013

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Welcome to The Watercraft Journal. My name is Kevin Shaw. I’m glad you’re here. Before we get into what is The Watercraft Journal, I feel it necessary to rewind a little.

It’s been a long road bringing me to create The Watercraft Journal. I’d say about 10 years, but then that might be rounding things up (or down, depending on how you measure it). Of course, I’ve been around personal watercraft most all of my life. During the ’80s, my father had a pretty successful rental outfit loaning out scuffed up 550s and WaveRunners to strangers willing to sign their lives away promising they’d bring back the skis in running condition. As I recall, many failed to fulfill that promise.

But these were the heydays of Southern California litigation abuse, so the rental business was short-lived. My brother always had a love for vintage standups and boasted a pretty warmed-over SuperJet that he insisted I learned to ride “vertical” on. So when the day came for me to take command of Personal Watercraft Illustrated in 2007, the old memories came flooding back. I suppose that’s what made it’s ultimate demise (January 1, 2010) so painful. I truly loved what I was doing.

It is said that one cannot learn to appreciate the sweet until they taste the bitter, and the following years have been bitter sweet to say the least. Nearly a year ago I launched Watercraft Performance Magazine. The first of its kind, the online magazine shook the PWC industry and gave enthusiasts a whole new way to stay plugged in. As I expected, it exploded in popularity but at quite the cost. Pushing WCP to its level of supremacy injured a few very valuable friendships. But it also brought me back into the industry which I had come to love during my time at PWI.

But, that too, was short-lived. Thankfully, I had already birthed the idea of The Watercraft Journal in my head well before the axe at WCP fell. It – and a week’s worth of very encouraging conversations from all three major manufacturers – was the push I needed to venture out on my own. In fact, were it not for the tidal flow of support from my PWC family, I don’t think I’d be here right now only a few days away from pressing the “launch” button. Alas, here we are.

So, what is The Watercraft Journal? A blog? A magazine? A website? A store?

The short answer is: Yes. If you loved the daily dose of personal watercraft news, reviews, event coverage, technical how-to’s, and interviews that you were getting previously, welcome back. If you’re looking for something a little more mainstream and family friendly, welcome home. Although you’ll be seeing plenty of high performance PWC and some heart-racing action here at The Watercraft Journal, there’s much more to offer. We’ll show you some awesome secret spots, easy do-it-yourself tips and tricks, and making you generally hate living anywhere it snows.

What I want to emphasize with the launch of The Watercraft Journal is its distinctly different tone. This is not a “hardcore riders only” news aggregate. This isn’t for “racers only” – the only “only” you’ll see here is that The Watercraft Journal is only for those who love riding personal watercraft in all its forms. Here you’ll find really honest product and watercraft reviews, plenty of interviews with people within the sport and industry who’ve made a difference, and spotlights on companies that continue to make a difference.

The Watercraft Journal wants to introduce personal watercraft enthusiasts to the people, products and places that will increase their passion for PWC, and keep them wanting to spend as much time on the water as possible. To help do that, The Watercraft Journal is paired with Watercraft Outfitters. An exclusive online retailer, Watercraft Outfitters provides enthusiasts the products reviewed on The Watercraft Journal at the lowest prices available! Magazines live to sell advertisements. The Watercraft Journal lives to support those companies who support our sport.

I am really excited for what we’ve have planned here at The Watercraft Journal. It’s going to be a lot of fun. So again, thank you for supporting me, The Watercraft Journal and the soon-to-be-launched sister-site, Watercraft Outfitters.

Go Get Wet,
Kevin