OK, before anyone gets upset, please note that we’ve got an awesome full-length feature article (and photo gallery) coming this week recapping all the action at the 2017 IJBSA World Finals. What we did for the most recent episode of “Long Haul” was focus our attention on the manufacturer’s midway, highlighting some of our favorite sites and athletes as well as some very cool new stuff for 2018.
We spent nearly an entire week walking from one end to the other, chatting up vendors and manufacturers on their latest wares. In the episode (embedded below), you’ll note that we got to spend some time with both IJSBA World Champion and general living legend Scott Watkins, who has been the Head of Product Development for Yamaha over the past 20-somethin’ years.
Watkins walked us through the engineering and “black magic” that went into designing and executing the single-most successful performance runabout in a decade, the GP1800. After that, we got a chance to corner RIVA Racing grand poo-bah Dave Bamdas who not only introduced us to RIVA’s one-of-none RXT-X 350, built upon the all-new 2018 Sea-Doo RXT-X 300, but singled-out all the new go-fast parts to make it scream.
We also provide a few shining glimpses at the moves that made Hydro-Turf/Jet Renu freestyle rider Mark Gomez this year’s Pro Freestyle World Champion, as well as former IJSBA champ Lee Stone’s insane double backflip. We also tossed in a few other tidbits of fun. Again, we’ll have our complete coverage from Finals published this week, so until then enjoy the latest episode of Long Haul HERE:
