Happy August and greetings from somewhere above the Sea of Japan. IJSBA is on the way to the 2016 Russky Grand Prix World Championship where to top Endurance and Offshore competitors are preparing for another fierce round of racing. We have to hurry with this posting as the inflight WiFi is giving us notice that internet transmission over China airspace is heavily restricted. This is ok, though, as there aren’t any scheduled IJSBA events, in China, for 2016 so, anything PWC related going on here is of little consequence to report- Russia is where it is at. Hurrying up is still the name of the game, right now, as there are 55 days until the gates open at the 35th annual quakysense World Finals. Please share the following news with your friends and colleagues in the PWC Racing family.
Whole Lot Of Racing Going On
There has been a lot of racing the last couple of weeks and it isn’t lightening up anytime soon. Last weekend had major racing in several parts of the states and the turnout was generally reported as great. This weekend has a lot going on as well.
Blake Corning’s Water X
Everybody loves Blake. I don’t know of anyone that works as hard to make an event stay true to the origins of the sport. Blake hand makes a lot of the props and trophies and he really wants people to be stoked when they earn an award. Elma, Washington has been very welcoming of the racing. Monte and Dan been amazing leaders in putting the racing together. We look forward to seeing how the Pacific Northwestern group does at World Finals considering the increased amount of quality racing seen in the area.
P1 Aqua X and Canadian Watercraft Association
We cant say enough about P1 Aqua X. Their contributions to watercraft racing, in the last couple of years, have set standards which will be hard to beat. Initially appearing in Florida, they have expanded their reach, this year, to Indiana and Illinois. The race, this weekend, in Whiting, is paired with a round of CWA’s CanAm closed course tour. Indiana is a place that loves motorsports so we expect this to be an amazing event with sizable spectator and competitor turnouts.
Typhoon Tommy Freestyle
Tommy Nuttall has been arranging a Freestyle Only circuit which takes place at some of the most well attended waterfront festivals around the USA. The fact that he is consistently called back to each of these locations is a testament to the quality of his show. This weekend, Typhoon Tommy is in Pennsylvania for the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta which is a very well attended event. Several thousand people will watch IJSBA Sanctioned Freestyle organized by a seasoned competitor.
Lithuania
In international waters, Lithuania has been very excited about their event, this weekend, in Electrenai Lagoon. The weather is supposed to be some of the best the region has had in years and a very large turnout is expected. Spark based classes as well as Ski and runabout are the heavy hitters here. Racers from more than ten nations had preregistered before the event got under way. Competitors in this region are very festive and enjoy the complete culture of PWC Racing.
Keyboard Shy
We are all busy people these days. A few people haven't sent in press releases for their events. It is also possible we missed a couple under the workload at IJSBA. At the US Promoters and Internationals meetings this World Finals, we are going to introduce some new segments for the website (I hope a new website) that will allow organizers to post themselves and maintain their own section of our site.
General Updates
Pokeman Go
Yes, we are working on getting the Pokeman stops, Pokegyms, and all the stuff that goes with it at World Finals. I don’t know what else to say about it. This certainly isn’t something I thought was going to be a priority at the end of July. We are going to ask that wandering around while having a face buried in the screen isn’t something that happens in the pits. Parents and grown up kids, please lets all plan to keep safety in mind. We need people paying extra attention in the pits when UTVs, ATV’s, bicycles, and every other form of vehicle are moving around to get watercraft to and from the water. With that said, welcome Pokeman Go people, we hope you will like the things you see when you actually take the time to look up from your smart phone.
Store Coming Back Online
IJSBA is reopening the online store… no for real this time. It is especially true because we are having to come up with SKU numbers of our old inventory to enter into the system. Not all items are going to be old. Shirtwerx is making an entire new line of IJSBA apparel which will be debuted, at World Finals, along with the souvenir merchandise. However, we are going to clear out our old inventory of VHS and other highly collectible items. Funai, the last company on the planet which made VCRs just announced they would end production. The VHS tapes will be even more collectible!!! Bring them to Hall of Fame and get the tape boxes signed by old time celebrity athletes of PWC Racing to further increase the value!
Hall of Fame
Many of you have wrote in inquiring about the 2016 Hall of Fame induction. The announcement was made in the Summer Solstice announcement back in June (https://ijsba.com/2016/06/22/ijsba-2016-summer-solstice-update/). It is only upon writing this that I realize the futility of telling people about what they missed in an update by communicating through yet another update. We will just make a separate posting for this tomorrow. For those of you who actually do read these updates, thank you and be sure to come to the Hall of Fame Ceremony, at the London Bridge Resort’s convention center room, about 30 minutes after the completion of the Blowsion Under The Bridge Freestyle Show on October 8.
Mike Rodgers
Mike Rodgers is the IJSBA Technical director. Many people don’t know the successful career he has had as a PWC designer. When he was previously at Sea-Doo he helped perfect some of the most successful watercraft that ever reached the marketplace and the race track. Someone at Sea-Doo remembered and hired him back. This is a good thing for Sea-Doo. This is a bad thing for World Finals because it means that Mike Rodgers cannot make final evaluations on top finishing watercraft. Mike will still be in the tech inspection department but we will be working on hiring a new Tech Director for the event (Blake, this means some of your budget is in jeopardy). Mike Rodgers will remain the Technical Director at IJSBA but will only have an administrative role at World Finals. We wish Mike well at this new position and are excited to see what new creations come from him.
IJSBA Office Closed While In Russia
IJSBA will be in Vladivostok, Russia, for the Russky Grand Prix returning August 17. We will be communicating by email but will be in a different time zone than normal. Please email info@ijsba.com for immediate needs. Telephone appointments may be arranged as needed.
World Finals
Here are some brief World Finals items to be aware of. We will start doing the mail blasts, again, in a week or so and they will come every 7-10 days.
Endurance Racing
Endurance Racing returned to World Finals last year. It received mostly positive comments. Those of you who weren’t all that crazy about having to stay in our permitted area asked if we could change that for 2016. Maybe we can.
Endurance Racing will still be comprised of two “Sprints” each less than 45 minutes in length, and back-to-back. There will be a break between each Sprint heat to allow for fueling. There will be absolutely no refueling allowed during the race. If we arrange to leave the permitted area, all participating watercraft must be able to be shown to be legal to be operated on open water- this means: registration, fire extinguishers, etc. Also, racers will not have the right of way over other boat traffic. This is exactly the same requirements as the annual Mark Hahn 300. So, if these are conditions with which you are willing to work with, please email info@ijsba.com and let us know immediately.
Trailers
For the last couple of years we have asked persons with larger trailers to please contact IJSBA, in advance, to arrange placement in the pits. We are going to do this again, this year, but it isn’t quite time to do so. But, it is almost time, so, please start preparing your plan. Also, this year, will be the practice of arranging early reserved placement for persons who have 5 registered competitors, or more, in the same trailer. Limited VIP pitting opportunities will be available. These are first come first served and we will not extend the opportunities once they are gone. Watch for an announcement before the first week of September.
Blake
As mentioned above Blake Corning has an event this weekend in the Pacific Northwest. Before he called he told me he was already ordering chain, links, and cinder blocks. This means that he will start dipping into his budget allotment for this year’s World Finals. He also asked for budget for rebuilding the ramp for the ramp jump. This request was approved. Next, he will be asking for fuel, food, water, and things like sunscreen which will keep him alive and working as he sets up for the event. Naturally, he will get these things. Sometime after this, he is going to ask for cutters- which he does every year. He will probably get the cutters even though I think it is ridiculous that we buy 3-4 pairs, each year, and they get lost. Finally, the last couple of years, someone in the set up crew keeps breaking the electric winch used to bring the marshal/setup PWC into the boat house. We aren’t buying a new winch this year. If the winch breaks, we are going to take advantage of it being Halloween season and immediately buy Blake one of those Egyptian Pharaoh costumes and force him to order the rest of the crew to push the heavy watercraft up the ramp as punishment for causing unnecessary expenses. See the picture below for illustrative purposes of what might happen. Blake, you have the power to stop this- please do not let the items the winch pulls get bound up on anything and have the winch operator turn the winch off when it gets stuck, do not force the PWC, or any other object up the ramp.
Winches aside, Blake is one hard working guy. He puts a lot of time and care into making sure the event gets started up and takes a lot of pride in the way the track is set. World Finals would not be of the same quality without him.
Melissa
Online entry will begin in about two weeks, give or take a week- really only take it wont be earlier. This year, Melissa is handling pre registration and is going to be the one who runs your credit cards and contacts you about any errors or incorrect information on your entry form. This is the same Melissa who leads registration on October 1 and 2 and Havasu Powersports and the same Melissa who is in the scoring trailer approving class changes, and the same Melissa who is the scoring director. We are letting you know all this so you can realize how hard she works on delivering an organized system. We are also letting you know this because some of you like to say things like “oh the person who ran the card said I could……” when something isn’t quite lining up at sign-in. Well, this time it is going to be the same person the whole way through and she is sharp and has 20+ years experience. Good luck for those of you trying to pull a fast one on her.
Peter
Peter DeSmet and your Executive Director drew a track while we were at King’s Cup last year. We think it was a good track and it was continued evolution on the 2015 track which was largely a product of Blake’s design.. We are going to have Blake refine it and maybe have Jacque Bryant (yes, that Jacque Bryant) take a look at it but Jacque doesn’t really use email much so we have to send it by fax. We don’t even have the fax machine hooked up anymore but we do still have the phone line for it. So, I guess we will go down the street to the Purissima building and pull the fax machine out of storage so Mr. Bryant can see our proposed track. Jacque really does have good insight on track design. Peter will be sending his comments on the track as well his visions for ways to improve the racer experiences at the event.
Fax Machine
Since we are turning the fax machine back on, for Jacque, we will accept World Finals entries by fax, again, this year. But, seriously, folks, this has to be the last year we use this archaic method of receiving information.
Updated Vendor Participation List
More than 50 vendors and counting. This year’s trade show might just be the biggest in history.
quakysense
Kawasaki
Sea-Doo
Yamaha
Blowsion
RIVA
Jettrim
Ronny Mac Photography
KOOTA
D7 Sounds
Engine Tech
Bullett Racing
FTF Media
Jettribe
Rick Roy Products
ShirtWerx
Havasu Garlic and Olive Oil
Real Time Pain Relief
KaruJet
IJSBA South America
Thrust Innovations
INKA Jet Raid
Worx Raxing
Martinique Jet Race
Hydro-Turf
Flip Flop Shop
H2o Designs
Vintage Ski Museum
Zapata Racing Flyboard
Rhaas Products
Marnies Nachos
Desert Storm
Jet Connection
Giant Lemon Lemonade and Pork Chop On A Stick
Freegun
Aquacopters
Gasket Technology
Kettle Corn
Odyssey Batteries
M&M Powersports Marine and UTV
Solas
Aqua Lilly Pads
JetRenu
Macaroons
Undaunted Clothing
VP Racing Fuels
Frybread
Visit Lake Tulloch
Freedom Motorsports
Bodacious BBQ
Junior Stars
IJSBA
Updated List Of Participating Nations
We thought we would also update the list of participating nations. The diverse competition field is one of the things that makes the sport and World Finals a truly special experience. Athletes from more than 35 nations are expected this year. We have confirmed attendance from the following countries so far:
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Columbia
Estonia
France
Germany
Guadalupe
Hungary
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Korea
Kuwait
Lithuania
Martinique
Morocco
New Zealand
Norway
Peru
Philippines
Portugal
Russia
Serbia
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States OF America
This concludes the first August update. We will issue another Pre-World Finals Update in 7 days.
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