Greetings from Half Moon Bay, California.  Most of the United States households will be tuning in, today, to watch Super Bowl LI.  Not here, though, we are putting the preliminary budget and paperwork together for World Finals XXXVI.  It is a catch up day at the IJSBA office where we hope to get current on all of our back emails- of which we know there are a lot.  Here are some items, for today, to please share with your friends and colleagues in the PWC Racing Family.

 

  1.  Happy Lunar New Year.  One of the great things about IJSBA is the wonder sharing of culture from the 54 different participating nations that make up the global sport.  PWC Racing is the product of a Norwegian-American inventing a vehicle that was licensed, first, to a Canadian based motor company and, then, to a Japanese owned motor company based in the United States.  It is no surprise, that the continued international participation has brought the inclusion of many different customs.  It is wonderful to open the mail at the IJSBA Office and find a lovely red envelope wishing us a Happy New Year according to the Southern and Southeast Asian traditions.           In a lot of ways, Lunar Calendars make sense.  If you are a hunter, out foraging for game, and lose track of how long you have been out, you can look at the moon and the different shapes can calibrate you to how long you have to return to the village.  You really cant look at the sun and do that.  Agriculturally, the moon shapes can remind you of the responsibilities of the field and the Harvest Moon is well timed with the season for crop maturity to allow evening picking and night time outdoor festivals to celebrate the bounty.  The moon isn't bright enough to light waterways for evening PWC competitions, so IJSBA wont be advocating the departure from the Gregorian Calendar.  All the same, we wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year and thank Jettribe, greatly, for the kind gesture, the lovely red envelope, and for the wishes of health and happiness in 2017.
  2. World Finals Announcements Nearly Final.  So, while we are watching a football bounce around on the television during contract drafting, it is hard to avoid comparison to the Super Bowl.  Some of you think IJSBA is tough when it comes to enforcing our intellectual property rights, we don't have anything on the NFL.  For example, we can discuss how World Finals is like the Super Bowl in academic terms and in comparison for numbers.  But we cant say World Finals is the Super Bowl of PWC Racing (notice we didn't say it, we mentioned we cant say it)- NFL issues cease and desist letters when you say stuff like that.  World Finals can be "The Big Game" of PWC Racing in advertisement but that gets  confusing- especially when we have a lot of great competitions that are as big as it gets:  World Finals, Mark Hahn 300, Karujet, P1 Aqua X Series, Asia Beach Games, Asian Games, King's Cup, Martinique Jet Race, World Endurance Championships in Morocco, Inka Jet Raid, Oceanic events like the Australian and New Zealand National Championships, European Finals, the new events in Central and South America, and all of the Regional and National events in the States.   Football is cool, but our events beat out the Super Bowl on so many levels.  Most specifically, our sport is open to any eligible competitor and, on any given day, one of those competitors can make it to the starting line and come home the champion.  Our biggest event is admission free and a beer at World Finals does not cost $12.00 (yet).  If you are reading this, you probably weren't at the Super Bowl and probably will be at World Finals.  We think you will be happier with the choice.
  3. International Competitors Urged To Make Visa Arrangements Early.  IJSBA is compiling statistics for our State Department to ensure that competitors who need Visas to come to World Finals have everything in order to arrive timely.  We urge all of you to start your paperwork early.  Please email info@ijsba.com as early as possible.
  4. Ronny McHenry en route to IJSBA in a couple of weeks.  It is official, the official photographer of IJSBA has a plane ticket and will soon be sitting in the IJSBA office helping to get our website a little modernized.  He is coming just in time as the spacing on the WordPress software wont let me make a blank space between the paragraphs.  Anyway, Ronny is making his way through the chain of OEM's, RIVA, and other major players to get direction on their needs for the new website design.  Ronny is simply the best- nobody else has his photographic skills, his eye for a good action shot, and love of PWC Racing all rolled into one person.  If you have suggestions for how the IJSBA website can better portray PWC Racing and meet your own objectives, please email webmaster@ijsba.com and we will forward the comment to Ronny.  If you still have dialup internet service, it is finally time to upgrade because IJSBA will soon have a website worthy if a high speed connection.
  5. Speed Control Committee.  As we have mentioned several times, IJSBA is exploring the possible need for speed control measures and how they will be implemented if it is determined that they are needed.  We will be having our first meeting during the 2017 Hot Products Mark Hahn 300.  Absolutely nothing will be decided at this meeting, it will be the first of many discussions with the first of many groups.  If you are willing to be part of a cooperative team to explore this subject, please email info@ijsba.com for more details on how to participate.
  6. SX-R Rulings Update.  The 2017 SX-R is not yet homologated.  It will be.  Here is how things are looking to be finalized.  The SX-R will be eligible to compete in the following classes: Ski Stock, Ski Limited, Pro Am Womens' Ski, and Ski Mod.  The SX-R will not compete in Ski GP nor will the new SX-R compete in Masters or Veterans Classes for 2018.  We will be keeping it simple while the new unit proliferates then likely move to a format where two stroke and four stroke powered Ski are simply separated.  This is the tentative plan, it isn't cast in stone, but the etching tools are in our hands.  If you have an opinion in this, we very much urge you to send it to us by emailing info@ijsba.com.  We know we are putting out a lot of press releases saying the same thing, we want to make sure there is notice to you and that you have the opportunity to tell us what you think.

Please stay tuned to IJSBA this week for several announcements.  As of two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of "the other big game" Ronnie McHenry, an Atlanta resident, is probably biting his nails as are the New England fans that are also very dear to IJBSA.  Starting tomorrow, all eyes are back on watercraft.