So I saw this on Saturday - Sorta Jet Related

[2kwik4u]

Was out on the Ohio on Saturday. Backed into a sandy beach area in a small cove just north of Wesport, KY. Place used to be a sand quarry and has since stopped operations I'm told. Very popular place to get off the main river and has soft "beachs" for the kids to play on while the adults float and drink. It's fun times.

Everything's going along fine, and then this guy comes out and starts messing around on an older standup ski. The crowd just ate it up, and he looks like he was pretty good. He did probably 2-3 10-15min "sessions" of this stuff. This last session we were already back in the boat prepping to leave, so I got some video.

Anyone else ever seen anything like this?!?!?

Be sure to watch until the end!

 

[Stevenpigsooie]

The flips were wild

 

[bronze_10]

I wonder if that engine had work done on it..

 

[elcue]

I wish I boated on water that flat. That was pretty good I rode a stand up a few times I cant imagine even attempting that haha.

 

[bronze_10]

Last year we drug our boat all the way up to the wv Ohio boarder.... We boated for two days.. I was surprised by how trashy the river was. Junk everywhere.. And when entering the lock I had to cut the engines off and coast through a large portion of it due to debris.. But it was still cool to do it.

 

[PEARCE]

There was a guy on a modified standup ski, like the one in the video, on Texoma last summer. It was pretty cool to watch! I think he did flips for 30 minutes. Ones of our friends in our group is the photographer, among other things, was able to get lots of pics and the riders info. I think he's pro racer and/or a stunt rider.

 

[Ronnie]

My local pwc shop builds modified freestyle pwcs and both of the owner’s sons are amateur world freestyle champions. Most people don’t realize that these skis are very expensive and powerful. For instance, the hull alone can cost $6k or more and they cram the biggest two strokes available into it so 250 hp on a 200 lb. craft is not uncommon. The maintenance is high, or can be, as well with a rebuild after every competition. Asked if he rides recreationally, the younger guy told me, “not this ski, it only has a 2 gallon tank.”

 

[ripler]

IJSBA still has competitions for freestyle.

 

[arlowe13]

That guy frequents that gravel pit. I've seen him a number of times there. One day we'll run in to each other there.

 

[2kwik4u]

That guy frequents that gravel pit. I've seen him a number of times there. One day we'll run in to each other there.

Interesting.

We're only up that far north on the Ohio a few times a year. I'm always on the lookout for other JetBoats though. If you see a white/Black AR190 with a gray top (I hear gray tops are a rarity in this area for some reason) feel free to motor over and say HI. We usually keep a few spare "cold ones" for guests!

 

[arlowe13]

Interesting.

We're only up that far north on the Ohio a few times a year. I'm always on the lookout for other JetBoats though. If you see a white/Black AR190 with a gray top (I hear gray tops are a rarity in this area for some reason) feel free to motor over and say HI. We usually keep a few spare "cold ones" for guests!

Sounds good! We usually only make it down there a couple times per year, as well. I'm in a blue/white SX230 with Blue top. Typically "beached" bow-out somewhere in there.

 

[Zonie]

That was pretty cool! However, I'll never understand why the average jetskier feels they have to do donuts within 50 yards of a beach or boats when there is 100 miles of open water in either direction. Drives me crazy.

 

[NewBoater]

That was pretty cool! However, I'll never understand why the average jetskier feels they have to do donuts within 50 yards of a beach or boats when there is 100 miles of open water in either direction. Drives me crazy.

Showing off more than likely wanting an audience

 

[2kwik4u]

Showing off more than likely wanting an audience

The clear answer. I'm sure he wasn't out for a practice session, he was showing off for the crowd.

Didn't bother us in the least. Those tiny waves barely made it to shore and were small enough to be ripples by the time they did. The kids jumping off the front of the boat upset the water more than this guy did. He had a kill lanyard attached or some other method of killing the ski, as it shut off as soon as he came off. Safety was never a concern for us at any level.

 

[Ronnie]

Here is a link to the a video of one of the guys who sometimes works on my Waverunners. He also happens to be the 2014 amateur freestyle world champion. He showed me how to remove impeller from their shafts. The last time I saw him I was picking up a waverunner from his dad’s shop, they ended up closing a few hours early and meeting us on the water where he got some practice in and we were the only audience he had. He doesn’t care if anyone is watching so he doesn’t seek out an audience.

On a side note, this is not sort of jet related, this is very much jet related with the context that Kawasaki came out with the first “jet ski” in 1973 or 1974, it was a single cylinder 300 cc two stroke with a capacity of one person, no seat and a variable height handle bar (that is, it was what is now better known as as a freestyle pwc). Yes’m there were others like the wet jet but this is what popularized the activity for the first decade or so.