World Finals 30th Anniversary: A Bittersweet Trip

Making the trip out to Havasu this year was a bittersweet experience for me. This is one of the races that I always look forward to the most, but this would most likely be my last trip to the World Finals for awhile so that I can focus on starting my future career after graduation this spring. The trip to Havasu was a frustrating and exhausting one filled with flight delays and late night driving. But all the frustration was worth it so that I could have a week-long vacation where I could have nothing but hot weather and hot racing action.

The first few days were filled with riders’ meetings, practice, and making sure everything was running like it should. My first two races took place on Tuesday and I made it through my heat race with no issues, but when it came time for my first moto the ski didn’t want to start. After having my team of mechanics putting their heads inside the ski and throwing parts left and right trying to figure out what was wrong we just barely got it running before the start of my race. It was such a close call that my ski was delivered to me down on line right before the skis were fired up. I finished with a 7th place for the day and still had to get in my final moto the next day on Wednesday. When Wednesday rolled around I had similar issues with my ski but we got it running so that I could get through my last moto and I ended up finishing 7th overall. My results were disappointing but I was grateful that my ski survived through all of my races and I was happy that I could even be in Havasu to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the World Finals.

When I wasn’t racing I was spending most of my time working at the Jettribe booth which was also a sad experience because it would be one of my last weeks working for them. But it was definitely a fun experience getting to meet some of the new Jettribe staff and being able to interact with so many of the foreign racers who add so much to this event.

And when I wasn’t racing or working I was in the stands or down on line catching the intense fiberglass warfare. Hands down my favorite classes to watch were Pro Ski Open and Pro Ski GP. It was so amazing to see how fast some of these guys can go on stand-ups. But the whole weekend was filled with awesome racing action and it was cool to see the vintage skis and sport boats brought back to the starting line.

The week came and went so fast and my trip to Havasu was over before I knew it. My days in Havasu were filled with memories and new friendships that will last a lifetime. I was so happy to be part of such an awesome event and I can’t wait until the next time that I’m able to be out there. I would like to thank my amazing dad for for loving this sport as much as I do (and footing the bill for my racing expenses). I also have to thank the Block and Carroll families for being such an awesome pit crew, these two families are truly some of the most hard working and honest people around; they also, with the help of Bill Haig, got my ski running so I could race my last two motos and I would have been so lost without them. I would also like to thank the Jettribe team for being such a big part of my racing life. Hopefully I’ll be out at some races next summer so I can enjoy the racing scene for a little bit longer and see all of my racing family again!


Chelsea Schneider #240

The Frame Brothers in Havasu

Everyone comes to the World Finals with to compete against the best racers in the world. Its also a great place to hangout with old friends, meet new ones, and see what's new in the industry.
This World Championship would be tough for the Black Star race team. Cameron Frame would be injured in the first turn of Pro Runabout Limited and I would be dq'd after missing 2 buoys while in the lead of the Pro Runabout Open lcq. Even though the we did not ride up to expectations, it was exciting to watch other Jettribe riders shine. Rick Sherker rode awesome in Pro ski and Alec Hohnadell won a Junior World Title.

Watching Pro Ski was great, but honestly, walking around seeing athletes wearing the new Jettribe / Black Star Signature Series gear was the highlight of my week. Not many people knew this but this same time last year Tony with Jettribe and myself partnered up to bring to industry some unique designs and protective equipment. To see the end products of our hard work was unbelievable. Believe it or not I actually have an apparel design degree from many years ago, and although life took me into a different direction for a decade, it was Tony who gave me the opportunity to make a dream come true. Hopefully, people will dig the new gear and we can continue developing new cutting edge products that offer racers more style and protection than ever before. Time will tell! Big thanks to Tony and all the crew from Jettribe.

Trey Frame
Black Star Motorsports, llc

Jettribe Crew Prepares for World Finals and King's Cup!

It’s been a hell of a week for the Jettribe crew. Most of our crew is frantically packing and prepping for the World Finals in Lake Havasu, AZ which is less than 2 weeks away. The other part of our Jettribe crew is in Thailand on a recon mission to prep for the King’s Cup Race!

At Jettribe we take overseas racing very seriously. We flew to Thailand to case out the race site in Pattaya, Thailand so we could see what the water conditions are like in the morning, afternoon, how much chop there is, and what the conditions are like when the wind picks up. We also looked at the sand and shore, water temperature, elevation, etc. We had sent the pictures directly from Pattaya Beach from our blackberry instantly to Rick Sherker who was waiting for the info.

On top of checking out the race site for our team riders, we scoped out the local accommodations from the host hotel, which is totally nice by the way for local food. We also looked at places where we could take our team riders to eat and not have any local food “issues”.

We at Jettribe are obsessed with our gear’s performance. For 2012 we have released the RS-16 race edition performance gear! Just to make sure that our Jettribe gear performs at its peak for our riders, we threw all of the gear into our luggage and tested them out in Thailand’s harsh, hot, humid weather. Plus, the Pacific salt water is tough on any gear! We strive to provide our PWC riders with the best gear worldwide. We test our gear from both sides of the world.

Our Jettribe crew definitely cannot give enough thanks to Sam our local Thai distributor for helping Jettribe with the testing of our new products, as well as driving us to the race site in Pattaya which is about 2 hours away from Sam’s warehouse in Bangkok! Plus, he and his friend took out his huge boat and hummer to take us cruising.

For those who do not realize, luxury items like Sam’s friend’s H3 Hummer are three times the cost compared to in the US. The H3 is close to $100k in Thailand and there is no financing; cash is the only method of payment…ouch! The boat is probably over $100k. It’s a totally different world here in Thailand! We are glad to spend some time with them, it was priceless!

While we were over in Thailand we saw lots of crazy stuff. One of our encounters included seeing a scooter pulling a PWC…and we thought we had seen it all!

After our trip to Thailand we found ourselves in Vietnam hanging with one of our local staff members, whose family owns a ranch. We absolutely love getting to have experiences like this! It makes our job so rewarding to be able to have priceless moments like this with people who treat us like family.  

IJSBA Jet-Ski Racing World Finals & Jettribe Fashion Show 2009

2009  was a fantastic year for the Jettribe Crew. Our team of sponsored riders had a great seson of racing and we traveled to a ton of great sites. So after having such a great season what better way to wind down the summer than by heading out to Lake Havasu City, AZ for the 2009 IJSBA World Finals.

The Jettribe Crew arrived in Lake Havasu a week early to get set up for the racers and fans who would be joining us in a matter of days. Once the people started flowing into the race site we couldn't catch a break because we were so busy selling our gear, but no complaints here! It really helped being one of the first vendors on site.

The week was full of hot racing action, beautiful girls, lots of new and old friends, and some of the best weather we could have asked for. We also spent the week making preparations for the unveiling of our much anticipated Jettribe Fashion Show. The crowds went wild as local hotties and racers strutted across the Monster Energy stage in our Jettribe gear and casual wear.

Many thanks to Scott Frazier and all of his racing staff for making this event happen year after year and a huge shout out to the Monster Energy Crew for allowing us to use their stage. We can't wait for next year!