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.  

Jettribe's Trek to the Blowsion Surf Slam from SoCal

We at Jettribe were so glad that we were able to participate at the Blowsion Surf Slam. Seeing all of the familiar faces that we have not seen all year is a cool treat. More like a family reunion.

It was a tough week for Jettribe, being a little short on staffing. Part of our crew had to fly to Asia to ensure that our product is being produced top notch, and we are working with Yamaha of Vietnam to build and introduce the locals to the watercraft lifestyle that we love so much here in The United States.

If it weren't for Derek Correll who flew in from North Carolina to man our booth and Eric "Rude Dog" for flying in from Arizona to haul our race rig from Southern California to Oregon, it would not have been possible for Jettribe to be at the Surf Slam. Not an easy task, it is close to a 2000 mile round trip!

Team members like these are what make Jettribe perhaps the fastest growing PWC gear Company in the world.

2011 Blowsion Surf Slam Recap by Mikey Young

Blowsion Up In Pacific City, OR, With The 2011 Surfslam!



The 4th Annual 2011 Blowsion Surf Slam was held September 9-11, in Pacific City, Oregon. This has been one of the largest draws in the watercraft industry for sponsors, spectators and competitors...and 2011 would be another stellar year!



On Course Events produced the event and Carol Ann and Rob Guistina paid attention to detail and left everyone on the beach with a big smile as there was plenty of swag including t-shirts from Blowsion, Cold Fusion, and HydroTurf, while other sponsors had unique gifts like the SPY wraparound coozies and Pepperoni from Tillamook Country Smoker...all being tossed out by always friendly emcees, Dawn Dawson and Mikey Young.



The event featured Amateur and Professional Freeriding as well as a Ski Division Moto-Surf race. There were several vendors that had awesome products like Blowsion, Jettribe, Gasket Technologies, Massages by Jacqueline, and great food from The Q Crew and Dog Gone Good Things.



The IJSBA sanctioned Moto-Surf race featured 15 racers 10 Pro and 5 Amateurs. It was a run what you brung melee that attracted feature athletes like Jordan Fielder, movie star Mark Gomez, and last year’s champ, Jeff Troegner of California.



The first moto was taken by England’s Jordan Fielder who earned his stripes by taming the extremely rough Pacific Ocean. When asked after the race, he didn’t know that he actually won the first moto, but it wouldn’t be enough to get the Overall from Mark Gomez, who starred in I am Number Four! Gomez would take the Moto-Surf Championship after falling in the ¼ finals of Pro Freereide.



Blowsion sponsored Jordan Fielder would take second and would fill the podium! Congrats to the winner of the Amateur race!



The Amateur Freeride Competition was awesome! The younger freeriders always go huge at this particular event. Sunday was a fun day for the youngest of the freeriders, Christian Young who deposited his biggest win of his young career and made his father, Michael, a very proud poppa!



There were several amazing runs, but the podium only takes three...so backing up Christian on the podium was South Africa’s Jake Montadon, who did it on borrowed Blowsion property. Newcomer, Wesley Krautkramer, had an epic debut as he also landed a podium spot in third! Hard Luck award this weekend would go to Tanner Thomas, get well soon and if anyone finds his boat, please contact us!



The Blowsion Surf-Slam Pro Freeride was completely sick! Beginning with qualifying, this international field that featured racers from France, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, and of course the good ole USA. France would make it to the ¼ finals with Pierre Maxient representing against Taylor Curtis, who starred in an episode of MTV’s Nitro Circus, teaching Travis Pastrana to backflip a watercraft! Curtis would take that in the best showdown I have witnessed!



Curtis would work through the Semi-Finals through Banzai Takaaki Murao to face the winner of the other bracket! Speaking of the other bracket, it was stacked as well with free riders like Ross Champion, Zack Bright, and Jerry Brandon to name a few! Last year’s champion, Ross Champion, worked through the brackets skillfully as he tricked his way in to the finals against Taylor Curtis!



Curtis, however, introduced a new level of competition and degree of difficulty as he completed several re-entry variations, though he would have mechanical issues which led to his demise. Champion would complete the back to back victories and is the first free rider to win back-to-back titles at the Blowsion Surf Slam!



Special thanks to Boy Wonder John Dady, of Blowsion, Jeff at the Pacific City Inn, Jess at the Oar House, the dude who sold me the winning lotto ticket at the Shell, Mother Nature, Scott Frazier, and NO THANKS TO THE CHICK WHO KICKED US (Derek Correll and I) OUT OF SPORTSMANS FOR BEING COOLER THAN HER...CANK!!! Haha! Great times...



Hope to see everyone back in 2012!

Jettribe's Commitment

When Tony at Jettribe said to Johnny at Blowsion that Jettribe would be at his Surf Slam event this year it is a done deal – no matter how crazy it gets at Jettribe HQ! Jettribe is flying in team rider Derek Correll from North Carolina to Oregon to hang out at our Jettribe booth. Then Jettribe is flying Eric aka Rude Dog from Arizona to Southern California where the Jettribe HQ is based! Eric will drive our Jettribe race rig to the Surf Slam in Oregon for 3 days.


During that week, Tony will fly to Taiwan and Vietnam to work with our Asia office. Yes, Jettribe has owned and operated our own factory in Asia for over a decade! Plus, we are meeting with Yamaha of Vietnam to establish some cool events for 2012.

Jet Effect: A Huge Success

Jet Effect was a huge success and I thank you and your team for being part of our racing family. The event attracted racers from northern and southern California, as well as from Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Utah, Reno, and Alaska!

Amy looked awesome in the JETTRIBE outfit she wore, and I am working on having her become a regular part of our post race activities. In the future I would like to have the JETTRIBE banner displayed in the background where the winners receive their trophys or certificates, and get their photos taken, and have these presentations named after JETTRIBE.

I'll send you a full race report after I catch up on some much needed sleep, but I wanted you to know the "xtreme 550 All Out" racer who won the $640 cash can and your certificate, was Michael Prodanovich of Marysville, California.

Our safety skis looked pretty impressive pulling into the pits with brand new JETTRIBE ski covers, and I don't think I have ever seen a similar product with better craftmanship than yours. They look incredible! I thank you for your support and interest, and we are proud to fly the JETTRIBE name.

Successful Season Sheds Light for a Promising Year at the Worlds for Alec Hohnadell

Look forward to seeing you in Havasu soon. Should be a good World Finals for us. We are back home and Tim Judge is here rebuilding our skis and we have built a buoy course to train for the World Finals.



We showed up to the Anderson SC race and it was a great event just like last year. Nice race site with lots of vendors and really good spectator turn out. I was having some problems with my skis but was able to finish all my races but they were not running their best. I was in the points lead in the UWP Tour Points for Expert Ski Limited and did not want to lose any ground this race. I won one moto but was beaten two motos by returning veteran David Cabrera. I managed a second place overall victory. I also raced Pro-Am Ski stock with 3 mid pack finishes and could only manage an overall 6th. Place Finish. I would later figure out why my skis were not running their usual in Charleston the next weekend.


We decided to stay in Georgia and enjoy some of the fun events while waiting for the Charleston race the following weekend. We went on the zipline over the canopy of the Blue Ridge Mountains and had a blast. We also

went on my first White-Water Rafting trip and that was awesome. Some of the other racers and I went and it was a lot of fun. We pulled up right along the road in front of the race site in Charleston WV. The site really is awesome as
you are downtown and they close off the road for the race. I was still in the Points lead for the Expert Ski Limited class and was determined to try and stay in the lead. I had a good start to the Pro-Am Ski Stock Class by earning a 2nd.
Place in the first moto although my ski was not running it's best. I was brought back afetr the start in Expert Ski Limited and forced to start with a dead engine and my lanyard on my helmet. I was able to catch up and steal several
positions but finished a disappointing 5th. Place in the first moto which assured I would not win a 1st. Place overall. I did finish very well the last two motos which was enough to win a 2nd. Place Overall in Expert Ski Limited. My
ski finally blew it's motor in the Pro-Am Ski Stock race and finished poorly the second moto. I rode a borrowed ski in the third moto but was not comfortable enough to finish above mid pack earning me a 5th. Place Overall Finish.


I had won all but two races in the Expert Ski Limited Class and this was enough to secure my IJSBA UWP Tour Championship 1st. Place Victory. Thanks for all your support Jettribe!

Alec Hohnadell #11

Rick Sherker Recap: Charleston, WV IJSBA Nationals

Rd. 8 – Charleston, WV
The final round of the UWP-IJSBA tour took place this past weekend in Charleston, WV, where for the third straight year they welcomed us in and bent over backwards to make everything perfect. Magic island had a lot going on with the EVP volleyball finals taking place, a live band, rock climbing wall, several food vendors, the jet ski races, and of course the Jettribe trailer selling all the best gear available.

The Weekend had its ups and downs. Saturday was a tough day, getting a 4th place finish in GP Ski, then breaking down a few laps into the first moto of stock class while running in 2nd, ending up 8th. Unfortunately my stock ski was unrepairable for Sunday’s motos, however I was able to borrow a boat for Sunday. On Sunday things went better, I was able to salvage stock class and do just good enough to hold my second place overall for the national tour which was tough with it being a double points round. In Gp ski, I had great starts in both moto 2 and 3, but was not able to get out in front of Chris Macclugage on either of them. I finished second in both motos, giving me second overall for the round and second overall for the national tour.

It was a little sad leaving West Virginia from the final round of the tour, but those feelings quickly disappeared with the thought of the World Finals coming up so quickly. Havasu or bust.