Jettribe@the 2011 IJSBA World Finals

The 2011 IJSBA World Finals Summary


With months of preparation and lots of last minute hustling, it's hard to believe that the week of the 2011 IJSBA
World Finals came and went just le that. And what a week it was. While it was a great event all around, Jettribe was proud
to have a fantastic showing. Once considered no man's land for vendors in previous years, Jettribe turned that corner parking
lot area into a hot spot for everybody. We put up our biggest booth to date at a 100 feet long (or 1000 square feet if you like
big numbers). The introduction of our RS-16 line of race gear was a big hit and before you knew it, a ton of racers
were sporting Jettribe before the week was over. We enjoyed greeting our "regulars" who just loved to come and hang out,
check out our gear again and again, and probably kept trying to convince themselves of just how much gear they can get
away with taking home.
But that was all on the surface. There was a lot going on behind the scenes. Here are just some of the backroom deals
that Jettribe closed on at the World Finals:

- We signed on an exclusive distributor for France, with non-exclusive distribution rights to Europe
- We welcomed Russia to the ranks of international Jettribe distributors
- We signed a trademark agreement with South Korea
- Jettribe is in talks with China's racing association as well as Yamaha Vietnam to help them build up their
professional racing circuit

So yeah, while Jettribe was busy outfitting everyone in race gear and sexy casual wear, we were also doing our part to
help grow the sport internationally as well. I think the saying was "think globally, act locally". Ok, so we got it a little
backwards.
Once the work was done, Jettribe ended the World Finals cosponsoring the After Party at Heat Nightclub with Monster and
Yamaha. All in all, an IJSBA World Finals for the books. But now that the dust has settled, we haven't. Back at HQ, we're getting
our showroom ready for distributors to make their final selection of gear to take back and prepping is still under way for the 2011
Thailand King's Cup. Jettribe is proud of our racers for managing to pack up and load their boats and gear for the long haul to
Thailand after a week of racing in the World Finals. We've got a lot of exciting announcements coming up so stay tuned!

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.  

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.