Jet Ski Races on TV this Season!!!

[fox river pwc]

http://www.pwctoday.com/f7/major-announement-pwc-racers-211417.html
http://www.pwctoday.com/f7/they-said-could-not-done-uwp-real-tv-coverage-211427.html

Oh, and they're being aired during prime time, just 7 days after each event.

One detail to be aware of however - they're NON-APBA races. Gee, whoda thunk it???

[CHOOCHOO]

NICE! ANY ONE WANT TO GO TO WEST VIRGINA TO GO RAGING! THIS IS WAY COOL!
LATE, CRAIG

[fox river pwc]

I'm in as long as gas stays below $2/gallon, and the weather forecast says "no black ice" along our route...

Bwaaaaaaaaahahahahaha!!!!

[fox river pwc]

So, less than a month ago, I'm listening the Liquid Speed Show interview, and a question about getting pwc racing on TV is asked. The "APBA" response is rather resolute in that it's impossible, mainly due to the cost.

Kinda ironic how a non-APBA promoter is able to line up and announce a TV deal while the memory of that interview is still fresh in everyone's (who heard it) minds.

I sure hope AJ pulls this one off. His reputation would suggest that he will make this happen. TV exposure will be great for our sport, but one has to wonder what effect non-APBA TV exposure will have on the APBA...

[joe563]

I know it stupid but i would bet most people have know idea what apba is anyway.... exposure is exposure... good times hope it works...

[Chopper]

I agree, racing is racing! And getting it out to the masses is where we need to be. I will be attending at least one of the "televised" events... I'd attend all 3 but money is tight, and vacation time is even tighter.

Oh, what has the APBA done for racing in the last 5+ years?[xx(]

[joe563]

zero

[spence-r]

Thats sweet. Will it be on a normal tv station that you dont need satellite dish for?

[Chopper]

I think that you must have a boat with metalic flake paint on your roof to pick up the watercross racing feed.

[spence-r]

Well I got the first part covered...

[joe563]

looks like scott put a vintage race on his site... sweet..them where the days..that was a tour stop,televised,full lines lcq's in regional races.. i remember in region 2,which doesnt exsist now, we had 2 lcq's in nov super stock over 40 guys in my class... son of a....... to go to world finals you had to be invited, it was very diffrent, where the hell did all these people go... it was only ijsba then and the rule book was the only rule book... didnt seem to have all the confilcks there are now... it is getting smaller and smaller,you cant blame everything on the fuel costs... people need to get together on everything to make this work...you can not blame one or two people for this,you shouldnt blame anyone!!!! just fix it!!!!! lets do some racing.... good times my friends good times...

[fox river pwc]

quote:Originally posted by joe563

where the hell did all these people go...

You used to be able to take a ski off the showroom floor and race it in stock class, and have a reasonable chance. Or, you could spend $1000 on it, and have a competitive limited. And, on top of all that, you could use that same ski for fun-weekend recreational riding in between race weekends. Race skis are much more purpose-built (and much more expensive to build them that way) these days - then you still need to have another ski to have fun on when there aren't buoys to chase...

The new SJ helps the two-ski dilemma a bit, since it's a better race ski than the previous SJ, and it's still a light and nimble rec ski - but ever since the word "stock" lost it's meaning in the APBA and IJSBA.......well, you know. However, even the 'box stock' ski class has flopped - too many enthusiasts are choosing freeriding over racing.

[joe563]

i here you my man... things have really changed.. it would be nice just to get a few of the guys back that started then... i know we are old but there was alot of guys that were young then that still could race... hell i raced with scott frasier in region 2.... man i am old

[fox river pwc]

Yep, YOU are old :).

I started building my first SJ (the hull I raced on in 06 and 07) to race limited 650 back in 92, but then my work schedule didn't allow me to race. Then in 93 & 94 I got even busier with my career, and still no time to race - but I moved on to the water and rode from 7pm to sunset 4 nights a week all summer + every sat & sun - 1500 gal of premix per summer year after year went through that ski. Then my first son came along in 95, and no time to race. Then I got married in 98 and son #2 in 00, and no time to race, and my job was hell on top of everything. Then I changed jobs in jan of 04 and finally got to the point in 06 where I could get the time off work and I got the 'OK' from my family to start racing. I missed out on racing's prime years (as well as my own) - and the years when my ski would have actually been competitive in the 'real' classes LOL. I envy your racing history Joe. You're my hero...

[fox river pwc]

quote:Originally posted by joe563

looks like scott put a vintage race on his site... sweet..them where the days..that was a tour stop,televised,full lines lcq's in regional races.. i remember in region 2,which doesnt exsist now, we had 2 lcq's in nov super stock over 40 guys in my class... son of a....... to go to world finals you had to be invited, it was very diffrent, where the hell did all these people go... it was only ijsba then and the rule book was the only rule book... didnt seem to have all the confilcks there are now... it is getting smaller and smaller,you cant blame everything on the fuel costs... people need to get together on everything to make this work...you can not blame one or two people for this,you shouldnt blame anyone!!!! just fix it!!!!! lets do some racing.... good times my friends good times...


Yep, that's a cool vid. Pro mod race from 93. I love the radar readings from the back straight - what were they? 43 and like 47mph?

[spence-r]

I havent been around the sport long but if I could change anything id make all the classes spec classes and have top guys test setups to make all skis compatible. And id lower the amount of mods in limited. If I want to move up to limited in a few years its a fortune!

[fox river pwc]

Spencer, unfortunately the 'stock' and 'limited' cans of worms were opened far too wide long ago. Without strong OEM factory support of racing (which all but disappeared long ago), the next best thing (or only thing) was/is aftermarket support. Aftermarket parts manufacturers aren't keen on sponsoring racing of truly stock skis (for obvious reasons) - so we have what we have today as far as the mods it takes to build a competitive ski for each class.

Regardless, with just a few hundred active racers in the US now, drastically changing things, or attracting big money national sponsors to help facilitate changes is not likely. It is what it is, at least for now...

[JB]

The introduction of 4 stroke machines didn't help either.

[fox river pwc]

Very true. Really, the introduction and popularity of larger 3-person pwcs hurt racing as well. Before 3-seaters, pwcs buyers were most typically younger males, which racing also appeals to more so than families. So, OEMs appealed to these younger male buyers via racing (as well as other means, of course). Once profitable 3-seaters became available and much more popular than stand-ups, and families began buying more and more large pwcs, racing became less useful as a selling tool to the OEMs - so why stick money into it? Sad but true. If OEMs felt racing helped them to sell enough skis to justify the dollars spent on racing, we'd have a very different racing situation today.

[fox river pwc]

And speaking of OEMs, I've actually solicited race sponsorship and offered to gladly cover up and rent/sell the space where the large YAMAHA decals are on both sides of my ski with the 95 graphics on it - since Yamaha gives me nothing to advertise their brand for them. Of course, since Riva Racing sponsors me, you'll always see the Riva decals on my machines.

[JB]

Maybe with the economy slowing down we might see them come back to racing. I am sure that dealer sales to the Joe/Jane public are down.

[joe563]

CHECK OU THE APBA WEB SITE, WE ARE GOING TO BE ON TV... BEEOCHES.....
i thought it couldnt be done... good times the way i read it it is going to be the whole tour... so it will include mashville which i know alot of us plan to attend.. i dont know if you have to have satelight or cable or what ever going to check... last time it was on was the outdoor channel.... later
luka beeocha

[joe563]

luka beeocha indeed

[JB]

No name of the station yet. But it is one of the big ones. Three moto format for the races.

[Chopper]

I am not sure what to think of the 3 moto thing. I know they are trying to save the racers money buy having racing on both days and not having to pay for multiple days of racing... If we had the racer numbers that could be acomplished with heats / qualifiers on saturdays and then Finals on sundays. At any rate it is a good thing! $$$ for the main classes. I'll be trying my hardest to attend at least 1 of the races, probably 2 if I can swing the time off from work.;)

[Chopper]

I am not sure what to think of the 3 moto thing. I know they are trying to save the racers money buy having racing on both days and not having to pay for multiple days of racing... If we had the racer numbers that could be acomplished with heats / qualifiers on saturdays and then Finals on sundays. At any rate it is a good thing! $$$ for the main classes. I'll be trying my hardest to attend at least 1 of the races, probably 2 if I can swing the time off from work.;)

[JB]

What races you thinking of going to? I might be willing to go to WV.

[JB]

What races you thinking of going to? I might be willing to go to WV.

[fox river pwc]

I'd consider coming along to WV run sport spec. Big maybe for me...

[fox river pwc]

I'd consider coming along to WV run sport spec. Big maybe for me...

[JB]

quote:Originally posted by joe563

CHECK OU THE APBA WEB SITE, WE ARE GOING TO BE ON TV... BEEOCHES.....
i thought it couldnt be done... good times the way i read it it is going to be the whole tour... so it will include mashville which i know alot of us plan to attend.. i dont know if you have to have satellite or cable or what ever going to check... last time it was on was the outdoor channel.... later
luka beeocha


Ya untamed sports tv? What the hell is this channel? I have never heard of it and I know I do not get this on my AT&T Uverse. Does someone here know what platform this is on? Looks like satellite only.

[JB]

quote:Originally posted by joe563

CHECK OU THE APBA WEB SITE, WE ARE GOING TO BE ON TV... BEEOCHES.....
i thought it couldnt be done... good times the way i read it it is going to be the whole tour... so it will include mashville which i know alot of us plan to attend.. i dont know if you have to have satellite or cable or what ever going to check... last time it was on was the outdoor channel.... later
luka beeocha


Ya untamed sports tv? What the hell is this channel? I have never heard of it and I know I do not get this on my AT&T Uverse. Does someone here know what platform this is on? Looks like satellite only.

[Chopper]

I was able to watch the whole '07 tour and the first 5 or so rounds of the '08 tour on the MAN channel (direct tv) Then the MAN channel was bought by a hunting channel (pursuit) and it went to all hunting related programming. There were promises made by the APBA that the rest of the tour would return last fall but it never happened. I would not hold my breath on any "programing" press release by the APBA, they are wrong more than they are right. The '07 coverage was horrible as they tryed to fit 5000lbs of chit into a 10 lbs bag. The '08 coverage was better since they were actually show a whole moto of a race, but that is not difficult when you have 8 laps on a 40 second course.

[Chopper]

I was able to watch the whole '07 tour and the first 5 or so rounds of the '08 tour on the MAN channel (direct tv) Then the MAN channel was bought by a hunting channel (pursuit) and it went to all hunting related programming. There were promises made by the APBA that the rest of the tour would return last fall but it never happened. I would not hold my breath on any "programing" press release by the APBA, they are wrong more than they are right. The '07 coverage was horrible as they tryed to fit 5000lbs of chit into a 10 lbs bag. The '08 coverage was better since they were actually show a whole moto of a race, but that is not difficult when you have 8 laps on a 40 second course.