Ross Champion Professional Freerider

First off, I need to give a huge thanks to Gil for putting this all together and taking such good care of the riders! It is an amazing weekend here and we are treated very well!

The even overall is cool. There is some BMX demos, Motorcycle Trials, Quad, Mini-moto, and lots of other entertainment through out the afternoon. We open and close the show with a freeride demo.

First in the water is the East Coast Team, (Fred, Max, Aurel) they ride for 10 or so minutes. Then Gil, Marc, and I get in the water to finish the opening of the event.

Surf today is UNREAL! And Hossegor is just an amazing wave. 200 yards down from where the event is being held is the beginning of a spot called La Nord. Which is where we have been surfing, we towed and rode the last few days about half a mile up from there at a place called Gaviotas (or something similar.) La Nord begins to work at about double over head. And is this kind of mellow right that starts way outside and finished with huge shore break on the sand. What is crazy about this place is that right in front of the even venue, it is basically flat. So on days like today, the biggest sets are like 15 foot faces and the right just peals from 300 or more yards out. There were several tow teams out there and one of the guys was some kind of European champion...and he was just killing it! There was another guy on a hydrofoil getting towed in to some pretty good waves as well...cool to see someone ride a hydrofoil in person.

Basically where we have to ride is just down slightly from the event site, so we are in this massive shore break! The biggest sets had like 8 foot faces and were breaking 30 feet from the shore. The smaller sets broke right on the beach. Tough to ride in, but easy to line up tricks. Martin got my loner ski running, it had a broken reed yesterday and today it ran pretty well. But...I dunno, I can't ride this ski. I sucked. A couple flips, rolls, and flairs, but no variation and really small flips because I just can't control the rotation on this ski. I would come to find out later that, although there is no trim lever on the ski, there is a trim system that set to be about half way trimmed all the time. So for tomorrow I'll fix that and change a few other things. Riding today was tough.
The other guys rode really well, it is a lot of fun to be in the water with all of them! Hopefully I can learn how to ride for tomorrow.

 The pic above is the view we were greeted with as we walked over the dunes on the second day!  This spot is about half a mile north of "La Nord."  The pic is not all

Day one in Hossegor...October 22nd 2008

Today was pretty mellow. Gil and his friend Fred met me at the airport. We spent some time around Hossegor and the surround towns doing little errands. Fred's wife made us a great lunch and I fell out for a little while on their couch while Gil prepped his boat. Actually he sold the boat a couple of months ago when he took a job doing a show in Baharain. And he is borrowing it back for this event. Then he heads to Dubai for three months on another show!

We spent the afternoon surfing Hossegor at like 10foot plus faces. Great first day to say the least!

Day three in Hossegor.

WOW...Yesterday we did jump-offs with the wave runner in like 8-12 foot surf! A jump-off is where the driver puts you in position on the wave and you jump off on to the surfboard...kind of a little like tow surfing...or normal surfing just without the paddling. What a great time! We each got a bunch of waves while Marc Sickerling and a few of the other Germans rode...err well Marc rode and the others got washed up on the beach!

Today rode again, and I got on Alex's ski, the one that I am supposed to ride in the show tomorrow and Sunday. But the ski is blown up or has some other problem. Feels like a dome is cracked or the or rings are blown out. Other than that the ski should be OK...hopefully we can fix it in the morning.

Today was full of good comedy at the beach. Surf was solid 8-12 feet with the occasional plus set. Best waves that I have ever had a chance to ride a ski in by far, and some of the best surf I have a seen period. There were these 10ft + bombs that would come in and just pitch! Unreal surf, and great conditions! One problem was the 4-6 foot shore break combined with 10 Germans who may not have even seen the ocean before in their lives...ahh good stuff. No one got seriously hurt, well one guy did break his nose...he was just trying to catch a ski getting pounded in the shore break. And Martin, Marc's mechanic had the best flying dismount on the beach I have ever seen. He rode the ski that I am riding to see if he could figure out what was wrong with it. And on the way back in, he mistimes the shore break, and launches off a 4 foot wave that is breaking right on the shore...totally dry. He winds up just throwing the ski mid air and it lands tail first in the sand, and he and the ski get washed up the beach! Fortunately he was fine, and it was a lightweight.de hull from Norbert, so it too was fine.

I watched Marc catch a few amazing waves...that guy is unreal. The German that rides in the surf 10 times a year and always looks great! I guess it helps to have won 5 freestyle and one freeride world championship in the past 20 years that you have been riding.
Great place...amazing!

Lots has happened since my last update on the way home from Brazil.

The weekend that I got back was the Mason Waddle Freeride in Pismo. Thanks to the generous donations from many companies in the watercraft industry, the generous contributions from the riders in attendance, and the hard work of Derek Gleeson, and Pamela Beazely; the ride raised over $1000 for Mason's educational trust. I also got a huge surprise that weekend when Pamela and EJ gave me a cake to commemorate the world title, and a card that was signed by everyone there! We truly belong to an amazing community! This event deserves more detail, but I am sitting in an airport in Lyon, France and have lots to catch up on in a little time.

The next event on the list was the Bayside Boogie, this was a very cool event put on in Mission Bay. Randy Laine was gracious enough to ask me to be involved, and although it was a flat water show...I would do anything I could for Randy! However, it did take about a week of practice in the bay to brush up on my flat water skills (and I use the term skills very loosely.) The show went really well because the guys that were hired to do water safety were not only local lifeguards, but friends of RL's as well. So instead of having to put on a flat water show, we got to play behind the boat wake. It is not surf, but sure as hell helps me out!

The very next day I packed up the box van with a bunch of skis and headed to Lake Havasu, AZ for IJSBA “World Finals.” This event is the epicenter of racing and flat water freestyle. And as such has been a big industry trade show for the past couple of decades. In years past, Havasu basically consisted of me and my freeride buddies getting drunk, making fun of freestyle, then drinking some more. This event always comes at the end of our season, there are lots of friends there, and it is generally a good time to let off a little steam while the rest of the PWC world is stressed out over their one big event a year. But this year things are a little different. I was there with a purpose. The IJSBA was generous enough to donate a booth to help raise money for Mason Waddle, and I was going to do what I could to help make it a success. John Dady of Blowsion, (who set up the educational trust for Mason) had 20 huge posters made of Zach and Mason, the plaque that will be permanently place in Pacific City, Zach's ski, and my Championship winning ski in the booth. Every morning Chris Rossner (newest Blowsion team rider) and Mark Gomez were nice enough to set the booth up. I was there (often times with those guys, or Liz, or Jerry Jones...or whoever else was around) from Friday through Sunday doing what ever we could to get people to donate to Mason's fund. Whenever I had to take a break, Chris, Mark, Liz or Jerry were always willing to fill in. The end result of the three days at the booth was that we raised a little over $1400 for the trust. I would really like to say thank you so much to everyone who helped make the booth possible, and especially those who donated! If nothing else, Mason will grow up knowing that he had great parents who not only loved and cared about him tremendously, but that his parents were great people who were loved and missed by an entire community. And that same great group of people who miss his parents care deeply about him and his future.


World Finals was interesting this year for a few reasons. On the industry side of things, there is lots of change in the air. One of the most notable events is Steve Webster's new venture Kommander Industries. After founding the company three years ago with partner Erik Knoble, Steve has elected to get out of the business of selling watercraft to focus more on his passion of designing parts for, and building world championship winning watercraft. Kommander Industries will be unveiling lots of new parts over the next 12 months. And of course Steve is still building the baddest standups in the world. The Hydrospace killing SXR that Steve (the Kommander) Webster build for Steven Dalliach was good enough to earn the Pole in pro Ski, win the first heat, and tie for the overall officially placing second overall. Not too shabby for only having about two weeks prep time with Dalliach. But it is par for the course for the Kommander. He has built countless world championship winning skis, and will continue to long in to the future!

Then we come to Freestyle. Both Rick Roy and Eric Malone unveiled new hulls this year. Freestyle is certainly progressing! Both boats helped elevate the game to a tremendous new level this year. But both were also illegal according to the IJSBA rule book. I don't know what the end result was, but Rock run was in a league of his own...but he did not win. Suffice to say that these boats are helping take freestyle to a new level and I hope that the rules will be able to find some way to accommodate the new technology. Admittedly I don't' have a lot of interest in flat water freestyle, but I did ride both of the hulls, and I think Rick's hull will work quite well in the surf (actually rode it in the surf a week later.) The biggest surprise for me was riding Josh Lustic's Trinity hull with a Kawi motor prepared by Kommander Webster. That boat had noticeably more power than either Eric or Rick's polaris based motors. I think Rick's new hull is going to open some doors for us in the surf, I like the concept of the design as a whole. Weather or not I wind up riding one in the future, I think it will help elevate our side of the sport and the innovation is hull design is certainly welcome and needed if we are to progress.

From Havasu, I went to Kommander Industries world headquarters in Phoenix to rebuild my Go Fast boat. I took the motor and other parts to Brazil, and I figured it would be best to have the Kommader himself re-assemble the motor. Those of you who know me, know why this is a good idea!

Lustic was super nice in helping me put the boat back together after Steve re-did the motor, and I was off to spend a day at home before heading to Pismo for the JK Freeride Pismo Rager.

Joe's event went really well. The video that Daylite and the NWFreeride crew put together was great, and will be something that I know Joe will cherish for the rest of his life. Joe was on hand with his new wife, and was in really good spirits. It is great to see Joe happy again. The last time I saw him happy was probably at his contest two years prior. I feel bad that Joe and my friendship was a little strained over the planning of that event. It is not like we were on bad terms by any means...just had a little disagreement over a few things, and I felt I had to step away from the contest. And we never really had a chance to set things totally right before he was hurt... At any rate, the weekend was great, epic as far as pismo in October goes. Surf was on the small side, but clean, and we had sunny warm weather for the most part. I think this is the first time that I have ever been to Pismo when things went well for me. Boat ran great and since I had not been in the water all that much since Brazil, I took advantage of the good conditions and rode through 5 tanks of gas over the two days. Again Pamela Beazely was the driving force behind much of the weekend's events. She arranged awards for the “Rookies of the Year” which went to Chris Rozner and Mark Gomez. And arranged the raffle as well. We are really luck to have her and EJ in the sport, with his innovation of parts through BrapStrap and her hard work on events, good things are happening for the sport.

At the end of the day on Sunday I got a chance to ride Rick's new hull for a little bit. Clay Cullen was nice enough to let me ride his new boat even before all the bugs were worked out of it. Despite it not being jetted correctly, and the ski being set up a little different than how I would do it...the ski worked very well for me. I think there is a ton of potential in this hull for surf applications...

And I guess that about catches up on the past month more or less...I had one day of being home from Pismo before I began my trip to Hossegor. Right now I am on my third and final flight on my way to Biarritz from Lyon. I'm looking forward to a fun weekend. This will be my first Hossegor Air Festival, and it looks like we will have good surf. Hopefully we will be able to put on a good show!

First off, this season and the win is dedicated to Zach, Libby, and little Mason. You guys were on all of our minds and in our hearts here in Brazil.

As I sit here in Sao Paulo airport and reflect on my trip and the year, it is a little hard to get past thinking of Zach. We had a moment of silence for Zach and Libby before the start of my semi-final with Federico Bufacchi. I kind of broke down a little bit then, I don't know why it hit me so hard right at that moment...stress maybe. Mark Matsuda had a bunch of stickers printed in memory of Zach, and they were on every ski in the paddock.

I have a list as long as my arm of people to thank for making this year happen for me. But the guys at the top of the list are with out question. John Dady of Blowsion, Steve Webster at Jet Ski Unlimited, and Arno Olbright at Hydro-Turf. John has taken care of me like family since I started my relationship with Blowsion, and he has worked his ass off to get other sponsors on board and help cover costs for me. All of that is in addition to his 100% devotion to giving me the best Freeride equipment in the world. Steve Webster at Jet Ski Unlimited is a huge reason I was able to do so well this year also. Steve built me the perfect Freeride motor, and Chad Cole assembled the entire boat. I had 0 (zero) mechanical issues in contests this year! This motor has been to six countries this year, not to mention I rode the boat 3-4 days a week when I was home, and the only issue I had was that it sucked a stock reed through the motor. I can't tell you what a huge difference having good reliable equipment makes! And without Arno and Hydro-Turf, there is no way I could have traveled to all the places I did this past year. You three made this season possible for me, and for that I am totally grateful!

The 10th anniversary of Jet Waves was a great contest. The bar has really been raised, and I could not be happier! My final against Pierre was the most fun I have ever had in the water in my life. And the result was exactly as it should have been. But I'm getting way ahead of myself at this point.

Saturday morning we woke up early. Brett, Arik, and I were all in the same room/suite. That African wakes up EARLY. I guess no one told him about Brazilian time...gees. Brett wakes me up telling me in his dignified South African accent...”Hey, it's haf past six. We've got a riders meeting at 8am.” I'm thinking yea...that means 10:30, go back to bed. But Arik and I humored him and got up. Ludo was the only one at breakfast in the dining hall down stairs when we got there. And it was a rainy overcast day.

It was raining at the beach, but surf looked fun. The swell that was predicted had not really shown up, but the odd set was well over head and really powerful. The rain held things up for a while, but eventually we did get a riders meeting done and the contest under way. Aside from the rain and cold, conditions were good. Wind was offshore and would stay that way for the entire weekend.

All of the riders that were not seeded had to ride the pre-qualifier on Friday. Those riders were then bracketed against the seeded riders for the first round of qualifying. I got luck and had a by in my first qualifying heat. I was supposed to ride with Alexandre Bruneder (who is an incredibly good 17 year old Brazilian rider) but he dislocated his shoulder on Friday in his prequalifier so he opted to just go straight to the LCQ instead of ride with me. This kid is a very good rider, and I am pretty sure he will be the next freestyler that we see come from Brazil. I decided another few minutes on a new ski would be a good idea so I headed out alone. As soon as I got on the boat it just felt good! The XFT is great in the air, and I felt very comfortable on it. It was really cool of Sergio to give me this boat. Pierre had a mechanical issue in his heat which put him in the LCQ, which he qualified through.

Brett decided that our boat was just a little too heavy I guess, so he decided he would lighten it up a little bit. His 1/8th final was the second one in the water and mine was third. So literally the heat before me he stuffed a flip in about two feet of water, took off the nose, put a hole in the gas tank and bent one of my wrist stops out of position in the process! George and Roberto are two mechanics that work with Tchello at Pro Nautica. They were there to help me take care of any problems that might arise. Those two guys busted ass and got the boat ready to ride by the end of the bracket so I could go out and ride against Cristiano Magarao. By the time all of this happened with Brett, our heat had already been rescheduled to the end of the bracket. Cristiano lent his ski to Douglas Carvalho and he sank it, and it was taking a while to get restarted..so we had a little time.

My 1/8th final was not an easy heat by any means. Cristiano is a really good rider, and I have never heard of him before. He does no handed flips, but uses a cord to attach himself to the handle pole. So he takes his hands off and kind of pulls the flip around with his body...kind a cool, but dangerous. I would not want to be tied that close to the ski, but at least he is pushing and trying new stuff. At the end of our heat he crashed a no-hand-one-foot attempt. I just tried to put a good solid run together, and things went my way.

As soon as we came in from the water though, it was time to head straight back out with Romain Stampers for our ¼ final. We had to run back to back because my 1/8th final heat was moved to the end of the bracket with the mechanical problems. At any rate, I was a little out of sorts by the time I got back in the water with Roman and I was making mistakes. The heat was not all that bad on my part, but was not going to beat Roman. So when the yellow flag came out, I set the boat up for the super flip and did a couple before the red flag. Even still it was a close heat, and I barley edged him out. Funny enough though, that was the only ¼ final that was run on Saturday, (it was getting late.) So there really was not real reason that I had to ride those two heats back to back...but it is cool, all things worked out.

Saturday night was not only the night for the Jet Waves 10th Anniversary party at club Kiwi, but it was also Pippa's brithday (wife of British rider Grahm Reid.) I missed the party and went to have a little Bar-B-Q with a couple of my friends from last year, which I am sure was a better place for me than the club. However I will say this about the party. I'm pretty sure Arik deserves some kind of award or medal for his efforts on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Those of you who know him, I would suggest you give him a call!

Sunday we awoke to a beautiful crips morning that felt a lot like Southern California in the winter. It was bright, wind was off-shore, and surf was a bit smaller but still fun in the head high range on set. My last couple of heats on Saturday were not easy on the ski, and I found the bottom a couple of times. So George and Roberto spent the early morning doing a little fiberglass repair on the nose. I don't think George slept for even an hour the night before, so it was a tough morning for him. But the guys got the boat done, and the contest got underway with Brett's ¼ final heat.

Brett had a great run against Lenzi, but wound up coming in at the yellow flag with a bit of an injured wrist. I'm sure if he had just ridden out the heat, he would have won but Lenzi went through to the semi-final with me. And Federico and Pierre were in the other semi.


I had a tough heat against Lenzi and won what I am sure was a very close decision. I had an interesting contest, I was either very on of just kind of off. And with Lenzi I was just a little off. But I did get a few good super flips in and I think that was the deciding factor. Pierre got the redemption against Federico that he has been looking for since Europe, and won with a great ride.


So with that, the final four were set with me and Pierre riding to decide the win, and Federico and Lenzi going for thrid in the consolation final. In the consolation final it looked like both riders were having a bit of a tough time. Surf was getting more and more inconsistent and both riders just seemed a little off their game. But in the end Federico beat out Lenzi to finish thrid.

Heading in to this contest I was a little conflicted about what I should do considering we were having basically two rounds to decide the Championship, with the second round to start as soon as the Jet Waves final finished. I wanted to be sure and conserve myself and equipment as well as I could for the second contest. But man....that is really hard to do. I figured as long as I get a decent finish and some points in the first contest, I will be in good shape points wise heading in to the second contest. So, being that I was in the finals, I had accomplished my first goal and the pressure was off. Plus, there is no one that I would rather be in a final with. Pierre is a really good friend and I have been looking forward to meeting him in the finals all year.

I went in to the water really excited and in a good frame of mind. I had accomplished what I needed to as far as series points were concerned, physically I felt great, and I was comfortable on the ski. At this point it was not about beating my opponent or making it on to the next heat. It was just about having fun and putting my personal best on the water for 10 minutes. And it wound up being the most fun I have ever had on the water. Possibly the most fun I have ever had....and hell I lost. But that really did not matter. I rode as well as I could, except I was unable to throw a double roll. The only set that came through for it (when I was ready to do it) had Pierre in priority on the one wave in the set I could have done it on. Aside from that, I did all I could and did it well in that 10 minute period. When that happens, and I still get beat, it was a damn good heat! Pierre won it with the first heel clicker back flip that he or anyone else has landed. That deserves the win!

So here we are, end of the contest, finals are done. I have given every last drop and I have, and it is time to go get lunch and do it all over again starting with the 1/4t finals of the Championship Challenge. The IFWA took the top 8 from the points standing and bracketed them against each other. It is not so much that I was physically tired. I have been training really hard this year and fitness is not the issue. But mentally it is just exhausting, especially after a “final” round like that one. And given Federico's third place finish (right behind me) he was still really close in points. So close in fact that if he were to win the Championship Challenge, and I were to finish 4th we would be tied in the points for first. So there was still lots of work left to be done and pressure was back on again.

I did have a bit of luck on my side that skewed things in my favor. My first heat was against Brett Armstrong who was now with out a ski to ride, and he was forced to borrow a Kawasaki. My luck was to change a little for my next round (semi final) with Federico. I made lots of mistakes from start to finish. One of which was not throwing a double. But I was just way out of sorts during that heat. Things got off to a bad start when I opened up with two super flips that came up short, and I was just kind of rushed for the rest of the heat and blew it with lots of other mistakes. So that put me in to the consolation final with Romain Stampers who had been beaten in his semi by Pierre. Unfortunately for Romain, he dislocated his shoulder again at the end of the heat with Pierre and was in lots of pain for our consolation final. Romain is another guy who is a great friend of mine and we just went out to put on a show for the crowd. Basically I would throw some tricks and he would critique them from the water with an obvious thumbs up or thumbs down... I still rode hard and for sure it was a better show than having Romain not get in the water at all.

When all was said and done, Pierre had beaten Federico to win the Championship Challenge. But my third place finish was enough to get me the 2008 IFWA World Title! That night we blew off a little steam in town and put a very memorable end on an unreal trip and adventure. There are quite a few stories from that night, but none that I can tell here. Next year you will just have to come on tour with us and the IFWA.

All things are pretty good here. Got the hull on Wed, and with the help of Grahm, Arik, and George (mechanic) we had it together and in the water on Thursday afternoon. Ski is very solid. Sergio Buena from XFT has given me a very good, but very different set up from what I am used to. He went way out of his way to set the hull up so I would be comfortable on it, but it is very different from a stock based boat. My JSU motor is spot on as always. I did not have to so much as turn the screws on the carb, it just worked straight out of my bag. I really can't say enough about this motor. It has been great all year, and I have really beat on it hard!

Tuesday we had a really nice dinner party at Juliana's (Tchello's girlfriend's) house. She is a columnist for one of the largest papers in Brazil, and went all out for about 20 of us who were there. It was a great time catching up with everyone. We are a really big and diverse family from all over the world, but there is no question, this is a family.


Wednesday the French showed up, and that night we checked out Juliana's art gallery and then had dinner and hung out at a cool bar/restaurant in down town near the gallery.


Thursday Brett Armstrong showed from South Africa, great to see him again!


Thursday evening we headed up here to Itajai and the hotel. Then today, Friday, I was finally able to get some time in the water on the ski. I have spent about an hour and a half on it so far, and am getting comfortable. Slowly, but I am getting used to it. The boat that Brett was supposed to ride just did not want to run well, so I offered up my ski. I am a little stressed out about that, but he is a good friend and came a long way, so he should have a good ski. I have worked really hard to get where I am now, and I really hope to be able to pull off a Championship down here. But I would not want it at the expense of some one like Brett not getting a chance to compete.


I dunno...we will see what tomorrow brings. Lots of riding left to do.

BTW...Pierre's Super Flips are very good. And I think his set up is a little better than mine. This is the next step though. There will be lots of cool variations to come very soon.

Well sort of. Early today Tchello and I met with a Brazilian FBI official in hopes of pulling some strings to get the two skis from last year released from customs. At this point we have jumped through every hoop that has been put in front of us and we still the boats are sitting in some customs warehouse accruing storage fees while they rust. So this was a last ditch effort. Pierre is going to the customs office with a lawyer in Sao Paulo in hopes that he can do something there, (both skis were shipped in his name.) But I don't expect him to have too much luck.

I put my motor together today, so all is ready to drop in when the hull shows up. The days are counting down, and still the hull has not left Sao Paulo. At this point, the hope I'm hoping it will be here Thursday. There is a chance it will make it Wednesday night, but when you factor in Brazilian time, that translates to Friday at noon...so...yea.... I don't know what it will need that I did not bring, but I am sure there will be something. Any way, no point in stressing over something I can't control. I will get it, and get it together eventually. I don't have to ride till Saturday.

The rest of the day here was great, I rode Tchello's XT600 around the island. Sat and watched some surfers down at Jouaquina Beach. There is a WQS event just North of Floriano this weekend as well. A few of the guys out there were just killing it, so I guess the must be in town for the contest. Either that or there are some insane locals here that should be on the QS. Then I spent a couple hours this evening at a gym just out side of Lagoa. All in all another great day! Just wish I had a ski to be getting dialed in on. 

Looks like tomorrow is going to be more of the same. This is a great place to just hang out. But anyone who know me knows I don't just hang out all that well. The wind has been really blowing in the afternoon the past couple of days. Maybe I can find something to sail in the lagoon. Last year Liz and I tried wind surfing, but the board was the size of an aircraft carrier and the sail was the size of a table cloth...wound up not being all that much fun. Also, that was when our room got broken in to and I got all my stuff stolen. I think I will try and find a boat tomorrow.

UPDATE:
Prelim surf reports are for the a swell to start hitting Friday at 2 meters, holding through Saturday and Sunday is Supposed to be 3-4 meters!!! Wind Fri and Sat out of the North = good because that is sort of side/off shore at the contest site. Sunday strong out of the south = nasty on shore. Good news is there will be surf and plenty of it. Looks like Sunday will be bigger than last year here. And last year here was big and good. Only time will tell....

  Today (Sunday) was a great day...

Today I was reminded why these events are so much fun, and it is the people. I spent most of the day with Tchello, his girlfriend Juliana, Carol-Anne, Norma Gene, and Carlos. We've had a lot of great times together over the past couple of years, and it's always fun to get together and catch up. Carol-Anne and I had a nice little skype session with Joe Kenney back in Las Vegas. He seems to be doing really well and may have a big announcement to make at his freeride in October after Havasu. For those of you who have not heard, Daylite is going to be premiering his “4 JK” video in Pismo the weekend after World Finals. This trip is going to be a bit like the Mex Rager of old, but in a location that is a little safer these days. Should be a great time.

Other than that, not much happened. Just took a little jog around the lagoon, and found a nice place to stretch for a while. The Lagoa is a beautiful lagoon that runs a couple miles in from the Ocean. The little town where Pro Nautica (Tchello's shop) is named Lagoa after the lagoon and is a nice little party town. It is basically an elongated rectangular block with lots of little bars, restaurants, and shops lining the streets.

I got here a few days early because I was not sure what I was going to have to do to get a ski working. But I am really glad I have a few extra days to hang out and enjoy this incredible place.



For anyone that has thought of attending one of these events, I would really encourage you to come. This is a great family to be a part of.

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Sitting here in Sao Paulo airport awaiting my flight on to Florianopolis...my second flight to Floraino, the first was canceled. And I'm feeling a little out of sorts. No doubt the night spend on the plane is contributing to how I feel...but it can also be attributed to the past month or so of traveling. More than that, I am a little stressed right now.



I came here to win the World Title this year. Last year was a great experience, and finishing second to Pierre Maixent on the World Tour is something that I am very proud of, especially when the depth of the field is taken in to account. But last year I came in to this round just one point behind Pierre, and after my worst contest finish of my career, (10th) I left here without a chance at the title. This year things are different. The last round, or two (I am still not sure what the plan is, or what it will turn in to come the contest) of the Championship will be this weekend. Last year the skis John Dady of Blowsion was so gracious enough to ship down for us were held up in customs, where they sit to this very day, and needless to say did not make it for the contest. Mike Serlin was nice enough to let me ride the ski he was provided for the event, but we had some mechanical issues with the boat all weekend. Even so, the poor performance was my fault and it cost me.


Now one year later, we come in to Brazil for the final round of the IFWA World Tour, and I have a lead in the points. Pierre is not really in contention for the title this year, but two very strong riders in Federico Buffachi and Romain Stampers are. And I am not sure who is farther down the list that will be here...but Federico and Romain are tied for second. Needless to say, things are tight. And there is a long list of Brazilian riders who could very easily take out an American early on. So I guess I'm feeling a little pressure. This contest, like so many of the others is going to take a 100% effort in just about every round. But there are a few unknowns as of yet. Sergio Buena is building me a ski to ride, which is amazingly generous of him...the guy does not even know me. So I know the hull will be good, and I am bringing my JSU motor) but it will be different than anything I have ridden before. If all goes according to plan, I will have Friday to ride the ski, sort out any issues we may have with it, and get comfortable enough on it to go compete and win! I guess that is what is putting the most pressure on me. I know I have what it takes to win, and I am here to do just that, I just don't like the unknowns.


At any rate, I am really looking forward to seeing everyone who is coming this year. There is a bit of an abbreviated list of foreign riders this year due to a lack of skis. I hope Jimbo is coming, but I don't think he is. Still out with a broken wrist...things are just not the same with out him. He is the guy I look to most as a role model in this sport. He trains harder than anyone, you will not find him at the bars, and he has been totally dominant for a long long time. His South African counterpart Jeremy Phillips will be here again this year, and he is always fun to watch ride! The lone German this year is Arik, although you may have to consider him a Spaniard now that he lives in Marbella, Spain. He has turned in to such a good friend, I think I may just have to consider him the second American. Arik has come a long way with his riding and will be a tough competitor I'm sure. From what I have heard, Pierre is coming but I have not heard that from him...hope he makes it. He raises the level of riding from everyone across the board. I wonder if Romain is going to come this year. I would hope so, he is in second place in the points, and his performance from 06 is more or less legendary, his shoulder came out of socket two times. Both times he went up to the beach...put it back and then continued to compete. Federico has a second home in Florianopolis, and although he was in a little trouble and did not come last year, he should be there in full force this year. I have not seen Ivo Sehn since the Pismo contest last year. He took the year off from the tour, but will be back to compete at home. Ivo is a great friend and an amazing rider. He, as well as several other Brazilian riders easily have what it takes to win this year. Lenzi and Carvaholo are tow of the most recognizable names of the sport, and they are here to win as well.

It looks like it will be another great contest. Hopefully we will have good conditions like we had last year. Surf was insane and weather was great almost the whole time.

I guess there is no real point in stressing over the contest. I know I have trained harder than any of the other guys, and no one else wants it more than I do. So I will do what I can to go and get it. Now all I have to do is actually get there...which is proving harder and harder.

Journal Entry From Sao Paulo, Brazil.
I'm tired...could be the 11hour flight down. But truth be told, I flew Korean Airlines and it was a really nice experience. Watched a couple of movies...slept like a baby, and even had a couple of palatable meals in between. I'm just kind of worn down right now. It has been a taxing couple of Months. Not that I am complaining, but traveling wears on you after a while. The last blog entry is from my trip to compete in Europe and on to Morocco. Since then life has been busy.

Shortly after coming home from Morocco, I got on a plane bound for Jamaica. I was not sure exactly why I was going. All I knew was that legendary music icon Chris Blackwell wanted me to come to Jamaica and spend a few days at his most famous Goldeneye Resort in Oracabessa, Jamaica. I had been told that he was a huge fan of personal watercraft and was expanding the flagship property of his Island Outpost chain, and was going to tailor it to the use of PWCs. Needless to say I was a bit nervous about going to meet the guy who introduced the world to Bob Marley, U2, and so many other hugely successful music acts. Then after doing a little research on him, I learned that he also started Palm Pictures Studios and was very instrumental in the redevelopment of South Beach in the early 90's. With question, this guy is one of the most influential people of the last 50 years, and for some reason he wanted to see me.

After meeting Chris for the first time, all my nervousness was gone. He has an incredible gift for making any and everyone feel comfortable regardless of “who” you are. Chris is also has incredible vision, and a great ability to relate that vision to others. This has to be part of the reason he was so incredibly successful, it's impossible not to like him.

Goldeneye is an incredible and very exclusive luxury resort on the East end of Jamaica's North coast. It is also the former home of James Bond Author, Ian Flemming. The plan is to expand the resort in to the premier luxury Residence/Resort in the Caribbean, and the primary recreational activity at the resort will be exploration on PWCs. Please keep an eye out in various Watercraft magazines for stories on the resort and the adventures tours that will be available to guests and residents.

I am very fortunate to be able to help Chris implement his vision and expose his incredible resort to the watercraft community.


After coming home from Jamaica, I met up with Fullgaz boss and photographer Ludo to shoot a little around So Cal. The first day we went out and shot the Super Flip for a how-to article that will appear in PWI early next year. Then we hit the road for a little river/lake riding up near Yosemite. That story will appear later this year in PWI as well. And I will of course post them here on my blog once the stories run in the magazine.

A couple of weeks later, it was time for the Blowsion Beach Party in Oregon. I'm sure most of you reading this already know that Zach Waddle and his finance Libby were killed by a drunk driver early Saturday morning as they walked back to their campsite. This was an incredible tragedy that left their 11 month old son, Mason without his parents. To contribute to Mason's trust account, please visit http://www.masonsfuture.org/
For more about Zach, please my entry specific to that, will be up in a few days.

The guys at Blowsion built me an incredible ski that is very capable of doing a double flip on. Its a back flip modified Lightweight.de hull with a Blowsion trim and a nice and strong 760 motor. The plan was to try a couple at the beach party in Oregon, but the conditions were not right, and for sure the time was not right for it.

Mike Serlin was able to get his new Blowsion ski together and in the water for the weekend. His motor was not ready, so he ran a loner that did not work all that well...but the ski looks amazing. And turf is top notch thanks to EJ.

My new little man Sidney made the trip up to Oregon with Pamela and EJ. He is a super smart Australian Shepard puppy that was the pick of the last litter from Pamela and EJ's pair. He and his sister hung around the shop till it was time to head to the beach, and they were always where ever we were. Two great little dogs, super smart and a huge hit with everyone at the beach. This little guy will be making all the west coast events from now on! Man I miss that little guy right now.

From Oregon, Ludo and I flew on to Jamaica for media week at Goldeneye. Liz met us down there and we had an incredible week in the lap of luxury shooting all kinds of amazing stuff with new Yamaha SHOs. Goldeneye truly is my favorite place on earth. Life is just so different down there, and everyone treats us like family. We got some unreal pictures and I really hope everyone likes the stories that come out of there. I also hope we get some good watercraft enthusiasts to buy down there. For more info about the place email me through my contacts page. I will send you a pass for a free weekend at the resort if you are interested in buying.  Also check out Goldeneyeresort.com and Goldeneyedevelopment.com.

After leaving Jamaica, I flew to Washington DC for the Yamaha dealer meeting and new model launch. Yamaha has a cool new runabout coming out for 09. They call is the FZR, and is a true sport boat. It has the motor of the SHO, but is a two seater and the hull is more performance oriented. It should be a good seller...if I was in the market for a sport boat, I would buy it. The new FXHO gets the SHO's 1.8 liter motor, only in a non supercharged configuration. This boat will pull just as hard as the SHO down low, and the SHO only finally pulls away in the very top of the power band.

From DC, I flew back to Portland and picked up my truck and a few skis. Then headed straight through to the Wounded Warriors ride that the San Diego PWC Club was putting on. Of course I had to stop along the way to pick up Sidney...but that was the only stop.

The Wounded Warrior Ride went well, about 50 veterans and various other people with some form of paralysis. They got a boat ride, and I did what I could on the wake behind the boat. That was basically limited to rolls and stabs, but I think they enjoyed it. Yamaha was kind enough to donate poster for the event.
And of course the pup was a huge hit there as well.

A few days later...here I am in Sao Paulo...just kind of wondering how I got here...haha...