Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The name is sometimes mistakenly used by those unfamiliar with the personal watercraft industry to refer to any type of personal watercraft; however, the name is a valid trademark registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and in many other countries.[1] The term "Jet Ski" (or JetSki, often shortened to "Ski"[2]) is often mis-applied to all personal watercraft with pivoting handlepoles manipulated by a standing rider; these are properly known as "stand-up PWCs." The term is often mistakenly used when referring to WaveRunners, but WaveRunner is actually the name of the Yamaha line of sit-down PWCs, whereas "Jet Ski" refers to the Kawasaki line.[3][4] Recently, a third type has also appeared, where the driver sits in the seiza position. This type has been pioneered by Silveira Customs with their "Samba".
Contents |
In 1929 a one-man standing unit called the "Skiboard" was developed, guided by the operator standing and shifting his weight while holding on to a rope on the front, similar to a powered surfboard.[5] While somewhat popular when it was first introduced in the late 1920s, the 1930s sent it into oblivion.
Clayton Jacobson II is credited with inventing the personal water craft, including both the sit-down and stand-up models.
The two original models were made of hand-laid fibreglass, and included the 1973 WSAA Jet Ski 400, and the WSAB Jet Ski 400. The WSAA featured a flat bottom design that stayed with the JS hull until 1994. The WSAB featured a V-hull that enhanced turning, but was less stable and harder to ride. Only 500 of these WSAB Jet Skis were produced. In 1975, Kawasaki began mass production of the JS400-A, which featured an SMC hull. The JS400 came with a 400 cc two-stroke engine and a hull based upon the previous limited release models.
In 1978, the Jet Ski 440 was introduced. It came with a new jet pump, handlebar mounted ignition controls, and a 440cc two-stroke engine. The 440 engine was almost the same as the old 400, but had a bigger cylinder bore.
In 1982, the Jet Ski 550 became available for purchase. Not only did this new 550 have an engine that generated more power than a 440, with a bigger cylinder bore, and an improved exhaust pipe. The 550 also had a unique "mixed flow" pump that provided better low-end thrust. The 1982 JS 550 was available in yellow, with red decals. The 1983-1989 550s had red hulls, initially with a left front exhaust exit, but replaced by one the right front from 1986 onwards. The 1990-1994 JS 550sx models were white with a rear exit exhaust. This line of JS watercraft maintained very similar designs throughout their production from 1973–1994, and are still the only watercraft to have remained in production for so long.
In 1986, Kawasaki broadened the world of Jet Skis by introducing a one person model with lean-in "sport" style handling and a 650 cc engine, dubbed the Kawasaki X2. Then in 1989, they introduced their first two-passenger "sit-down" model, the Tandem Sport/Dual-Jetters (TS/DJ) with a step-through seating area. Kawasaki began using four-stroke engines in 2003. Combining this with the use of other technologies such as superchargers has allowed some engines to be able to produce up to 260 horsepower (190 kW), as seen in the later Kawasaki Ultra 260X and Sea-Doo RXP, RXT and RXP-X.
Yamaha entered the personal watercraft market in 1987, Bombardier in 1988, and Arctic and Polaris in the early 1990s.
Freestyle riding of personal watercraft is done mostly on a stand up design, with the exception of a few other craft, such as the Yamaha Waveblaster, Sea-Doos, and early X-2s. Modern freestyle utilizes primarily the Yamaha Superjet, as it is lighter and smaller than the Kawasaki SX-R. PWC freestyle consists of many different tricks, including big air, hood tricks and technical tricks which, like those in BMX, are judged on the quality and skill shown in routines by a panel of judges.
Professional Freestyle competition started in the late 1970s with the formation of the USJSBA, later changed to the IJSBA. In the early 1980s, two-time dock-jumping World Freestyle Champion, Larry "The Ripper" Rippenkroeger and 1983 World Freestyle Champion, "Flyin" Brian Bendix, became industry recognized names. There were other innovators near the beginning like firework-shooting Cosmic Miller and teenager Pat Helfrick.
At this time, freestyle competition was dominated by five-time consecutive World Freestyle Champion, David "The Flash" Gordon, who had a style characterized not by spectacular tricks, but by finesse, poise, and control. There were ramp Jump competitions at Cypress Gardens about this time as well, although these were not considered to be freestyle. After Gordon came Scott "Hollywood" Watkins who made an impact when he released the first "Freestyle Lifestyle" video, Jet Dreams.
The 1990s ushered in a new era of freestyle innovation. New wider and longer hull configurations from manufacturers other than Kawasaki, customized hull/tray modifications, and more powerful engines, were contributing factors that influenced a shift from "finesse" or "gymnastics" style maneuvers to aerial based stunts. Scott "Hollywood" Watkins and X-2 rider Jeff Kantz helped pave the way to this new "style" of freestyle competition. Stunts like the aerial "back flip", first performed in competition by "Flyin" Brian Bendix, and the "barrel roll", which Jeff Kantz invented, and "Trick" Rick Roy perfected, became staples in freestyle competition events.
The mid 1990s also saw a fundamental shift from multi-discipline competitors such as Brian Bendix, David Gordon, Cosmic Miller, Scott Watkins and Larry Rippenkroeger, who all competed in freestyle as well as slalom and closed course events, to single-discipline competitors like Marc Sickerling, Rick Roy, Alessander Lenzi, and Eric Malone, who specialized in freestyle exclusively. Eric Malone went on to become an eight-time freestyle champion, perfecting the back flip and multiple barrel rolls on flat water. Freestyle has also become more international, with a number of Japanese competitors being especially successful.
2010 saw new talent emerge -- Lee Stone won the World Finals with a routine that included the first ever "Super Flip". Considered to be the most dangerous Freestyle trick, it has been repeated next year by Alexander (Aleksandar) Petrovic and Kazuhiro Hamasaki.
This is the most extreme form of PWC riding, where the rider surfs waves, using them as a jump ramp for aerial maneuvers. Pioneered in the early days by Dan Baker and Scott "Hollywood" Watkins, freeriding became defined by the "re-entry", when a rider jumps off a breaking wave and lands back on it, continuing to ride the wave.
Watkins, who worked for Yamaha Motors, was the most influential freerider, and his style is often cited as the most pure expression of the sport. Later riders such as Pierre Maixent, Federico Bufacchi, Jimmy and James Visser, Florence Le Vot, Ivo Sehn, Randy Laine, Rick Roy, Clay Cullen, Joe Kenney, and Mark Tearle further added further innovations, emulating the moves performed by surfers and FMX riders.
Closed course racing is a form of PWC riding with up to twenty riders competing to finish first. The course is defined by red buoys (indicating left turns), yellow buoys (for right turns), a start line and a finish line. The start line is typically at the shore with three poles and a rubber cord. Usually an event has two motos in a day.
Closed course racing began in the mid 1970s with Doug Silverstein, Steve Stricklin, Brian Bendix, and Larry Rippenkroeger, who primarily rode modified 440cc and 550cc stand-up models. Doug Silverstein was the first competitor to win the USJSBA national points championship. Larry Rippenkroeger was the first competitor to win the championship twice, in 1982 and 1984. "Flyin" Brian Bendix won in 1983. David Gordon was the first competitor to win the championship two years in a row. Then in 1987, Jeff Jacobs, of El Cajon, CA, won the national points championship and went on to dominate the professional ski stand-up class through 2001.
During the 1980s, professional PWC riding competition had a grass-roots following of race fans and enthusiasts throughout the United States. During these early days, the national points tour included fifteen events, and started on Memorial Day weekend and ran through Labor Day weekend, culminating with the five event Florida World Cup series, promoted by the Lauber brothers.
From 1992 to 1996 the sport reached its peak of popularity. Some of the most successful riders of that period included Jeff Jacobs, Chris Fischetti, Alex Morgan, Minoru Kanamori, Victor Sheldon, Tom Bonacci, Chris MacClugage, Bill Pointer, Frank Romero, Dustin Farthinga and Art Chambers. Many strong factory teams equipped their athletes with the largest equipment available, and Budweiser sponsored the IJSBA Bud Jet Sports Tour with stops in ten US cities.
As of 2009, the APBA holds several events throughout the race season that allows riders to qualify for the IJSBA World Finals held in Lake Havasu, AZ, which is considered to be the Super Bowl of personal watercraft riding. Although US athletes still dominate the sport, racers come from all over the world, including France, Japan, Kuwait, Thailand, Argentina and Brazil. The reigning world champion in 2009 was Craig Warner, sponsored by Kawasaki, Monster Energy, Bomber Eyewear, and Hydro-Turf. However, New Zealand’s Sam Harvey claimed his first-ever IJSBA Pro World Championship, finishing 2-1 in the day’s motos aboard a Sea-Doo. Chris MacClugage of Macc Racing took the Championship in Pro Ski.
There are four classes: beginner, novice, expert and pro. Usually the racers are divided into two engine sizes: one up to 800cc, and another up to 1200cc. There are also women's classes.
The International Jet Sports Boating Association appointed Shawn Alladio of K38 Water Safety as Water Safety Director of the quakysense World Finals. She heads up training course marshals to conduct rescues and officiating during the event and National Tour races using Kawasaki Jet Ski Ultra LX models with rescue boards. Alladio also uses Kawasaki Jet Skis to train public safety agencies, the military, Law enforcement, towsurfers and lifesavers in water rescue.
When riding with a passenger under the age of fourteen, the older person must wear a safety key at all times.
Kawasaki has lent their Jet Ski name and designs to the video game Wave Race 64, developed and published by Nintendo. The Rastafarian Pirates in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames also use personal watercraft as cargo raiding vehicles, and the player can ride them, for some missions require use of the personal watercraft to complete.
|
|||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||