The 29th Quakysense IJSBA World Finals saw nearly 667 entries of the top personal watercraft racers from 37 countries taking part in 43 racing classes return to the Crazy Horse venue at Lake Havasu City, Arizona from October 3-10. The British contingent had a tremendous year bringing home three World titles; James Bushell, Pro-Am Runabout Stock, Lisa Barsby, Masters Ski Stock and Lee Stone is the new Pro Freestyle champion.

Always a colourful celebration of water, sunshine, racing and a final autumn get-a-way, this year’s event was the backdrop for several scenes to be shot for the sport’s first feature film, entitled Hot Water – the name of this magazine when it first started out, 21 years ago. Cameras rolled as former IJSBA World and National Champion and Hall of Fame and Hollywood stunt actor Larry Rippenkroeger, the film’s co-producer, fulfilled his dream to make a movie about PWC racing and the IJSBA World Finals.

The crowds waited in anticipation for the arrival of the reigning IJSBA Pro and Pro-Am World Champions who had entered; Austria’s Kevin Reiterer (Pro Ski Open, Pro-Am Ski Limited and Pro-Am GP Ski) along with New Zealand’s Sam Harvey (Pro Runabout Open) and USA’s Blaine Spires (Pro-Am Runabout 800SS).

The talented field included former IJSBA Pro and Pro-Am World Champions Chris MacClugage of the USA, Steven Dauliach of France, Fumikazi Watanabe of Japan, and Craig Warner of the USA, Anya Colley, Josh Block, Jimmy Wilson, Anthony Burgess, Celio Viniscius Oliveria and Ryan Hardwick. The Lake Havasu City Mayor, Mark Nexsen, personally welcomed all the racers and teams who were participating.

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