WHERE:  Oakmont Yacht Club Regatta

                   WHEN: July 24, 2010 @ HIGH NOON 

Many thanks to all of you who participated in Pittsburgh Watercraft's 1st Annual IJSBA-Sanctioned Jet-Ski River Drag!  Boy, was it hot & humid, but heck of a drag race. 

Unfortunately, we had a couple glitches due to the wind and current.  However, we have devised a way to beat these difficulties the next time around.  We learned a lot from our first set of races and we plan to have some informal racing with our equipment again this year, and to take next year's more formal race to a larger venue that is closer to the spectator shore.  The word is out and we have gotten a lot of requests for more races.  We hope you will keep racing with us as we grow!

Here is a race-day recap.

Before the races, Fred Lipa, owner of Pittsburgh Watercraft, unveiled his new race ski: “The Predator.”   John Shook and Picasso AutoBody painted the heavily-modified 2008 SeaDoo RXP to look like The Predator from the movies.  That fabulous paint job made the ski look ominous, and you could hear its deep-throated engine from across the marina!
 
All excited and ready to ride, racers tested Pittsburgh Watercraft’s professional timing equipment.  Double elimination races were broken down into four classes.  Class 1 included 2-strokes up to 800cc.  Class 2 included 2-strokes from 801cc-1300cc.  Class 3 had naturally aspirated 4-strokes.  Class 4 had super- or turbo-charged 4-strokes.
 
Class 2 was the most popular of the ski classes.  Jason Ruhle, on his Kawaski 1100 ZXi, proved to have the fastest jet-ski on the river in that category.  RJ Newman, a minor, took 1st place in Class 1 on his Polaris Pro 785! Mike Roth, on his Kawasaki 15F, had the fastest Class 3 naturally aspirated 4-stroke.
 
Class 4 had an excellent background story!  Two step-brothers were vying for the fastest ski, each sneaking into Pittsburgh Watercraft in the months leading up the race for performance tweaking on their skis, hoping the other brother would not find out!  They raced head-to-head and the outcome was a close call!  Then, out of nowhere, came a stranger to Pittsburgh Watercraft: Evan Callahan.  He took the cake on his Yamaha FZS!  What an upset! 

Overall, the races went well.  Further, Pittsburgh Watercraft was able to donate to the Remi Savioz Glut1-DS Foundation, which raises awareness about a little-known but terrible disease that attacks infants and young children.  Glut1 Deficiency Syndrome prevents glucose from passing the blood-brain barrier, causing life-long developmental delays and neurological defects.  Hopefully, others like Pittsburgh Watercraft will join in to assist this great cause.

Thanks again to all the racers and all those who volunteered as Race Officials.  You all made the races a success!  For those interested in our next set of races, please sign up below to be on our Drag Race mailing list:

*Please note that the privacy of your personal information is important to us. Please see our Privacy Statement.

T-shirts from the event are still being sold for $15 each in Navy and Black, and ladies' babydoll t-shirts in Black only:

For those of you who foresee continuing to race with us, we do require racers to wear a  full-coverage, properly fitting helmet with chin & mouth protection, and the face shield removed.  The helmet must be recognized by DOT and Snell Foundation motorized vehicle standards.  Although we rent helmets during the races, w  e are also selling acceptible helmets.  Please see our Store Front for more details.