Queensland turned it on in a big way for the 2015 Yamaha Jetcross Championship with a brutal onshore wind and big swell creating havoc for competitors at Redcliffe contending  the final round of the 7 round series and last chance at National tour honours.

As usual the Enduro racers were the first to check conditions on the water with a sighting lap claiming race marshall Dean Jeffries who submarined the Kawasaki LX in the rough conditions and flew off the back, good one Deano.

After the rescue of the rescue ski and a quick rinse and blow dry for Dean, proceedings got underway –  it was the Gold Coast’s Guy Greenland who flew to the front in Open Enduro aboard Shane Stuart’s #478 Waverunner FZR SVHO. Shane no doubt lamenting the fact that sometimes racing has to come second to paying the bills which on this occasion didn’t seem to harsh – overseas in Dubai with his employer Riviera Boats. Christian D’Agostin battled through valiantly with a recently broken wrist to take a well deserved second ahead of Sam Burkett-Barratt in third.

Local rider Darryl Bone chose the toughest round for his one off appearance on tour onboard his Kawi 300LX but rode the big 3 seater like a seasoned champ to take out Enduro Showroom Stock ahead of regular tour(ists) Brisbane Kawasaki team riders Cameron Martin and Dane Alberti.

Enduro Stock has been a tight battle all tour with Mitch Wayt, Ben Mountford and Brett Douglas all battling for overall honours but Mitch Wayt fought the good fight to come to the fore with a well deserved win ahead of fellow Waverunner Performance Centre rider Brett Douglass and Round 5&6 winner Jet Ski World’s Ben Mountford, the points unfortunately slipping out of his grasp and into second overall tour honours.

Onto the closed course competition and Showroom Stock Runabout has been pretty much Dane Alberti’s (Brisbane Kawasaki Australia) for the taking with 3 round wins and 3 seconds making it difficult for Sydney’s Corey Styles to claw back the points but try he did and nearly pulled it off with a brave ride at the front carrying some insane speed along the beach front straight lap after lap until one of the rollers got the better of him and sent his RXP-X sideways into the air and straight towards the rock wall. Luckily the Black Ice rider bailed out early but collected a handlebar in the ribs on the way out knocking the wind out of him and causing some discomfort in the water. Quick action by AJSBA prez Justin Belczowski saved his ski from certain damage smashing as it was on the rock wall. With Styles out Cameron Martin (Brisbane Kawasaki Australia) took the win ahead of Alberti with James Rice in third. Alberti celebrated with enough points to bag the overall tour title.

Stock Runabout has been owned by Waverunner Performance Centre FZR SVHO rider Mitch Wayt who dominated impressively all tour with 6 round wins and added another at Redcliffe, a clear winner from fellow tour contender, Waverunner teammate Brett Douglas and JSW Performance Seadoo rider Frank Waite in third just pipping Justin Belczowski  by 1 point to claim third overall for the tour. Commendations to Victorian Gary Zaradic who jumped into the spotlight in the final round with a big second place result ousting regulars Brett Douglas and Justin Belzcowski.

Superjet Cup has been equally dominated by one fast consistent runner in one Ryan O’Keefe who again accumulated a clean sheet, 7 wins from 7 rounds but even more impressive was the tour specs with 19 out of 20 moto wins. No one came close and the Gold Coast Seaworld rider provided a lesson to all in preparation, training, determination and skill in what it takes to excel. The prize – a brand new 2015 Yamaha Superjet provided by Yamaha Australia.

Lites Ski has been dissapointing all tour with numbers down on expectations and no rider able to accumulate points in every round. In the end it was a fait accompli for Sydney youngster 16 year old Tom Aitken who still rode his SXR standup like a man possessed in the difficult conditions of round 7, putting on display his talent as a fast up and comer and leaving no doubt of his future potential. With rides in 5 from 7 rounds and taking wins in 4 gave him a massive lead in the points over second place getter Perth’s Grant Busby with newcomer Kurt Eames taking third overall.

Pro Open Ski was Jake Barker’s for the taking although Michael Stevens never say die attitude was commendable he could do little to topple the blindingly fast Hydrospace rider. 4 round wins and 3 seconds for Barker cemented a thoroughly well deserved  #1 Australian Pro Open Ski title. The final round saw Lites entrant Tom Aitken aboard a 1100 loaner from Vets World Champ James Xuereb and again the youngster showed his style, unnaturally good in the rough water in his first time out on the big skis. Some great motos battling with Barker were a highlight with Aitken taking the round win albeit helped by Barker retiring in one moto with spark plug issues. James ‘Xman’ Xuereb took out third with Central Coast’s Michael Stevens 4^th in the final round bagging him the number 2 plate in the tour.
Pro Open Runabout Australian title was already in the bag for JSW Performance’s Anthony Antees who could not be beaten and his employer utilised his talents in other ways with the Gold Coast premier boat show at Sanctuary Cove taking precedence.  With his no show it was left to Dans Jetpower supported rider Paul Leven (RXP-X), Brendan Boyd (RXP-X), Guy Greenland (FZR SVHO), Christian D’Agostin (310R), Jamie Eade (310R) and Matt Brunt to battle it out for the final round honours. It turned out to be a battle between Brendan Boyd and Guy Greenland at the front with both riders excelling in the rough water. Leven was sidelined on his stocker RXP-X after troubles with the Open boat but still managed to take 3^rd for the day behind Greenland who’s stock FZR loaner from Shane Stuart was no match for Brendan Boyd’s ‘hulk’ open class weapon. Overall it was another Australian Pro Open Runabout title captured by  the ‘veteran’ Anthony Antees which takes his Australian title tally to 7, impressive numbers by anyones measure and unlikely to ever be matched. Lets hope we see him in action again next year. Sydney’s Paul Leven took the number 2 plate with Matt Brunt enough points in the bag to score third overall.

With the racing finalised the tour participants shifted to the Belvedere Hotel in Redcliffe later in the night for the Australian Yamaha Jetcross Championship tour honour presentations with Australian Yamaha Watercraft Manager Iain Macleod in attendance to present the Yamaha Superjet to the victor of the Superjet Cup and talk as well about Yamaha’s pivotal role in support for the Australian Jetcross Tour.

A great night of celebrations, new champions crowned, victory speeches and trophies followed, capping off what has been a memorable and exciting year of jetsport competition and some commendations are due. Firstly thanks to Yamaha Motor Australia, BRP Seadoo and Kawasaki Motor Australia for getting behind OZPWC and supporting Australian personal watercraft online and on the water. Special thanks to the small but talented AJSBA team of Justin Belzcowski, Tessa Phipps and Taylor Aitken for their super human efforts this season and for their active support of OZPWC. To Dean Jeffries, Michael Richards, Nathan Wethered, Gene King, Grant Busby and other regular helpers and supporters of jetsports racing in Australia, great job well done. Happy stress free days to the retiring Race Director Ross Moore who has been generous to the extreme with his time over the last 30 odd years in support of Australian jetskiiing.

Lastly congratulations to all the winners, placegetters, teams and participants on the Aussie Tour and thankyou to everyone who has supported OZPWC along the way, whether by  visiting the website, sharing posts, liking photos, getting involved on facebook, Instagram or the OZPWC forum – it all helps to build the community and spread the word.  We may even print a t-shirt 🙂