Report by Taylor Aiken (NSW Secretary) – Pics by Stuart Fell – Massive thanks to both!!

(Full results to follow in the next few days)

The weather gods blessed the NSWPWC once again for the final round of the AQUAX Championship held at St. George Sailing Club this past weekend. Crystal clear skies and an extremely calm day on the river was the perfect setting for some fast runabouts and a large ski class contingent to hit the water for one final round for the season.

Open start with Paul Leven (99) and Brendan Boyd (23)

The day showed big numbers and fierce competition again in many classes, despite the clash with QPWC’s second round Tropical Heat Series. Competitors knew the current standings and the points separating the top five. Everyone wanted to be on that podium at the end of the day, and they weren’t going to let anyone stand in their way.  It was great to see the typical Queensland contingent travel down once again and keep the NSW competitors on their toes. Mitch Wayt, Brendan Boyd, Sam Barratt and new face in Showroom Stock Mitch Casey and Matt Daley in Spark Class all performed well, with all riders placing on the day.

Mitch Casey – Pic by Stuart Fell

An eleventh hour entry by Kylie Ellmers was also great to see, debuting the Sea-Doo Centre’s SD Trak, jumping into Lites class to give it a run around the track. Kylie also competed in Open Runabout and Open Runabout Enduro on their Sea-Doo RXP craft, with the assistance of Sea-Doo Centre’s owner Les Cook.

Nick Pilgrim – Pic by Stuart Fell

The day kicked off in usual fashion with the first Enduro moto of the day. The new riders of Ty Oxley, Trevor Cameron and Matthew Skelly hit the water at speed in Showroom Stock Class doing their best to fall into a racing pattern, in what can be a difficult task at your first race meet. Those who are becoming regulars on the Showroom Stock Enduro start line; Nik Pazanin and Ash Deadman rode well and secured much needed points towards the championship. Yamaha Rider from Queensland Mitch Casey took out the honours in his first NSWPWC Enduro on his Yamaha FZR, closely followed by Stuart Fell who had a stellar second moto getting the holeshot on his Kawasaki 310R. In third was the ever reliable and all round nice guy Nick Pilgrim on his trusty Sea-Doo RXP-X 260.

Chinni Rao – Pic by Stuart Fell

Stock Runabout saw Wollongong City Jet Ski’s master of the Enduro Chinni Rao take out Round Four, followed closely by the current Australian Stock Champion Mitch Wayt who had to retire his infamous white #16 Yamaha FZR due to a blown engine in Moto One. Mark Quitadamo came in third on a borrowed Showroom Stock after issues with his striking blue RXP-X forced it to be retired. Mark showing he is not one to mess around, even though he may be a new face on a NSWPWC race day. Open Runabout saw usual faces of Mitch Wayt and Brendan Boyd ready to battle it out however it was Dan’s Jet Power’s Danny Moujally who stormed home to take the win on his Yamaha FX SHVO, with Sea-Doo Centre’s Kylie Ellmers in second and Wollongong City Jet Ski’s Chinni Rao in third. Paul Leven retired his Open-spec RXP-X 300 in the first moto due to an equipment failure.

NSWPWC’s featured woman’s racer Eman Soliman placed well in each class, with a ninth in Showroom Stock, fifth in Stock and fifth in Open Runabout, giving her valuable points within the championship.

Jett Cavanagh – pic by Stuart Fell

The combined ski class saw some old favourites of the track Tom Aiken, James Xuereb, Mark Glew and Victorian racer Joel Barry, battle it out for the win in the fourth and final round of the AQUAX Series. Ski class has been one of the fastest growing classes with a large contingent of junior riders pushing the old boys to their limits of physical fitness. Junior riders, Jett Cavanagh, Austin O’ Halloran, Jason Moujally, Jarodan Farrow, AJ Luinstra and new rider Dean Krouskos display a whole new level of talent that will continue to grow the sport of jet ski racing. Joel Barry was fairly unstoppable on his Yamaha Superjet although it didn’t last, with his ski having to be retired in the second moto due to a collision with junior rider Jason Moujally. Thankfully after a check over by medical staff, Jason was cleared of any serious injury and it was just Barry’s Superjet that needed a trip to the fibreglass hospital, developing a large hole in the front underside due to the collision. Luckily fellow racer Tom Aiken came to its rescue to avoid a second craft on the floor of Botany Bay in as many rounds. A huge thank you to marshall staff and fellow ski riders especially Mark Glew who jumped into action to ensure Jason was bought to the beach quickly and safely to be assessed.

After three motos of ski class, Tom Aiken emerged on the top step, followed by young-gun Jett Cavanagh and quickly improving junior Austin O’Halloran. Barry was lucky enough to get a ride on James Xuereb’s Open-spec ski although this meant he would not be scored in a field of lites. Junior ski class followed a similar pattern with Jett Cavanagh taking out first, Austin O Halloran in second and US junior AJ Luinstra rounding out his Australian trip with a well deserved third.

Corey Styles – Pic by Stuart Fell

The addition of Showroom Stock into the AJSBA recognised race classes has allowed competitors to race their PWC’s straight from the dealership floor with no modifications and has been a quickly growing class in NSW. This season’s new riders have embraced the Showroom Stock Class with Mick Butler and Ash Deadman consistently performing well, however they were no match for the big man Corey Styles who rode to a first place finish, followed by Nick Pilgrim and Queensland Yamaha rider Mitch Casey.

Stock Class was awash with familiar names to the NSWPWC including Mitch Wayt, Mark Quitadamo Adam Wildin, Sam Barratt and Wollongong City Jet Ski’s Gary “Gaz Kroozer” Zardiac on Chinni Rao’s Kawasaki 300. Even with Mark pushing Corey Styles’ RXP-X 300 to the absolute limit it was not enough to hold off Mitch Wayt taking out line honours followed closely by Sam Barratt on his RXP-X300 and Gary Zardiac in third.

Mitch Wayt – Pic by Stuart Fell

Open Runabout was another battle of the best with racing veteran Paul Leven taking out first place with his Dan’s Jet Power Open-spec RXP-X 260 after having to retire the 300 in the enduro. Queensland’s Brendan Boyd came in second on the JSW’s “Incredible Hulk” Sea-Doo RXP-X 300 leading Yamaha’s Mitch Wayt on a borrowed Yamaha FZR who came in third.

Finally, Spark/Sport Class which has been steadily growing since its induction in Round Two saw not only Spark’s but also James ‘X-man’ Xuereb debut his Yamaha Waveblaster and Richard Holmes finally had a home that suited his naturally-aspirated Sea-Doo. New riders Jarrod Baird and Daniel Bussa again performed well on their Sea-Doo Sparks with Mike “Ovey” Krouskos making his race debut for this season on Sydney Sea-Doo’s Spark. Xman powered through the course and continued his love affair with Yamaha and looked almost as comfortable on the Waveblaster as he did on his beloved Superjet. This guy is a true testament to the sport and is just a fantastic example of sportsmanship along with his partner in crime Michael Stevens. However a missed buoy by Xman spoilt his race to the top with new rider Matt Daley taking out the win by a single point, ahead of Xman and Darryl Apps in third.

Matt Daly – Pic by Stuart Fell

A fantastic fourth and final event rounded out the AQUAX Championship for 2015/2016. A big congratulations goes out to Nick Pilgrim who was awarded Most Improved Runabout Rider and Jordan Farrow who was awarded the Most Improved Ski Rider for the 2015/16 Season.

Congratulations to all the State champions who were crowned over the weekend and we wish to see you all next season for an even bigger and better series. These events simply would not be able to take place without the most incredible committee that work tirelessly to put on these days.  Marshalls Dean Jefferies, Michael Stevens, Simon Murray, Paul Leven and Mirko Radas give up their entire Sunday to watch you guys closely and allow you to race in a safe manner. The set up and pack down crew of AJ Luinstra, Michael Richards, Nathan Wethered, Stuart Fell and Paul Leven always go above and beyond, setting out the course and taking care of the buoys. They are the first ones there on the day and the last to leave. To the announcer on the day Michael Richards, you always do a fantastic job getting everyone organised and answering any questions on the sport that you love. To president, Nathan Wethered, thank you for giving up your time and working so tirelessly to put on these rounds, you have made what can be quite a difficult job at times much, much easier. And finally to the competitors, thank you all for being such fun and friendly people and coming down each and every race day from all over Australia to support each other and the NSWPWC club.

However the racing season isn’t quite over yet! We are very excited to announce the National Endurance Titles hosted by the NSWPWC. Keep your eyes peeled for information being released very soon!

Finally, the NSWPWC Annual General Meeting will be held sometime in July, so if you wish to be on the committee and help make decisions about race day please come along and have you say. Details will be announced in due course.

OZPWC Footnote: Special thanks to Taylor Aiken for this report. Taylor’s efforts this year with the AquaX Series have been exceptional in all aspects from signons, race entries, entry forms, scoring, results, behind the scenes dramas and on top of that hosting riders meeting and trophy presentations. A brilliant effort – THANKYOU!

Click here to view the complete gallery of pics from Rd 4 of the NSWPWC AquaX Series