Road Trip - Heading to Lake Havasu for Jet Ski Racing Finals

[XDCX]

I know I just got back from a Road Trip to Vegas to see the Barrett-Jackson auction but the temptation to take another quick trip and head to Lake Havasu was just too strong to pass up.

I went to the IJSBA Jet Ski Racing Finals in Havasu several years ago and had a great time. It was fun to watch the races and walk through the pit area. The fact that SeaDoo offered a chance to test-ride a RXP was the cherry on top of the sundae.

SeaDoo announced their 2016 line-up last month and I'm hoping they'll have some skis on display. SeaDoo has upped the horsepower on their RXP to 300 for 2016 and I'd really like to see one in person.

[XDCX]

I had a great time - the weather was awesome and there was lots to see.

SeaDoo did have their 2016 skis on display and I enjoyed checking them out. The 300 HP RXP is certainly aspirational but there's part off me that resents that the U.S. version of the ski is limited to 65 MPH - if you want to go faster you have to pay the aftermarket to defeat the limiter or buy a non-U.S. engine computer.

It's also somewhat frustrating that SeaDoo has so much trouble coming up with decent color schemes. Granted, color is a matter of personal taste and what appeals to one person may not appeal to another. That said, the choice of "Lava Red" which is more orange than red seems to be a poor choice for their RXP and RXT muscle craft.

[XDCX]

When I first walked toward the lake I was greeted with a smell that reminded me of the exhaust from my old nitro burning RC cars.

I'm guessing they must run some type of nitro fuel in the small two-stroke skis and then run regular racing gas in the four stroke skis.

[XDCX]

When I first approached the lake I was surprised to see how small the racers were on the skis that were at the starting line. Given the size of the stand-up skis were small I theorized that the weight of the rider must be an important variable just like it's an advantage in horse racing to have a small jockey.

My theory was shot to hell when the announcer indicated the race for the 10 - 12 year old division was about to begin...

[XDCX]

For the small skis they start the races by having all of the skis in the water behind a tethered rope. The riders are on the skis with their motors running and two crew members lift the back of each ski out of the water so there's no forward propulsion until the ski is dropped back in the water.

On more than one occasion the crew members either got tired or lost their grip before the starter dropped the flag and their ski went sailing through the tethered rope creating a false start and their rider had to swim with his ski back to the starting line.

It was fun to watch and I'm guessing the crew that causes the false start gets some ribbing by their fellow racers.

[XDCX]

One other thing I did on my quick trip to Havasu was attend a Home Football Game at Lake Havasu High School on Friday night.

I had a great time and it was interesting to compare that experience to other High School Football games I've attended.

Havasu ended up beating Kingman with a score of 63 - 0.

When the score reached 50 - 0 with about two and a half minutes left to go in the first half the refs ended the quarter and sent both teams off of the field. The second half was played with a running clock - I'm guessing the league must have some type of "mercy rule" that kicks in to quicken up the game and keep the score down.

The most memorable play of the evening was when Kingman was on offense and had the ball with a Fourth Down and two yards to go on their own 25 yard line. The Kingman coach decided to go for the first down but ended up with a sack and had to turn the ball over on possessions. What makes the situation even more amazing is the game was still in the First Quarter when the coach made that call....

[XDCX]

While there were dozens of vendors at the Jet Ski Racing Finals in Havasu the one that left a lasting impression was Kingii.

Kingii is a start-up company that has developed an inflatable life preserver that's worn on the wrist. If a swimmer experiences distress all they have to do is pull a handle to inflate the life preserver - it's very similar to the type of inflatable life preservers that airlines use only this one is worn on the wrist.

Here's a link to the Kingii Indiegogo campaign - click here

I hope the company is able to manufacture and distribute their product. It seems like it's all too common to hear about another drowning that involves someone who thought they were a strong swimmer.