2011 Triple Crown of Offshore Race 2

They say Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. And Luck just wasn’t on our side this day.

Round 2 of the Triple Crown of Offshore took place at Dana Point, CA. The course drew up a different path of travel from the previous round’s rip out to Catalina Island. This time it traversed the beautiful So Cal coastline 23-miles south towards Oceanside. The total distance was a fuel tank plundering 55 miles, which is roughly the range of today’s multi-cylinder watercraft if you can hold the throttle wide open the entire time.

Our Plan of Attack: After the disappointing DNF suffered at the previous round due to routine maintenance being unwittingly overlooked. I had sworn to the maintenance Gods I’d be on my best behavior from here on out. With an updated supercharger clutch locked and loaded, my trusty old Yamaha steed was ready for the next 80 hours of torturous adventure that lie ahead. 

Fresh off the pedal bike on Friday for my last cardio workout, I sat trembling and shaking from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream withdraws, but I knew I must not relapse and power through until Sunday’s post-race sugar party I planned to host. With the countdown clock registering 44 hours until the green flag dropped, I received a phone call from my friend Colin Richards. Turns out him and his beloved monster Yamaha FX SHO had returned a few days early from a race down in Florida. Mr. Richards, knowing time was of the essence, got right to the point on the phone.

“He doesn’t like anybody riding him Brian,” explained the 62 year old PWC tuner/racer. “On the other hand he doesn’t like being out of the water and caged in my garage either. That makes him mad. He likes to run. He deserves to run.”

‘He’ is Colin’s all black beast of a watercraft, created in his garage like some modern day Frankenstein’s monster. Except Frank’s monster is no match for this fire breathing, tiger-blood infused water crusher. A peek into Colin’s file cabinet chalked full of race part receipts meant one thing- This is a passion, not an exercise in ways to put ten’s of thousands of dollars in to a jet ski.

Coach Calls an Audible: The last minute change of plans may be where that preparation aspect didn’t quite line up with this new opportunity that presented itself less than two days before the race. Good thing I’m impulsive… 

As I briefed you guys before, the offshore courses are strategically mapped out and stretched to the range limits of today’s ski’s. Unfortunately this poses a problem for heavily modified VP race gas guzzling watercraft such as this. A quick call to PWC World Champion and buddy Chris MacClugage at Macc Racing, gave us the valuable info and contact we needed, “Get in contact with Steve Friebe, he has what you need to get the extra fuel range to finish.” No sooner than I said thanks to Macc, I had the savior Mr. Steve ‘Famous’ Friebe himself on the line. I explained the situation and without hesitation we had another solid guy on the Moto USA water world team willing to lend a hand to a frolicking newcomer. That lending hand came in the form of a hand delivered (did I mention this PWC racing community is full of awesome people) well crafted, aluminum ‘liquid holding device’. Pre-EPA craziness, people might refer to it as a vacuum fed auxiliary gas tank. With a quick and tidy 60-minute install we now carried the extra 5.5 gallons of VP Racing Fuels life giving C12 onboard to finish the 55-mile race.
On to the SHOw: One of the things going in my favor was Richards’ ski is the same year and model as mine, so handling characteristics and hull feeling were familiar. Tech inspection was in 24 hours and if things continued to fall in place, there would be a small window of time for me to suit up and experience the speed of the sinister black SHO for myself. For all intents and purposes the power Mr. Richards had engineered and massaged out of the Supercharged Yamaha motor was a feat only a handful of motor builders in the world have accomplished. To put it in perspective: The horsepower for today’s Muscle Craft range from 230-300HP in bone stock configuration. These supercharger-equipped weapons have even more potential lying inside their eco-friendly engines. Bolt-on higher-PSI supercharger wheels to big Web cams and a host of other pricey goodies give a significant boost of power.

And the big, black monster I’m about to ride churns out well over 400 horsepower. Now you’re getting the picture, the same picture that had me nervous as hell as I was about to experience that first trigger pull.

I’ve been lucky enough to sample some fast rides in my day, from superbikes, to a turbo-charged Hayabusa plus a $140,000 Tatum Twin Turbo 1200hp C5R-equipped buggy out in Glamis. This ski is right up there with the neck breaking acceleration of all these fast formations. I wish every one of you could experience just five seconds of the brute force and staggering acceleration. The hydraulic action of the pump sucking up that tremendous amount of water and funneling it all out the back. If you ever needed a swimming pool emptied real quickly I’ve got a solution… Throwing roost has a whole new definition and any unlucky soul in its path would be cut in half. A quick calculation puts the thrust produced at a staggering 2,500+lbs.

After about 15 minutes of white knuckling around the bay and crushing the handlebar grips, my confidence level eek’d itself ever so slightly in the positive direction. I was ready to tackle Round 2 of the Triple Crown of Offshore.

Ready, Set, Go: I arrived at the launch ramp with Naked Juice in hand and all systems were a go for lift off. As my loyal readers already know, ocean conditions play a vital-roll in race strategy, set-up, and even course of travel. The chatter in the pits was about the moderately gnarly 3-5 foot SSW ground swell still predominant and a new 2-3 foot NW wind swell building. This mixed swell situation is the most challenging predicament offshore riders will encounter. Sure, San Felipe has giant whoop sections, but those Baja obstacles are missing 2 other elements. They don’t move, and they don’t have mixed angles that are ever changing in front of you. The open ocean requires a whole new style of riding.

We are taught a general rules in off-road racing that you need to look ahead, look farther way out in front for obstacles coming your-way. Well that simply doesn’t apply in any way shape or form on the water. The focus point instead is predicting what is going to happen directly in front of your hull in the next few seconds. Perspective pit stop; Think of a calm swimming pool. Now picture what happens after five of your drunken friends go cannon balling off your roof into that pool. If you look at a single point in the water, you will find an ever changing and dancing pulse of water height and angles; unique with every second that passes. The same is true in the ocean; it’s alive and pumping at you with unpredictability at every moment. Southern swells traveling at a different height and interval (speed) than the Northern swell. It is a constant game of on the fly adjustments to body position and throttle. An exercise in fast muscle reflex and hand-eye coordination, a challenge like no other, it’s uniquely awesome.

Ross Wallach of RPM Racing Enterprises and Director of the event had confirmed a 10 a.m. start time during the mandatory riders meeting. The launch ramp began to fill with anxious riders slipping their skis in the 63-degree water around 9:30 a.m. With ten minutes remaining on the clock Colin and his lovely wife wished me fair well as I idled out of the harbor. It’s game time- butterflies were swirl’n and the sweet smell of VP’s C12 race gas was tickling my nose as we staged for the start. I positioned myself next to the odds-on favorite and friend, Craig Warner riding his Monster Kawasaki backed Ultra 300X. The plan was simple, keep pace with Craig and let him set the speed. And if we were close towards the end, then give ‘er the beans and see what’s what.

The green flagged waved and we were off. I had Warner on my left with another unidentified Kawasaki Ultra 300X in between us. As Craig started to pull away in the opening mile, I followed suit. Tucking in a safe 50 yards behind. A quick glance around at mile 2 had us already gapping the field. This is a long race, not a sprint, so I checked my vitals and made sure I felt good after the initial adrenaline dump and that the pace we were smashing along at was sustainable. Yup, breathing deep and riding as light as possible on the bars.

Just after mile 2 of 55, I crossed-rutted some rollers that were a bit more gnarly than normal and it sent me into the handlebars, no biggie except the fact the ski shut off instantly, WTF! A quick glance down at the controls reveled I had some how knocked the kill switch lanyard out, ‘Ugh not good’, I said out loud. I plugged it back in and fired ‘Him’ back up. A quick adjustment to the hood mounted GoPro camera I bumped out of alignment and I was off. I knew I needed to make up the gap that Warner now had. I had been dead for a few seconds. So I decided to put my head down and give ‘er some hell. That lasted about 56 seconds according to the GoPro footage. You readers know what’s about to happen but I did not. You can tell your distance is getting further or closer by the amount of bubbles and left over whitewash from the rider in front. It was getting bubblier, that’s a good thing! No sooner then my hope of closing the gap when my day came to a grinding halt…again.

The ski lost power at full stick so it was like someone slammed on the brakes unexpectedly. It sent me over the bars. With every adrenaline sapping muscle I had, I fought to keep a hand on the controls and not run myself over with a 1000lb ski. As I went hurling up onto the hood I managed to use my exposed throat and neck to break and sheer off the GoPro camera mounted on the hood.

“F**k! F**k!” F**k!” I screamed from the physical pain and my lost camera. With my head a bit scrambled and throat nice and tender, there was still a mission at hand. I tried re-firing the ski, once, twice, three times but it wasn’t responding. The party was over.

The old saying was ringing true in my head: That’s racing. It was my turn to feel the pain and disappointment, again. I sat bobbing up and down with the picturesque San Clemente coastline in sight for about 30 minutes while I radioed for a tow back to port.

Upon inspection via the laptop, the MoTeC system identified the problem to be a failure in the exhaust temperature sensor. How pathetic. A measly little component for sure, but it was important enough to sideline this monster. Now, I’ve suffered through back to back DNFs and I’m not sure if that qualifies for paying my due’s, but I’ll promise you this, I will be prepared again for the next and final round with a shot at becoming winner-takes all grand finale.

PWC offshore racing can be a bruising punishment on both body and equipment if you’re chasing a podium finish and sponsorship deals versus the big boys. For some, just finishing is the goal. The winner’s time was 0:59:00 minutes flat by Craig Warner, followed by Mark Gerner with a time of 1:02:50. Another 2nd Place aboard his factory stock Ultra 300X. And rounding out the podium spot was K.C. Heidler on another 300X less than a minute behind.

The day’s last finisher was Royce Ngiam at 2:24:10 who arguably had the biggest smile in the field. That is the great thing about this sport; it is what ever you wish to make of it. To finish is a feat in itself and commendable on all levels. I encourage anyone out there to give it a shot, no expectations, just come out and have a great time with a great bunch of racers willing to help and guide you at anytime. It’s a tight knit community that has open welcoming arms to newcomers and rookies alike.

With that said I hope to see you guys out at the big finale and final round on July 17, 2011 in Long Beach, CA. for the PWC National Championship. It’s all happening at Marina Green Park, which will also play host to the annual Long Beach Offshore Powerfest. From big offshore boats races, to the loony bird water skiers that race behind them on a single ski out to Catalina Island and Back. There is something for everybody, so bring the wife, kids, girlfriend even your girlfriend’s cute friends and stop by and show MotoUSA some love.