you get a t-shirt and a magazine subscription, pretty much what my grandma got me for Christmas
don't get me wrong, i'm glad they are having the competition, but it would be nice if there was more incentive for people risking their neck.
OK, OK, I get it. As of right now, John Dady of Blowsion, Steve Webster of Kommander, and
Personal Watercraft Illustrated are coughing up an estimated $10,000 in prizes.
Dollars, not
pesos, rupees or
lira.
And I must apologize for coming to X-H20 so late with this:
Introducing the
2009 Blowsion Big Shot Awards Presented by Kommander
The Blowsion Big Shot Awards Presented by Kommander
Here's Your Chance at Being on the Cover of Personal Watercraft Illustrated
We’re looking for the most eye-catching, amazing photographs never seen before in any PWC publication! As PWC performance continues to escalate and spread into different styles of riding, we want to show the world what can be aboard a watercraft.
Personal Watercraft Illustrated’s Big Shot Awards will feature four distinct categories for photo submission:
1) The Deepest Barrel
Just like you see on the covers of everyday surfing magazines, we want to see you on your PWC deep inside the “Green Room.” The cleaner, deeper, and gnarlier the better. Big-wave champion Garrett McNamara (of
www.garrettmcnamara.com) will be guest judging this category. Undoubtedly, you’ve seen
Personal Watercraft Illustrated’s May ’09 cover of Taylor Curtis. Yeah, beat that!
2) The Biggest Wave
It takes some serious stones to drop down the face of a twenty-footer wave on a surfboard. Now try it on a PWC! Big-wave champion Garrett McNamara will be guest judging this category too. You need to be either on the face, in the impact zone, or dropping in to qualify.
3) The Biggest Air
People might think that a stand-up has the market cornered in this category. Such is not the case. Today’s runabouts have the ponies to shoot into the stratosphere. But it’s going to take quite a bit of air time to beat what freeriders can do on their lightweight skis. You don’t have to land it; you just need to be making physical contact to the PWC.
4) The Biggest Wipeout
You don’t have to be a racer to eat it. In fact, we’re thinking this category might be filled with more fathers of three showing off to the kids than snap shots from the World Finals. But hey, eating a little “humble pie” might just earn you first place and the respect of the world other.
Voting and Results
Contestants have all year to enter to win in all four categories. Beginning Monday, February 2nd, 2010, the top five entries in each category (selected by the
Personal Watercraft Illustrated staff and evaluated by pro-surfer Garrett McNamara of
www.garrettmcnamara.com) will be posted on the magazine’s website,
www.watercraft.com. There, visitors will be allowed to cast their vote in each of the four categories until February 28th, 2010, when voting will end. It will be these votes that elect the first-ever
Blowsion Big Shot Awards. The winner of
The Deepest Barrel will be featured on the cover of the May 2010 issue of
Personal Watercraft Illustrated. Inside that same issue will be a five-page pictorial of each category’s winners and runners up.
Entry Rules
All PWC enthusiasts (regardless of skill level, age [18 and up only], or vehicle (stand-up or runabout) are invited to participate in
Personal Watercraft Illustrated’s biggest photo-entry contest ever. All entries must be submitted via email and a digital photograph (no smaller than 2MG). All entries must include the rider’s name, location of the image, make and model of the PWC, and general contact information (mailing address, email, and one phone number). All participants are open to submit images to all three categories, but only one per category. While unlikely, it is possible for one rider to win in all four categories.
Photographs and Judging
All entries must be submitted before
Friday, January 30th, 2010. All images must be new. No aged and/or scanned photographs. All digital images will be checked for data file dates and closely inspected for signs of doctoring (Photoshop, Adobe, etc.). No inappropriate images or pictures depicting grave injuries. Participants in
The Biggest Air category must be making physical contact with their PWC. Overall height will be measured by the staff of Personal Watercraft Illustrated from the lowest portion of the ski to the highest portion of the wave. The estimated height will be posted below each image in this category when posted online.
Judging
The Biggest Wipeout will be purely subjective (but bonus points will be awarded for humor-factor). The top five will be decided by the staff the
Personal Watercraft Illustrated.
The Deepest Barrel will be judged by clarity of the image, the color and clarity of the encapsulating barrel, the depth in which the rider is within the wave’s barrel, with consideration given to location and weather conditions. We understand the danger associated with participating in this category and expect fewer entries than the other three categories. This is why
The Biggest Barrel will be awarded the Grand Prize as well as a cover.
Judging
The Biggest Wave will be similar to evaluating
The Deepest Barrel where the staff of
Personal Watercraft Illustrated and guest judge Garrett McNamara (of
www.garrettmcnamara.com) will evaluate the wave’s height, intensity, and the size of the rider in comparison. Riders are required to either be riding the wave’s face, dropping into the wave, or even daring to ride up the wave’s face. Big Wave tow-in vehicles are allowed, but must be without a tow- or rescue-trailer attached.
Prizes and Sponsors
Winners (riders and photographers, equally) of 1)
The Biggest Barrel, 2)
The Biggest Wave, 3)
The Biggest Air, and 4)
The Biggest Wipeout will be awarded free subscriptions to Personal Watercraft Illustrated, the winner of
The Biggest Barrel winning a two-year subscription; the other three will earn a one-year subscription. All 20 candidates (including the eventual winners) featured during the one-month online voting process will receive a limited-edition
Blowsion Big Shot Awards/Personal Watercraft Illustrated t-shirt, stickers, etc.
Both Blowsion, our title sponsor, and Kommander Industries, our presenting sponsor, are providing thousands of dollars of available prizes! This is the biggest photo contest to ever be held by a PWC enthusiast magazine. All entries will be considered and all entries can be submitted any time between now and January 30th, 2010. More details will follow both here in each issue of
Personal Watercraft Illustrated and on our website,
www.watercraft.com. This is truly your shot at being on the cover of
Personal Watercraft Illustrated, so go BIG!
Go Get Wet!
Kevin