Other Where is jetskiing going?

[Nascency Chris]

I think Ross pretty much nailed it spot on... there is ALOT going on in the sport right now, and none of it is OEM. Things will change, yes, and people will decide that it is all too much hassle and hang up their ski, yes, but more people will get stoked and a new "scene" will emerge. Action sports wax and wane to very fickle tides, motor sports even more because of the cost. I also agree with a previous poster that many people are and have been stuck in the "glory days" mentality... stagnation brought about the end of that ultimately. How long have the finals been at Havasu? Can anyone name for me any other sport that has not moved their finals or end of season event at least once in the time the WF have been at Havasu?

As far as site traffic somehow giving us an indicator of the sport's overall success/ interest level... I would say this is wayyy off base (no offense Darin). Over the last few years I have met many people who could care less about being online but love the sport and stay involved regionally, which makes them perfectly happy. The online crowd has always been a minority (albeit sometimes a very vocal minority he he), and there is great big wide world out there full of people, I wonder if more here should not stretch just a little to experience it. I think it is safe to say that the scene is alot bigger outside the US and alot of those people stay away from the X for various reasons (language barriers, local regional sites work better, and yes, some of the membership here has done wonders to drive people away).

I think the last time I rode was with Ratti a few years ago, but I still stay involved and help where ever I can... I love travelling and meeting people, I love the adventure of the whole thing, I love the family I have made worldwide, and I would not change that for anything...

 

[SuperJETT]

Just to reiterate, I stated in the first post

Traffic on the X is way down this year, which is a small indicator since the percentage of riders that are here and posting is very low.

I know the posts/day and traffic on the X is not a big indicator, it's a small one, very small, but it is something measurable just like new ski sales volume.

I have no misconceptions about the importance of the X, it's just a website.

What's ironic is one person says 'the X went too PG' which drove members away, while another says we had/have posters that drive away members. I'm guessing we're actually in the middle somewhere then which is good IMO.

 

[chriselmore_1]

I think the x is verry important. I never knew all that stuff was possibl on a ski until i stumbled on the x lookin for 550 parts. Needless to say I sold it and bought a superjet within a week after. I owe the my passion to to "sport" to the x. Without it I would of never gotten involved. People see me throw a roll off their boat wake and freakout! Most people are so amazed and have never even hought it possibelOffer me beers, cheer, pull their wakeboarders in just to drive around and throw me a wake. isometimes I'll see those people a month later on their own standup.

 

[Nascency Chris]

Just to reiterate, I stated in the first post


I know the posts/day and traffic on the X is not a big indicator, it's a small one, very small, but it is something measurable just like new ski sales volume.

I have no misconceptions about the importance of the X, it's just a website.

What's ironic is one person says 'the X went too PG' which drove members away, while another says we had/have posters that drive away members. I'm guessing we're actually in the middle somewhere then which is good IMO.

ah, fair enough, my apologies then...

 

[cattledog]

i think the economy is to blame for a lot of this when you have no money its hard to think about jetsking, when you cant pay the rent, the numbers were down for havasu also , the x has brought a lot of canadaian riders together that would not have happened if it were not for this great site, i love standup jetskis , i love the people around the sport and most of our close friends are jetskiers, i am 52 years old and love riding , i can see it now put my cane down and go for spin on my superjet in the future, thinking and saving for daytona as i type, all my holidays are jet ski related for the amount i spent in havasu i could have bought a nice rn, it sure was fun

 

[yamaslut]

I have to say some of these post have given me hope and a little fire back... great thread to make you think about where we are at and what is important...

 

[djkorn1]

I feel incredibly old. There is standup jet ski stuff on Facebook? Seriously..where?.

Just start friending other riders...I get pics and jetski stuff almost everyday from Ross, Stanton, Pierre and many others...

As far as the moderating here, I think they are doing a good job by staying about in the middle....The people that have been banned from here have chased away dozens of pro riders, shops and aftermarket companies. Most have not been back...

btw...I will ride my ski until I can no longer walk.

 

[WILKEY]

hells yea dj!!!!!!! it'll take broken legs for me to not be able to ride!!!!!!!!!

 

[OCD Solutions]

Since I finished my last build I really don't need any parts or advice so I just lurk now. I help out once in a while but usually others have said it just as well as I could have.

Another big factor has been the monitoring of internet use at work. I only have my Droid to surf on now and it is more hassle than it's worth most times. The only aspects I really still keep up on on are the classifieds.

I may not be posting about it much but we are definately still coming to Daytona. My first year I asked lots of questions, a few for my second but for the third year I pretty much already know the drill. Slutty has also gotten so organized with the posting and advertising about the event that there are fewer questions to ask.

 

[kawasakit2me]

I don't know where jetskiing is going, but I do know that I am going jetskiing. :Banane09:

:biggthumpup: me too

 

[imhungry114]

The economy is really to blame for the low amount of new riders in our sport. I didn't realize how bad it really was until recently.

I got a new job as a personal trainer and on a daily basis I have to ask people if they are willing to slap down $150-400 a MONTH for my services. And the answer I always get before I can even finish my sentence is "I have no extra money right now". I've been kind of hidden from it all for the past couple years because my parents both had good jobs and I was just coasting along in high school. But now it really drags me down.

But I will be riding my new SJ for a long time to come. And I think as some of the older riders "retire" from this, younger guys will pick up the slack. I know the group I ride with will be around for at least 15 more years.

 

[NVJAY775]

Stand ups have risen in our area and no way in he77 am I stopping. Way too much fun not to have for sure.

 

[NJrider]

Personally would like to see a cheap electric power plant surf riders could use before the sport got any bigger. And if you think about it, im sure you would get a lot of positive press from the PRO environment and other motosport industries? Would be sick to see some ski coverage on Fuel tv.


.surfers, just let one of them know your getting in on the surf and staying on one side. all good.

 

[Wes K]

I think a good way to get the sport more popularity is to have more contests... If we get more contests going then the sport will be seen by more average joes. For example... In Oceanside... unless you are a Marine in a tank or a fisherman in the harbor, you will not see guys like Ross and Mark and Chris doing mindblowing backflips, rolls, and for Ross... getting absolutely pitted to the point I cannot see him and getting spat out of a barrel!!!

If we got more contests then we could get the sport out to the public and hopefully get more riders

I know this is far-fetched due to lack of sponsors, but I think it would help.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Contests cost money and still require a ton of advertising to pull off. I would think with all the reality shows currently on TV it should be no problem to pitch a 1/2 hr show following even just a handfull of pro riders around the world for one season. as the show picks up then use it to promote the sport and build enthusiasm for contests and events that already exist.

A harsh reality that we face is that watching repetitive backflips and rolls is actually really boring to watch for non riders. We are stoked to watch them because we want to do them and know how hard they are to do but just about every azz on the couch thinks that he can go out and buy a ski and ride like that within a few months. Watching the Nitro Circus crew fail was one of the most rewarding feelings I have ever felt. :biggrin:

What we need are events that get non riders out on the water to experience it. Until I moved to the south, I only knew a handful of guys that had ever seen a standup much less actually ridden one but everyone I put on a ski loved it and wanted to buy one. I kept extra skis around just so people could ride with the hope they would get hooked and buy into the sport. Unfortunately, there were no skis to buy so that was never going to happen. For anything to become mainstream, it has to be common and available to all.

I say buy up all the skis we can get our hands on and get em running and invite as many people out to get hooked as we can. If the manufacturers won't invest then it's up to us. I also say buy aftermarket as much as possible and support the ones continuing to work hard to keep the sport alive.

 

[Nascency Chris]

I think a good way to get the sport more popularity is to have more contests... If we get more contests going then the sport will be seen by more average joes. For example... In Oceanside... unless you are a Marine in a tank or a fisherman in the harbor, you will not see guys like Ross and Mark and Chris doing mindblowing backflips, rolls, and for Ross... getting absolutely pitted to the point I cannot see him and getting spat out of a barrel!!!

If we got more contests then we could get the sport out to the public and hopefully get more riders

I know this is far-fetched due to lack of sponsors, but I think it would help.

I have heard it said that a comp right in your backyard would do more for exposure than anywhere else, but can you really see the powers that be in Huntington letting that go down right now... It would be sick though...

Contests cost money and still require a ton of advertising to pull off. I would think with all the reality shows currently on TV it should be no problem to pitch a 1/2 hr show following even just a handfull of pro riders around the world for one season. as the show picks up then use it to promote the sport and build enthusiasm for contests and events that already exist.

One season of a TV show would cost more than the comps we would be going to shoot at lol... hard costs of HD tapes for delivery to the network alone ranges in the 38k -45k range for a 11-12 episode season. There is not enough competition wise in the world to justify the costs of doing a show based around comps... with the inherent limitations of shooting comps as well it is extremely difficult... but there are other ways and ideas he he...

I will be extremely curious to see what happens when "Hot Water" gets produced. I think I said it somewhere else that a project like that has huge potential to open peoples eyes IF they do it right... the documentary I have been working on is also still getting finalized and we will be pushing that hard on the film festival circuit to bring this to people who may have never seen freeride before...

 

[djkorn1]

The right video could help dramatically in getting young people stoked to ride. :fing02:

"All My Crazy Friends" is what got me stoked to be in this sport. It also inspired me to make vids, throw freerides, travel to ride in new locations, etc, etc....

 

[kraqus]

Why would we want everyone and their Grandma to be out riding a ski?
Not to be a prick but like I said I have changed my opinions regarding this.
I believe small is better, and AM hulls are the future....so it's gonna get smaller.
I like the way things are...:dunno:

The key is to support the peeps in this sport that are supporting us.


Benny

 

[Ross_C]

And on that same note...the freeride portion of the Motosurf series that was originally on Speed in 02 and 03 then hosted on SBT's website for ever was one of the first things I found when I started riding. Watching that stuff was what really got me excited about the sport, that and Yamaslut were really what showed me what the sport was about in the beginning.

 

[Ross_C]

Why would we want everyone and their Grandma to be out riding a ski?
Not to be a prick but like I said I have changed my opinions regarding this.
I believe small is better, and AM hulls are the future....so it's gonna get smaller.
I like the way things are...:dunno:

The key is to support the peeps in this sport that are supporting us.


Benny

I agree totally in supporting the people that are pushing the sport forward...there are lots of guys out there working hard on innovating new stuff and they for sure deserve our support. But I think your point of view is very short sighted. With very few exceptions, the innovation we have seen so far has come mostly out of passion for the sport. But passion can only take you so far. If you want to see continued development and progress, you need to have some type of growth. People need to be able to afford to focus on continued development if you want to be able to continue having better and better products. Hell, if you just want to continue to have a place where you can buy new products the sport needs new blood and growth.

I understand your point of view, I love the community we have. But having more of us would not hurt that, it would just make us stronger as a sport and a community.