Key Figures · Parts maker

Arno Olbricht

Called the founder of Hydro-Turf in October 2020 by a trade magazine and by the press release another printed, when the company was sold, and listed as its President in a business directory of 2015.

The BaddJet shop sells Hydro-Turf parts. This page is the archive's record of what the documents say, it links to no product, and nothing on it was written to sell one.

1. The early years, in print, 1981 to 1993
2. The makers and their machines, 1985 to 2005
3. Noise, safety and federal rules, 1996 to 2002
4. The rule book years, 2002 to 2018 (this page's records)
5. Three rule books, 2021 to 2026

1990200020102020

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Business

2020 · Likely

Powersports Business, on 26 October 2020, and The Watercraft Journal, on 22 October 2020, both reported that a Florida marine and powersports owner had acquired Hydro-Turf from its founder, Arno Olbricht, and that the company would move from Anaheim, California, to Clearwater, Florida, in the first quarter of 2021. The Watercraft Journal printed the press release, in which he says founding and growing Hydro-Turf had been his passion for most of his adult life, and says in its own lead that the sale relieves him of his position as CEO. Powersports Business adds that Hydro-Turf was founded in 1990 by him. The two reports carry the same quotations, so they do not confirm each other.

Sources: Powersports Business Hydro-Turf sale 2020; Watercraft Journal Hydro-Turf sale 2020

2015 · Likely

The Harris Southern California Business Directory of 2015 prints "Arno Olbricht, President" in the entry for Pacific Creations Inc, trade name Hydro-Turf, in Anaheim. The copy read is a lending-library item, so only search highlights were read; the officer line and the company's heading are separate highlights, and the archive places the line in that entry because the two share the postal code 92805-6431 and the same garbled word after "PHONE". The register names Pacific Creations, Inc. as the registrant of the HYDRO-TURF mark, filed on 1 October 1990.

Sources: Harris directory 2015; USPTO record serial 74101856

Likely

In a feature printed by Powersports Business on 9 February 2013, the person the held text calls Arno is said to have bought Jet Strip, a pad company that sold brightly coloured neoprene pads, and changed its name to Hydro-Turf after a switch to EVA foam, offering a thicker 5 mm grooved pad in place of a competitor's 3 mm sheet. The feature quotes a person it calls Olbricht on how customers find the company and on its seat covers for motorcycles, and says the company supplies mat material to Yamaha and Kawasaki. The held text prints the given name Arno and the family name Olbricht in separate places and never together; reading them as one person, Arno Olbricht, is the archive's inference, made because the feature quotes both on the same business and the 2020 reports call Arno Olbricht the company's founder. The feature gives no year for the purchase and says only that the Hydro-Turf brand first appeared 23 years earlier (read in full, 2026-10-07).

Sources: Powersports Business Hydro-Turf 2013

Likely

Hydro-Turf's own About page, read on 5 October 2026, says the company began in the 1980s as Jet Strip and that in 1990 it relaunched as Hydro-Turf under the leadership of company president Arno Olbricht. The Watercraft Journal's visit of 29 July 2014 says the brand was once known as Jet-Strip before its official launch in 1990 and that Arno Olbricht helped steer the company after it traded hands, and quotes him on the company's sales of uncut sheets of mat. The magazine may repeat the page, and neither gives a document for the 1990 date.

Sources: Hydro-Turf About page 2026; WCJ Hydro-Turf visit 2014

Elsewhere in the archive

• History chapter: The aftermarket: pumps, plates, mats and the registers
• Era: The rule book years

What the archive has not read (3)

• No registry record naming him as an officer or owner of Pacific Creations, Inc. or of Hydro-Turf is held; the California Secretary of State's business search is a web form and was not used (2026-10-07). The held search highlights of the 2016 Harris edition return no line for Olbricht or for Hydro Turf, which shows nothing about 2016, because the highlights show only part of a page.
• No held document dates the purchase of Jet Strip or gives a year for Jet Strip's start: the 2013 feature gives none, the 2014 visit gives only the mid-to-late 1980s, the company's page gives only the 1980s, and the 2020 report says Hydro-Turf was founded in 1990 (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-07).
• The sources use three words for him: founder (both reports of 2020), President (the 2015 directory and the company's page) and CEO (The Watercraft Journal, 2020). None says which he held in which years (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-07).

Documents cited on this page

• Powersports Business Hydro-Turf sale 2020 (powersportsbusiness.com): Major acquisition in PWC accessories business (Powersports Business, 26 October 2020), Powersports Business, 2020-10-26; editorial, medium. A trade-magazine news item on the sale of Hydro-Turf to a Florida owner of other watercraft and marine brands, with quotes from both sides and a closing paragraph that says the company was founded in 1990 by its founder. The same quotes are printed as a press release in The Watercraft Journal four days earlier, so the two are not independent. Medium as trade press. The held copy omits site menus and related-article links and replaces the editor's address.
• Watercraft Journal Hydro-Turf sale 2020 (watercraftjournal.com): Hydro-Turf Acquired by Greg Pickren of SBT, Inc., Watercraft Superstore, by Kevin Shaw (The Watercraft Journal, 22 October 2020), The Watercraft Journal, 2020-10-22; enthusiast media, medium. The magazine's report of the sale, with the press release printed in full. The editor's lead says the sale ends the founder's position as CEO; the release itself calls him the founder. Medium as trade press; the release is the parties' voice, and the editor's praise of the brand is not used. The held copy omits site menus.
• Harris directory 2015 (archive.org): Harris Southern California Business Directory and Buyer's Guide 2015 (Mergent; archive.org full-text search highlights), Mergent Business Press, item held by the Internet Archive, 2015; editorial, medium. A lending-library item, so only search highlights could be read. Entries for Skat-Trak Inc (Ken Stuart, President) and R & D Racing Products USA Inc (Glenn Dickinson, President; the Vice President's name garbled by the OCR), and Pacific Creations Inc, also called Hydro-Turf, in Anaheim (Arno Olbricht, President). The held copy shares a file with the 2016 edition's highlights and has its phone numbers removed.
• USPTO record serial 74101856 (tsdr.uspto.gov): Trademark Status and Document Retrieval record, serial 74101856, registration 1680461 (HYDRO-TURF), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1992-03-24; government, high. HYDRO-TURF, filed 1 October 1990, registered 24 March 1992, with a Section 8 declaration accepted in 1997 and renewals in 2002, 2012 and 2021, for synthetic foam non-slip floor mats for use on watercraft vehicles. First use claimed for 3 May 1990. The registrant is Pacific Creations, Inc., a California corporation; the current owner is HYDRO TURF, LLC, a Florida company, after an ownership update entered on 28 October 2020. The published date is the registration date.
• Powersports Business Hydro-Turf 2013 (powersportsbusiness.com): Hydro-Turf retains traction in challenging industry (Powersports Business, 9 February 2013), Powersports Business, 2013-02-09; editorial, medium. A trade-magazine feature built on an interview with a person the held text calls Arno in one place and Olbricht in others, never together (reading them as one person is the archive's inference), who is quoted throughout and given no title. Its history paragraph says Jet Strip was a pad company that the person called Arno bought and renamed Hydro-Turf after a change of material. Medium as trade press; the history is the interviewee's telling and its superlatives and sales shares are not used. One sentence about the earlier owner is replaced in the held copy (family and personal details) and nothing from it is used.
• Hydro-Turf About page 2026 (hydroturf.com): About Hydro-Turf (hydroturf.com, read 2026), Hydro-Turf; manufacturer primary, low. The company's own About page, read on 2026-10-05: its roots in the 1980s under the name Jet Strip, a relaunch as Hydro-Turf in 1990, a motorcycle line in 2008 and a move to Clearwater, Florida in 2021. Low, because it is the company's account of its own history, and cited only as that. A telephone number, an email address and street addresses are replaced in the held copy.
• WCJ Hydro-Turf visit 2014 (watercraftjournal.com): Getting a Grip: Inside Hydro-Turf Headquarters, by Kevin Shaw (The Watercraft Journal, 29 July 2014), The Watercraft Journal, 2014-07-29; enthusiast media, medium. A trade-press report of a visit to the Anaheim headquarters. Medium for what it saw. Its sentences that the brand was once known as Jet-Strip before an official launch in 1990, and that a line was added in 2008, echo the company's own account and may repeat it, so they are cited as the writer's statements. An email address is replaced in the held copy.

Cite this page

“Arno Olbricht”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/arno-olbricht/

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