Key Figures · Organiser

Chris Lauber

Named by a Florida newspaper in 1992 as the promoter of a Water Cross race at Belle Glade; the association's release on its 2011 hall class calls a Chris Lauber a race promoter in Florida.

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

1990200020102020

---

Business

Likely

WaterCross International's own Jet Ski Fever page, as captured on 27 March 2010, calls him a long-time PWC enthusiast and the executive producer of Jet Ski Fever, which it describes as a 23-minute documentary of a 1983 duel during the Inaugural World Cup Challenge at three stops in Florida, and offers the film on DVD. It is the seller's own account of its film. Reading this Chris Lauber as the promoter The Sun named in 1992 rests on the name, Florida watercraft racing and the WaterCross name that the paper's report of 24 September 1992 gives the tour and the seller's company carries, which is the archive's inference.

Sources: Jet Ski Fever DVD home page 2010; Belle Glade Sun 24 September 1992

Likely

Florida's register of corporations, as read on 22 September 2026, lists Christopher Lauber as an officer, with the title PD, and as registered agent of WaterCross International, Inc., a St. Petersburg company filed on 8 March 1991 and active, with annual reports to 2026. The record states no business purpose and names no watercraft. Reading it as the WaterCross International of St. Petersburg that sells Jet Ski Fever rests on the company's name and city, which is the archive's inference.

Sources: Florida register WaterCross Intl

Organising the sport

1992 · Likely

The Sun of Belle Glade, Florida, on 3 September 1992 announced the Glades Water Cross Challenge at the Belle Glade Marina on 19 and 20 September 1992, sponsored by a local Honda and Sea-Doo dealer, and named Chris Lauber as its promoter and as the promoter of a tour whose name the scan does not read cleanly. The paper's issue of 24 September 1992 reports the WaterCross races run that weekend as part of the WaterCross Tour, a six-race series that brought over 75 racers; it names one of the sponsoring dealer's owners as the organizer and does not name him.

Sources: Belle Glade Sun 3 September 1992; Belle Glade Sun 24 September 1992

Likely

Jeff Hemmel's review of Jet Ski Fever and Jet Dreams, which the film's seller attributes to Ride Magazine, Winter 2010, and which is held as the PDF the seller hosted (its page footers read both Winter 2010 and Fall 2009), dates Jet Ski Fever to 1984, calls it a documentary of the World Cup Series, and names that series as his and one other person's. It does not say what part he played in running the series, and it once dates the film's subject to 2003, which the archive reads as a slip because the same review dates the film 1984. Reading the review's Chris Lauber as the executive producer the seller's page names rests on the film and the series it records, which is the archive's inference.

Sources: Hemmel review Ride Magazine 2010; Jet Ski Fever DVD home page 2010

Recognition

Likely

The association's release of 27 July 2011 names Chris Lauber among the first three inductees of its 2011 hall of fame class, and its passage on him and one other inductee calls them race promoters in Florida whose races, almost all in Florida, included the World Cup WaterCross Tour. That is the hall's account and gives no year. The association's hall roster lists the same name among its 2011 inductees. Reading this inductee as the promoter The Sun named in 1992 rests on the name, Florida race promoting and the WaterCross name, and the release agrees with the review above in crediting a World Cup series to him and one other person; the tie is the archive's inference.

Sources: IJSBA 2011 hall inductees release; IJSBA hall of fame page

Names as printed

LAUBER, CHRISTOPHER (Florida register WaterCross Intl)

Elsewhere in the archive

• Organisation: International Jet Sports Boating Association
• Era: The early years, in print
• Era: The makers and their machines

What the archive has not read (2)

• The tour named in the 1992 brief is garbled in the scan, and the page image was not read, so the archive does not say which tour he promoted that year. No held document independent of him dates his part in the World Cup races of 1983 that the film records: the review above names the series as his and another's without saying what either did, the association's 2011 release names the World Cup WaterCross Tour among the races he and another inductee staged without giving a year, and his own Who's Who entries, below, are his own account (searched archive.org full text for World Cup WaterCross, WaterCross with Lauber and Jet Ski Fever, and the archive's mirror, 2026-10-07; the research cache for World Cup WaterCross, 2026-10-12).
• His own entries in Who's Who in the South and Southwest (1993) and later Who's Who volumes, read as search highlights, call him founder and organiser of the World Cup WaterCross Tour from 1983 and executive producer of Jet Ski Fever, which they date 1983. They are his own account and are not cited, and their 1983 differs from the 1984 of the review above. Personal Watercraft Illustrated of 1988 prints a Chris Lauber in a masthead list whose heading the search highlight cuts; it is not used (read 2026-10-07).

Documents cited on this page

• Belle Glade Sun 3 September 1992 (archive.org): The Sun (Belle Glade, Fla.), 3 September 1992 (archive.org OCR excerpt: Glades Water Cross Challenge brief), The Sun (Belle Glade, Fla.), 1992-09-03; editorial, medium. A local weekly's brief announcing the Glades Water Cross Challenge at the Belle Glade Marina on 19 and 20 September 1992, sponsored by a local Honda and Sea-Doo dealer, and naming Chris Lauber as its promoter and as the promoter of a tour whose name the OCR garbles ("World Bush Car Tour"). Medium for the promoter it names; a brief of this kind usually draws on the organisers' own notice. The telephone number is replaced in the held copy.
• Jet Ski Fever DVD home page 2010 (web.archive.org): Jet Ski Fever, jetskifever.com home page (WaterCross International), Wayback capture 27 March 2010, WaterCross International, 2010; manufacturer primary, high. The rights holder's own DVD page. Gives the 23-minute length, the 1983 World Cup Challenge subject, the five-rider ramp jump, the producer credit and the executive producer credit.
• Belle Glade Sun 24 September 1992 (archive.org): The Sun (Belle Glade, Fla.), 24 September 1992 (archive.org OCR excerpts: report of the WaterCross races at Belle Glade), The Sun (Belle Glade, Fla.), 1992-09-24; editorial, medium. The local weekly's report of the WaterCross races of the weekend before the issue, sponsored by the same dealer: the WaterCross Tour, a six-race series, brought over 75 racers, and the organizer estimated 400 to 450 people over the two days. It quotes one of the sponsoring dealer's owners as the organizer and names no promoter. Medium for an event it reports as run. The words naming a family member are removed from the held copy, and the lines on a celebrity competitor, the purse and the banquet are not copied.
• Florida register WaterCross Intl (search.sunbiz.org): WaterCross International, Inc., Florida Division of Corporations detail page, document number S36469 (as read on 22 September 2026), Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations (Sunbiz), 1991-03-08; government, high. The state register's record of a Florida profit corporation filed on 8 March 1991, active, with annual reports to 2026: Christopher Lauber is listed as an officer (title PD) and as registered agent of the St. Petersburg company. High for what the register records. It states no business purpose and names no watercraft or tour. The published date is the filing date; the officer list is the page as read on 22 September 2026. Street addresses, ZIP codes, the federal employer number and a second officer are replaced in the held copy.
• Hemmel review Ride Magazine 2010 (web.archive.org): Rewind: Turning Back The Years... Video-Style, by Jeff Hemmel (review of Jet Ski Fever and Jet Dreams), PDF hosted on jetskifever.com, Ride Magazine (as attributed by the Jet Ski Fever seller; page footers carry awahq.org), 2010; editorial, medium. A magazine reviewer who watched both films. Dates Jet Ski Fever 1984 and Jet Dreams 1989 and describes what each shows. Medium because the copy is the seller's PDF and its footers read both Fall 2009 and Winter 2010.
• IJSBA 2011 hall inductees release (web.archive.org): IJSBA Announces First Three 2011 Hall of Fame Inductees (ijsba.com release dated 27 July 2011, Wayback capture of 16 October 2011), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2011-07-27; sanctioning body, high. The association's release naming the first three inductees of its 2011 hall of fame class, to be honoured at what it calls the 30th Anniversary World Finals. High for whom the association inducts. Its passage on two of them calls them race promoters in Florida whose races, almost all in Florida, included the World Cup WaterCross Tour: that is the hall's account and gives no year. Its grading words are not used. The held copy keeps the headline, date, opening paragraph and two sentences of that passage; the rest, which carries a personal matter, a sum of money and the contact lines, is not copied.
• IJSBA hall of fame page (ijsba.com): The Jacobsen-Stjernstrom IJSBA Hall of Fame (IJSBA page), International Jet Sports Boating Association; sanctioning body, high. The association's own roster, read on 22 September 2026, giving the hall's name, its creation and dedication in 2006, and inductees by year to 2014, names only. It publishes no selection criteria and no citation for anyone.