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Clay Cullen

Fifth in the Super Jump at Jet Jam '97 in a magazine's report, pictured surf riding in Baja California, reported riding in Australia, and reported performing in the Waterworld show at Universal Studios Hollywood.

At a glance

Role
Racer and rider
On the record
2 years, from 1997 to 1999
Disciplines
Freeride
Titles on the record
none read off a held results document yet
In print and on screen
2 pieces about the racing, each linked where it sits
In the archive
1 history chapter
  1. The early years, in print, 1981 to 1993
  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

The eras this page's records fall in are drawn solid; the others are hollow.

How we know: Each bar runs the years printed on that era's panel, and which eras a page falls in is the archive's grouping of its records, not the length of anyone's career.

Years 1997 to 1999, one box each A single row of boxes, solid for a year printed above a fact and hollow for a year printed above none. 1997 1999
  • a year printed above a fact on this page
  • a year printed above no fact

Printed above the facts, 1997 and 1999. Printed above none, 1998. 4 facts have no year printed above them and mark no box.

Every year from the first to the last year printed above a fact on this page, one box a year.

How we know: the year printed above each fact below; an honour carries no activity year, so it marks no box.

Riding and racing, 1997 to 1999 Two labelled rows of boxes on one scale of years, riding above and racing below; a box is solid where a year is printed above a fact in that row, or in a title row for racing, and hollow where none is. Riding outside a race Racing, results and titles 1997 1999
  • a year printed above a fact in that row, or a title year in the racing row
  • a year printed above no fact in that row

Riding outside a race, 1999. Racing, results and titles, 1997 and 1999. 3 riding facts have no year printed above them and are not drawn.

The same range of years in two rows, riding outside a race above and racing below.

How we know: the year printed above each riding fact, and above each results fact and in each title row.

  • Confirmed 0

  • Likely 8

  • Contested 0

The grade word on each fact on this page, counted. It grades how firmly the documents tie each fact to this person, not the person.

How we know: the word printed above each fact below, counted on this page only.

Results

1997 · Likely

Personal Watercraft Illustrated's report of Jet Jam '97, held at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on 15 to 17 August 1997, which the magazine calls the first closed-course races sanctioned by the International Jet Sports Boating Association (IJSBA) to include a ramp jump, lists Clay Cullen fifth in the Super Jump, on a Yamaha. It is a magazine's report, not a result sheet. Reading the magazine's pieces on him as one man rests on the name and the riders named with him, an inference.

Sources: PWI December 1997 Jet Jam '97 report

1999 · Likely

The magazine's profile of March 2000 says that at the Red Bull Surf Challenge, a made-for-television event held in early 1999 at Oceanside, California, he finished first in the runabout division, fourth in stand-up and first overall. No result sheet for the event is held (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-18).

Sources: PWI March 2000 Clay Cullen profile

Riding outside a race

Likely

The magazine's April 1997 issue names Clay Cullen among the riders at its winter surf gathering at La Fonda, Baja California, about 30 miles south of San Diego, and its captions show him in the air with Mark Tearle and Rick Roy and preparing for landing. The page dates the trip only as "this year".

Sources: PWI April 1997 Aero Mexico

Likely

The magazine's April 1998 surf feature from Baja California, Mexico, names him among the riders whose surf riding it presents. It prints no date for the session.

Sources: PWI April 1998 Baja surf feature

1999 · Likely

The magazine's December 1999 issue reports him and Rick Roy joining Mark Tearle for the Jet Pilot Freeride team's two-week tour of Australia's east coast: he rode the opening session at South Straddie with Roy and local riders, a mangrove run at Sanctuary Cove, and a big swell on the far north coast, where he wiped out and his ski sank. The March 2000 profile says in the writer's words that in 1999 the team, with Roy, Tearle and Cullen, launched a world tour taking surf-riding to lands such as South Africa, Australia and Morocco.

Sources: PWI December 1999 Freeriding Down Under; PWI March 2000 Clay Cullen profile

1999 · Likely

Cycle News of 15 December 1999 calls Clay Cullen a personal watercraft pilot who now performs in the Waterworld stunt show at Universal Studios Hollywood. Personal Watercraft Illustrated's March 2000 profile says in the writer's words that in 1996 he found a home in Waterworld, a live show at Universal Studios Hollywood, and now has a full-time job there, "riding, fighting and dodging explosions". Neither says what he rides in the show. That the two magazines name one man is the archive's reading, from the name and the show.

Sources: Cycle News 15 December 1999; PWI March 2000 Clay Cullen profile

Likely

The magazine's February 2005 issue names him among the freeriders at its ninth annual Mex Rager gathering at Cantamar, Baja California, held the weekend after the World Finals, and says he was throwing re-entries on the outside. The page dates the gathering only as "this year".

Sources: PWI February 2005 Mex Rager

Recognition

Likely

The IJSBA's hall of fame page lists Clay Cullen among its 2008 inductees, and its announcement of 11 June 2008 names him among the ten. Neither gives a reason, and both print the name alone, so reading it as this rider rests on the name, an inference.

Sources: IJSBA hall of fame page; IJSBA 2008 hall of fame announcement

In print and on screen (2)

What has been written, said or filmed about this person's racing, oldest first, each linked where it sits. The archive hosts no copy and embeds nothing. A reading list, not evidence: the facts above cite their own documents.

  1. 1999-12 · Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com) · Article

    Adventure: Australia's East Coast, Freeriding Down Under, by Mike King

    The Jet Pilot Freeride team's two-week tour of Australia's east coast, with open sessions, a mangrove run and a big swell on the far north coast.

  2. 2000-03 · Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com) · Profile

    Profile: Clay Cullen, The player, by Keith Bush

    A magazine profile on his work in the Waterworld live show, the Jet Pilot Freeride Team's 1999 world tour and the 1999 Red Bull Surf Challenge.

Elsewhere in the archive

What the archive has not read (4)

  • A Personal Watercraft Illustrated news item of 25 April 2006, which says it follows a press release from Bombardier Recreational Products, names Clay Cullen and Larry Rippenkroeger as the watercraft stuntmen in the chase scenes of Rusty Dogs, a Sea-Doo promotional film. That is the maker's account of its own film, so it is not stated here as a fact.
  • No held document names the Waterworld show's cast or says what he rode in it (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-18).
  • The March 2000 profile also gives his own account of film and racing work before 1996. His own words support only what he says, and his years before 1996 are not used on this page.
  • The magazine's August 1999 report of the Jet Pilot Freeride team's Baja trip names him in the party but says the party had lost him a few days before the surf session it describes, so it is not used for a ride.

Documents cited on this page

  • PWI March 2000 Clay Cullen profile (web.archive.org): Profile: Clay Cullen, The player, by Keith Bush (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, March 2000 issue, online page, Wayback capture of 7 April 2001), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 2000-03; enthusiast media, medium. A profile of Clay Cullen: in the writer's voice, his work in the Waterworld live show at Universal Studios Hollywood, the Jet Pilot Freeride Team's 1999 world tour with Rick Roy and Mark Tearle, and his placings at the 1999 Red Bull Surf Challenge; much of the rest is his own words. Medium for the writer's sentences; his own words support only "says". The held copy keeps those passages only.
  • PWI December 1997 Jet Jam '97 report (web.archive.org): Racing: Jet Jam '97, Anaheim, California, The Joint Was Jumping, by Keith Bush (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, December 1997 issue, online archive page, Wayback capture of 15 January 1998), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 1997-12; enthusiast media, medium. A magazine's race report of Jet Jam '97 at the Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, on 15 to 17 August 1997, which it calls the first IJSBA-sanctioned closed-course races to include a ramp jump, with top-five results by class and the make each rider used. A magazine's report, not a result sheet: medium. The held copy keeps the opening, the freestyle and Super Jump passages and the dual slalom, freestyle and Super Jump results; nothing else from the report is held.
  • PWI April 1997 Aero Mexico (web.archive.org): Lifestyle: Riding the Baja surf, Aero Mexico (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, April 1997 issue, online archive page, Wayback capture of 24 June 1997), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 1997-04; enthusiast media, medium. The magazine's yearly winter surf gathering, this one at La Fonda, about 30 miles south of San Diego in Baja California, with the riders named and captions describing jumps and re-entries. Medium as a period magazine's own report; the page dates the trip only as "this year", so no ride year is read from it. Grading words in the text are not used.
  • PWI April 1998 Baja surf feature (web.archive.org): Surf: Riding the waves in Baja California, Mexico, Wave-os Grandes (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, April 1998 issue, online archive page, Wayback capture of 15 June 1998), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 1998-04; enthusiast media, medium. A surf pictorial from Baja California naming the riders shown and captioning two of them. Medium as the magazine's own captions; no ride date is printed. The archive holds part of the pictorial.
  • PWI December 1999 Freeriding Down Under (web.archive.org): Adventure: Australia's East Coast, Freeriding Down Under, by Mike King (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, December 1999 issue, online archive page, Wayback capture of 31 May 2000), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 1999-12; enthusiast media, medium. The Jet Pilot Freeride team's two-week tour of Australia's east coast: open sessions with local riders, a mangrove run, a television segment and a big-surf session on the far north coast, with the riders' own words quoted. Medium for the writer's account; quotes are the riders' own. The page heads itself December 1999 but prints no date for the tour. Only part of the tour report is held.
  • Cycle News 15 December 1999 (archive.org): Cycle News, 15 December 1999 (archive.org OCR, excerpt: A Day in the Dirt race report, the Coup de Grace GP), Cycle News, issue held by the Internet Archive, 1999-12-15; enthusiast media, medium. A motorcycle weekly's report of the film industry's A Day in the Dirt race, in which it calls Clay Cullen a personal watercraft pilot who now performs in the Waterworld stunt show at Universal Studios Hollywood. Medium as a period magazine's own sentence. His motorcycle placing is not a watercraft fact and is not used.
  • PWI February 2005 Mex Rager (web.archive.org): Three Kilometers of Happiness, by Heather Selwitz (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, February 2005 issue, online page, Wayback capture of 18 March 2005), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 2005-02; enthusiast media, medium. The magazine's report of its ninth annual Mex Rager gathering at Cantamar, Baja California, held the weekend after the World Finals, naming the freeriders there and what several of them did in the surf. Medium; the page dates the gathering only as "this year". The held version of the report is abridged.
  • 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.
  • IJSBA 2008 hall of fame announcement (web.archive.org): IJSBA Announces 2008 Hall of Fame inductees (ijsba.com, 11 June 2008, Wayback capture), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2008-06-11; sanctioning body, high. The association's announcement of its ten 2008 inductees and a Lifetime Achievement award, with the ceremony set for 11 October 2008 at the London Bridge Resort. It gives no reason for any induction. The association's telephone number is removed from the held copy.
Cite this page

“Clay Cullen”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/clay-cullen/

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0 titles on the record · 8 sourced facts · 9 documents

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