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Key Figures · Racer and performance shop

Dan Fitzgerald

Reported first in Pro Runabout 1200 Modified at a 1995 tour round and sixth in the class at the 1996 World Finals, named in 2003 as owner of the Jet World shop, and placed in vintage ski at the Finals in 2018 and 2025.

At a glance

Role
Racer and performance shop
On the record
7 years, from 1995 to 2025
Disciplines
Closed course, Slalom
Titles on the record
none read off a held results document yet
Companies
Jet World (ran)
In the archive
3 history chapters and 1 event
  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 (this page's records)
  5. Three rule books, 2021 to 2026 (this page's records)

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 1995 to 2025, one box each A single row of boxes, solid for a year printed above a fact and hollow for a year printed above none. 1995 2010 2025
  • a year printed above a fact on this page
  • a year printed above no fact

Printed above the facts, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2018, 2019 and 2025. Printed above none, 1997 to 2002, 2005 to 2017 and 2020 to 2024. 1 fact has no year printed above it and marks 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.

  • Confirmed 1

  • Likely 7

  • 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

1996 · Confirmed

The scoring service's results for Pro Runabout 1200 MOD at the 1996 Skat-Trak World Finals at Lake Havasu City list DAN FITZGERALD sixth in the final on a Yamaha, seventh and fifth in the two motos, with RIVA YAMAHA first on his sponsor line.

Sources: 1996 World Finals Pro Runabout 1200 MOD

1995 · Likely

The Antioch News of 28 July 1995, reporting Round 6 of the Westcoast Performance Nationals of the Budweiser Jet Sports Tour at Illinois Beach State Park, lists Dan Fitzgerald first in Pro Runabout 1200 Modified. Reading him as the rider of the 1996 sheet rests on the name and the class, an inference.

Sources: Antioch News 28 July 1995

1996 · Likely

Personal Watercraft Illustrated, testing Riva Yamaha's WaveRaider parts in March 1996, wrote that Dan Fitzgerald had won the World and National Pro Runabout 1200 titles for Riva Yamaha's dealership in the classes' first year, and had the pro racer ride its test craft through the radar runs. Its notes from the 1996 Finals call him the defending World and National Pro Runabout 1200 Champion, and its October 2003 test gives 1995 as the year of both titles. All of it is the magazine's wording. Reading the 2003 article's champion as the Riva Yamaha rider rests on the name and the class, an inference.

Sources: PWI 1996 Riva WaveRaider test; PWI 1996 World Finals Jetwash notes; PWI October 2003 Jet World owner

1996 · Likely

The sidebar of PWI's December 1996 profile of Minoru Kanamori, on the Jet Jam in Anaheim, the final round of that year's Pro Runabout 785 national series, says that in a semifinal Riva Yamaha's Dan Fitzgerald finished ahead of Kanamori, who missed the cut for the final. The dealer team named there is the archive's tie to the 1996 sheet.

Sources: PWI December 1996 Kanamori profile

2004 · Likely

The International Jet Sports Boating Association's overall sheet for Expert Veterans Ski Superstock at the 2004 World Finals lists FITZGERALD, DAN fourth, with 15 slalom points, 43 closed course points and 53 overall. The archive reads him as the shop owner of the 2003 test from the name and the Superstock ski, an inference.

Sources: 2004 World Finals Expert Vet Ski

2018, 2019 and 2025 · Likely

A Dan Fitzgerald with race number 118 on a Kawasaki is third in Vintage Ski on the association's complete results for the 2018 World Finals, fifth in Masters Ski Stock on its results for 8 October 2019, and third in Vintage Ski on its results for 11 October 2025. The number and make join the three rows; joining them to the earlier racer rests on the name and the Kawasaki ski, the archive's reading.

Sources: 2018 World Finals Vintage Ski table; 2019 World Finals Tuesday results; 2025 World Finals Vintage Ski table

Business

2003 · Likely

In its October 2003 issue the magazine tested Jet World's Superstock package for the Kawasaki 800 SX-R, calling Jet World a busy performance shop, and named Dan Fitzgerald as the shop's owner, saying he had raced his SX-R at Havasu the day before after years away from racing. The magazine itself calls the shop's owner the 1995 champion; that he is the rider of the 1996 sheet is an inference from the name and the class.

Sources: PWI October 2003 Jet World owner

Recognition

Likely

The association's hall of fame roster lists Dan Fitzgerald among its 2006 inductees. The roster prints names only, so the archive reads the entry as this racer on the name.

Sources: IJSBA hall of fame page

Names as printed

DAN FITZGERALD (1996 World Finals Pro Runabout 1200 MOD); FITZGERALD, DAN (2004 World Finals Expert Vet Ski)

Elsewhere in the archive

What the archive has not read (1)

  • The association's champions page lists Dan Fitzgerald, U.S.A., Yamaha, for 1995 in its Pro Runabout 1200 table, the title the magazine describes. No result sheet of the 1995 World Finals or of that year's national series is held (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-19), so it is not a title here.

Documents cited on this page

  • 1996 World Finals Pro Runabout 1200 MOD (web.archive.org): Aquascore results, Closed Course, Pro Runabout 1200 MOD, 1996 Skat-Trak World Finals, Lake Havasu City, 10/11/96 (malls-ltd.com, Wayback capture of 10 November 1996), Aquascore, the results service of the 1996 Skat-Trak World Finals, 1996-10-11; sanctioning body, high. The event's own scored results for the class, as its scoring service posted them: each rider's final place, motos, qualifying rounds, make and sponsors, one cell to a line. High as the results document.
  • Antioch News 28 July 1995 (archive.org): Antioch News (Illinois), 28 July 1995, Competition heats up in Lake Michigan, with the continued results (OCR excerpt), Antioch News, Lakeland Newspapers (Illinois), issue held by the Internet Archive, 1995-07-28; editorial, medium. A local newspaper's correspondent's report of Round 6 of the Westcoast Performance Nationals of the Budweiser Jet Sports Tour at Illinois Beach State Park, with a results list continued on a later page. Medium as an independent newspaper report from raw OCR; it is a regional report of one round, not the association's own sheet, and the continued list prints place, name and a hometown for each rider.
  • PWI 1996 Riva WaveRaider test (web.archive.org): Test: Riva Yamaha's WaveRaider 701 bolt-on performance package (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, 1996, Wayback capture), Personal Watercraft Illustrated, 1996; enthusiast media, medium. A period magazine's test of Riva Yamaha's bolt-on parts, run in March 1996 and posted in the magazine's 1996 web archive, which names the riders the Pompano Beach dealer then sponsored. Medium as a period trade report. The held copy of the 1996 test is an excerpt, with the dealer's phone and fax numbers replaced.
  • PWI 1996 World Finals Jetwash notes (web.archive.org): PWI Racing News, 1996 IJSBA Skat Trak World Finals, Jetwash, by the Staff of PWI Racing News (watercraft.com, Wayback capture of 2 December 1996), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 1996-10; enthusiast media, medium. The magazine's notes column from the 1996 Finals on the factory teams' hulls and riders. Medium. The held copy is an excerpt.
  • PWI October 2003 Jet World owner (web.archive.org): Jet World's Proven Superstock Package for the SX-R is the Real Deal (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, issue 17/10, October 2003, online page, Wayback capture of 9 April 2004), the opening paragraphs, Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 2003-10; enthusiast media, medium. A second excerpt of the magazine's October 2003 Superstock SX-R test: its opening paragraphs on the shop's owner and his return to racing. Medium.
  • PWI December 1996 Kanamori profile (web.archive.org): PWI's Circuit, Profile: Good as Gold, by Jeff Hain (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, December 1996, online archive page, Wayback capture of 24 June 1997), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 1996-12; enthusiast media, medium. The magazine's profile of a Kawasaki Pro Runabout 785 racer, with a sidebar on the last round of that year's national series and a career list. The issue month is read from the archive address. Medium. The held copy is an excerpt.
  • 2004 World Finals Expert Vet Ski (web.archive.org): 2004 World Finals, Expert Veterans Ski overall (PDF, Wayback capture), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2004; sanctioning body, high. Expert Veterans Ski overall results, as extracted text. Event and year come from the file's address.
  • 2018 World Finals Vintage Ski table (web.archive.org): 2018 Blowsion World Finals Complete Results, 2019 World Finals Announced (IJSBA post of 9 October 2018, Wayback capture), the Vintage Ski table, International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2018-10-09; sanctioning body, high. A second excerpt of the association's complete results post for the 2018 World Finals: its Vintage Ski table, with number, make and two moto placings per rider.
  • 2019 World Finals Tuesday results (ijsba.com): 2019 Thai Airways World Finals Results, Tuesday 8 October (IJSBA page), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2019-10-08; sanctioning body, high. The association's posted results for the Tuesday of the 2019 World Finals only, read on 22 September 2026.
  • 2025 World Finals Vintage Ski table (ijsba.com): 2025 SBT World Finals Results, October 11 (ijsba.com, 11 October 2025), the Vintage Ski table, International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2025-10-11; sanctioning body, high. A second excerpt of the association's results post for 11 October 2025, as the association's live site printed it: the Vintage Ski table, with number, make and points.
  • 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.
Cite this page

“Dan Fitzgerald”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/dan-fitzgerald/

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0 titles on the record · 8 sourced facts · 11 documents

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