Key Figures · Parts maker

Greg Pickren

Named as the person who formed Short Block Technologies in 1997, the engine remanufacturer the IJSBA announced as World Finals title sponsor for 2023 and 2024 and as lead title sponsor for 2025 and 2026.

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 (this page's records)

1990200020102020

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Design and invention

Likely

The US trademark record for ADONIS, for personal watercraft engine parts, namely impellers, shows Short Block Technologies, Inc., a Florida corporation, as the current owner of a mark with a filing date of 10 August 2022, which claims first use on 2 August 2016, and a registration on 26 September 2023. The record names no person. What ties it to him is the company's name, the IJSBA's post of 16 May 2023 listing Adonis Impellers in the group, and Powersports Business listing it among his brands in 2020.

Sources: USPTO record serial 97543332; IJSBA SBT title sponsor 2023 and 2024; Powersports Business Hydro-Turf sale 2020

Business

Likely

The IJSBA's post of 16 May 2023 says Short Block Technologies was formed in 1997 by Greg Pickren. The Watercraft Journal says on 16 March 2016 that he founded SBT, Inc. in 1997 and on 20 October 2016 that he first launched it in 1997. The three read alike and none cites a registry; the archive holds no registry record of the company's formation (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-07).

Sources: IJSBA SBT title sponsor 2023 and 2024; Watercraft Journal SBT dyno 2016; Watercraft Journal SBT Marine Mat 2016

2016 · Likely

The Watercraft Journal said on 16 March 2016 that SBT, the Watercraft Superstore, Blacktip Jetsports and Marine Mat were his family of PWC businesses, and on 20 October 2016 that he launched the Watercraft Superstore to go with SBT, that the mat brand Blacktip Jetsports followed, and that he and the Superstore's then general manager came upon the idea behind Marine Mat, a company formed to make snap-in traction mats for boats. The March article quotes SBT's President, a different person, on the company's engine dynamometer.

Sources: Watercraft Journal SBT dyno 2016; Watercraft Journal SBT Marine Mat 2016

2010 · Likely

Trade Only Today reported on 23 April 2010 that SBT, an online retailer of PWC engines, parts and accessories, acquired the forum PWCToday in 2005 from its founder. It quotes him as the owner of SBT and says the Watercraft Superstore, a company founded in 2008, is also owned by him.

Sources: Trade Only Today PWCToday 2010

2020 · Likely

Powersports Business, on 26 October 2020, and The Watercraft Journal, on 22 October 2020, reported that he, called the owner of SBT and the Watercraft Superstore (the magazine adds BlackTip Jetsports), had acquired Hydro-Turf from its founder, and that the company would move from Anaheim, California, to Clearwater, Florida, in the first quarter of 2021. The two reports carry the same quotes, so they do not confirm each other.

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

2023 and 2024 · Confirmed

The IJSBA's posts of 16 May 2023 and 25 November 2024 say Short Block Technologies signed as title sponsor of the World Finals for 2023 and 2024 and as lead title sponsor for 2025 and 2026. The first says the company's group owns Blacktip Jetsports, Adonis Impellers and the Watercraft Superstore and, most recently, Hydro-Turf. The posts name no person other than the founder sentence of the first, so the second is tied to him by the company's name.

Sources: IJSBA SBT title sponsor 2023 and 2024; IJSBA SBT lead title sponsor 2025 and 2026

Elsewhere in the archive

• History chapter: The aftermarket: pumps, plates, mats and the registers
• History chapter: The aftermarket: hulls, rule books and closures
• Event: IJSBA World Finals
• Organisation: International Jet Sports Boating Association
• Era: The rule book years
• Era: Three rule books, 2021 to 2026

What the archive has not read (3)

• No registry record of the company's formation, filing date or officers is held (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-07). Florida's corporation search is a web form, and a plain request for its record was answered with a bot check and not pursued.
• Five held texts from four publishers print 1997 for the company: the IJSBA's post of 16 May 2023, two Watercraft Journal articles of 2016, Engine Builder of 24 April 2020 and PersonalWatercraft.com of 15 July 2024. Only the IJSBA post and the two 2016 articles name a founder. None cites a registry or a filing, and the held texts do not show whether any of them took the year from the company (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-07).
• No held document gives him an office at Short Block Technologies, and a 2016 article quotes a different person as its President (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-07).

Documents cited on this page

• IJSBA SBT title sponsor 2023 and 2024 (ijsba.com): IJSBA Announces Short Block Technologies As Title Sponsor For 2023 And 2024 World Finals (IJSBA news post, 16 May 2023), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2023-05-16; sanctioning body, high. The association's announcement, read on 2026-10-05, that Short Block Technologies signed as title sponsor of the 2023 and 2024 World Finals. High for the sponsorship; the praise it prints for the sponsor, and the list of companies it says the sponsor's group owns, are not used.
• USPTO record serial 97543332 (tsdr.uspto.gov): Trademark Status and Document Retrieval record, serial 97543332, registration 7174016 (ADONIS), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2023-09-26; government, high. ADONIS, filed 10 August 2022 and registered 26 September 2023, for personal watercraft engine parts, namely impellers. First use claimed for 2 August 2016. Owner Short Block Technologies, Inc., a Florida corporation. The published date is the registration date.
• 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 SBT dyno 2016 (watercraftjournal.com): Gallery: Inside SBT, Inc.'s 4-Stroke Engine Dyno Facility, by Brent Venderley (The Watercraft Journal, 16 March 2016), The Watercraft Journal, 2016-03-16; enthusiast media, medium. A shop-tour feature on a Clearwater, Florida engine remanufacturer, which says in the magazine's own voice that its named founder started it in 1997 and built it into a family of watercraft businesses, and quotes its President on the dyno. Medium as trade press for who is named and in what role; the founding story reads like the company's telling, and the superlatives (largest supplier, number one) are not used. The held copy omits site menus.
• Watercraft Journal SBT Marine Mat 2016 (watercraftjournal.com): On The Ground Level at SBT's New Marine Mat Headquarters, by Kevin Shaw (The Watercraft Journal, 20 October 2016), The Watercraft Journal, 2016-10-20; enthusiast media, medium. A shop-tour feature on a boat traction-mat company that says, in the magazine's own voice, that the same named founder launched SBT in 1997, then a parts superstore and a mat brand, and with its then general manager the idea for a boat-mat company, Marine Mat. Medium as trade press for who is named and what the magazine says he launched; the general manager's quotes are his, and the claims of being the largest supplier are not used. A paragraph on employees' family ties is replaced in the held copy and nothing from it is used.
• Trade Only Today PWCToday 2010 (tradeonlytoday.com): PWC online forum marks 10 years (Trade Only Today, 23 April 2010), Trade Only Today, 2010-04-23; editorial, medium. A trade-news item on a watercraft forum's tenth year, which says an online retailer of engines and parts acquired the forum in 2005 from its founder and quotes the retailer's owner by name, and that the retailer's sister parts superstore was founded in 2008 and also owned by him. Medium as an independent trade publisher's item; the quotes are the owner's. The held copy is the text as read.
• 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. (as Watercraft Journal SBT dyno 2016 above)
• IJSBA SBT lead title sponsor 2025 and 2026 (ijsba.com): Short Block Technologies Signs As 2025 And 2026 World Finals Lead Title Sponsor (IJSBA news post, 25 November 2024), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2024-11-25; sanctioning body, high. The association's announcement, read on 2026-10-05, of the lead title sponsor for the 2025 and 2026 World Finals. It also says the sponsor had signed to supply new powertrains to Lee Stone Products' turnkey Revolver S1 freestyle watercraft. High for what the association says; the sponsor's own descriptions are not used.

Cite this page

“Greg Pickren”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/greg-pickren/

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