Key Figures · Racer

Jeff Jacobs

Inducted into the association's hall of fame in 2006 and named as a Riva Yamaha rider in 1996; Guinness World Records holds a Pro Ski class record in his name.

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

1990200020102020

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Results

1996 · Likely

Personal Watercraft Illustrated, testing Riva Yamaha's parts in 1996, wrote that he then rode for the Pompano Beach dealer and called him a Pro Ski world and national champion. The Watercraft Journal in 2015 named him among that dealer's sponsored racers.

Sources: PWI 1996 Riva WaveRaider test; Watercraft Journal 17 July 2015

1996 · Likely

Guinness gives Kawasaki; a 1996 magazine has him riding for a Yamaha dealer's team and does not name his make.

Sources: Guinness record IJSBA Pro Ski wins; PWI 1996 Riva WaveRaider test

Recognition

Likely

The association's hall of fame lists Jeff Jacobs among its 2006 inductees. The roster gives names only, so linking it to the racer rests on the name.

Sources: IJSBA hall of fame page

Likely

Guinness World Records lists him for its record of the most wins of the IJSBA Pro Ski World Championships by an individual, with years running to 2001. The count is the record book's, not read off result sheets.

Sources: Guinness record IJSBA Pro Ski wins

Elsewhere in the archive

• History chapter: The IJSBA and the World Finals
• History chapter: The aftermarket: shops, dealers and the teams they ran
• Event: IJSBA World Finals
• Organisation: International Jet Sports Boating Association
• Era: The makers and their machines

What the archive has not read (3)

• No held result sheet names him (searched the World Finals sheets held for 1999, 2004, 2008, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and the 2013 entry list, 2026-10-05).
• The association's champions page lists him in its Pro Ski table for 1990, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001, among other entries. The archive holds no result sheet for any of those years (checked 2026-10-05), so none is a title here.
• The World Cup organiser's hall of fame list, held by the archive, names a Jeff Jacobs, USA, under Pro Ski GP for 2002 and 2003; its footnote says titles are certified only from 2008, and nothing on it ties that rider to this one beyond the name, the country and the class, so it is not used (checked 2026-10-05).

Documents cited on this page

• 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.
• 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 has the dealer's phone and fax numbers replaced, and one sentence about a rider's 1995 season omitted under the archive's rule on minors.
• Watercraft Journal 17 July 2015 (watercraftjournal.com): The Golden Ticket: Behind-The-Curtain of RIVA Motorsports and RIVA Racing (The Watercraft Journal, 17 July 2015), The Watercraft Journal, 2015-07-17; enthusiast media, medium. A shop-tour feature on RIVA written from a visit, naming the racers the dealer's team sponsored in the 1990s. Medium as trade press; what it says of RIVA's own past is the company's account as told to the writer, and it gives no years for the riders it names. The held copy has one family detail and an editor's address placeholder replaced in place.
• Guinness record IJSBA Pro Ski wins (guinnessworldrecords.com): Most wins of the IJSBA Pro Ski World Championships (Guinness World Records page), Guinness World Records; editorial, medium. The record book's page for one class record, held as the fields read from it: holder, a "When" of 2002, and one sentence giving a count, a make and the years. Medium at best: the book's own count, not a result sheet, so a page says only that Guinness lists the record and never prints the count as the archive's.

Changes to this page

• 2026-10-07: Jeff Jacobs's page now grades the 1996 magazine's description of him as a Pro Ski world and national champion likely, not confirmed, because it rests on that one magazine.

Cite this page

“Jeff Jacobs”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/jeff-jacobs/

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