Key Figures · Rider
Scott Watkins
Named riding in the surf in Baja California in a watercraft magazine's 1997 issues, back in the surf at the 2008 Daytona Beach freeride, and named in the cast of the film Jet Dreams.
At a glance
- Role
- Rider
- On the record
- in 2008
- Disciplines
- Freestyle, Freeride
- Titles on the record
- none read off a held results document yet
- In print and on screen
- 1 piece about the racing, each linked where it sits
- In the archive
- 1 history chapter
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.
Confirmed 0
Likely 6
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.
Riding outside a race
Personal Watercraft Illustrated's profile of Rick Roy in its February 1997 issue opens on a Jet Pilot photo shoot in Baja in late October, where Roy rode in the surf with Scott Watkins. The profile prints no year for the shoot.
Sources: PWI February 1997 Rick Roy profile
The magazine's April 1997 issue names Scott Watkins among the riders at its winter surf gathering at La Fonda, Baja California, about 30 miles south of San Diego, and a caption on re-entries calls him Yamaha's Product Development Manager. The page dates the trip only as "this year". Reading this and the February 1997 profile as one rider rests on the name and the Baja surf, an inference.
Sources: PWI April 1997 Aero Mexico
2008 · Likely
The magazine's report of the 2008 X-Metal Daytona Beach Motosurf Freeride in Florida, dated 30 May 2008, says Scott Watkins, representing Yamaha, hit the surf for the first time in seven years. That he is the Yamaha manager of the 1997 caption is the archive's reading, from the name and Yamaha, an inference.
Sources: PWI 30 May 2008 Daytona Freeride
Jeff Hemmel's review of the film Jet Dreams, which the review dates 1989, names Scott "Hollywood" Watkins among the four it calls the video's stars and describes freestyle and free riding, an end part in the surf and his 180 nose stab jumps in the segment after the credits. The review also calls the film the brainchild of Watkins and its director, Gary Shlifer. That its star is the Yamaha rider of the magazine's pieces is the archive's reading, from the name and the freestyle riding, an inference.
Sources: Hemmel review Ride Magazine 2010
Screen Australia's catalogue record of Riding On The Jetstream, a 29-minute documentary on jet skiing completed in 1992, which it says features riders at locations in the USA, Australia and New Zealand, lists a Scott Watkins in its cast with two others. The record says nothing of what he does in it, and reading the name as this rider rests on the name, an inference.
Recognition
The hall of fame page of the International Jet Sports Boating Association (IJSBA) lists Scott Watkins among its 2006 inductees. The roster gives names only, so linking it to this rider rests on the name.
Sources: IJSBA hall of fame page
In print and on screen (1)
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.
2010 · Ride Magazine (as attributed by the Jet Ski Fever seller; page footers carry awahq.org) · Article
A magazine review of the films Jet Ski Fever and Jet Dreams, on what Jet Dreams shows of his freestyle and surf riding.
Elsewhere in the archive
- History chapter: Freestyle as a discipline in the rule books
- Organisation: International Jet Sports Boating Association
- Era: The rule book years
What the archive has not read (2)
- The magazine calls him a former World and National freestyle champion, and the association's champions page, a finding aid, lists a Scott Watkins for Pro Freestyle in 1990 and 1991. The archive holds no result sheet for either year (searched the archive's mirror and research cache, 2026-10-18), so no title or result is on this page.
- The film Jet Dreams is dated 1989 by the review and 1990 in the title of a 2022 trailer, a video upload kept as a lead only, and the documentary's record gives a completion year only, so no year of riding is read from either film.
Documents cited on this page
- 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 February 1997 Rick Roy profile (web.archive.org): The Next Generation, by Joel Johnson, profile of Rick Roy (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, February 1997 issue, online archive page, Wayback capture of 24 June 1997), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 1997-02; enthusiast media, medium. A period magazine's profile of Rick Roy that opens on a Jet Pilot photo shoot in the Baja surf in late October, where he rode with Scott Watkins and hit bottom ten minutes in. Medium for the magazine's own account of the shoot. The page prints no year for the shoot. Its grading words and its titles for both riders are not used, and only selected passages of the profile are held.
- PWI 30 May 2008 Daytona Freeride (web.archive.org): Up In the Air, Daytona Beach Explodes with Freeriding Furvor, text by Allyson Wesley (Personal Watercraft Illustrated online feature dated 30 May 2008, Wayback capture of 21 August 2008), Personal Watercraft Illustrated (watercraft.com), 2008-05-30; enthusiast media, medium. Report of the 2008 X-Metal Daytona Beach Motosurf Freeride in Florida, naming riders on the water and in attendance. Medium as the magazine's own report. The held copy is a partial copy of the feature.
- 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.
- Screen Guide: Riding On The Jetstream (screenaustralia.gov.au): Riding On The Jetstream, Screen Australia, The Screen Guide, Screen Australia; catalogue, high. National screen agency catalogue record. 1992, 29-minute documentary on jetskiing shot in the USA, Australia and New Zealand, with director, producer and production company.
- 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
“Scott Watkins”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/scott-watkins/
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0 titles on the record · 6 sourced facts · 6 documents