History in five reads
The eras of watercraft racing
The sport's past in spans of years, each told in one short panel. Every panel only restates the chapters listed under it, so where a chapter is unsure, the panel is too.
Words on this page (9)
- Displacement Guide
- An IJSBA appendix setting engine size and related limits class by class, issued as its own document in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
- Eligible Watercraft
- The IJSBA rulebook’s phrase, in section 4.1 Homologation, for the models homologated and listed as eligible for competition. The 2002 and 2010 books both print it, and the 2010 book also calls the list the Model Homologation listing.
- ENDURANCE EVENT
- An IJSBA event type. A long-distance race of more than one lap, which may or may not include required turns.
- Freestyle
- An IJSBA discipline and class in which one rider at a time is judged on tricks rather than on speed, inside a two-minute time limit unless the IJSBA approves another length, and the crankcases decide which watercraft a machine counts as.
- Lake Havasu City
- The town in Arizona where the IJSBA World Finals are held.
- LeMans Start
- Competitors run to their craft, attach the lanyard and begin racing. IJSBA rule books from 2002 to the 2015 draft print the same start for endurance events, with riders running on foot from the shore to a craft steadied by a holder.
- Runabout Lites Class
- The name the IJSBA Runabout Rec Lites rules use once, in RRL.1, for the class when they list the two models eligible as of January 1, 2021. The IHRA rulebook has a separate Runabout Lites class in its section AA.
- Ski Lites
- An IJSBA ski class meant to promote ski racing at a baseline level with modest investment and maintenance costs, open only to the Kawasaki SX-R and the Yamaha SuperJet with two-stroke engines, and capped at 850cc.
- World Finals
- The IJSBA’s annual championship, run at Lake Havasu City.
The early years, in print
1981 to 1993
Every count read starts the IJSBA's World Finals in 1982; the 1981 in a 2020 trade article is when the association hit the ground running. When the association began is open, as its Vintage Ski rules put its Ski racing in the 1970s. The oldest dated mention found is a motorcycle newspaper's brief of November 1986, placing that year's Finals at Lake Havasu in late October. At that time the association's name included the Jet Ski trade name; a trademark filed in 1992 carries the Jet Sports wording it still uses. Yamaha's own history dates its first WaveRunner to 1986, while our research notes allow 1986 or 1987, so the year is left open. A 1988 issue of Yamaha's dealer magazine is headed with a race that drew 140 people, though only the headline has been read. In January 1993, by the Hungarian federation's own account, six European countries formed a European committee of the association.
Read the evidence in The IJSBA and the World Finals and The manufacturers, 1985 to 2005
People on record (16)
On the water: Harry Goatcher, Larry Rippenkroeger, Laszlo Sumegi, Miklos Benyo and Richard Payne (1981 to 1993).
In the workshop: Bill Chapin, Don Moyle, Gary Coffman, Glen Dilworth, Glenn Dickinson, Kenneth F. Klus, Ross Liberty, Steve Laham and Yeun-Junn Lin (1981 to 1993).
Running the sport: Bruce Stjernstrom and Lou Peralta (1981 to 1993).
The makers and their machines
1985 to 2005
The makers' stories of these years rest on uneven sources: Yamaha's own history page, one magazine's anniversary gallery for Kawasaki, and one shop's page for Sea-Doo. Those pages list new machines by year, from Kawasaki's X2 of 1986 and Yamaha's SuperJet stand-up of 1990 to Sea-Doo's supercharged RXP of 2004. The shop's page calls one 2001 Sea-Doo a race version, yet names no team, title or rider. Yamaha's dealer magazine reported racing through distributors in Spain, Peru, Turkey and Britain rather than as a factory effort, and most of those articles are known only by headline. The rule books record makers through their machines: Tigershark runabouts appear in the 2002 eligible list and are gone from the 2010 one. Because a model stays eligible after production stops, those lists cannot date a maker's exit. Cycle News (1988) reports an IJSBA novice class won on a Kawasaki; no result sheet, factory team or sales total is held here (checked 2026-10-06).
Read the evidence in The manufacturers, 1985 to 2005 and The Sea-Doo factory era, as far as documents go
People on record (51)
On the water: Bela Czeller, Billy Womack, Chaowalit Kuajaroon, Chokuthit Molee, Chris Fischetti, Chris MacClugage, Christy Carlson, Csaba Gerencser, Dustin Farthing, Eric Lagopoulos, Eric Malone, Harry Goatcher, Jeff Jacobs, Karine Paturel, Larry Rippenkroeger, Laszlo Sumegi, Laszlo Szabo, Mike Klippenstein, Miklos Benyo, Nicolas Rius, Richard Payne, Shawn Alladio and Tera Laho (1985 to 2005).
In the workshop: Bill Chapin, Dave Bamdas, Don Moyle, Gary Coffman, Glen Dilworth, Glenn Dickinson, Harry Klemm, Ken Stuart, Kenneth F. Klus, Ross Liberty, Steve Laham and Yeun-Junn Lin (1985 to 2005).
Running the sport: Amy Green, Biorn Tangeland, Bruce Stjernstrom, Francisco Pita, Jacque Bryant, Jean-Francois Modoux, Jim Russell, Joe Heim, Linda Mellor, Lou Peralta, Luca Filiberti, Patrick Mell, Sandor Vagott, Scott Frazier, Veljko Sukalo and Yves Van Heers (1985 to 2005).
Noise, safety and federal rules
1996 to 2002
Between 1996 and 2000 federal agencies addressed the craft in rules and a study. A 1996 emissions rule regulated new marine engines from the 1998 model year and described the older watercraft engines as mostly two-strokes with high exhaust emissions. A 1998 safety study reported deaths involving the craft rising while boating deaths overall fell, but only its summary pages were read, not the report. A 2000 Park Service rule closed park waters to the craft unless a park allowed them, and recorded visitors' noise complaints with no decibel figure in the parts read. The same rule notes that the industry's own trade association coined the name personal watercraft. The racing books kept their own sound limit: the 2002 IJSBA book allows 86 decibels measured 22.86 metres (75 feet) away, and later books keep it for most classes. None of the racing books held here, 2002 to 2026, mentions steering with the throttle closed (checked 2026-10-06).
Read the evidence in Sound and off-throttle steering
The rule book years
2002 to 2018
The oldest complete IJSBA rule book held dates from 2002, and the written rules can be followed from there. It divides racing into Ski, Sport and Runabout divisions and four tiers, Stock, Limited, Superstock and Modified, each allowing more changes than the last. A model could race once 500 identical units were built and sold, or 200 in the Ski Division; sources disagree on when that lower figure was dropped. By 2010 a route existed for makers building as few as 100, and horsepower-capped Lites classes had appeared. A change list posted for 2018, before it was ratified, proposed merging and replacing several classes. Freestyle, scored by judges, kept nearly the same judging rule in every held book while its machine rules grew. Endurance had its own section in 2002, with four kinds of start, one a run from the shore, and a longer runabout hull allowed for long-distance events.
Read the evidence in How the IJSBA classes changed, 2002 to 2025, Homologation, from race part to retail part, Freestyle as a discipline in the rule books and Endurance and offshore, by the rule book
People on record (73)
On the water: Bela Czeller, Billy Womack, Brian Baldwin, Chaowalit Kuajaroon, Chokuthit Molee, Chris Fischetti, Chris MacClugage, Craig Warner, Csaba Gerencser, Cyrille Lemoine, Dustin Farthing, Emi Kanamori, Eric Lagopoulos, Eric Malone, Erki Laiakask, Gyorgy Kasza, Janis Uzars, Jeremy Poret, Karine Paturel, Kevin Reiterer, Kim Bushong, Krista Uzare, Kylie Ellmers, Laszlo Sumegi, Laszlo Szabo, Lee Stone, Margus Kesküla, Markus Lutsokert, Mickael Poret, Mike Klippenstein, Mohammed Burbayea, Nicolas Rius, Rashid Al Mulla, Shawn Alladio, Stefania Balzer, Stian Schjetlein, Taiji Yamamoto, Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq and Yuki Kurahashi (2002 to 2018).
In the workshop: Arno Olbricht, Bill Chapin, CJ Lammers, Dave Bamdas, Glenn Dickinson, Greg Pickren, Harry Klemm, Ken Stuart, Lynn Bamdas, Nick Barton, Rick Roy, Steve Bamdas, Steve Laham and Yeun-Junn Lin (2002 to 2018).
Running the sport: Amy Green, Anibal Aliaga Swidin, Biorn Tangeland, Blake Corning, CarolAnne Giustina, Francisco Pita, Jacque Bryant, Jean-Francois Modoux, Jim Russell, Joe Heim, Linda Mellor, Lisa Dermott, Luca Filiberti, Mike Follmer, Patrick Mell, Ross Wallach, Sandor Vagott, Scott Frazier, Veljko Sukalo and Yves Van Heers (2002 to 2018).
Three rule books, 2021 to 2026
2021 to 2026
The IJSBA no longer publishes one book: its rule page links separate class documents dated from 2021 to 2025. A 2021 guide on that page disagrees with newer class documents on several limits, and both versions are printed rather than one chosen. The UIM and the IHRA each publish a single book for 2026, and the three set homologation counts of 500, 50 and 300 units, each measured differently. For long-distance racing the IJSBA now refers riders to another series' rules. In December 2024 the Great Lakes Watercross series stepped away from the IJSBA, giving reasons the chapter treats as its own claims, and joined the IHRA for 2026. The IJSBA announced a three-round World Series for 2026 and billed that year's Finals as the 45th. No document held here counts entries or attendance across years, so growth or decline is unmeasured; the Great Lakes series and a 2010 magazine report falling World Finals participation without a figure (checked 2026-10-06).
Read the evidence in The current state: three bodies, 2024 to 2026, How the IJSBA classes changed, 2002 to 2025, Homologation, from race part to retail part and Endurance and offshore, by the rule book
People on record (21)
On the water: Brian Baldwin, Csaba Gerencser, Dustin Farthing, Emma-Nellie Ortendahl, Gyorgy Kasza, Jeremy Poret, Jessica Chavanne, Kevin Reiterer, Mickael Poret, Rashid Al Mulla, Taiji Yamamoto and Yousef Al Abdulrazzaq (2021 to 2026).
In the workshop: CJ Lammers, Dave Bamdas, Greg Pickren and Rick Roy (2021 to 2026).
Running the sport: Algo Kuus, Luca Filiberti, Sandor Vagott, Scott Frazier and Veljko Sukalo (2021 to 2026).
Cite this page
“The eras of watercraft racing”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/racing/history/eras/
Add the date you read it.
5 eras · 1981 to 2026 · every panel drawn from the chapters it links