New to racing? Start here

The whole path into your first race, in the order you will meet it. Each step says what to do in a sentence or two. Open a step for the rules behind it and the pages that go further.

1. Watch a race before you enter one

Go and watch a race weekend first. You will see how the starts, the buoy course and the pits work before you have to do any of it yourself.
Step 1 in full

The archive keeps one record for each championship, tour and race it holds papers for. Each record says who runs it, where it is held, and which years the documents cover.
The IJSBA World Finals closes the IJSBA season every year at Lake Havasu City in Arizona, and IJSBA dates the first one to 1982, a year the archive's history of the event still treats as open. Press reports of the week describe daytime freestyle and an evening event under the London Bridge.
Away from Lake Havasu, P1 AquaX runs endurance racing in Britain and the United States, and the WGP#1 series held rounds in Japan, Belgium and Thailand in 2025.
If there is a charge to get in, the promoter sets it, not IJSBA, and IHRA warns that riders may also pay for the gate, parking or camping on top of entry. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.15.8) (IHRA V.20260603, D.5)
Not held: The archive holds no calendar of coming races and no document saying where spectators may stand or what a ticket costs.
2. Learn how races are split into classes

Riders are grouped so that similar machines race each other. The first split is standing up or sitting down. The next is how far a machine may be changed from the way the factory built it.
Step 2 in full

A stand-up machine races in the Ski division and a sit-down machine races in the Runabout division. IHRA also runs a Sport division and splits divisions further by engine size or engine type. (IHRA V.20260603, EE, Appendix A) (IHRA V.20260603, J.2)
IJSBA names six kinds of event: laps of a buoy course, timed slalom, judged freestyle, long-distance endurance, drag racing, and special events it approves in advance. (IJSBA Membership, event type definitions)
In IJSBA Stock and Limited classes a machine stays as the factory made it unless the class rules allow a change, and a part the rules never mention is not allowed. Limited builds on Stock, and Superstock builds on Limited. (IJSBA 2025, SSK.1.1 and RSS.1.1; IJSBA 2024, RAS.1.1; IJSBA 2022, RAL.1.1)
Grand Prix, Modified and Open classes allow a far longer list of changes. IHRA Freestyle turns the usual rule round: anything its list does not forbid is allowed. (IJSBA 2025, SKGP.1.1; IJSBA 2024, ROP.1.1) (IHRA V.20260603, CC.1)
The UIM grades its classes GP4, GP3, GP2 and GP1. The first three keep the machine stock apart from listed changes. GP1 carries no such clause and allows prototype machines. (UIM 2026, 501.01.01, 501.04 and 502.04)
Not held: None of the three rulebooks defines the words Stock, Limited, Modified or GP, so each is explained only through its own class rules.
3. Join a sanctioning body and get licensed

You race under the rules of one organising body, and each one decides who may enter. One issues a membership, one needs a national licence, and one sets its gates class by class.
1. 1
  
  Choose the race you want to enter
  
  The event records here are past editions, not a list of coming dates.
2. 2
  
  Ask its organiser who sanctions it
  
  The directory lists affiliates, promoters and clubs country by country.
3. 3
  
  That body's rulebook is the one you race under: IJSBA, UIM or IHRA
  
  If two bodies govern you at once, the stricter of their two answers is the one that binds you.
4. 4
  
  Find your class in that rulebook
5. 5
  
  Read its legality page
  
  Each body has its own list, and each page in it answers part by part.
The rulebook you race under comes from the event, not from where you live; your machine then decides where you fit inside that book. Start from the race, and each box leads to the next page to read.
How we know: Laid out from what the bodies page and the legality pages state, that the body sanctioning an event sets the rulebook for it: a route through this archive, not a rule of any one body.
Step 3 in full

IJSBA issues a Competition Membership. Its written policy is the United States one, offered as a model to affiliates elsewhere, and each affiliate may set its own, so a rider outside the United States checks with the local affiliate. (IJSBA Membership, opening policy statement)
A first-time IJSBA rider enters as a Beginner or a Novice. Beginner is for riders with three races or fewer, on Stock or Limited machines. IJSBA states plainly that these levels are not a test of skill. (IJSBA Membership, MEM.1.1, MEM.2.1 and MEM.3.1)
IJSBA sets 16 as the normal minimum age, with exceptions for the classes it calls Junior 10-12 year old Ski and Junior 13-15 year old Ski. IJSBA may allow riders as young as 8 in the 10-12 class, and the local affiliate gives the specific age requirements for each country. A birth certificate or passport proves age, and a parent or guardian signs a waiver for a rider under 18. (IJSBA Membership, MEM.1.2 and MEM.1.3)
The UIM needs an international licence from the rider's own national authority, good for one calendar year, and a signed risk disclaimer. Each national authority sets the price. The licence has no grades or levels. (UIM 2026, 107)
IHRA has a Beginner level for first-time racers on stock machines, for up to three events, and keeps Ski GP and Runabout GP for Expert and Pro riders. (IHRA V.20260603, C.2)
Not held: The archive holds no document giving the price of an IJSBA membership or a UIM national licence, or the forms used to apply for either.
4. Pick a machine your class allows

Each class says which machines may race in it, and some allow only one model. Read the class rules before buying a machine, not after.
Step 4 in full

Some classes take a single model. IJSBA Ski Stock is for the 1500cc Kawasaki SX-R with its factory hull, and IHRA Ski GP2 likewise takes only the SX-R 1500. (IJSBA 2025, SSK) (IHRA V.20260603, L)
The stand-up class a newcomer meets first is Ski Lites. IJSBA opens it only to the Kawasaki SX-R and the Yamaha SuperJet with two-stroke engines. The engine may be bored, to a maximum of 850cc, and the exhaust system must stay stock as the manufacturer supplied it, apart from an insert narrowing the stinger and cooling lines added to that insert. A complete aftermarket pipe is none of those things. (IJSBA 2024, SKL.1, SKL.3.1 and SKL.3.6)
Entry-level runabout classes name their machines outright. IJSBA Runabout Rec Lites takes the Sea-Doo Spark and the Yamaha EX in all years but not the EXR. IHRA Runabout Lites takes the same two and adds the 2025 and later Yamaha JetBlaster DLX models. (IJSBA 2022, RRL) (IHRA V.20260603, AA)
Rec Lites also caps the machine's list price, but IJSBA's own documents disagree on the figure: 10,000 US dollars in the class rules, 8,500 in the 2021 Displacement Guide. (IJSBA 2022, RRL and the 2021 Displacement Guide)
A part that fits is not automatically legal. IHRA allows repairs and like-for-like parts only when they give no gain in performance, and its inspectors decide on the day whether a change complies. (IHRA V.20260603, J.7 and J.1)
The archive's model reference lists machines by make and year, and the legality section sets out what each class allows, rule by rule.
Not held: The archive does not hold the IJSBA model homologation list that several runabout classes depend on, or the IHRA lists of approved aftermarket hulls, so it cannot say which models those classes accept.
5. Get the safety gear the rulebooks require

All three bodies require a helmet and a life jacket, and back protection at least for stand-up racing. The details differ from book to book, so check the one you race under before buying.
Step 5 in full

IJSBA wants a full-coverage helmet with chin and mouth protection meeting DOT and Snell standards. Bicycle, BMX and plastic helmets are banned. Freestyle riders do not need one while competing. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.7.3)
The IJSBA life jacket is Type I or Type III, worn the whole time on the water, and inflatable ones are banned. Stand-up riders outside freestyle also wear back protection that cannot soak up water. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.7.2 and GEN.7.4)
The UIM wants a helmet at least two thirds bright orange, red or yellow, replaced every five years or after a crash, plus a certified life jacket, back protector, gloves, closed shoes and a long wetsuit. Runabout riders add leg protection. (UIM 2026, 506.01, 506.02, 506.03 and 506.06)
IHRA requires a full-face helmet in a highly visible colour, a Type I or III life jacket, goggles or a face shield, and footwear. Ski and endurance riders wear back protection no thicker than 45 mm. (IHRA V.20260603, I.7, I.8, I.10, I.13 and I.14)
In all three books an official can turn away a helmet judged unsafe or below the standard, whatever the label says. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.7.5) (UIM 2026, 506.07) (IHRA V.20260603, I.7)
- Equipment and scrutineering
- Starting-out gear (shop)
Not held: No held rulebook names a safety standard for gloves or footwear, checked 2026-10-02 across every text the archive holds, so the archive cannot say which products meet those two rules.
6. Get through race weekend and tech inspection

On race day you sign in, go to the riders meeting, and have your machine checked before it goes on the water. Your race number has to be easy to read.
1. 1
  
  Sign in
2. 2
  
  Safety check and riders meeting
3. 3
  
  Start and race the motos
4. 4
  
  Inspection, results, prizes
Race day in four stages. Each one opens the same point in the full order, where every step carries the rule behind it.
Step 6 in full

Under IHRA an entry counts only once it is sent in and paid. Every rider, mechanic and crew member then checks in, signs a liability waiver and wears the event wristband in the pits. (IHRA V.20260603, D.2 and D.9)
Every machine must pass a safety check before it races, and under IHRA a pass earns a decal. That check does not decide whether the machine is legal for its class. The top three finishers are usually stripped down after the race to settle that. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.8.10) (IHRA V.20260603, J.3.1 and J.3.3)
The riders meeting is compulsory under both IJSBA and IHRA. It covers the course and the flags, and under IJSBA it is where the type of start for that venue is explained. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.6.3 and GEN.1.1) (IHRA V.20260603, E.4)
IHRA wants digits at least seven inches tall on both sides of the machine, in a colour that stands out. The UIM sets black Arial Black digits on white, at least 22 cm tall. IJSBA splits them, with the placement in an appendix drawing and the figures in its scoring document, digits at least 18 cm on a background 20 cm high, coloured by rider classification, black on orange for Novice, black on yellow for Expert and black on white for Pro. (IHRA V.20260603, D.7.1 and D.7.2) (UIM 2026, 206) (IJSBA Scoring 2025, SCOR.8.1 to SCOR.8.3)
In the pits, fuel cans are red, marked, and kept at least 15 feet from any flame, and each rider or crew keeps a dry chemical fire extinguisher close at hand. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.11.3 and GEN.12.5)
Not held: The archive holds no sample race-day timetable, because IJSBA leaves the running order to each promoter and no held document prints one, checked 2026-10-02. The UIM book requires a timetable to be presented at the riders briefing and does not print one either.
7. Race fairly and learn how results are scored

Race hard but clean, because blocking and reckless riding are punished. A result comes from adding up your finishes across several short races, called motos.
Step 7 in full

IJSBA and IHRA both let officials punish a rider who blocks a faster machine on purpose, and the UIM can penalise unsportsmanlike behaviour. IJSBA counts conduct off the water as well as on it. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.10.4 and GEN.10.3) (IHRA V.20260603, G.4) (UIM 2026, 406.03)
A rider who falls or stalls raises a hand to show they are unhurt and waits for officials. Help from anyone else on the course can cost a lap. A rider about to be lapped moves over for the leader. (IJSBA General Rules, GEN.10.8, GEN.10.9 and GEN.10.10) (IHRA V.20260603, G.4)
IHRA series use one of two systems. In Olympic scoring first place is one point and the lowest total wins. In moto points a closed-course win is worth 60 and the highest total wins. (IHRA V.20260603, F, F.1, F.2 and F.7)
The UIM gives 25 points for a moto win, down to 1 point for 20th, and adds every moto together without dropping a bad one. (UIM 2026, 308.02 and 308.03)
Results go up as provisional first. Under IHRA a rider has 30 minutes from the posting to lodge a protest, and after that the results stand. (IHRA V.20260603, F.8.2)
Not held: The archive holds no document stating what a protest costs under IHRA, and the IHRA book publishes no penalty schedule by offence, so neither can be quoted here.

Words on this page (43)

affiliate: A national or regional organisation that runs racing under a sanctioning body’s rules by agreement with it. IJSBA’s General Rules apply at every IJSBA and IJSBA affiliate sanctioned event, which is how one rulebook reaches races the association does not run itself.
Aftermarket Part: A part that replaces an original one or is used in addition to it, and is not limited to providing the same function as its OEM counterpart. That is the 2010 glossary saying plainly what the 2002 one implied.
BEGINNER: The IJSBA entry class for new riders, open to Novice competitors with three or fewer races behind them. A rider racing a series may stay in Beginner for the whole series; otherwise they must enter as Novice from their fourth race. Beginner-class riders may race Stock or Limited craft.
Blocking: Deliberately getting in a faster rider's way to hold or take a position. The IHRA book lists it as a prohibited manoeuvre and leaves the penalty to the Race Director.
Blue Flag: The flag shown to a rider who is about to be overtaken by a faster competitor, and who must yield to let the pass happen safely.
Buoy course: A race course marked out on open water by anchored buoys that riders must steer around. The rulebooks use the phrase in passing, for the slalom and for the tight courses of closed-course racing, whose formal names are slalom and closed course.
CLOSED-COURSE EVENT: An IJSBA event type. A contest of speed and riding ability with several competitors racing multiple laps of a course of left and right-hand turns, which may carry obstacles such as log jumps or ramps.
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.
DRAG-RACING EVENT: An IJSBA event type. A timed single-elimination or bracket-elimination contest over a set distance.
ENDURANCE EVENT: An IJSBA event type. A long-distance race of more than one lap, which may or may not include required turns.
EXPERT: The IJSBA rank above Novice, for riders whose skill has passed Novice level. A rider may ask to be moved up to Pro or back to Novice, and the association may move them either way on its own judgement.
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.
Homologation: Official approval of a model of craft, or of a part, as eligible to race under a body's rules. The terms vary by body and year; the 2002 IJSBA book wanted at least 500 identical units on sale (200 for the Ski Division), the 2026 UIM book wants at least 50 built and a homologation certificate for its GP4, GP3 and GP2 championships and a UIM logbook for a GP1 prototype, and the current IJSBA books also homologate aftermarket hulls.
Inspection Decal: The sticker technical officials put on a craft once it has passed safety and compliance inspection. IHRA requires one on every craft competing at the event and says seals and decals must not be tampered with, while its disqualification clause names a rider who removes, attempts to alter or reuses a seal without the consent of the Technical Director or Race Director.
Lake Havasu City: The town in Arizona where the IJSBA World Finals are held.
lanyard: The tether that connects the rider to the lanyard-type engine stop switch, so that the engine stops if the rider is separated from the craft. IJSBA GEN.8.9 and IHRA J.6 require the switch on every watercraft except those used in freestyle competition, and IHRA wants the lanyard fastened to the rider's vest or wrist, never wrapped around the handlebars or any other part of the craft. IJSBA does not allow modifications to the lanyard-type engine stop switch, using tape, wire or any other material, that the rider or pit crew can remove during or immediately after a competition event; IHRA treats any modification that disables or impedes the engine stop function as grounds for penalties or disqualification at the Race Director's discretion. Under IJSBA GEN.4, a rider who jumps the start and causes a restart must restart in the same position with a dead engine, standing or sitting upright, with the lanyard removed from the engine stop switch and held with the arm extended overhead, and may connect it and start the engine only after the green flag is waved or the starting gate is tripped.
Licence: A rider's permission to race. In the UIM book it is an international licence issued by the rider's national authority, without which nobody enters a UIM race; in the IJSBA and IHRA books, which spell it license, it names a skill level, as in the Expert or Pro license that the fastest classes recommend or require, and IJSBA issues it as a competition membership.
Life jacket: The everyday name for the PFD, and the one the IHRA and UIM books use most. IHRA requires a Coast Guard approved Type I or III worn at all times on the water, or a Jettribe competition race vest that is SGS buoyancy certified, with a whistle attached in endurance racing.
MEM: The rule prefix of the IJSBA Competition Membership document. It issues memberships at three classifications, Novice, Expert and Pro, builds the Beginner, Amateur and Pro-Am classes from riders holding them, and sets out the event types a membership covers.
Moto: A single race in a multi-race scoring format. Under the IJSBA moto scoring system the same watercraft must be used in all motos, although the Race Director may authorize a backup craft that meets class and safety rules when the first is damaged or will not run.
Moto Scoring System: A scoring format in which a rider’s finishing positions across the heats are added together and the lowest score wins.
NOVICE: The IJSBA rank for riders with minimal racing experience, and where a first-time competitor starts if not in Beginner. Novices may not enter Open, Modified or GP classes that allow supercharged or turbocharged runabouts.
Olympic Scoring: An IHRA scoring format in which a rider takes one point for first place, two for second and so on, the points from every race are added together, and the lowest total ranks highest. Regional series traditionally use it where national championships use moto points.
Original Equipment: The parts installed on each model of watercraft at the time of manufacture, also called OE or OEM. The IJSBA Glossary of Terms defines it in the rule books held for 2002, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 and the 2015 draft, and the current class documents send the reader to that glossary for Replacement and Replica only.
PFD: Personal flotation device, the buoyancy vest every racer must wear whenever on the water. IJSBA asks for one that meets local rules, typically US Coast Guard Type I or III, and bars inflatable ones; UIM asks for a jacket designed for racing and certified to EN ISO 12402-5:2020 or meeting the current national authority standards.
Replacement Part: A non-original part used to replace an original one, limited to providing only what its OEM counterpart provides. The 2002 glossary limits it to the function; the 2010 glossary lengthens that to the dimensions, performance and function, and the books since repeat it.
Riders Meeting: A meeting for all competitors at an event, held at an announced time and place and run by the Race Director or an appointed official, at which the course and flags are described. Attendance is mandatory under IJSBA rules, and riders who miss it or arrive late can be penalized. The IJSBA general rules name it as where exceptions on restart entry and log-jump penalties are stated and where specially coloured buoys are explained.
Runabout: A personal watercraft with a seat, ridden sitting down, and the division that races such craft. The IHRA book describes the runabout class as sit-down watercraft of a larger size and engine capacity than stand-up models, and UIM defines runabouts as craft for one or more people with a seat; IJSBA also keeps a separate Sport division beside its Ski and Runabout divisions.
Runabout Lites: IHRA entry-level runabout class, section AA. It takes the Sea-Doo Spark of all years, the Yamaha EX of all years except the EXR, JetBlaster and 2025 JetBlaster Pro, and the Yamaha JetBlaster DLX and DLX 3-Up of 2025 and later.
Runabout Rec Lites: An IJSBA Stock Class for runabouts intended for the entry level recreation market, open to the Sea-Doo Spark and the Yamaha EX but not the EXR. The current class rules set a list-price ceiling of 10,000 US dollars and name those two models as eligible as of January 1, 2021; the 2018 class rules and the 2018 Displacement Guide set the ceiling at 8,500.
sanctioning body: The organisation that writes the rulebook, licenses the riders and sanctions the events run under it; the IJSBA glossary defines a sanction as an agreement between the IJSBA or an affiliate and a promoter. Besides the IJSBA, UIM and IHRA books, the archive held national rules from Estonia's EJML and Hungary's MJSZ as of 2026-10-07.
Ski Division: The division for stand-up craft, ridden by one person standing and steered with a pivoting handle pole. IJSBA runs it beside its Sport and Runabout divisions and UIM beside its Runabout division, each division with its own classes, and IJSBA lets a rider hold a different skill level in Ski than in Runabout or Sport.
Ski Division GP4: A UIM Ski Division category for stock aquabikes, meant to let riders compete with relatively modest investment and maintenance costs, open to atmospheric four-strokes of up to 1100cc.
Ski GP1: The top technical ski class in the UIM’s division, which caps an atmospheric two-stroke at 1300cc, an atmospheric four-stroke at 1630cc and a turbocharged four-stroke at 1000cc.
Ski GP2: The IHRA stand-up class written for the Kawasaki SX-R 1500, set out in section L of the IHRA rulebook. The section's own text calls it Ski Stock in one place.
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.
Ski Stock: An IJSBA ski class pitched at a baseline level, exclusively for the 1500cc-based Kawasaki SX-R, on which junior competitors must use an approved restrictor plate.
SLALOM EVENT: An IJSBA event type. A timed run in which one competitor negotiates zig-zag left and right-hand turns around stationary markers.
SPECIAL EVENT: An IJSBA event type covering any watercraft event that meets its technical requirements and is not hazardous, with obstacle races, relay races and Australian Pursuit given as examples. The promoter may determine such an event, but prior approval from the IJSBA is required.
Stand-up: A personal watercraft built for one rider who stands on it and steers with a pivoting handle pole. Rulebooks race these in the Ski division; the IHRA book uses stand-up as its plain word for the craft, in its Ski class rules and its drag classes.
Teardown: The post-race disassembly of a watercraft selected for technical inspection, carried out by the rider or the rider's mechanic as far as the Technical Director requires, so that any part can be checked against the class rules. IHRA typically selects the first three finishers in each class, names the number at the riders meeting, and a technical violation found then costs the rider the points for the whole event.
Technical inspection: The officials' check that a craft and the rider's safety gear meet the class rules, held before racing and repeated on chosen craft afterwards. A craft that fails can be kept off the water or lose its result.
World Finals: The IJSBA’s annual championship, run at Lake Havasu City.

Not sure which class fits you? Which class is for me? asks a few plain questions and answers with the classes the rulebooks allow.

7 steps · every rule cited

New to racing? Start here

1. Watch a race before you enter one

2. Learn how races are split into classes

3. Join a sanctioning body and get licensed

4. Pick a machine your class allows

5. Get the safety gear the rulebooks require

6. Get through race weekend and tech inspection

7. Race fairly and learn how results are scored