PWC – Racing Close-Up: Troubled Waters?
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series on the current state of personal watercraft racing in the United States. This issue, we focus on several of the challenges facing the sport. Next issue, we’ll look at some of the solutions in the works and the reasons for continued optimism.
The 2004 IJSBA World Finals are now in the history books, but the question about where PWC racing is headed in the future remains ever present. Almost an entire year without a professional, nationwide tour on U.S. soil has come and gone, and while the World Finals certainly served to whet hardcore fans thirst for more, there still appears to be no concrete news of a pending 2005 tour on the horizon. Given the surging popularity of other forms of motorized racing (NASCAR and Supercross being prime examples), and the explosive growth recorded by other watersports like wakeboarding, many in the industry have been left to ask why PWC racing continues to languish.
Longtime champion Victor Sheldon expressed the concern of many in the industry during a recent interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune. “The market we are targeting is much the same people that are fans of Supercross and motocross,” said Sheldon. “But Supercross and motocross get bigger and bigger while we just go along. It’s crazy. Every time my sport starts to get some steam, something happens.”
It certainly does. It seems as through every time it seemed like the future was bright for PWC racing, someone or something seemed to dim the lights.
Why? That’s the $64,000 question.
MORE MONEY, LESS EXCITEMENT
“There’s no simple answer,” says Sea-Doo’s Tim McKercher. “It’s a plethora of reasons.”
One that continues to rise to the surface, however, is cost. Off the record, numerous industry insiders will say the single biggest reason for the sport’s decline in popularity is that it became, in one observer’s words, a “big peter contest” to the manufacturers involved. Each OEM began to throw money at their race teams with no clear long-term plans. “(The sport) didn’t take a natural progression,” says McKercher. “It happened too fast, they threw money in it too fast, and then they took that money away too fast. It was just a huge peak. Throwing the money in brought it to a level that it wasn’t ready to be, and then the racing itself couldn’t support the level the manufacturers were putting into it. So then everybody pulled out, big time. Whereas if they went in slow it might have built, rather than just going in all at once then pulling the carpet out from under everybody.”
As the market evolved into more of a recreational slant in the late ’90s, manufacturers also continued to push high-end watercraft as the race vehicles of choice. These more technical machines cost more to buy, cost more to modify, and cost more to maintain.
“It just became so unaffordable for people to race,” explains Sean Dishman, a one-time racer turned successful promoter who has now segued into a role as the Director of Sales at World Sports and Marketing, the people mostly responsible for the success of the Pro Wakeboard Tour. “You have to have 15-20 grand to blow to even be competitive in the Limited Class. By the time you travel, race, and there’s no prize money and you have all this money built up in your boat, it’s just not worth it.”
Many also feel that the actual racing has failed to evolve with time. “The tracks themselves haven’t evolved since 1985,” says McKercher. “A few times there was a ramp put in here or there, but then people would bitch because their boats would break. If a motocross guy takes a triple and breaks his forks, they don’t mow down the jump, they make a better bike.”
Changes that have been made have often proved more confusing to the same audience the sport was trying to attract. Although popularly received by some in the industry, the recent World Finals course was exceptionally large, and featured buoys in as many as five different colors. Many spectators, as well as even some racers, had a hard time discerning what was what. Courses also lack the thrill aspect of sports like Supercross, with few if any jumps or obstacles to appease a generation raised on video game and X Games action, and often fail to place the action front and center for spectators.
“If I was a race promoter, my philosophy would be if it doesn’t fit on a football field, it’s too big,” says McKercher. “Bring ramps in, make lanes, make it easier for spectators to watch and more fun for racers to participate in. If you keep doing the same things you’re going to keep having the same results.”
THE OLD GUARD
And then there’s the simple argument that racing became, dare we say, boring. As many industry observers have pointed out over the years, a sport that features water, beaches, and people in bathing suits should be an almost no-brainer formula for TV success. Instead, PWC languished on late-night cable. Again, the blame is partly shared by both the boats and the course.
“Usually what happens is that somebody gets into first and that’s the whole race,” laments Dishman. “Everyone was on such a big boat there was no room to pass. It became less of a physical challenge, and more of an equipment challenge.
“That was probably a big part of the downfall of the whole sport. It relied less and less on the ability to ride well, and more and more on just having the right equipment.”
Perhaps the most troubling aspect, however, is the lack of grooming for future stars. “You know, I shouldn’t be in this sport right now,” Sheldon told Watercraft World magazine. “I think the window for a professional athlete should be about five years. I’ve been in this sport for 15 years now and I’ve been in the window for 15 years. There should be new people coming up and pushing the old guys.”
Problem is, that’s easier said than done. Aspiring motocross and wakeboard stars can find places to ride almost as soon as they’re out of diapers. By law, most public waterways keep kids off PWC until their 16 years of age. “A huge part of the problem with watercraft is that there is no class or way to groom the future athletes of tomorrow,” says Dishman. “And there was never any kind of skis made for kids.”
It’s a valid point. Go to the nearest motocross or snocross race and one of the most entertaining events is watching the kids scamper around the course on their little mini-me replicas of the big boys’ toys. Even auto racing has go-karts as a training ground. Kid-sized PWC, however, would require the construction of private lakes or PWC-only parks. Still, motorcycles and snowmobiles have done just that, and the throngs have come. Could PWC racing do the same?
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
In the end, the reasons for the lack of a clear-cut future are many. The ever-escalating costs to compete, the push into the runabout class rather than sticking with the excitement of stand-ups, the change in the market from a more performance orientation to a more family-oriented, recreational pursuit. More affordable classes would entice more people into the sport for sure, but can the kids of today identify with a sport whose icons are now pushing into their 30s? There are young stars nearly everywhere in wakeboarding, motocross, snowboarding, skateboarding. Meanwhile, guys like Victor Sheldon and Chris MacClugage are old enough to be fathers.
And even if the next generation could be attracted into the sport, could they be groomed early enough for success?
The jury on all of the above is still out.
