Kangaroo Lake Vintage Jetski Race Weekend
Over the weekend of 16 and 17 April 2021, the Victorian JetSki/PWC Association (VJSBA) hosted their first Vintage Jetski Race at Kangaroo Lake in Victoria, Australia.
Saturday: Preparation
Saturday dawned as a cold autumn day and the wind was brisk. This didn’t stop the riders from preparing their jetskis and getting their practice runs in, learning the course in preparation for Sunday: Race Day!
The wind was making the lake rough, and the riders found it almost impossible to build speed and manoeuvre their vintage Kawasaki 550 JetSkis. After the riders’ briefings, assessments and qualification “look laps”, a few withdrew while most soldiered on, ready for the chop.
Sunday: Race day
Sunday was race day with nerves running high. Thankfully the weather was better than Saturday.
Sadly, mechanical issues saw Angus Catts withdraw from the Vintage Jetski Class while on the start line. He was shattered.
Three Vintage Class riders remained: Travis Watt, Michael Seeary and Matthew Delaland. The flag dropped and Michael Seeary turned up the heat. He hit full throttle and got to the first buoy in the lead. Travis Watt was hot on his tail.
Michael miscalculated the next buoy, being penalized a lap, but Travis was ready to pounce. Matthew Delaland was in hot pursuit, before taking a fall on lap two and injuring his shoulder. The reg flag was waved and the race was not classified.
Travis Watt and Michael Seeary were the last riders standing. Race two was called. The flag dropped and away they went. This time, Travis got to the first buoy in front. However, in a reversal of roles from race one, he took the wrong side of a yellow buoy.
And the winner is...
While Travis crossed the line in first place with a commanding lead, the penalty cost him pole position. Michael Seeary emerged victorious in the Vintage Jetski Class.
Weekend wrap up
Overall it was a fantastic weekend and massive thanks have to go to Alex Youings. Alex put in a huge effort organizing the event and was not able to race himself as a result. Without the help of him and others, the weekend could not have gone ahead. They did an awesome job!
Bring on the next one. Keep up to date with all future JetSki/PWC events from VJSBA at http://www.vjsba.com/
Thanks to Travis Watt for his contribution to this race report (@wattsoffroad). Check out his video of the action:
