SULPHUR SPRINGS, TX: After months of anticipation and preparation Jettribe was proud to share with the local community what watercraft racing is all about. The Jettribe Texas WaterX State Championship took place July 24 - 25th at Lake Coleman, and Jettribe was excited for the city to host over 300 racers and their families. Jettribe has much appreciation to the Sulphur Springs EDC for extending a relocation incentive to their company back in 2019. In partnership with Nauti Water Racing and Justin Smith (Region 5 promoter), Jettribe was able to put together an IJSBA World Finals qualifying race to showcase both the sport to the local community, and also show off the city to the riders from across the US who travelled here for the race.

This inaugural event had one of the largest turnouts in Texas watercraft racing history. The staff of Nauti Water Racing put together a challenging racecourse. The city of Sulphur Springs Tourism Department Joey Baker and Jerry Maynard with Parks & Rec went beyond the call of duty to prepare the race site for the event. From clearing a tremendous amount of brush to keeping the lawn manicured, and also hauling in beach sand for the starting line shore. The course was a traditional left-hand turn with the splits parallel to the dam for the spectators to enjoy the race action. Coleman Park is an ideal race venue with ample shore for racers and spectators to enjoy the day. Spectators were treated to a special freestyle performance by Daniel Martin aka the “Freestyle Guru,” along with a team of Free Riders to show the crowd their gravity-defying stunts.

The weather was challenging but it did not hinder the energy and vibe at the race site. Jettribe states many thanks again to the local vendors for offering delicious treats, great BBQ, home goods, and even e-Foil electric surfboards. The e-foil demos on the water really wowed the crowd. Jettribe also thanks the local business services for setting up booths to speak with the community at the race site.

A special highlight of the weekend was Wyland Reden from the Jettribe International Travel Team who flew in from California for the race. His impression was “I met a bunch of people and all of them treated me as if they have known me my whole life. Texas people are some of the nicest people I have ever met.” Since the Jettribe 1500 SXR was experiencing tech issues, fellow Jettribe teammate Brian Snyder graciously let Wyland use his ski. Wyland said “To my surprise he had his throttle on the opposite side. I have seen many throttle modifications but nothing like this. So every time we had to ride the ski, we switched the throttle. My first race went very well, I had an amazing start and won the race after battling for it with one of the locals. In the second race I used the new 2021 Superjet and won that too! I also took 1st in the next two motos, even though I was having a very hard time riding the ski.”

Your hometown racer Jettribe Junior Rider Andrew Vo raced his new SuperJet for only the 3rd time against some highly experienced junior competition from all around the mid-USA. Javier Falcon, one of the top beginner junior riders in Texas, battled it out with Andrew during each moto. Longtime friends and sponsored riders the Poper family trekked in from New Mexico, having just raced back-to-back in the Mid-America race in Kansas the weekend before. Finally of note Brian Snyder continued his domination of the Beginner Ski category. Official race results, along with the State Championship winner summary, will be released soon.

Jettribe extends a huge thanks for all the backend support and race promotion from KSST Radio, Jennifer Littlefield & Deanne Dial for volunteering their time to help with the gruelling race set-up and organization, Joey Baker, Jerry Maynard, Marc Maxwell, and the City of Sulphur Springs for their support of the event and site preparation, the Clarion Pointe Hotel for hosting the sold-out race crowd, Muddy Jake’s for serving the hungry race crew at the official after-party, and finally all this would not happen without the hard work of Terry Hiebert, Justin Smith, and the staff of Nauti Water Racing for making all the moving parts in this great event possible.