Monthly Archives: July 2012

THE INTREPID COTTAGER: PWC LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY

31 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Being an experienced PWC rider, I’m embarrassed to screw up. But this blog is like reality TV – you get to see the smart and not so smart. Hope I don’t qualify for the latter category too often! And just so you don’t think every riding day goes perfectly for me, here’s one I’d rather forget…

I had just finished a perfect Sea-Doo tour when I learned three important lessons about trailering and launching. I had loaded my 2011 RXT  iS 260 and GTX iS 215 Sea-Doo PWC’s back on to my 2-bed trailer at the launch and started to pull it ahead out of the water. I must have pushed the accelerator pedal on my tow vehicle too forcefully, because I heard a distinct “pop” behind, followed by a sickening swoosh of pressured air bubbling up through the water. Apparently, the underwater part of the ramp had a lip on it that scrunched my tire when it hit too hard.

So lessons one and two: always scout a launch carefully before launching so you know what it’s like. And pull out gradually (in 4-wheel drive if you have it) to avoid hard impacts like this one that actually bent the wheel rim slightly where it meets the tire rubber. Seal broken, no more air.

As usual, bad things come in three’s. I confidently pulled out my properly sized lug wrench and fully inflated spare, only to discover that the tire was the right size, but on the wrong rim. It’s tough to replace a 5-holer with four-holer! Need I say more about Lesson three? Always check your spare carefully for fit and size (and correct pressure)!

Fortunately, I quickly found a local garage that banged my rim back into shape and it was as good as new for the 180-kilometre (112 mile) drive home. The next day, I picked up the right spare. Talk to you next time!

For more information about the Intrepid Cottager, visit: http://www.intrepidcottager.com/

MUST HAVE OF THE MONTH: Sea-Doo MOVE™ PWC Trailer with iCATCH™

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

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When it comes to personal watercraft, the real fun starts in the water. But how can you get there faster and easier? BRP’s Move Trailer Family surpasses the competition with never seen before industry firsts that allow consumers to spend less time on the ramp and more time in the water. Safe, fast and simple to use, the Sea-Doo MOVE Trailer lineup includes 7 trailers (5 simple and 2 double) build to fulfill every one of your needs and your budget.

The Sea-Doo MOVE I with iCatch™ makes getting on, and off, the water safe, fast and simple.  The automatic iCatch and release system uses a quick-snap handle built into the handle support system that offers resistance free watercraft manipulation,  loading and unloading.  While at the ramp, you can unload your PWC in 4 simple steps:

Sea-Doo MOVE iCatch System

-Release the safety lock on the front of the watercraft.

-Get on your watercraft and get ready to go.

-Unlatch the iCatch handle.  This will release the watercraft so it can easily glide off the premium roller ball system and into the water.

-Ride off and spend the day on the water!

It is just that easy!  After you have spent the day on the water, loading your watercraft back onto the trailer is just as simple.

-Position your trailer at the ramp.

-Ride your watercraft onto the trailer, the roller balls will glide your PWC to its intended position.

-Fasten the safety lock on the front.

-Fasten the safety lock on the front of the watercraft.

-Drive off the ramp and soon you will be on your way!

The Sea-Doo MOVE I with iCatch™ carries a single watercraft and the Sea-Doo MOVE II is a double trailer system.  The Sea-Doo Move I also includes a premium version that includes iCatch and  a Walk pad guidance system that allows you to conveniently walk around the trailer to easily access your PWC. Visible under water, the walk pad system doubles as a guidance system for trouble free mooring process.

All Sea-Doo trailers include fully adjustable carpeted bunks (side-to-side and front-to-back) that allow you to change the bunk angles to fit all PWCs.  The custom frame design requires less water to load and unload watercraft, include leaf spring or torsions suspension, and come in galvanized or black painted options.

CLICK HERE to download a brochure with additional information on the Sea-Doo MOVE trailer family.

 

X-TEAM TUESDAY – SNYDER AND BALDWIN GIVE SEA-DOO 1-1 WIN IN PRO STOCK AND PRO OPEN AT VIRGINIA NATIONAL

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Racers Troy Snyder and Brian Baldwin gave the Sea-Doo X-TEAM the first double win of the season in the premier PRO Stock and PRO Open classes on their respective Sea-Doo RXP-X watercraft.

The two privateers were not alone on the podium following the IJSBA Virginia National racing event as fellow X-TEAM racers Erminio Iantosca took the second position in Pro Stock aboard his RIVA Racing backed Sea-Doo RXP-X.  For the first time during the 2012 IJSBA National Racing Tour two riders from the same manufacturer finished 1-1 in these hotly contested classes.

Snyder overcame a start/stop button setback in moto one to win motos two and three to take his second overall win of the season on his Neptune Racing prepared RIVA backed Sea-Doo RXP-X. Snyder now leads the overall championship points race after five rounds of the seven event series.

“I have to give special thanks to my tuner Bo Dupriest, Tim Judge, RIVA, and my strength coach Jimmy Stratton for preparing me for this weekend,” said Snyder following his win. “I am getting faster every week on my Sea-Doo RXP-X and we are in a good position to win this PRO Stock Championship!”

 

Baldwin in the X-TEAM Pit after his PRO OPEN win

North Carolina’s Brian Baldwin claimed his first PRO Open win of the season, besting the competitive OEM factory supported riders aboard his Champion Powersports backed Sea-Doo RXP-X watercraft. Baldwin finished 1-4-2 in his three motos that proved to be the most consistent of the weekend and earning him the overall PRO Open win. Baldwin looks to have fully adjusted to the new Sea-Doo RXP-X and will be a threat for the podiums top spot for the remaining race events of the season.

Both riders qualified for the Sea-Doo Bounty racer contingency program as Snyder earned an extra $500 from BRP and Baldwin earned an extra $600 from the ONLY racer contingency program in the industry.

Both riders will be featured guests on the Liquidspeedradio.com on-line radio show with host Brian Smith Tuesday night, July 24, 2012 during the Sea-Doo X-TEAM Hour starting at 8 PM EST. Both riders will discuss their weekend wins and what it takes to finish in first aboard their Sea-Doo RXP-X watercraft.

Sea-Doo Test Ride Tour – Dewey Beach, Delaware – Hear What Drivers Said.

19 Thursday Jul 2012

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The Sea-Doo Test Ride Tour STOPPED in Dewey Beach, Delaware July 13-15. Riders flocked to the event and enjoyed the revolutionary braking system on Sea-Doo watercraft and the advanced technologies of Sea-Doo boats.  The Test Ride Tour is headed to Milwaukee, Wis., and Brookfield, Conn. this weekend, July 20-22.  To view the remaining 2012 Test Ride Tour dates and locations and to register for your personalized time to Test Ride visit www.seadoodemo.com

SHE-DOO on Buying Boat Insurance

17 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Insurance…a wise and necessary investment.  As I continue on my path to boat ownership, I want to ensure that my  Sea-Doo boat will be covered in the case of an accident so I started my research and learned some very interesting facts!

Boat insurance is very similar to home or car insurance.  A boat policy will cover the boat for liability if someone is injured, coverage for damage that my boat inflicts on others (docks, boats, etc.) or coverage for physical damage for my boat if I were to hit something or run aground.  If I want more comprehensive coverage I would need to purchase an additional policy (theft, fire, flood, etc.).

One of the first things I learned is that there are two different types of policies: Agreed Value and Market Value.

-Agreed Value: the insurer and insuree agree on the value of the boat upfront, sort of like the sticker price on a car.  If something happens to the boat, then you would be reimbursed for the agreed value.

-Market Value: market value is for the actual market value of the boat.  If I purchase market value, the insurance company will depreciate the boat as time passes.

I chose to quote Agreed Value, since the boat will be brand new and I will be financing the boat. I also opted to include my trailer and marine electronics in my policy. This raised the rate a bit, but gives me much greater peace of mind knowing that my investment will be fully protected.

We went over the discounts available and I receive a few such as boaters license discount, original owner and I intend to pay in full.  I checked with my home insurance company and they offer a recreational vehicle option, but found a more competitive rate with another insurer.  Most companies will offer discounts when bundling insurance, but my insurance company’s discount did not mirror the rates I received with another company.

I found some excellent on-line resources that helped to educate me on the process including:

Discoverboating.com

Boatingmag.com

Sportfishingmag.com

Many companies offer marine insurance. My recommendation is to check with your home owner’s or auto insurance provider first as well as doing some competitive analysis.  Some of the most well-know carriers include: Progressive, Boat US, Allstate, Geico and State Farm.

Any insurance words of wisdom?  Any pitfalls or good things that you have experienced?  All advise welcome!

SHE DOO is actually Mrs. JA and she is indeed a full-time, working mom of three and is quickly being immersed into the boating life. She will be taking an everyday consumer approach to the entire boat buying process. SHE DOO will be a ongoing segment at OnBoard taking you with her along the journey as she progresses through the process of looking for the right boat, purchasing the right boat, learning the proper boating procedures and operations, real life experiences on the water with her family and everything else there is to know about making the most out of the boating experience and the Sea-Doo LIFE. Her immediate thoughts are how to entertain her 17, 15 and 10 year olds and friends as she sees them being on the water as a much better alternative than them being on the streets.

 

 

Introducing the new How-To video series for Sea-Doo Boats

13 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in Sea-Doo Lifestyle, Technologies

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Are you a new, or veteran, Sea-Doo boat owner with questions on some of the boat functionality?  Ever wished for a short “How To” video to help you beach your boat, how to operate the Intelligent Throttle and Control (iTC) system or how to set Ski Mode?

Your wish has been granted…introducing the new How-To video series for Sea-Doo boats.

Be the first to view the how-to videos and see the new things you can learn to help you enjoy your summer on the water! Some examples of videos you will find in the How-To series:

  • -Overview of the dashboard and controls for each boat
  • -How to use the new Weedless system
  • -How to use specific Intelligent Throttle Control (iTC) modes – such as Docking and Ski Mode

We have a full line up of videos, in both English and French, that represent all of the boats in our line up:

-Sea-Doo WAKE 210 and 230 Boats (English) (Français)

-Sea-Doo 230 Boats (English) (Français)

-Sea-Doo 210 Boats (English) (Français)

-Sea-Doo 180 Boats (English) (Français)

-Sea-Doo 150 Boats (English) (Français)

After viewing all of the How To videos, you should be an expert on your boat and all of the exciting technologies.

 

 

 

 

 

Sea-Doo Test Ride Tour Stop–Lake of the Ozarks, Osage Beach

12 Thursday Jul 2012

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The Sea-Doo Test Ride Tour stopped in the “SHOW ME” state of Missouri and popular boating destination Lake of the Ozarks. Guest of Yacht Club Marine experience the newest Sea-Doo product and were able to test drive the iControl technology first hand.

To register for a Test Ride in your area visit http://www.seadoodemo.com

International DJ Dan D-Noy Shares his Passion for Sea-Doo’s RXP-X 260 on Summer Session 2012

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

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The internationally renowned DJ Dan D-Noy, has selected the new Sea-Doo RXP-X 260 as a cover for his new album “Summer Session 2012”. We took the opportunity to ask him a couple of questions about his impressive career.

1.     With a career that spans more than 25 years, can you tell us your proudest moment?

Three years ago I was given a Diamond Album Award for 1 million albums sold during the span of my career.

2.     What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome to get to where you are at?

The many comments and discouragement over the illegal downloading and comments about our industries instability regarding technological changes.  In the end, it’s about listening and having the ability to adapt…at least, this worked for me 🙂

3.     You have performed all over the world, which place was the most memorable?

Ibiza (Spain) at a club called Pacha. In fact this place is one of the places where every DJ in the world dreams to play at one day.

4.     What inspired you new album, Summer Session 2012?

The Electro-Latin trends and the summer flavors.

5.     On your new album cover you’re riding a BRP Sea-Doo personal watercraft, why did you choose that sport and that specific model to represent your summer album?

With each album we try to use the latest trends and interest of our customers which are mainly in the 18 -35 year range.

The watercraft is the ideal look for summer and represents the” IN” thing for our customers. The model used on the cover had to be a new one to represent the new songs found the album.

To learn more about DJ Dan D-Noy visit:  http://www.facebook.com/DjDanDnoy

Le DJ international DJ Dan D-Noy partage sa passion pour le Sea-Doo RXP-X 260 sur la couverture de son album «Summer Session 2012»

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

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Le DJ de renommée international DJ Dan D-Noy, a choisi le nouveau Sea-Doo RXP-X 260 comme couverture pour son nouvel album d’été “Summer Session 2012”. Nous en avons profité pour lui poser quelques questions sur son impressionnante carrière.

1.     Après une carrière de plus de 25 ans, quel est le moment dont vous êtes le plus fière?  

Mon disque de diamant pour 1 million d’album vendu en Carrière que l’on m’a remis il y a 3 ans de ça.

2.     Quel est le plus grand obstacle que vous avez dû surmonter pour arriver là où vous êtes aujourd’hui?  

Les multiples commentaires de découragement face au téléchargement illégal et face à notre industrie qui est plus qu’instable avec les changements technologiques.  En fait, il suffit simplement d’écouter et d’avoir une capacité d’adaptation…..du moins pour ma part ça m’a réussi 🙂

3.     Vous avez travaillé partout dans le monde, quel endroit a été le plus mémorable?

Ibiza (Espagne) dans un club nommé Pacha….en faite cet endroit est l’un des emplacements où tous les DJs de la planète rêvent d’y jouer un jour.

4.     Quel a été votre source d’inspiration pour votre nouvel album, “Summer Session 2012”?

Les tendances Latino-Electro à saveur estivales.

5.     Sur la couverture de votre nouvel album vous conduisez une motomarine Sea-Doo de BRP. Pourquoi avez-vous choisi ce sport et ce modèle pour représenter votre album d’été?

En faite à chaque album nous tentons d’utiliser des looks tendance qui intéresse notre clientèle qui se situe principalement entre 18 -35 ans.

La motomarine est tout indiqué pour représenter l’été et le truc ” IN ” pour notre clientèle….le modèle utilisé sur la couverture se devait d’être un nouveau model qui reflèterais la nouveauté tout comme les chansons qui se retrouve sur l’album.

Pour en savoir plus sur DJ Dan Desnoyers, aller au  http://www.facebook.com/DjDanDnoy.

X-TEAM TUESDAY: Chris MacClugage Behind the Scenes IJSBA Tour, Reno

10 Tuesday Jul 2012

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Chris MacClugage is one of the few people in the world that has made their career riding personal watercraft and is for the first time in his 20+ year professional riding career competing on Sea-Doo watercraft. Fans can keep up with Chris’ life here at OnBoard. The latest entry is MacClugage’s perspective on his experiences at the forth round of the 2012 IJSBA National Watercraft Racing Tour in Reno, Nevada. Read on to learn the behind the scenes scoop from one of the all-time greatest watercraft racers in history.

After returning from Racine, Wisconsin and a great weekend of racing at the third round of the IJSBA National Tour is was time to head back to the MACC

CHRIS MacCLUGAGE

Racing headquarters in Lake Havasu. Once back in Arizona, the trailer was unloaded and Daniel, our driver, took a well deserved day off. But, we still had plenty of work to do for the next round in Reno taking place in a couple of weeks.

Back to work Daniel focused on prepping the RXP-X’s for the race. We discovered a few changes we wanted to make with our main boat, which steered us to use our test boat as a back up.

For myself there was no rest. I had a training camp set up for one of my friends/riders Ryan Decker. He is a great up and coming rider who has a great attitude and will to do what it takes to win. 
I had already had a program written out for the next four days. Training very hard in the mornings and riding in the afternoon. All went well and Ryan got a good taste of what he needs to do to take his riding to the next level. Saturday and Sunday we were joined by Oceane and Mealle Villon. They are two up & coming French girls that live in USA. All of us had a great time riding and learning.

Tuesday the 24th was loading day for the trailer. We were planning on leaving early Wednesday morning, so, our plan was to start loading on Tuesday afternoon. I needed a couple things done to the trailer and brought it to my friends shop. We later discovered it had a problem! This is part of traveling the race circuit. There was no time to fix the trailer, so plan B went into effect. I broke out the custom three-place trailer which worked perfect for my two RXPXs and one stand-up.

Wednesday morning came quick and all the watercraft were ready. I had to do a few maintenance things to the open trailer, and then we were loaded and underway by 1pm. With Rachel (wife)/Mac(son)/Dan/Christophe/Tom and myself packed in the truck, it was road trip time, with lots of laughs & cans of Monster to keep us awake on the 10 hour journey to Reno.

Our route took up through Nevada on the highway 95. We passed by several old mining towns and a lot of businesses that had the oldest profession known! With good conversation and plenty of laughter, along with a couple of diaper changes we finally arrived in Sparks at 11:30pm

I woke and ran around the lake in Reno on Thursday morning pushing little Mac in his BOB stroller. The altitude was 4500 feet, which didn’t seem to affect me at all. But, it was another story for the watercraft!

We first did a compression check on the stand up and discovered we were 25 psi off our ‘norm’. With some carb adjustments, new head domes from ADA and a few bends to the prop, we had ski ready to hit the pay window!

The RXP-X was not as easy. With several prop re pitches and tune files, we were ready to race. I was 100% happy with the high-altitude performance but my guys worked very hard and that’s all I can ask for.

Saturday came, as I awoke next to my two inspirations, I knew I had races to win ! I had my Ryno power protein shake and was down at site by 7 AM. 
A great friend of mine Erminio Iantosca, let us store our watercraft in his trailer, after unloading everything I decided to go on a run around lake (2.5 miles) to get loosened up for the day.

Practice went well for ski and runabout.

First race was ski, and I was ready. I grabbed a Monster hole shot and never looked back. By the time the race was over, I was 3/4 of a lap ahead of second. It was great to weld the factory boat off the line all weekend. Christophe did such a great job at tuning the Monster/Macc ski. It seemed like we were 3-4 miles per hour faster than the other skis. We went on to hole shot and win the next two motos.

Runabout class was not as great. I jumped the first start, meaning I had to start with the engine off putting me a big disadvantage and ended up with a 3rd. In the second moto I ended up 3rd. In the final moto I was running in third and trying to pass for second and simply made a mistake and came off the machine. I was pushing very hard and it was a tough track to pass on. I went away with a 4th for the weekend, but at least a Sea-Doo X-TEAM rider won. Congrats to Troy Synder for winning and beating the “FACTORY” competition.

Overall it was a great weekend. I won Pro ski and got to be with my wife and son on the podium. Which I missed during fathers day. We had a great dinner later that night with great friends.

Lil' Mac

On our way home we stopped in Vegas where Rachel, Mac, and I were dropped off at the Aria. Mac needs some bigger clothes and mommy needs a new purse. So, now I sit in my hotel room drinking a Monster looking out onto the strip and all the people, resembling ants at this floor, running around for fun and fortune.

The next race for us will be in Russia for the World offshore championship. We are focusing on training and work. Laguna Seca is at the end of July for the Moto GP. We will be hoping for rain! Go Vale…..
Before the October world Finals we are taking a break to visit England and Rachel’s family . Busy, busy in the Macclugage household !!

Thank you to all my sponsors: Monster Energy / Macc Racing/Riva /Sea-Doo/MoTeC (Pete Swinney)/Tech 1/Quakysense/Oakley/Hydro Turf/Alpina/XPS/K&N/Ryno Power/Liquid Militia/ Hot Products/Tuf Stands/ADA Racing/Paleo Treats