Earlier last year I attended the Marc Hahn endurance race in Lake Havasu, AZ to support some fellow Liquid Militia sponsored riders who were racing. It was there where I was approached by David Fekete of KMG Racing. He had a lot of great things to say about me especially how he had seen me race and podium in Parker just months before. He made an incredible offer that would ignite my competitive racing career. David and his wife Dawn Fekete support their Racing team called “KMG Racing“. Their out look on racing is not just being another race team.. they are the other guys. KMG Racing has a few race skis which they have someone who shares the same positive outlook on racing, race their skis free of charge. Also at the end of every race despite the out come they are always the first ones to pass around some drinks and celebrate their motto of having a good time. I rode a stock class KMG racing ski this year at the APBA Race in Parker, AZ. I qualified for the world finals placing 3rd overall in Novice ski stock and 1st in Novice ski Limited. From there I rode the KMG Stock Class blue ski at the Hydro -Turf Sponsored Las Vegas indoor race event at the South Point Arena.

With a few training sessions between Mission bay and Granada street beach in Long beach I was ready to race at the 30th annual IJSBA World Finals in Lake Havasu. Dawn and Dave also sponsored Toshi, a killer racer from Japan. Toshi and I shared the stock spec ski for our individual stock spec classes so his crew modified the ski to get every stock class legal advantage out it. This was killer because I knew I was riding one the fastest most competitive handling stock spec skis on the track. It took a little bit to learn how to ride like Toshi but in the end it worked out great because despite my back being on fire from riding so low, my lap times and track rhythm improved greatly.

Havasu Bound

I Left my house late Friday night to arrive in Havasu at the Liquid Militia rental house around 4 in the morning. Being completely wired from too many energy drinks I decided to un pack a little and do some finishing touches to the new freestyle ski I was potentially going to ride in the amateur freestyle class. Within an hour Pro Rider Magazine photographer and my good friend Ronny Mac showed up at the house. Within a few hours I met with the KMG Racing crew at Body Beach to practice racing and try to promote “Jr’s with the Pros Day”. Dawn and David are a big supporter of the “Jr. Stars” program which each year sponsors 1-2 international Jr. Class racers. These are kids who show great devotion and progress in racing as well as having a good personality and good grades. Its a super positive program which is how Dawn and Dave found Toshi who came up from the Jr. class all the way to the pro class and won motos at last year’s world finals! Unfortunately the message did not spread about the day with the pros event, but a few kids did come by who got spoiled with cool gear from Bomber Eyewear, Mystik Lubricants, Liquid Militia, and KMG Racing. I signed a few posters for the little guys and they were really stoked. The rest of the day Toshi and I practiced riding buoys. I spent over half the day diagnosing a completely fried MSD total loss ignition system in the freestyle ski. This would be the deciding factor in why I did not compete in amateur freestyle later in the week. Toward the end of the day, the KMG Racing team and I made our way over to Action Sports Clothing store in upper Lake Havasu City. We set up the Mystik and KMG Easy ups, set out all the race skis including my Freeride superjet, and had a 2 hour autograph/meet and greet for all Action Sports customers. It was a great way to give back to the Lake Havasu city small businesses and build a little local exposure for the World Finals race event. The next few days we continued to test and modify the race skis all while getting as much riding in as we could all day. Monday was the official practice day where Toshi and I got to practice on the official World Finals race coarse. I did not have any races until Wednesday so I utilized Tuesday to practice at crazy beach to mentally and physically prepare myself for Wednesdays races. I was as ready as any freerider gone racer could be, so I got to bed early to be fresh for the big day.

Race Day / Qualifying

Wednesday morning started with one more practice session which was then followed by my first qualifying moto in Amateur Ski lites. That class is 2-stroke stand ups only at stock racing class specifications. My racing class was so big there was 2 almost full qualifying motos. With the help of my holder and great friend Jeffery DeCoite, I was the first off the line with the hole shot on the outside starting line. Unfortunately in the confusion of practice and not following anybody, I made a wrong turn off last buoy of the first sweeping turn. I lead half of the race around the first split buoy we did not need to go around. After that bad start the rest of the moto started to fall apart. I got into a battle behind one guy and tried to cut in on him to pass during a turn but got caught in his jet wash. The nose of my ski dove and I went completely under the water. This caused my race ski to die and take what seemed for ever to get started again. It wasn’t until the 1st place guy came to lap me when the ski groaned back to life and I continued the rest of the moto. Somehow I finished 11th out of 15, which did not qualify for the main heat right away. I still had my shot to do so at the Last Change Qualifier (LCQ) round later that day. At the starting line for the LCQ round I was ready. I studied the track and was pissed from the last crappy moto so I was ready for vengeance. Jeff helped me with another killer start as I hit the throttle and accelerated toward the gate I watched the starting line ban snap across the nose of my ski and I was gone. I got the hole shot coming around starting merge buoy and never looked back placing 1st to be 1 of the top 2 that qualified back into the main.

Main Moto 1

Within another 6 motos the first main heat of amateur lites was up. Back on the starting line I chose the outside starting position again because I knew that line and how to take it the fastest. At the band snap, I got the hole shot on my outside starting position but the guys on the inside got around quicker so I was about 6th or 7th coming around the starting merge buoy. The 2 main heats were 6 lap motos, and by lap 3 I had battled my way to 3rd place behind fellow Kommander Industries sponsored racer Kody Copenhaver. Kody has been racing for years and is really fast. We battled all the way through the last 3 laps as I tried bobbing and weaving around his tight racing lines. This gave me nothing but dirty jet wash water to try and accelerate and pass through. We came around the back side sweeper turn with about 7-8 ski lengths between us. Kody went for the outside split and I dove for the inside split hauling ass through clean water. It was so exciting because I came around my last split buoy back into the merge with Kody now literally only half a ski length ahead, with the nose of my ski at the side of his tray. Kody, being the experienced racer he is, set a tight rail into the final turn as I set up from the outside to try and swoop in tight to pass. As soon as he was engaged in the turn his jet unloaded a bit blasting me, which caused me to loose my balance and slide out a bit loosing most of my turn speed. 1o feet away was the finish line as Kody flew through getting second and I came just a second behind him in 3rd, that was an epic race!

Main Moto 2

For the final moto I chose the outside starting position yet again to feel confident with my start course. At card flip, I accelerated and watched the band snap across the nose of my ski and I left the line ahead of everyone else. However as I came 10 yards from the first turn I noticed another ski coming in hot on my right peripheral. It was a rider who rented a very fast ski and got ahead of  me through the opening sweeper turn. As we came into first hard turn buoy I swore I saw the rider in front of me look back at me as I got a huge pump roost in the face from his jet pump. It almost knocked me over as I was committed to the turn. Now thinking he did it intentionally from the alleged look back, I felt like he had just unleashed the hulk out of me. My adrenaline spiked and my muscled tensed up as pure rage felt like it was seeping from my eyes with him being my target for vengeance. I came around the first merge turn in about 8th place behind that rider. I battled this guy the entire first lap until we came back into the splits. He dove in the outside split and I booked it for the inside split absolutely hauling ass. I came into the merger buoy 6 ski lengths ahead of him looking back across the back stretch shouting in a warriors rage tone as if I just fist fought a bear and won. That adrenaline sure lit a fire under me because it helped me keep the momentum up to fight my way from7th to 4th right behind Kody again. We battled for a lap until I was finally able to make a pass on him and keep charging for the last 2 laps. 1st and 2nd place were half a lap ahead of the me having clear water ahead of the pack the whole race. I finished that moto 3rd again but being that I beat Kody who placed lower. My good friend and KMG mechanic, Bobby Kerns met me at the tech inspection area immediately after the race. My holder Jeff DeCoite was there to give me a big hug and tell me that I had the 2nd place over all points. Bobby and I wheeled the ski out of the water and Into a tech tear down booth. This was new to me being a first time world finals racer, but the top 5 of every class get broken down per request of the tech officials to make sure every ski is within class spec. We tore down and checked everything the tech officials wanted to see and got the green light. The racer who won the first overall was still stuck in tech for over 45 min of us leaving. That whole night I was on edge not knowing if the rumors of  a possible disqualification were true of not. The next morning I awoke with a voice mail of Dawn Fekete and friends screaming “Congratulations World Champion Wooooooo!” The rider who came in first was disqualified for having after market carbon fiber reeds, making me the Amateur Ski Lites World Champion at the 30th annual IJSBA World Finals!

Pro Weekend & Awards

The rest of the week was great, I hung out at the event site meeting tons of people, I signed posters for fans at the Liquid Militia booth, and partied our socks off with the Liquid Militia crew at Kokomos night club every night. It was great to see all of my fellow freeriders show up like Zack Bright, Tanner Thomas, Chris Rosner, Taylor Curtis, John Howe, Jared Ajlouny, Christian Young and many more. I got to wake surf with Tommy Bonacci of  Bomber Eyewear, his wife, and Chris Fischetti. The awards ceremony was great, I was surprised to see how cool the trophies looked! Announcer Mike Young gave me a killer podium introduction and while I was on the podium I shouted a big “UP!” toward all my friends at KMG Racing who raised their arms and drinks and yelled back our team chant “UP!” Chris MacClugage came up to snag a last minute photo before I got down, it was really cool to see how stoked he was for me being a freerider showing up to my first world finals and leaving with a world title. I feel super accomplished winning this title because I worked my ass off fighting from a terrible start in qualifying, to winning the LCQ and battling with some solid racers to the top.

The people I have surrounded myself with in the race industry are the most positive people. I am really happy to be supported by such a great family at KMG Racing. I cant not thank my Mom and my brother Philip at Patty’s Cakes & Desserts, Kevin Collins at Led Drag, and Larry Sarinana at QuickStyle Motorsports enough for making the entire trip financially possible for me.

Big thanks also to Bomber Eyewear, Mystik Lubricants for supporting Team KMG Racing.

This is a huge achievement and I sincerely can not thank all of you guys for your support along the way.

First Racing World Title!
GO KMG Racing….UP!!!

Thank you again for your support,

-Mark Gomez

It has been a while since I have been able to update my website but its time to give credit where credit is due and tell the story of how my 2011 Freeride ski came together.

For the last 3 years I have been making the best of my OEM Black top White bottom 2004 Yamaha Superjet. This ski has worked great for me yet it has been super hard to grab a camera’s attention unless I was 15 feet from shore in perfect lighting. So after the midshaft on my ski broke I was motivated to completely part out the ski in order to fix the problem and while I was at it, strip down and repaint the ski. This would be the start of my “new” ski for the 2011 season.

Paint

With a totally gutted ski I made my way over to my Fiberglass sponsor shop, Performance Fiberglass in La Habra, CA. John Crabb there has supported me since the beginning when he helped me create the ultimate freeride 550. John is like a family member to me and I would not be where I am now if it was not for his support.

I respect this sponsorship from John so much because he gives me more than a great looking and strong custom ski. Nothing of mine in that shop gets done without me coming in there and doing mostly all of the work myself. As I grind away and lay up fiberglass, John is right there handing me more materials that I need and showing me exactly how and why to do it. So overall it is the knowledge of fiberglass materials and body work that I have gained from working in the shop that really makes me appreciate all of the hard work that goes into fixing and modifying my jet ski.

I started out by sanding the entire ski down, removing all old logos, and patching up areas that needed fiberglass reinforcement and or repair. My friend Eric Garcia helped spray the primer coat on my ski as soon as it was ready which I then completely wet sanded down with 3 levels of high grade grits to prepare for the paint layers. From there we mocked up the general design with the pin stripe tape. After we were satisfied with what we created, it was time to spray the first base layer of black. From there we applied the pinstripe design again to mask off what would be the black pinstripe on the final product. From there we sprayed the next layer which was the gloss white. we then masked those portions off to spray the house of colors metallic blue. Moving on from there we masked off all the blue in order to spray the final color which was the metallic silver. When the paint mist settled we pealed off all of the masking to reveal a flat version of the final product. The shine then came from the immediate and final layer of the clear coat which tied all of the paint lines together, protects the paint from UV rays, and gives the boat that semi gloss finish. Eric Garcia helped me out big time by color sanding and buffing out the final clear coat to give it the beautiful mirror finish I did not trust myself to do right the first time. See the entire sequence bellow.

Hydro-Turf

With the ski completely painted it was time to install the Hydro-Turf padding for the tray and rails of my ski. Hydro-Turf has supported me since the beginning of my riding career and has done the same for the entire industry. I personally believe Hydro-Turf it is the best traction product available for every Freeriding and freestyle jet ski application. With a paint scheme like this I did not want to do just one color. Which is where my imagination went wild with the recent release of Hydro-turf’s new line of 2-tone custom Hydro-turf. I ordered 4 different styles of the two tone all with black base in the cut diamond pattern.

The total Hydro-Turf materials I used for this ski added up to apx. $480.00 in value including the following:

1 sheet each of the following in Cut Diamond:
–Custom White top Black Bottom
–Custom Royal Blue top Black Bottom
–Gray top Black Bottom Cut Diamond

-1 Sheet of Black Molded Diamond
-1 Sheet of 26mm under-padding
-1 Sheet of Gray 8mm under-padding
-1 Sheet of Black 9mm under-padding
-1 Handlepole Shock Pad (Superjet)
-1 1″ Kick tail

With the custom two tone colors, I painstakingly cut aligned and glued the different matching colors along the bond line of my ski to in a sense match the paint job flow. this process alone took my an entire day.

  After the rails were turfed I moved on to the tray of the ski where I padded the top of the rails with the 8mm gray under padding which shapes really easily using sand paper or a di-grinder sanding disc. When the padding was set I used the custom 2 tone White top with Black base for the sides with a Royal Blue Hydro-Turf logo cut into the sides. After the side rails were complete, I installed the Black molded diamond dash. With all the side walls in the tray being turfed, it was time to work on what I believe is the most important part of personal protection available by Hydro-Turf, the under padding. The 26mm Black plush Under padding is the best padding to be used because of its extreme durability and dampening properties that prevent high impact injuries such as broken bones, sprains, and other impact related injuries. I utilize the 1″ kick tail slope in my footholds to brace the back of my heel with a soft but grippe resistance. When I put my weight back on my heel during a surf slash or “kick in” to my foothold, It feels snug. The biggest key to utilizing Hydro-Turf’s under padding is the ability for it to be shaped and sanded to your needs. I heavily shaped the rear padding to cleanly contour the footholds, the high spot where the 26 mm under padding comes over the top of the 1″ kick tail, and finally blending the sides of that slope down to cleanly meet the beginning of the side rails. Blending the underpad and creating smooth contours only makes the final layer of turf easier to apply.

      That being said after I had everything shaped, I then custom cut the base turf which I chose to use Black Molded Diamond. The 2 tone Hydro-Turf is extremely nice looking yet at the end of the day it is very thin Hydro-Turf laminated on top of Hydro-Turf. A high friction area like the base of the tray around the foothold area tends to ware the top thin color off quickly. The Molded Diamond is the toughest type of Hydro-Turf I like for tray base applications. After the turf was glued I seamed the blue in the black together with a thin strip of the Royal Blue two tone to blend the side of the rear rails together. The last part of the turf job was laying some custom cut 2 tone Gray with black on the inside of my hood to protect the hood from the rubbing of my hood straps. It would also to allow room for my semi legally located CF numbers. I also Turfed and installed my Tomski bolt on Front Foothold.

Graphics/Decals

With a fresh painted and turfed ski it was time to set it off with the sponsor logos that make it all happen for me. I took the ski over to my good friends and sponsors at Liquid Militia. Ryan Smith the lead graphic designer of the company took all of my sponsor logos and di cut them all with a matching 2 tone black and white accent. I cant say enough for how bad ass the logos came out and how they really set the ski off.  Thank you Liquid Militia!

Motor & Drive-line

With a killer looking ski it was time to get a heart to the beast by my new motor sponsor Steve Webster of Kommander Industries in Phoenix, Arizona. I drove out to Phoenix one weekend with the game plan of bringing home a running ski back to ride the next day in Oceanside. On the way up I stopped to pick up some parts from my impeller sponsor Impros, in Redlands, Ca. Owner David Stewart helped me out big time by getting me hooked up with a Skat-Trak 144mm Magnum Pump and with his Impros series “Hooker” 9/15 Prop. I have run this prop before in my normal pump and have had excellent results in turbulent water conditions such as ocean white water and rough water in general. The Magnum Pump processes the water so efficiently it really gives the best results that a motor can put out for any stand up. I left Impros and about 4 hours later I arrived at Kommander Industries. Where one of the Kommander Industries technicians and another good friend of mine, Chad Cole already had most of my motor assembled.

I brought the remaining pieces of the puzzle which included the box of Cold Fusion billet parts I was really excited to have on my ski. Carl Gramberg of Cold Fusion has been building some of the  best billet components in the world for just about everybody including the army since 1984. Carl besides being a billet mad scientist, is an avid freerider himself who still loves to see progress in the sport of freeride from riders he supports and has the ability to build new and innovative parts to keep that cycle of progress going further and higher. For this leg of my build I got a new Cold Fusion Billet Flywheel Cover that has a perfectly machined grove for the exact clearance of the special O-Ring he provides. This allows a gasket free seal which also means 100 percent water/leak free seal as well. Not to mention it looks bad ass! The next component I got was the Cold Fusion Billet light weight Yamaha Couplers. I have ran these couplers before and they are in fact the lightest, strongest, and in my opinion the best functioning drive-line couplers available. They are not only light but they are much smaller in diameter which reduces the outside spinning mass when compared to the huge OEM Yamaha engine couplers. Being smaller with 3 large coupler teeth helps make engine alignment a lot easier to do with a closer clearance between coupler teeth. With a lightened flywheel and these couplers I have noticed amazing response in the bottom end “hit” and acceleration from my ski. The last bit of billet goodness I am the most excited about, is the complete set of Cold Fusion’s Billet Motor Mounts. These mounts have a billet base with a somewhat complex billet tower machined above it which is then engulfed in vulcanized rubber which is a process that literally welds the rubber to the billet aluminum. This process not only makes the motor mounts virtually un-breakable,but  having the vulcanized rubber also gives these motor mounts better dampening properties than OEM mounts! With the design of the billet mounts you no longer need to run the Kenney Keeper engine restraints because these mounts do not let me motor flex forward on high impact stops! Over all I am really impressed and happy that these are the first and last motor mounts I will purchase for this ski. Carl has out done himself with this space age jet ski technology and cant thank him enough for his support!

Back to Kommander Industries, Chad Cole helped me assemble my entire ski from the ground up with all the components that were loose or missing. The engine package they put together for me is a Yamaha 701cc cylinder punched out to 760cc and ported by Steve Webster. The internals consist of a killer billet stock stroke crankshaft from my good friends Aaren Davis and Jeff Seebold at ADR/Competitive cranks, Non-ported 62T cases, Delta V force 2 Reeds with a Reed spacer kit, Black Jack Performance modified 38mm Carburetors, Kommander Industries Girdled billet head, LPW lightened OEM Flywheel, Jet ski Solutions Stator, Cold Fusion Flywheel cover, Cold Fusion Light weight couplers, and a Kommander Industries Port matched Factory B Pipe with Mod Chamber. In a matter of a few hours and a few squirts of primer fuel my freeride ski growled to life. It had been such a long journey to get my ski back together it was hard to believe that it was actually my own ski that fired up. After taking it out to break it in and a quick tuning session in Oceanside it is safe to say that this is the BEST freeride motor package I have ever had! The motor absolutely rips with only 140lbs of compression. I’ll go ahead and say who ever said you cant get power out of a low compression motor is foobar and clearly has not ridden a Webster motor! This motor has tons of power given its maximum potential which is propelled by the Magnum pump with an Impros Hooker impeller. All in all, If you are looking for a simple, reliable, and mostly powerful freeride motor then give Steve Webster a call and have him build you a killer engine package like mine!

This engine has not only been a great freeride engine but since I have built this ski to the time I am writing this, I have placed 3rd overall in a race class against full blown limited 800cc stand ups, and taken 1st place race titles at the Grayland Open Pro Motosurf race class and the Pro Ski Class at the 2011 Blowsion Surf Slam. This set up I have is FAST… simple… but really freakin FAST!  Go visit Kommanderind.com now!

Big thanks to Steve Webster, Hydro-Turf, Liquid Militia, Performance Fiberglass,
Cold Fusion, Impros, and all of my other sponsors for coming together to help build one kick ass Freeride ski!

Thank you for your support,

-Mark Gomez

In July 2010 I was called to stunt double the famous actor Ken Jeong for the “Slim Chin” Adidas Commercial. I rode the Gold Painted Kawasaki 550 Jet Ski in the “caviar pool” and stood in for Ken on top of the Lady Pyramid. The commercial was shot at a super nice home off of Sunset Blvd. This Commercial with Ken Jeong as Slim Chin and Derrick Rose as himself is Hilarious. Hands down it was a great experience I wont forget.

Cheers,

-Mark G.

In march I attended the ABPA Race tour stop in Parker, Arizona. I drove out with my good friend Eric Garcia who works for my fiberglass sponsor Performance Fiberglass and was also there to Race an open class Kawasaki Ultra 250. Liquid Militia team racer and one of the most generous guys I know Pete Zernik was there  to race 3 classes himself. Back at the Pimso freeride in March I spoke to Pete about the idea of racing but needed a ski to race. He had just had his back up limited class ski rebuilt and offered to let me race it there. With a about an hour of practice on the ski, I felt comfortable enough to hit the track and also practice some hole shots. Pete was not only super generous to let me race his ski but was also a great race mentor giving me some great pointers on how to have a great start and how to handle the boat around the track.

The entire event was great fun. I Ended up placing 3rd place overall both days racing the ski in novice ski limited class. I felt great with the results for being my first race. It was almost safe to say the thrill of racing a stand up with other people gunning for your position in rough waters and with a bunch of friends screaming at you to keep going was an incredible experience. The gnarliest thing about racing  a stand up is that hole shot. The hole shot is the beginning of a race where all the racers line up in waist high water with one other person they call their holder. The line woman signals us to start our skis which the holder helps the racer lift the back of the ski out of the water so the racer can rev out the ski to clear the exhaust system of water. They drop the ski into the water and keep the ski running at a high idle which is when the holder does or doesn’t do his or her job of holding the ski back and keeping it aimed straight. The Line woman tilts the flag and blows a whistle to signal the start of the race where all the racers leave the beach full throttle holding their line all for the first buoy.  That hole shot is crazy! I had a racer loose their line and come swaying over 4 lines over into me which i turned into them and made them bounce off me so i could keep my line. It was just the craziest part of racing becuase you can only see whats in front of you, its fast, and you cant see anything that isnt 3 feet in front of you.

Every night in between was an adventure with my good friends Kyla and Ryan of Liquid Militia. They sponsored a bed for me to sleep on for the event in their hotel room. This was super helpful of them and a ton of fun to stay with the party which we and many other friends of Liquid Militia took all over that casino/hotel those nights. Lots of shenanigans and good times the whole weekend those nights with good friends.

On the second day I ended up signing up for freestyle with permission from my friend Michael De Mauro to compete on his Yamaha Superjet he was competing on. My goal was to bring back 1990′s freestyle with old school fun tricks that no one does anymore but are still tricky and entertaining.  I went as far as writing down all the tricks i knew on my forearm to look at in the heat of my routine and remember what to do. No matter what i did I always kept fist pumping, the key to every successful freestyle entertainer’s routine. I went out there, had a great time and ended up bringing home the gold! Parts of my routine were captured by my good friends at Liquid Militia with their video from the event bellow.

It was an incredible weekend I have to thank Liquid Militia, Performance fiberglass, WORX racing components, and most of all Pete Zernik of Zernikracing.com for letting me race his ski that weekend along with all his time and support that came with it.

My overall results were:

3rd place overall Novice ski limited Rounds 1 & 2

1st Place Freestyle Round 2

My electrical sponsor John of Jet ski Solutions has really taken care of me with my new complete electrical system for 2010!
My custom sponsorship service package came in the mail today.
John’s work is top notch and he does it all:
-Stator reconditioning
-Ignition coil upgrades
-Start stop switch bullet proofing
-Electrical box reconditioning and upgrades.
- AND MUCH MUCH MORE!

My Jet ski Solutions electrical box system..
is by far my favorite part of my engine system because of its reliability, functionality, accessibility, and ease of installation.

The Jet ski Solutions electrical box contains the following services starting with my custom wired MSD Enchancer.
Jet ski Solutions Stainless pin connectors from the electrical box, stator and start stop switch for ease of diagnosis and engine removal. Jet ski Solutions also installs their custom signature external terminal system, for the ease of installation, removal, accessory wiring, and charging of battery. This part of the electrical system is one of my favorites because of how nice it makes working with my electrical system. No more fighting my battery straps and hidden tools to reach my battery terminals to charge it. The external terminals make it so nice to install my bilge and tachometer power. Diagnosis of start stop relay couldn’t be any easier now either. Jet ski Solutions also provides new Stainless coarse threaded screws with nylon washers for optimum electrical box sealing. The back of the box is not only refinished to look better than an OEM electrical box but also is backed with bumpers on the back and large nylon washers for use on electrical box brackets to keep the box protected from ware and corrosion. I am so excited to install and use this electrical system with my new motor package.

My Favorite modification from Jet ski Solutions is their Ignition Coil service. They remove your old spark plug wires and caps. Then replace them with the thickest wires available for ignition systems and finished off with crimped and sealed MSD spark plug boots for optimum corrosion protection and the most juice you can get out of your system. This Service combined with their stator service and supercharged with the MSD enchancer provides that extra boost in your motor’s powerban and throttle response that you just cant seem to get without this set up!

The Jet ski solutions system cables are also a big plus. They use beefy cables along with large welding grade crimped terminal ends for optimal amp current transfer, durability, and connection.

Jet ski Solutions Yamaha start stop switches are top notch as well! completely re built with military grade anti corrosive components, new wires, and stainless bullet terminals to connect to the external terminals from the electrical box for ease of installation and problem diagnosis. No more corroded OEM terminal problems JSS has done their homework and worked with riders like me to constantly look for new ways to combat the corrosive conditions we put these switches under.

The Jet ski Solutions stator service I can’t say enough about other than Quality Quality Quality! They really put their time and professional service into making these stators above and beyond OEM standards. These stators are rewound for better than OEM charging and performance. the wires are all thicker for optimal current transfer and finished with the stainless bullet connectors for ease of installation, problem diagnosis, and removal. These stators are works of art, I don’t want to put this stator in a motor because it looks like it should hold a spot on a display case!

Overall i am very excited about my new Jet ski Solutions electrical system and accessories. I am more thankful though for the support from Jet Ski Solution, one of my most generous sponsors that has really given me 100% of their support in recognition for my achievements.

Check out their website at www.Jetskisolutions.com to check out all their great parts and services for your watercraft system today!
-MG

I am about to leave to stop by Kyla and Ryan of Liquid Militias house to drop off some parts for their skis. Soon after I will be picking up Chris MacClugage’s new triple cylinder Kawasaki Motor for his GP SXR from a great engine builder and porting guru Jeff Jensen of Top End Performance. After i pick that up I will be heading down to Skat-Trak to pick up pump system and accessories for him as well. From there its off to Havasu where I will be riding my friend Tom Suchodolski’s 2008 Yamaha Superjet at Body Beach practicing for my upcoming race in Parker AZ. Chris MacClugage will be there testing his skis as well giving me pointers and teaching me the things i need to learn about closed coarse racing. It should be a fun weekend and I look forward to learning a lot. For more information on the Race in Parker next week visit APBAracing.com

Thanks

-Mark Gomez

It all kicked off with a BBQ at Kyla and Ryan of Liquid Militia’s house. Where almost the entire PWC Offshore community met up at as they ate great food, prepared skis, and watched the new DVD by Liquid Militia and Hypnotic Films, Rise of The Tide. Chris and his Wife Rachel MacClugage were there as well hanging out and preparing Chris’s Yamaha FZR for the next day’s sprint. We all woke up the next morning around 5 am to leave for the Dana Point harbor. After the riders meeting everyone launched their ski’s including myself with my superjet and my brother Philip Gomez and his Sea Doo RXP. We all rode just outside of the harbor to watch Chris and all of the other Offshore racer’s line up and fire off toward Avalon. After they took off Kyla, Ryan, Bryant, my brother, and I decided to go down the coast on a hunt for some surf to ride. After a little barrel roll session in a what I thought was a private cove. I was hitting these random large waves which I came to realize were there because there were random Large rocks all over this little area. I decided then that I loved the way my body was in one piece so we made our way back when I found out the local coast guard/rangers were watching but not as happy as I was about riding there. They were cool and let me go with a warning. Chris MacClugage ended up taking first overall in the race! We all flushed out the skis and walked over to the Dana point Jet Ski rental and service shop for the awards. It was a cool little ceremony Kyla’s mom and head of K38 water safety, Shawn Alladio ended up taking 9th place and first in her class! After the awards we all drove down the street to the local Chronic Tacos Mexican joint. It was there when the Liquid Militia slap on stickers came out and blew up Liquid Militia all over that Chronic Taco establishment. Just as we all got our food and stickered the entire place up, we couldn’t begin to eat without getting some proper entertainment on the Chronic Taco Flat screen. What else could we put in but the new DVD Rise of The Tide! It was a really fun and eventful day, Chris MacClugage worked hard for the gold so I am super stoked for his results.

Liquid Militia taking over Dana Point's Chronic Tacos joint

Pre-race BBQ at the Liquid Militia house watching Rise of The Tide DVD

Until the next event, -Mark Gomez

Uh oh

Fighting through yet again some more motor set backs.  Yet with the help of my good friends and sponsors at Pacific Motorsports I had torn apart my motor due to a piston failure and had my motor rebuilt in 3 days with just enough time to pack and leave for the 2010 Pismo Beach Spring break Freeride. Along the way I picked up my friend and rider Stacey Wells from The airport who flew in from Texas. We both made the 5 hour drive up the California coast hwy meeting Kyla and Ryan of Liquid Militia along with one of the industries most infamous East coast photographer Ronny Mac that they picked up from the airport as well.  The rest of the weekend went off with messy but massive surf. It was great being able to tear it up with all my good friends including Zack Bright, Chris Rosner, Ross Champion, Kris Ingram of Kommander Industries, Tomski, Jon Hall, Jack Sutton, Stanton High, Pete Zernik, Cuong Son, Jared Ajlouny, EJ, Glen Glorioso, Jerry Brandon JFB, and many many more. Local photographer Vanessa McCarthy was super cool to share some of the photos she snapped during the weekend.  I was also stoked that my best friends from home were able to make it out and see what the freeride scene was all about! On Saturday night Liquid Militia hosted the Premier of the new DVD Rise of the Tide by Bryant Lambert of Hypnotic Films. overall it was an extremely fun event everyone had a great time and I look forward to the next freeride to be able to see and ride with all the great people and friends of the Freeride scene.

Until the next event,
-Mark Gomez

Bryant Lambert and my friends at Liquid Militia have been working hard to produce the newest generation of watercraft motion pictures. I am extremely excited for this to release and also to be apart of the production. Make sure to pre order your copy at www.LiquidMilitia.com and get it before everyone else and a signed DVD cover!

Thank you for your support!

-Mark G.

Sitting in the West Palm Beach airport now waiting for my flight back home, I have some time to recollect on the incredible weekend I had at the 2010 Daytona Beach Freeride. Right off the bat, I have to thank my sponsor Pacseal Hydraulics, without their financial aid this trip would not have been possible. Big thanks to my Sponsor and friends at Liquid Militia for helping me afford to pay Chris MacClugage to drive my ski across the country and back, and also for being my biggest on site supporters! Last but not least a big thanks to my good friend and rider DJ Grahm, and his Sweetheart for a wife Natalie. They welcomed me yet again to stay at their house the few days before and after the event, also getting me around town and to and from the event.

In Daytona, Friday was a little uneventful. Chris MacClugage didn’t show up with my ski until about 1pm, yet I wasn’t able to get it out of the trailer and install my new prototype AC Racing handle pole until about 3:45. I finished installing the new pole and was rushing my ski into the water at 4:30 with less than 30 minutes to ride before the beach closed at 5pm. unfortunately I was not able to ride and spent the next 3 hours pulling my carburetors apart to unstick my needle and seats that were stuck shut from the long transport. That night we all partied at the beach house about 10 min down from the event site where a huge pallet bonfire was lit, Pit bikes and mini ATC’s circled the party, and loud music kept everyone having a great time.

The next day I made sure to be the first one in the water, it was a stormy day with scattered rain and overcast conditions. I had a lot of fun riding but eventually came in after an hour very frustrated because I overlooked a component on the new handle pole that allows me to install a spring to reduce the weight I have to lift on the pole. I ended up taking an hour and a half to remove the new pole and install my old pole that I brought. This was the best thing I could do because I felt so much more comfortable and fluid riding with a handle pole spring.

A few hours later I signed up for the sickest trick contest Sponsored by Hydro-Turf. The ground rules were one person goes out and gets 5 waves to attempt to pull the sickest tricks you can. My first wave I pulled my first one handed re entry, the next wave I wanted to get a feel for how high I can launch myself and threw myself in a scary high barrel roll, the third wave I attempted a barrel roll Re entry which didn’t go so well. My fourth wave I went for the double barrel roll with only 15 ft to run at the wave when I wanted 30, I still made a hair over 1 ½ rolls. On my way in I attempted to barrel roll over a breaking wave but got sucked in and spit up the opposite side. Macc and Ant Burgess ended up splitting the title with Macc going for a huge double back flip attempt and Ant going huge on some back flip variables.
Later on when I went to go ride, I ended up sharing some waves and riding with child hood hero, Rick Roy. That was an incredible experience I really appreciated. That night we partied at the local club Razzles. A lot of shenanigans took place that night but overall it was a fun night meeting a ton of cool people, and having a great time with my friends at Liquid Militia.
The following morning I was again the first one in the water at 8:50 am to ride some really big and clean surf for Daytona. It was a beautiful morning and I rode my ski for about an hour and a half before my half tank of gas was empty. After I cleaned up the room I was in to check out, Natalie drove me to get more gas so I could ride for the rest of the day. Another 2 hour ride session left me extremely tired and ready to slow down for a few minutes until I was convinced to race in the amateur motosurf race. This ended up being the most fun thing I could of done next to the sickest trick all weekend.
Having never raced before I took advice from a few friends and race legend Chris MacClugage which was really helpful. His wife Rachel ended up finding a pair of race goggle for me to borrow which really came in handy! The first moto I ended up right behind the leader by a buoy before I ate it big time coming around the inside buoy. After a swift swim I was back in the race and held 3rd place until the end! The race was a promotional race where the top 3 amateurs raced in the Pro class vs. Chris MacClugage, Dustin Farthing, and a handful of other experienced racers for a $1000 prize.
Halfway through the race Macc and Farthing ended up breaking down and the amateurs took the same finishing position including myself beating the other racers on the track! I also ended up coming in front of a perfect launch wave on the final lap that I threw a barrel roll off which was really fun! The entire experience was super tiring after the entire weekend and the intensity of the race but I would not trade that experience for anything.

A 3 hour drive back to West Palm beach I spent a day at my main sponsor Wamiltons customs to relax, recoup, and help out around the shop before I ended up here at the West Palm airport writing this blog.Overall Daytona was a huge success and killer event. I had so much fun riding, and meeting a ton of really cool people. Now I have to get home, get my ski back from MacClugage in Havasu, and figure out how afford to get to the Australian Pro Invite Open February 20th!

Until the next event,
-Mark Gomez