Four men on three Sea Doos are taking the ultimate ride from London to Auckland. Jeremy Burfoot and his team will travel 20,000 miles in four months. Sue Baggaley met the team just days before they left. 

Jeremy Burfoot and his team will attempt to break the world personal watercraft record by riding from London to New Zealand, a journey of some 32,000 kilometres. They set off on August 1 from the Royal Docks in the heart of London to ride some of Europe’s most famous waterways, to cross the Indian Ocean and finish in Auckland sometime in November.

Jeremy Burfoot is a 51-year-old Qantas pilot who is married with three sons. I asked him why he would risk so much by undertaking this possibly life-threatening adventure. Jeremy told me that when he was affected by cancer he felt the need to raise public awareness about ways to prevent the disease and raise funds for global cancer research. Burfoot will lead the team of four: he is joined by Travis Donoghue and Jed Martin from New Zealand and Ivan Otulic from Croatia.

Otulic holds the Guinness Record for the greatest distance travelled on a jet ski in 24 hours with a ride of 1,641 kilometres along the Adriatic coast of Croatia. Burfoot is leading the team through the rivers of Europe, around the Arabian Peninsula, down the western coast of India, via Singapore to Sydney and finally on to Auckland.

I asked him what the team’s chances were of success: “Eighty percent I reckon. The logistics have taken us three years to sort out and our biggest hurdles have been permissions, visas, fuel, food and security.

To read the full article pick up the Sept/Oct issue of JS&PW or subscribe here

Lewis Goodchild has a pretty hot racing pedigree. He shares a house with his dad, racing legend Jim Goodchild, world class racer and events organiser of the JSRA, Lisa Barsby, and Gracie, the family labrador. It is a household steeped in the sport of jet ski racing.

Jet Sports has fewer accidents than most other power sports, but in May of this year Lewis Goodchild had a lifethreatening accident while racing at Tattershall Country Parks in the Ski Limited class. Fortunately he is on track to make a full recovery, thanks to the prompt efficiency of the JSRA team. Sue Baggaley asked Lewis about the accident and his recovery.

How did your accident in May happen?
If you want my honest answer...I have no idea. I’m told I was in the lead going up to the holeshot, the back of my ski got hit from behind and I lost control. Whilst in mid-air I got hit by another rider in my ribcage and then my neck. I was then face down in the water taking the lake water in through my lungs.

What do you remember about the accident?
I remember talking to my holder before the race on the start line and I said “I am not looking forward to this race” That’s the only thing I remember.

What injuries did you sustain?
I broke my cervical vertebra C2 (odontoid peg)
I broke six ribs
Tore my liver
Punctured my right lung
Bruised my left lung

What treatment did you have?
I had a screw fixed through the odontoid peg to re-attach it to the vertebra (it was very risky because it went through the peg and out the other side, 3mm away from my spinal cord), they cut through the muscles in my neck/throat and went up past my gullet. The ribs are fixing themselves and so is the liver.

To read the full article pick up the Sept/Oct issue of JS&PW or subscribe here

Freestyle Asylum has been putting on jet ski display shows for some years and their fame has been building. This year’s Sports Boat and RIB show at Ocean Village in Southampton at the end of May saw a tremendous jet ski display in front of thousands of personal watercraft fans. Sue Baggaley was there to ask them how they train, what makes them special and why they do it….

Who is in the Freestyle Asylum team?
The Team consists of three riders; Jaimiee ‘Downtown’ Brown, Paul ‘Smiffy’ Smyth, and Darren ‘Oggy’ Ogden.

How long have you been riding together?
Oggy: Jaimiee and myself have been riding together recreationally for up to 10 years. I have been doing the jet skiing shows for around five years.
Smiffy: I’ve only been riding in the team for a couple of years, but I’ve been riding jet skis with the
other riders for 4-5 years.   
Jaimiee: Roughly 10 years recreationally, but been doing shows with Freestyle Asylum for three years.

Where do you train?
Oggy: Nitrojet Action Sports in Oxford are my sponsors along with AirTime Products so that is where  I do most of my jet ski training.
Smiffy: I’m also proudly sponsored by Nitrojet Action Sports and Airtime Products and can be found training on my jet ski down there.
Jaimiee: Herne Bay and I try to get up to Nitrojet to practice prior to the shows.

To read the full article pick up the Sept/Oct issue of JS&PW or subscribe here

The Mitsubishi L200 has a new range-topping version on sale, going by the name of Barbarian. 
So is this now the best double-cab for jet ski owners? Asks Paul Guinness.

If you’re already wondering where the new Barbarian version of the hugely successful L200 double-cab pick-up fits into Mitsubishi’s line-up, the simple answer is that it’s the replacement for the previous Animal model. But it represents more than that, because if you specify your Barbarian with automatic transmission (as fitted to our test vehicle), it’s the first L200 to come with the five-speed set-up ‘borrowed’ from the Shogun. And, just as importantly, it also comes with permanent four-wheel drive – a novelty for those buyers more used to the tail-happy antics of an unladen truck with only a part-time system.

Inevitably, you pay a hefty price for such improvements, with the Barbarian Auto coming in at £22,924 plus VAT – quite a penalty, considering the five-speed manual version is listed at £21,649. And that’s not the only area where you’re punished for choosing the auto, thanks to an official ‘combined’ fuel consumption figure of 30.1mpg compared with 34mpg for the manual, plus CO2 emissions of 248g/km versus 218.

To read more check out the July/August issue of Jet Skier & PW or subscribe here