Upon arriving Saturday at dawn to the beach of Crazy Horse Campgrounds, riders and teams alike soon realized in no way was the Mark Hahn 300 going to be everything but an easy feat. With winds howling, overcast skies, and white caps crashing on shore, everyone prepared for a long, hard Mark Hahn 300.

Lining up on harsh shoreline of Crazy Beach, one thing that caught the attention of many this year, was as spectators looked out across the starting line, many pro riders had come to ride in the Hahn. In years past this was not the case. Fans this year could witness riders such as Craig Warner, Dustin Farthing, Chris MacClugage, Nicolas Rius, and Mike Follmer all give it there all in a 300 mile endurance race. With all these riders putting all they had on the line in terms of stamina and strength, it made for a great race.

As the shotgun blast rang out all 60 entries pulled there skis wide open and blasted off through the crashing waves. Fans with binoculars slowly witnessed Team Kawasaki’s Craig Warner and TBM Racing’s Dustin Farthing slowly pull away from the field, with Macc Racing’s Chris MacClugage close behind. What could not be seen by most, but was said by many riders was although the front stretch off the gate looked intimidating, the back side of the course on the California side was filled with what seemed to be overhead waves rolling through to make the Mark Hahn that much tougher on the mind and body.

As the first lap came quickly to an end spectators were treated with an all out battle to the chicane between Craig Warner and Dustin Farthing. Neither rider let up and after leaving the chicane, all onlookers could see was the back of Craig and Dustin racing off out into the open waters neck and neck. Lap two was a close resemblance to one except this time Dustin of TBM Racing was able to pull away from Craig slightly coming out of the chicane. With fans on there feet cheering and made for a great moment in the Mark Hahn 300. Chris MacClugage was hungry, and in the hunt shortly behind the leaders, and was poised to potentially give them something to contend with.

In the stand up class this year there were 11 entries and only one brave enough to be an Iron Man entry. Image Pro Design’s Karen Mann and Krissy Hale teamed up on a brand new 2008 Yamaha Superjet as well as our Team Riders Jason Billings and Kurt Samuels were aboard a Macc Racing Offshore Limited SXR to tackle the Mark Hahn 300. Dave “Looter” Hardenburger was in attendance riding his 70+ mph Hydro-Doo with Wayne Smith in the 300 mile endurance race as well as riders from Kommander Industries and Walt’s Motorsports. That one person with enough heart to conquer the Mark Hahn single handedly on an SXR this year was none other than ASAP Racing’s Aaron Sanchez. Not only was it an SXR but a Limited package that could cruise in excess of 56 mph through the rough waters. Aaron amazed all and ran 14 laps by himself to take the Iron Man award and amaze all with the effort put forth. Winners of the Mark Hahn 300 standup class were Walt’s Motorsports Brandon Bailey and Tyler Kowalski with 17 hard charging laps completed.

As the day progressed Nicolas Rius’s FZR that was rumored to be traveling close to 80 mph , dropped out with problems, Kawasaki’s Craig Warner dropped out due to the carbon hull cracking from the harsh pounding of the waves, and Chris MacClugage had to stop due to losing the intake grate. Mike Follmer informed us later that day that this years Mark Hahn had more towed in broken skis than all the years past combined. As the day went TBM Racing’s Dustin Farthing could be seen way out in front of the field and was a shoe in to win, yet at 28.5 laps completed the Kawasaki Ultra broke and washed away all hopes of pulling off TBM’s first endurance championship. With all major teams down, Mark Gerner and Robert Carreon riding for PWC OFFSHORE aboard their Kawasaki Ultra 260x were there to capitalize taking an overall win and Endurance Championship.

With the day coming to an end all could agree this year’s Mark Hahn 300 Memorial Race was one for the books with big names, class acts, and great racing, but it didn’t end there…As always, the Mark Hahn award ceremony is not only one of most well produced in PWC racing, but is always a night full of tributes to icons in the industry, including a much needed tribute to the leader Mike Folmer with a gift of a new helmet signed by all the racers. Image Pro Design would like to congratulate all riders that took on the rough waters of Lake Havasu this year and thanks Mike Follmer and all that were responsible for putting on such a great endurance race that will be remembered for years to come.

The Pro Ski race this year was hands down one of the best races of 2008 with big wind breaks and swells rolling onto the beaches of the Crazy Horse Campgrounds that made spectators feel as if they were watching an ocean surf race rather than a race set on Lake Havasu. Image Pro Design had Europe’s Brice Lopez riding a Walt’s Motorsports/Prowatercraft Hydrospace S4. With the top professionals from around the world steadying the boats on the line, the band was snapped and racers shot out into the surf. Brice rode with a powerful dominance over most riders. For most of the race, spectators looked on as Steven Dauliach and Brice Lopez battled back and forth for positioning. Another incredible site was watching as Jean Baptiste-Botti dissected the field after getting a bad start. He rode as if possessed and finished in a solid 4th. Brice had troubles in Moto Two and was stuck behind lapped traffic, ending the Pro Ski race in a 6th overall with Dauliach in 2nd behind the IJSBA World Finals World Champion Alberto Monti.

Image Pro Designs Keifer King raced in the prestigious Pro-Am Ski Stock class at the IJSBA World Finals against greats such as Minoru Kanamori and Chris “The Flyin Fish” Fischetti. It was a tough battle and a great race to witness. In the end Kiefer showed that even at his young age he will be a force to reckon with for years to come with a solid 3rd place finish against competitors from the around the world.

Our APBA Novice Stock National Champion Kurt Samuels represented the USA in a resilient fashion bringing the US a place on the podium at the IJSBA World Finals. In Moto One of Novice Stock Kurt took the holeshot on the outside split and came in across the front straightaway in 2nd. On the third lap Kurt passed Thailand’s Arthit Wongpinta for the lead but then took the slower of the two splits and was stuck behind lapped traffic coming into the front chicane and was passed again by Wongpinta. Kurt finished out moto one with a second place finish. Anya Colley finished right behind in third place. For Moto Two Kurt rode a solid race. Taking a third out of the gate he never let anyone pass, finishing in third. Kurt represented the USA well, with a strong 3rd overall finish at this years IJSBA World Finals.

Shawn Dougherty was also on hand racing his Image Pro Design SXR in Novice Limited. Shawn had a great showing this year with 4th overall finish in Novice Ski Limited at this years IJSBA World Finals.

Kristina Dougherty also made the trek out to Arizona for her Junior Ski 13-15 Stock race. Kristina had a tough race with all the other up and coming talent on hand. She rode smart and tough with a great 7th overall position among the world’s top competitors.

Image Pro Design would like to commend all of our riders on their hard charging efforts and strong finishes across the board at the IJSBA World Finals. We at IPD Jet Ski Graphics can not wait for the 2009 season to start…

In the highly competitive Pro-Am Ski Stock, Keifer King took a dominating stance over the field with a clean holeshot to take the early lead. With Ben Swanson right on Keifer’s heels for most of the race there was no room for error. Ben Swanson charged hard every lap, but in the end he could not keep up with Keifer’s flawless ride. Kiefer King took home the National Title with Ben Swanson taking home the number two spot for the year. Ben Swanson also was commended for being the National High Points Leader this year with 666 points, just edging out Keifer’s 649 points. Congratulations goes out to both riders for their hard charging efforts in the very competitive Pro-Am Ski Stock class throughout the year and locking down the top two places on the podium for Image Pro Design.

Kurt Samuels raced in the biggest class at the final round, Novice Stock. Aboard his MaccRacing/Tech One/ImageProDesign Superjet, he took a commanding lead out of the gate with a big holeshot. It was tough for anyone to stay at Kurt’s pace out in front of the field. With a solid wire to wire finish, Kurt took home a National Title in Novice Stock for the 2008 Season. Congratulations to Kurt for his hard efforts paying off this year.

In the Pro-Am Ski GP class many big names from around the country lined up for one of the most highly anticipated races of the day. All in attendance were down at the waters edge to see names like Chris MacClugage , Rob Flores, Bill Haig, Rick Sherker, Jimmy Wilson, and Kevin Minnix lining up to do battle that afternoon. With the snap of the band they were off at daunting speeds in excess of 65mph. The Macc Attack took a powerful holeshot ahead of the field leaving no chance for second place to even squeeze a nose into the first buoy. With a rampant pace, Chris walked away with an easy Moto 1 finish as he crossed the finish line 3 full buoy lengths ahead of second place.

In Moto two, MacClugage left not a sliver of doubt on anyone’s mind who was going to dominate this race. Macc lapped half the field by the time the white flag was brought out. In classic reigning style, Chris MacClugage sealed his 11th National Title. Image Pro Design would like to congratulate MacClugage on his wins on this years APBA National Tour and bringing home the title for Macc Racing and his many other sponsors for the year.

With the ending of the 2008 APBA Hydroturf National Tour, Image Pro Design is proud of all the IPD Race Team members on their accomplishments and we look forward to working with many of the riders again in the years to come. Good luck to all competing at the IJSBA World Finals in October.