Jet Skier Races Toward Top Of National Ranks
A Liberty Lake teenager is already making waves on the turbulent waters of professional Jet Ski competition.
Eighteen-year-old Fritz Wolff last year was ranked seventh in expert slalom on the Budweiser Jet Ski Sports Tour, 10th overall and 12th in the world in the sports class.
If not for a broken hand that put him out of two of the tour’s events, he would have finished among the top five nationally.
He has qualified for an indoor world cup race in Barcelona, Spain, in January if he opts to compete.
That he is enrolling in college may intervene.
Wolff has just graduated from Central Valley High School a half year early and will enroll at Montana State University next week. There, he plans to major in business and also hopes to compete on MSU’s snow ski team.
In addition to Jet Skiing, Wolff teaches snow skiing and has raced.
Eventually, Wolff - the son of Fritz and Jeanie Wolff and scion of the Alvin J. Wolff Inc. real estate firm - plans to get into that field.
Although he could make a substantial amount of money if he continues to show well on the Budweiser Tour, he knows Jet Skiing can’t go on forever.
“For me at least, Jet Ski racing is somewhat a short-term thing,” said Wolff. “If I could I’d do it forever, but it will only last so long.”
When his family moved to Liberty Lake in 1985, Wolff took up Jet Skiing and bought a machine. He soon became bored cruising the lake.
“I wanted to do more than just ride,” said Wolff. “I don’t even remember how I got into racing I’ve been doing it for so long.”
Wolff’s first local competition led to Northwest participation and a state championship at age 12.
A dream of joining the professional tour became reality last summer after qualifying for and doing well in a world final at Lake Havasu, Arizona.
The Jet Ski tour is a combination of water ski competition and motorcyle motocross. Throw in the elements of hydroplane racing and demolition derby on choppy lake waters throughout the country and you get an idea of what competitors like Wolff go through.
They compete on anything from 300cc standup to 1,100cc boat-like watercraft. Wolff rides a 750cc Yamaha in the popular sports class, which is somewhere in between.
More and more money is being put into the tour, by the personal watercraft industry and Budweiser. A top-five finisher can earn upwards of $200,000.
The five-buoy slalom course for time is much the same as the one skiers negotiate. Another element of the sport is the closed obstacle course with randomly placed markers the racers negotiate. As many as 16 will be involved at a time, making for a hairy ride.
“You’re driving 250 pounds of machine with almost 200 horsepower in rough water,” Wolff said. “It takes a toll on your back, arms, cardiovascular system and legs.”
He’s seen racers pass out on the beach from exhaustion and some taken to the hospital with fatigue and dehydration.
“Most of the top pros are marathon runners,” said Wolff. “Last year when I hopped into it I didn’t know what to expect.”
The results proved gratifying as he crisscrossed the country, putting 30,000 miles on his box van during 12 weeks between May and September at races from California to Florida, Detroit to Dallas.
Wolff converted the van into a living space and shop area and hit the road without trepidation. He said that if he could, he would have begun racing nationally years earlier.
Although not the youngest of competitors - the national champion in his classification is 15 years old - most of the racers he competes against are in their early to mid-20s.
It was in Chicago, during 10-foot swells on Lake Michigan that Wolff broke his hand, the bones protruding through the back and leaving a half dollar-sized scar for a reminder.
“It cost me a top-five finish,” he said.
This year he’s working on securing a sponsor as he advances from expert to the pro category. That will determine how soon he is able to begin preparing for the upcoming season.
“I will race until it dries up,” Wolff said.