You could say that hitting waves aboard a PWC like a Sea-Doo is pretty cool all on its own. It’s the closest thing to riding a motorcycle on the water, and when the pace is cranked up, it can be extremely adrenaline-pumping. Just ask RideApart's own Robbie Bacon.
That said, these machines are designed to be ridden on the water, and nowhere else. Or so you would think.
Leave it to none other than Travis Pastrana to transform a personal watercraft into a personal aircraft, as he wanted to achieve something that has no purpose other than being totally badass. Because what good is any powersports vehicle if you can’t get any air, right? So, how would a Sea-Doo fare blasting 110 feet across the air?
In case you weren’t aware, Travis Pastrana is nothing short of a legend in the powersports scene. He’s bagged tons of championships and X Games medals throughout the years, and is a god-tier performer in the worlds of freestyle motocross, rally racing, and powerboat racing, to name a few.
And so, it should come as no surprise that the Sea-Doo actually can fly, but you need a crazy hooligan like Travis Pastrana to pilot it.
So, how did it all go down? Well, a crazy course usually reserved for dirtbikes was tweaked to accommodate the Sea-Doo, with channels dug into the ground and filled with water. The end of the channel had a lip that served as the PWC’s takeoff point.
As for the landing, the team set up a massive 60-foot air bag to catch Travis and the Sea-Doo. And in case Travis came up short from the landing, a smaller 20-foot bag was deployed to minimize broken bones. Also, should Travis come in too hot and miss the 60-foot landing bag, another 20-foot bag was deployed, which, according to Jim York, should “save his life-ish.” Very reassuring.
Surprisingly, or should I say, unsurprisingly, Travis managed to perfect the jump in one go, landing perfectly on top of the 60-foot air bag, and proving that Sea-Doo should probably make a special-edition model called the Air-Doo just for Travis Pastrana.
