Personal Watercraft Illustrated’s Big Shot Awards

Personal Watercraft Illustrated’s Big Shot Awards rev up for inaugural event

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 25 March, 2009 : - - This is a year-long photo contest for only the most daring, extreme, or damn-near crazy PWC-enthusiasts. The four categories sum it up: 1) The Deepest Barrel, 2) The Biggest Wave, 3) The Biggest Air, and 4) The Worst Wipeout. The winning team (rider and photographer) for The Deepest Barrel will have their photograph on the cover of May 2010’s issue of Personal Watercraft Illustrated as well as earn a slew of free shwag, gear, and other bitchin’ prizes.

We’re looking for the most eye-catching, amazing photographs never seen before in any PWC publication! As PWC performance continues to escalate and spread into different styles of riding, we want to show the world what can be aboard a watercraft.  Personal Watercraft Illustrated’s Big Shot Awards will feature four distinct categories for photo submission:

1) The Deepest Barrel
Just like you see on the covers of everyday surfing magazines, we want to see you on your PWC deep inside the “Green Room.” The cleaner, deeper, and gnarlier the better. Big-wave champion Garrett McNamara (of www.garrettmcnamara.com) will be guest judging this category. Undoubtedly, you’ve seen Personal Watercraft Illustrated’s May ’09 cover of Taylor Curtis. Yeah, beat that!

2) The Biggest Wave
It takes some serious stones to drop down the face of a twenty-footer wave on a surfboard. Now try it on a PWC! Big-wave champion Garrett McNamara will be guest judging this category too. You need to be either on the face, in the impact zone, or dropping in to qualify.

3) The Biggest Air
People might think that a stand-up has the market cornered in this category. Such is not the case. Today’s runabouts have the ponies to shoot into the stratosphere. But it’s going to take quite a bit of air time to beat what freeriders can do on their lightweight skis. You don’t have to land it; you just need to be making physical contact to the PWC.

4) The Biggest Wipeout
You don’t have to be a racer to eat it. In fact, we’re thinking this category might be filled with more fathers of three showing off to the kids than snap shots from the World Finals. But hey, eating a little “humble pie” might just earn you first place and the respect of the world other.

Voting and Results
Contestants have all year to enter to win in all four categories. Beginning Monday, February 2nd, 2010, the top five entries in each category (selected by the Personal Watercraft Illustrated staff and evaluated by pro-surfer Garrett McNamara of www.garrettmcnamara.com) will be posted on the magazine’s website, www.watercraft.com. There, visitors will be allowed to cast their vote in each of the four categories until February 28th, 2010, when voting will end. It will be these votes that elect the first-ever Blowsion Big Shot Awards. The winner of The Deepest Barrel will be featured on the cover of the May 2010 issue of Personal Watercraft Illustrated. Inside that same issue will be a five-page pictorial of each category’s winners and runners up.

Entry Rules
All PWC enthusiasts (regardless of skill level, age [18 and up only], or vehicle (stand-up or runabout) are invited to participate in Personal Watercraft Illustrated’s biggest photo-entry contest ever. All entries must be submitted via email and a digital photograph (no smaller than 2MG). All entries must include the rider’s name, location of the image, make and model of the PWC, and general contact information (mailing address, email, and one phone number). All participants are open to submit images to all three categories, but only one per category. While unlikely, it is possible for one rider to win in all four categories.

Photographs and Judging
All entries must be submitted before Friday, January 30th, 2010. All images must be new. No aged and/or scanned photographs. All digital images will be checked for data file dates and closely inspected for signs of doctoring (Photoshop, Adobe, etc.). No inappropriate images or pictures depicting grave injuries. Participants in The Biggest Air category must be making physical contact with their PWC. Overall height will be measured by the staff of Personal Watercraft Illustrated from the lowest portion of the ski to the highest portion of the wave. The estimated height will be posted below each image in this category when posted online.

Judging The Biggest Wipeout will be purely subjective (but bonus points will be awarded for humor-factor). The top five will be decided by the staff the Personal Watercraft Illustrated. The Deepest Barrel will be judged by clarity of the image, the color and clarity of the encapsulating barrel, the depth in which the rider is within the wave’s barrel, with consideration given to location and weather conditions. We understand the danger associated with participating in this category and expect fewer entries than the other three categories. This is why The Biggest Barrel will be awarded the Grand Prize as well as a cover.

Judging The Biggest Wave will be similar to evaluating The Deepest Barrel where the staff of Personal Watercraft Illustrated and guest judge Garrett McNamara (of www.garrettmcnamara.com) will evaluate the wave’s height, intensity, and the size of the rider in comparison. Riders are required to either be riding the wave’s face, dropping into the wave, or even daring to ride up the wave’s face. Big Wave tow-in vehicles are allowed, but must be without a tow- or rescue-trailer attached.

Prizes and Sponsors
Winners (riders and photographers, equally) of 1) The Biggest Barrel, 2) The Biggest Wave, 3) The Biggest Air, and 4) The Biggest Wipeout will be awarded free subscriptions to Personal Watercraft Illustrated, the winner of The Biggest Barrel winning a two-year subscription; the other three will earn a one-year subscription. All 20 candidates (including the eventual winners) featured during the one-month online voting process will receive a limited-edition Blowsion Big Shot Awards/Personal Watercraft Illustrated t-shirt, stickers, etc.

Both Blowsion, our title sponsor, and Kommander Industries, our presenting sponsor, are providing thousands of dollars of available prizes! This is the biggest photo contest to ever be held by a PWC enthusiast magazine. All entries will be considered and all entries can be submitted any time between now and January 30th, 2010. More details will follow both here in each issue of Personal Watercraft Illustrated and on our website, This is truly your shot at being on the cover of Personal Watercraft Illustrated, so go BIG!

www.watercraft.com.

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Dave Szych

Big Wave - Surfersvillage