Wow...what a week/weekend!! It was really amazing to see so many people come to the 2nd Annual Flyboard Family Weekend in Beaver Lake (over 180 in attendance). I have never been more proud to be part of the Zapata Family. We all know there have been some issues these last few weeks, but my drive home allowed me to reflect on much of this. I hear so many things, so many opinions, so many visions. I fully understand everyone is entitled to their own. People will try to sell you on everything from being a one brand person to being a lover of all brands, and yet, what they fail to recognize is that some people just like to be loyal. They like the camaraderie that comes with being with like minded individuals who share similar visions. I honestly dont think Flyboarding is like Jet Ski racing. I dont think you can bundle all hose end sports and put a cherry on top of them. I know you certainly cant have a legitimate competition that allows Flyboards®, Jet-a-vators, X-Jets, etc. How would you judge that? Heck we cant even agree on how to judge Flyboard® competitions ;)! Just like every hose-end or hydro-flight product, they are all very different. I see some as safe, and some as not so safe, and frankly I dont want to be bundled with products that I perceive to have safety issues. Jet Skis on the other hand all perform in a very similar fashion....they haul tail across the water. So I see Flyboard® more like the fan followings of lets say Harley Davidson Motorcycles. You can ride a BMW motorcycle or a Ducati, and they have their fan bases. Seldom do people cross lines. It is not that the Harley Davidson is better it is that the people that ride them like the culture that has been created around the product. I believe that Zapata Racing will always be strong because of the culture that Franky and Krystel Zapata decided to cultivate long before most of us knew what a Flyboard® was. That culture does not have a price tag and it cant be bought be and sold. But it is VERY valuable and many choose to underestimate it. It does not mean that I do not respect another product, it just means I may not relate to it on the level that I relate to this one. So in closing I want to say thank you to many people. I want to first and foremost thank Flyboard Zapata , Krystel Charron , Matt Zapata, Stéphane Denis and Tania Clarke for making the trip from France. I want to thank Ryan Cauly and Sarah Hutcheson for their dedication, time and financial backing of this event. I want to thank Jeannie Orel and Jaleen Wight Rippy for putting up with me and helping me any way they can. I want to thank Adrian Boucher for helping me go on a hunt for drinks in the middle of nowhere and getting them back to the site in a timely fashion. I want to thank Jaspal Kalsi and Dfw Leak Detection for their compromise and their spirit of friendship. I want to thank everyone that slept in my room or connected to it, Stephie Dub, Jake Orel, Christopher Vance, Bailey Baughn and Damone Rippy for the tolerance of all that spray paint.....life is golden ;). I want to thank Josh Provenzano for lending me Donna on my ChuckECheese adventure. Cant forget the crazy Flyboard Gary Cooper Mexico!....our road trip adventure was amazing. There are others who know who they are who have provided invaluable moral support to me when days were not so reflective :). I want to give a HUGE thank you to my husband, Bobby Vance for being my everything. My biggest cheerleader, my biggest moral supporter, and my best friend. I am not sure how you deal with me on some days. Last but not least.....Flyboard Family Forever!
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:56:27 +0000
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