Jack Houston and Team Stinga Racing have won Junior Boys water ski racing world championship!
Jack Houston performed brilliantly to take out the first round of the world titles in Gent, Belgium on Sunday 19 July. 
Jack lead from start to finish on the tough and foreign waterway, fighting off the early challenge of AJ Herrera of Team Sudden Force from the USA. Jack fought off the challenge and relied on the TSR crew and his training to guide him home and claim the win for the first of four rounds. Speaking to Jack, he said although he had never skied in conditions as rough as those in Belgium, he felt he had prepared well enough to be feeling strong and confident heading into the second round on July 21 in Genk, Belgium
TSR headed into the second round of world title competition in Genk on July 21 with confidence and belief after setting the pace in the first round. Again TSR were strong of the line, however Jack received a early challenge from Great Britain's Billy Smith. Billy had a fair crack at unsettling Jack and TSR, but in true form Jack held strong and seen off his British challenger. Just when TSR looked to have control of the race, Jack received another challenge, this time from fellow Aussie and double's ski partner Ben Hackett. 
Jack and Ben were neck and neck and they were both giving it their all when Ben had a moment and ended up in the water. This gave Jack an obvious advantage and he was able to use this hold his composure and use the moment to put himself into a position in which his experienced crew of Greg Houston and Kevin Boylan were able to once again guide Jack to the chequered flag.
The third round took place on 24 July in Antwerp, and the conditions were a little more settled on the wider Antwerp venue. If TSR win this race Jack Houston will clinch the world title. Much similar to the waters of Botany Bay and also the Hawkesbury river, Jack felt right at home and was able to stretch his legs and put down some strong speeds in his pursuit of the world title. The video footage online at www.skirace.net www.skirace.net shows how Jack was able to accelerate off the start and stamp his authority on this race early. By all reports (and the footage) out of Belgium Jack dominated in these conditions and was never really challenged in Round 3. 
Again Greg and Kevin controlled the situation and laid the path for Jack to claim a win at round 3 of the world titles and in doing so bring home the Junior Boys world title. Speaking to Jack after the race he was elated and spoke of how he really felt at home in the conditions that were presented to him in Antwerp.
The final round on July 26 was held in Viersel. Having already captured the world title, Jack had only his pride and personal motivation to race for now and given the tight tough venue of Viersel, It appears TSR were not taking any chances on ensuring our newly crowned world champion would return home safe and well. Again Jack was able to lead early and set the pace. A win in the last round to make it four out of four would really be a great achievement. Jack's round 1 challenger from the USA, AJ Herrera behind Sudden Force, took up the race to Jack and pushed him the whole way. 
AJ hung with Jack but was never really able to mount a serious challenge as once again the "Stinga F1" machine laid the path for Jack to bring home the win for round four. A brilliant effort all round to go four wins from four races. Jack has stamped his mark on world water ski racing and should be a feared competitor for years to come.
The hard work put in at training by Greg, Kevin and Jack (and others) as well as in general preparation combined with the collective effort of all sponsors and "team" members involved in sending "Stinga" to Belgium has come to fruition winning the Junior Boys world title. TSR are thankful to all who have helped TSR in their world championship campaign and special thanks go out to all of our sponsors and our supporters in Australia and overseas who have enabled the team to achieve their goal of winning the 2009 Water ski Racing World Title.