Last week Jay Yelas visited two of his sponsors, Skeeter Boats and Yamaha Marine, to meet and greet the people who have contributed to his success.

What prompted the visits was Yelas' recent win of the BASS Masters Classic, and the fact that Yamaha-owned Skeeter and Yamaha Marine have not sponsored a Classic winner since 1985 (Rick Clunn) and 1994 (Bryan Kerchal) respectively.

Wednesday at Skeeter

On Wednesday Yelas visited the Skeeter plant in Kilgore, Texas. "It was an employee luncheon -- all the employees were invited," he said. "About 200 people were there, including all the boat-builders." Sadler's Smokehouse, another one of Yelas' sponsors, catered the luncheon where everyone watched a tape of the final-day Classic weigh-in.

"I got to shake the hand of about every boat-builder at Skeeter and thank them for the job they do," he said. "It was a neat opportunity to address all the employees of Skeeter to thank them for a job well-done. I made it clear that (his Classic win was) a team effort, and a company is only as good as the people who work there.

"Meeting the boat-builders was fun," he added. "The people shooting fiberglass, laminating, building seats and all of that. They work hard and don't get to experience the fun of the boat business like we do, so it was great to meet them."

Yelas' visit was "great," said Dean Burnett, Skeeter's VP of sales and marketing. "Bringing Jay into the factory did wonders for the workers building the boats. It gave them an idea why they were building special boats for the Classic, why they were involved in everything. It gave them some ownership in it, and they realized at the end of (their effort) is Skeeter's success."

Burnett said Yelas' win has already landed orders for Skeeter boats. "His win really translated into sales for us. We have a backlog we've never had before.

"Jay winning the Classic has helped, (Skeeter's sponsorship of) B.A.S.S. has helped and even the stock market dump has helped, believe it or not." Burnett said he talked to a boat-buyer recently who commented that he could buy a new Skeeter, keep it for 5 years and "lose less on it than he lost last week in the stock market."

Friday at Yamaha; the Pyrotechnics Story

Two days later Yelas was at Yamaha meeting with the front-office staff since the engines are made overseas. He shared some of his Classic experiences with them, including this story which involves fireworks and Kevin VanDam.

After the day 2 Classic weigh-in, Yelas and the stage director rehearsed the trophy ceremony. "The stage director said, 'You have to stand right here on this piece of tape. If you don't stand here, you're liable to get hit by this pyro-launcher.' I'd never even heard that word before," Yelas said.

The next day he won the Classic. But because a band had been onstage before the weigh-in, "about 20 pieces of tape were on the stage," Yelas said. VanDam, as the defending champion, had to hand Yelas the trophy. When he came over, "I asked him, 'Where do I stand?'" Yelas said. VanDam just handed over the trophy and said, "Good luck, buddy. I don't have a clue."

"So I stood there kind of looking over my shoulder the whole time," Yelas said. (Editor's note -- If you look closely at the Classic footage you can see that quick conversation.)

Kim Nalley, Yamaha promotions manager, said that story and others "had everyone laughing. We had a great lunch and Jay signed lots of autographs." Tanner Croft, a young Yelas fan, arrived and "expected to stand in line" to meet Yelas. Instead, he was brought right over to Yelas, who spent 20 minutes talking with him about fishing.

"All in all it was a great day and really helped to lift our spirits," Nalley said.

"Jay was very gracious with his time to come in and talk to us about his experiences on the trail and the Classic," said Yamaha marketing chief Frank Wilhelm. "It was really a feel-good get-together.

"It goes without saying that we're extremely proud of his accomplishments, along with the level of expertise and professionalism he brings to the Yamaha team. We're really fortunate to have a guy of that magnitude on our (pro) team. Our whole team is really sharp."

Mountaintop Experiences

"Both Skeeter and Yamaha are doing well now, and I made it clear that (the people he met) were responsible for that," Yelas said. "It was great to inspire the employees and thank them for the job they've been doing. I encouraged them to keep raising the bar.

"Life is a series of ups and downs, and it's fun to celebrate the mountaintop experiences," he added. "That's what the events at Skeeter and Yamaha were. I've never been busier, but when I'm doing stuff like that I never get tired of it."