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Wakesports, Liquid Force, and Bart Hall brought in the heavy hitters for last weeks Fred Hall Boat Show. This was the third year that Watson, Henshaw, Shane “Danger” Bonifay, and little Valdez all made the journey out for the rail jam. Collin Harrington also brought his camera and recorded almost everything, hoping to get some last minute footage for his much anticipated Box of Fun movie. With the cameras rolling, “press for success” became the theme of the weekend, with all of the riders trying to one up eachother. Watson, Shane, and Henny were all riding their LF Press boards, which paved the way for many crowd pleasing manuevers on the flat box and wallride. One of the highlights of the show was Watson pressing his board so hard, he went over the wallride and finished his press on the concrete. You’ll have to wait for Collin tor elease the footage of that one. If for some reason you couldn’t make it to the show this year because you were on your death bed or on Mars or something like that, then make sure you get down to where the surf meets the turf in Del Mar next March to catch all the action again. Oh, and big ups to Shane for grabbing the new cover of Alliance!!

Spring is finally upon us! The sun is shining, and many of you are getting antsy to dust off the board and hit the water. Well we are too, and thanks to our friends at Dragon, we’ll also be looking a lot cooler this summer! Dragon has partnered with us on BROstock for this year, and to up the antsy, they are emerging from their science labs with the sickest sunglass design of the summer. These shades will be uber limited, so be sure to have BROstock in your summer plans June 12-14 if you plan on tracking down a pair. We weren’t sure if you’d be completely ready for them, so we’re only releasing a few teaser photos. Stay tuned to www.liquidforce.com and www.dragonalliance.com for more info!

What are you doing right now? If you live in Southern California and you’re not at the Fred Hall Boat Show in Del Mar then we have a problem. The show started on Wednesday with the kickoff of the third annual Wakesports Invitational Rail Jam. Shane Bonifay, Collin Harrington, Kevin Henshaw, Jacob Valdez, and Shawn Watson all flew in to take part in the festivities. Now, one of the coolest things about the Del Mar show is the person running it. Bart Hall is about a 6’5 fisherman who couldn’t be more stoked about wakeboarding. He works with the riders on every idea they have in order the make the rail jam better for the public. This year, Wakesports brought out a rooftop box, A-frame, and wall ride, providing a number of options for the riders. Jeff Barton also flew out to entertain the fans while the riders got their rail jam on.
The first two days of the show were pretty awesome and all of the riders shredded their faces off. The show runs through Sunday so you can still catch the action before the show is over. Still not getting in your car to come to the show? Well, here are some quick reasons to convince you:

-One of the riders at the show has the new cover of Alliance. (Come to the show to find out who!)
-Collin Harrington has his camera and is cramming some last minute filming for his new movie Box of Fun.
-This is the only event scheduled to bring pro riders to Southern California in 2009.
- Check out the all the latest 2009 Liquid Force and Ronix product (and buy it!).
-You know you want to.
-If wakeboarding is not your thing, they have duck races that are about ten yards away from the rail jam that are extreme as hell.
-If you come to the show I’ll know I didn’t write this article for nothing.

The rail jam is going down Friday at 3:00 and 6:30, Saturday at 12:00, 3:00, and 6:30, and Sunday at 12:00 and 3:00. Be there!
www.fredhall.com

Cablestock May 8th, 9th & 10th
TSR’s biggest beach party of the year continues to get better with 4 different wake contests, a skate contest in the new Nike6.0 mini ramp, Film Premiers and of course the ever famous TSR Bikini Contest. Incredible athletes, suntans and bikini’s gather on the hot sandy beaches at TSR to celebrate wakeboarding and music, and kick off yet another South Texas summer season. It’s the 7th annual Cablestock at TSR. This 3-day festival and competition will be held in true TSR fashion with great music, good friends and, of course, all the action sports Texas Ski Ranch has to offer.

The wakeboard competitions will be bigger and better than ever with four important events in one weekend. The first is a traditional cable wake park competition with divisions for Pro Men, Juniors, Women & Wakeskate. The MasterCraft Boat competitions, pulled by the world famous MasterCraft X-Star, will bring out the best of the best, as Texas riders qualify to compete along with your favorite wakeboarders for cash and prizes. TSR’s third contest highlights the most aggressive and impressive tricks and maneuvers the riders can pull off with a structure-only competition on the TSR Cable Wake Park. This intense contest puts six riders on the water simultaneously and was debuted here in 2004. Each rider will attempt as many tricks as possible to amass points before they crash and are sent to the back of the line so that new athletes may join in. A continues rotation of world class athletes, trying to outdo each other, makes this event the most exciting wakeboard ever hosted on the TSR cable. Last but not least, Aaron Reed and Obscura wakeskates will be hosting a wakeskate competition on the new pond and pulled by the Rixen Little Bro 2 Tower system.

Cablestock at TSR is more than just a competition. You can relax and enjoy the excitement for $10/day for a special event park access pass. For those who choose to be part of the action but not compete, TSR offers a 3-day cable & skate pass for just $49.95. This includes all day sessions on the cable and anytime the skatepark is open throughout the weekend. Don’t have your own gear? No worries, TSR has Liquid Force and Helium wake rentals available for beginners and experts alike. If you can only make one wakeboard event this year, it has to be Cablestock. More than just a competition, It’s a way of Life!

New Wake Nation Water-Sports Complex
To Open In Cincinnati This Spring

Wakeboarding Is Nation’s Hottest New Water Sport…
But Where The Heck’s The Boat??

(Cincinnati, OH) –Now for something completely different…water skiing and wakeboarding…WITHOUT A BOAT!

The region’s newest and most unusual water recreation venue — Wake Nation Cincinnati — is a fun and challenging watersports’ complex designed for wakeboarding as well as wakeskating, water skiing and knee boarding.

Wake Nation Cincinnati is located in Joyce Park in Fairfield, and is targeted for a soft opening May 1 and a Grand Opening celebration June 2. It will open daily at 10 a.m. and close at dark all summer long through October.

“Wakeboarding is America’s fastest growing water sport,” says Wake Nation owner Peter Kennedy. “Wakeboarding is essentially a combination of water skiing and snowboarding. Wakeboarders ride on a board slightly larger than the size of a snowboard and ride on top of the water at speeds of 18-20 miles per hour.” What makes the water experience of Wake Nation so unique is that riders are pulled around a huge lake not by a motorboat, but by a high tech “cable-pulley” system developed by Rixen in Germany. “Riders can hit the water in a whole new way,” adds Kennedy.

There are six towers rising 30 feet over the water with a circulating cable system that tows wakeboarders, skiers, or kneeboarders at the same time.

Gone are motorboats’ whining sounds and polluting exhaust as riders are pulled over silky smooth water, around Wake Nation’s man-made lake, which covers 12 acres, including a three-acre grassy island right in the middle of it.

Wake Nation Cincinnati is the only wakeboarding cable park in the Midwest, the next closest one being more than 600 miles away, in Kansas City. There are only six other cable waterparks in the entire U.S., most of them in Florida and Texas.

Cable wakeboarding is an exciting sport that appeals to all ages. Beginners love that wakeboarding is fun, easy to learn, and allows riders to progress in their skill level at their own pace. Most riders learn how to successfully get up and stay up on their board within their first hour.

Experienced wakeboarders like that they can amp up the adrenaline by launching themselves into the air by challenging the various man-made jumps and obstacles (floating sliders, grind rails, table tops and kickers) located in the lake. In addition to wakeboarding and water skiing, riders can slalom, trick ski, kneeboard and wakeskate. Lessons are available for beginners as well as for experienced riders looking to learn new jumps, tricks and moves.

The Wake Nation site includes a pro shop, locker rooms and a full concession stand. The pro shop carries all necessary rental equipment (including wet suits), plus the latest in wakeboards, wakeskates, bindings, life vests and clothing. “Wake nation will have everything you need on site, so the only thing you need to bring is your bathing suit,” says Kennedy.

Cable passes will be available in one hour ($20), two hour ($25), four hour ($30) and all-day ($35) increments. There will also be a season-long annual pass available. Special discount tickets are available for groups, including youth groups, birthday parties and corporate events. Parking is FREE.

Wake Nation
 is located at 201 Joe Nuxhall Way (formerly called Forest Lake Lane) in 
Fairfield.
For more information, call (513) 887-WAKE
 or email info@wakenation.com. Website: www.wakenation.com.

The Final Update from New Zealand… March 09

The southern hemisphere season started off in Mid Nov in Austarilia coaching some of their top junior riders and is now wrapping up back in Oz, but this time on the Goldie surfing with some buddies.

It has been a very busy season with coaching clinics held in conjunction with Wakeboard New Zealand and Mastercraft. My time has been split between the islands which gives me the opportunity to get to as many riders as possible. Sixteen different locations in total to coach.

My little team of grommets have done well above expectation with the highlights being Talor Walters and Sophie Schollum successfully defending their Nationals Titles and Seth Robinson taking 2nd in Groms in his first ever nationals. My Nationals went really well with my 3rd consecutive Masters National title.

Although the season was my busiest yet, I found a great balance and spent time with family, friends and surfing. After spending so much time away from Nz in the past 10 years, it becomes harder to leave each year. But this Northern hemisphere looks promising with a trip to Acapulco already on the cards for April.

The end of my NZ stay finished up with just enough time after Nationals for one more WNZ clinic and a couple of days with adults near Rotorua. Making approx 80 different people coached over the summer but with most doing more than one day.

From the Gold Coast I head back to Florida where I will get one weeks rest before I head to Acapulco for a week long clinic with the Mexican wakeboard association, WakeMex.

2009 Del Mar Rail Jam

Come see your favorite rider tear it up on the rails while your only feet from the action.

Shawn Watson
Chad Sharpe
Kevin Henshaw
Colin Harrington
Shane Bonifay
Little Valdez

San Diego, Ca - The world’s best riders will descend on the birthplace of modern wakeboarding to display the current state of modern rail shredding. For the third year, the Fred Hall Fishing, Tackle and Boat Show in Del Mar will host the Wakesports Unlimited Invitational Rail Jam on March 25-29, 2009.

Many of the sport’s brightest stars will be on hand to participate. Riders like two-time WakeBoarding Magazine Rail Master Award winner Shane Bonifay, 2005 Pro Tour Rookie of the Year Kevin Henshaw, 2008 Best Trick of the Year winner Chad Sharpe and boardsports legends Collin Harrington and Shawn Watson will be joined by other world-class riders.

“The Wakesports Unlimited ‘Invitational Rail Jam’ has grown every year both in terms of rider participation and in the quality of the rails on site,” said Wakesports Unlimited owner Josh Cantor. “We’ve collaborated with the riders to make a course that’s both challenging to them and offers a great experience for the crowd on hand. Southern California has embraced this rail jam for the last three years and we expect this year’s Invitational Rail Jam to be the most spectacular production the San Diego area has ever seen. There will be multiple rail options, the level of risk will be higher than ever and the boys said they’re ready to shred. This is guaranteed to be the best show we’re ever done.”

The Wakesports Unlimited Invitational Rail Jam is the only scheduled event showcasing the sport’s top talent in 2009, so don’t miss this unique opportunity. The five day rail jam will feature three shows daily, giving all of Southern California’s wake enthusiasts the chance to come check out the world’s best riders pushing the sport.

For more information, go to wakesports.com or fredhall.com. You can also call or visit Wakesports Unlimited at any of their three locations.

San Diego: 8199 Clairemont Mesa, San Diego CA, 92111, 858-277-5757

Carlsbad: 4215 Harrison St. Carlsbad CA, 92008, 760-434-5750

Orange County: 350 S.Tustin, Orange CA, 92866, 714-363-9253

The Wakesports Unlimited Invitational Rail Jam is sponsored by the Southern California Ford Dealers Association and by Liquid Force and Ronix.

Sincerely,

Geoff Howell
Wakesports Unlimited

Check out www.liquidforcefilms.com to see the new Bob and Harley video we just posted. These guys should have their own TV show, pure comedy….