liquidforce.com blog

Shout our to our boys in the 13th MEU, which includes the USS Boxer, USS Green Bay and USS Comstock…

http://13thmeu.blogspot.com/

Thanks for all you do fellas!!

On April 7-10 Texas Ski Ranch will be hosting the Chorpus Christi Challenge as part of the Texas International Boat Show. This unique wakeboard event will showcase four of the top wakeboarders in the world as they compete for the title at the third annual event. Unlike most events TSR hosts, the Corpus Christi Pro will not be pulled by a MasterCraft X-Star or a Rixen Cable system. Because the event is held in the Corpus Christi Marina we will be using Sea Doo watercraft to pull the wakeboarders over ramps made specifically for this event. The setting proved to be challenging but also very rewarding due to the close proximity to the crowd that can line up on all sides of the course.

In the previous two events Tom Fooshee and Gabe Lucas finished first and second respectively. This year TSR will add a little twist to the event that will showcase just four riders broken into two teams. Cable Riders vs. Boat Riders behind a PWC. While all four of these riders kill it behind all pulling devices, we will pit Tom Fooshee and Cody Johnson vs. Gabe Lucas and Joey Bradley. By leveling the playing field, we are expecting a really fun event that pits these good friends against each other. The 2011 event will be sanctioned by the World Wakeboard Association (WWA)

The Texas International Boat Show, presented by American Bank, will take place from April 7th-10th, 2011, at the Corpus Christi Downtown Marina. Buyers and sellers from across Texas, the USA and Mexico, plus exhibitors from around the world, will come together to create a unique marketplace offering a relaxed and leisurely environment in which to meet during this four-day event. Hundreds of boats, from 10’ to 100’, will be on display, both in the water and on-shore, many ready to demo! Add to this live music from The Bahamas, fun fashion shows and entertainment for the whole family, and you have an unforgettable experience for both buyers and sellers enjoying four days of fun in the sun. For more information on the Texas International Boat Show please goto www.TXINTLBOATSHOW.com

Tom Fooshee (Austin, Texas)
WWA World Champion and 2x Champion of the Corpus Christi Pro, Signature Board for Liquid Force

Joey Bradley (Dallas, TX)
Pro Liquid Force Rider

Orlando, Fla. — The King of Wake — the world’s elite pro wakeboarding series — announced today the dates and locations for its 2011 season, with three new venues highlighting its upcoming schedule. The series will make eight stops throughout the United States, beginning in Orlando, Fla. and wrapping up in Knoxville, Tenn.

The 2011 season will open with the Wake Games on April 28-May 1 at the Orlando Watersports Complex in Orlando, Fla. The Wake Games have become a kickoff tradition for the series, opening every King of Wake season since 2007.

The series will then continue the season with four stops on the Pro Wakeboard Tour, including Acworth, Ga., on May 21; Fort Worth, Tex., June 4; Colorado Springs, Colo., June 11 and its newest venue in the greater Seattle area of Monroe, Wash., on July 9. Monroe will mark the first time the King of Wake series has ever been held in the Pacific Northwest and the first time the Pro Tour has been held in Washington state since 1995.

Following Monroe, the King of Wake will make its debut at two more new venues, with WWA National Championships making its first-ever appearance on the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis, Minn., on July 27-31, followed by the WWA World Championships debut at The Precedent in Indianapolis, Ind., on Aug. 18-21.

The King of Wake season will end with the Pro Tour finale at Volunteer Landing in Knoxville, Tenn., on Aug. 27 & 28. Both a Pro Tour and a King of Wake champion will be crowned in Knoxville.

The Chase for the Crown, which limits the King of Wake crown to the top 10 riders in the standings midway through the season, will begin following the Pro Tour’s stop in Monroe. Only the 10 riders involved in the Chase will have their point totals adjusted and have the remaining three stops to top each other in the standings for the overall title.

Last year, Phillip Soven took home the King of Wake crown – his third of his career – after edging out Australian phenom Harley Clifford and younger brother Bob Soven, who finished second and third in the 2010 standing, respectively.

2011 King of Wake Schedule

DATES CITY EVENT VENUE
April 28-May 1 Orlando, Fla. Wake Games Orlando Watersports Complex
May 21 Acworth, Ga. Pro Wakeboard Tour: Stop #1 Dallas Landing Park
June 4 Fort Worth, Tex. Pro Wakeboard Tour: Stop #2 Texas MasterCraft
June 11 Colorado Springs, Colo. Pro Wakeboard Tour: Stop #3 Memorial Park
July 9 Monroe, Wash. Pro Wakeboard Tour: Stop #4 Lake Tye
July 27-31 Minneapolis, Minn. WWA National Championships Downtown Minneapolis
Aug. 18-21 Indianapolis, Ind. WWA World Championships The Precedent
Aug. 27 & 28 Knoxville, Tenn. Pro Wakeboard Tour: Stop #5 Volunteer Landing

3-23-11 Hood River, OR and Encinitas, CA

Innovation and technology drive progression and enable athletes to take their sport to the next level.

Slingshot Sports and Liquid Force are both market leaders when it comes to product innovation and today Slingshot has agreed to license Liquid Force’s latest binding patent and Liquid Force has agreed to license Slingshot’s control bar patent.

Jeff Logosz, CEO of Slingshot Sports says “We are strong proponents of technology and innovation. Utilizing Liquid Force’s binding patent gives our designers the freedom to build new products on a proven platform that will enhance our boot to board connection. Fortunately, we were able to come to an agreement with Liquid Force pretty easily, and we are happy to be in good cooperation with them.”

Liquid Force was issued US Patent No. 7,766,711 on August 3rd, 2010. Since that time, Liquid Force has been attempting to cooperate with all the brands who utilize this technology. Slingshot joins Hyperlite, CWB, and Naish, as companies who have agreed to license this technology.

Slingshot Sports was issued US Patent No. 7,581,701 for innovation in control bar technology. Tony Finns says “Slingshots new control bar patent enables the rider to adjust the power of the kite easier so our team riders and designers utilized this technology to design our kite bars.” Tony also added “I am really stoked that we are able to cooperate with Slingshot. They are an innovative company, and we were able to work a deal out that will benefit all wakeboarders and kiteboarders.”

“We are moving our sports forward” added Logosz. “Innovation drives progression, and both Liquid Force and Slingshot riders will benefit from the solid cooperation between the brands”

The crew over at TSO Wake released this quick little vid over the weekend to announce the arrival of their Ben Greenwood Pro Set. Includes video and written step by step from Ben on 10 tricks. Everything from a Pete to a Wrapped Offf-Axis 5 to a Mute Ole 7. Check out tsowake.com for more info.

First Session on the “Worrall” rail from Justin Worrall-WorrallWakeFilms on Vimeo.

The LF cross-over Worrall brothers having fun with their kites…

San Diego County is not only a technological hub, but also a center of the action sports industry. You can find out how the two are related on Tuesday when San Diego Sports Innovators presents the Science of Sports.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. Their message is that when you want to invent a new sporting product, it helps to be a geek.

“How do waves work? What design elements go into shaping a surfboard? How does air pressure affect your mountainboard ride? What are the mechanics behind an ideal jump shot?” the sports innovators group asks on its invitation to the event.

Among those appearing will be basketball legend-turned-entrepreneur Bill Walton, executive chairman of San Diego Sports Innovators.

Other local entrepreneurs to appear include Tony Finn, who in the mid-1980s popularized wakeboarding, a cross between water skiing and surfing.

Finn marketed a wakeboard called the Skurfer that included footstraps. This seemingly small addition greatly expanded the rider’s range of motion, making possible stunts previously impossible.

Today, Finn and another wakeboarding pioneer, Jimmy Redmon, co-own Encinitas-based Liquid Force. The company sells wakeboards, accessories and clothes through dealers and online at www.liquidforce.com.

Also appearing will be Solana Beach’s American Wave Machines, a maker of artificial surf devices that are typically found in amusement parks. The devices were inspired by the stationary waves that naturally form in the Waimea River in Hawaii.

Bruce McFarland, president and founder of the 11-year-old company, set out to duplicate that river wave phenomenon, and to improve upon it. That required research into the fluid mechanics of ocean waves and materials research. Fortuitously, McFarland had studied fluid mechanics and mechanical engineering at UC Santa Barbara.

However, Wave Loch, a La Jolla-based competitor, has said that its patents were infringed upon by McFarland, which McFarland denied. The yearslong legal battle is ongoing —- which goes to show that sports innovators need another resource besides geeks: lawyers.

Visit www.connect.org for more information on the event.

To read more, check out: http://www.nctimes.com/business/columnists/fikes/article_dc7f36d9-2bbc-59bc-aed6-e1ad65531c9b.html