Things change...and that is about all we can be sure of. It is pretty sad that most of the guys that I used to ride with over the past few years have dropped off. There are tons of talented riders who are either very rarely or never in the water for various reasons. Guys like Mike Serlin, Eddie Bettencourt, Derek Gleeson, Joe Kenney, Jerry Jones, and the list goes on and on...lots of people who were really instrumental pushing me to where I have been able to take my riding. And I understand that as you grow up, priorities change and life gets in the way of your passions, and I have certainly had my time away from the sport over the past several years... But there are some great new riders coming up that would really benefit from having the old crew around. To learn more about the next few kids I'm going to be mentioning, just click their names to see their facebook pages. I would say that at this point guys like Chris Rosner, Stanton High, Mark Gomez, and Zack Bright are the veterans of the new school guys coming up. At this point you have seen all these guys in magazines, videos, and TV. And this group is killing it and progressing all the time. Those guys are the next generation of premier level professional freeriders...but there is already a new generation hot on their heels. Wesley Krautkramer (16) and Christian Young (12) (don't believe the age on his facebook page ;) unless you are an 18 year old girl or harbor patrol!) Both these guys are killing it, and they are just getting started! They both have very supportive parents behind them and are really good kids. The industry people need to take note of these guys, they are the future of our sport and we need to do what we can to keep them pumped on it. They also can do a lot to pique their friends interest in freeride. I'm looking forward to helping all these guys develop and improve their riding skills over the next few years. It is an exciting time to be in
 I'm pretty excited about my new relationship with TUFStands. I couldn't even tell you where to go to get a garage/display stand before these guys came along. The one I have been using is probably 15 years old, and I got it when we picked up an old Square Nose SJ years ago. Needless to say it doesn't look too hot. Well TUFstands has introduced a product line that will be a perfect compliment to the incredible paint work that Blowsion does on my boats. The picture is a sample of what the stands will look like. They are building one that will match the graphics on the "GoFast" themed boats and another that will match the new competition boat from Blowsion! Check em out at www.TUFStands.com or just click on the picture.
The Standup stands start at $199, and they will build you a stand for what ever kind of PWC you have...check em out.
I can't show too much just yet...but I'm stoked on my new boat that has just come out of paint up at Blowsion. It is in route to Kommander Industries for building and assembly work now. The off to get some Hydro-Turf by EJ before its unveiling at Blowsion Surf Slam this year. This boat is featuring my new signature series hood kit by Blowsion. This should let far less water in, and has some mechanical elements built in to keep the hood on during hard sideways landings. There is one more element to this package that I will have to wait till Surf Slam to tell you guys about...but SJ riders will like it!
So...this review has been a long time coming. And I've taken so much time to give my review of it because I wanted to be sure that I had sufficient time on the hull to really get used to it, and try to understand it as well as I could. I also wanted to have some other people ride it and get their feedback on it.
My hull is a little different than the typical BOB. All of my internal components are moved as far forward as possible, the motor is two inches farther forward than a typical BOB, and it is laid up thicker than most for strength. I asked them to make these changes after riding the demo BOB in Parker. My hope was the hull would be a little more balanced and plane out easier in this configuration. And I feel like this was a good modification. The next step with this hull will be to move the motor to the stock position and see how that works...but I can't ride a boat that wants to wheelie all the time.
On to the review:
Lets start with the good...and there is a lot of good associated with this hull.
This boat was designed to flip and it does that really well. I've certainly never ridden a boat that was easier to flip. So much so, that I kind of feel like it would be a good backflip trainer ski. Someone learning to flip could really make a lot of mistakes and still make it come around if they got the process 50% right.
The wide tray give you lots of leverage for foothold rolls (which I don't do all that often) which makes it really easy to roll the boat once you learn how. Even with the farther forward weight bias I have in the boat, you have to make a real effort to get your weight forward to properly roll the boat and keep the nose low. Surf stance rolls require a really dramatic forward weight transfer also, which make for some cool feeling rolls but limits your ability to hit a wave really late on a roll.
The ease with which the boat flips makes under flips really easy also and allows me focus a little more on getting a good sideways rotation.
More positive aspects of my boat are that the hull itself is really solid and the build quality on the hull is quite good. I'm not concerned with breaking the hull...which is nice.
My boat also has a longer than stock intake cavity. It was lengthened two inches over stock and we stretched a WORX intake grate to fit. The boat stays hooked up really well and I have had some fun flipping little white water sections.
The boat being as short as it is makes it a fun ski to play around on in flat water...at lower speeds. It also gives it the ability to be turned very quickly in the pocket of a wave or in to a section. I also like the over all feeling of being on a short hull.
Problems:
Just to qualify what I am about to say. This hull was designed to be an inexpensive platform that would allow someone to flip on flat water with a limited setup. And it seems to do a good job of accomplishing that goal. The rest of this review is just my opinion and I may well not have any idea what I am talking about. I'm also a pretty firm believer that one can adjust to anything and succeed on it.
But it is quite a challenging boat to ride in the surf for a couple of reasons.
Lets start with handling:
I think almost all of the handling problems come from the protrusion on the bottom of the hull in the front. Just forward of where the motor sits, the hull sort of a bulb that sticks down below the rest of the bottom of the hull. When going slow or when this part of the hull is out of the water, there are no problems. But when this part of the hull has pressure on it, like when you are headed down the face of a wave, or if you are decelerating from anything over like 15mph...problems arise.
I have really taken a pounding a few times when headed down a steep section of a wave and the boat decides to take a quick turn to either the right or left. The same thing occurs if you hit a section late or hop off a section...when you land, the boat is going to go one way or the other. I feel like this happens because the protrusion on the front of the hull acts like a fin and will pull the boat in the direction of the flow of water.
Doing a typical bottom turn on the boat is pretty difficult. This boat likes to be turned flat and once it is leaned over, it does not like to transition back to upright and over to the other side too quickly. Once the boat is leaned over it really kind of likes to stay there, unless you are turning it really hard...which bring us to an interesting couple of points.
The nice thing about the bulb on the bottom of the boat is it really does allow you to pivot the ski around it when you turn, which is pretty cool and allows for some really tight snaps. But I would rather pivot the ski around a sponson on the side of the boat and have the ability to control it by flattening the boat out if I choose to. With the bulb on the bottom, it takes away some of your ability to do a hard turn without the boat pivoting around on you. I realize this is stuff that may not make a lot of difference to most people, but for the way I ride it makes a big difference.
I rode the BOB back to back with my 08 SJ and just basically tested the difference in turning. I was on glass smooth, fresh, flat water and I switched back and forth from my 08SJ to the BOB and did basically the same things which was carving turns. Both boats are basically identical power/motor wise, and have the same setup as far as steering goes. One of the glaring differences between the two boats is that during a hard carving turn on the SJ, the boat wants to right itself, where the BOB wants to fall over. And when pushed too hard the BOB wants to spin where the SJ will just slide a little.
Riding the boat back to back also really makes the SJ feel like a long narrow ski in comparison to BOB.
The other issue I've had with the BOB, is that off-throttle from any kind of speed kicks my ass. I've been rushing to a wave more times that I can count and ended up on my head. For me it is super important to be able to carry some speed when I ride, and I just can't on this hull.
I really feel like all of these problems could be resolved by eliminating the bulb on the front of the boat, I would also like to see what a set of Tubbies do on the ski. In my opinion, there is a big difference between having a hull that has a tapered shape to it and some lines the emulate a sponson, and having a real sponson on the boat.
Rear weight bias:
Even though we have moved lots of components forward, you still have to put lots of weight over the front to roll properly. And this is not really that big of an issue unless you are trying to roll late off a wave. To do a roll as high as possible, you need to hit the wave quite late...and that is just really hard to do on this boat and still make it roll flat. Over all this is not that big of a deal.
Hood:
The hull on my BOB is super solid. And I'm kind of surprised the hood is as thin as it is. But I should have stressed to them that it was important to make the hood thick as well. I think the hood on my boat broke the second ride. It was in a spot that was easy enough to fix, but it is still noticeable. And it kind of sucks to have a new boat the breaks right a way. But I taked to Derrick and they are aware that this part of the hood was an issue and they have fixed it on subsequent boats. I'm not sure if I will be getting a new hood or not.
I drilled some vent holes in the back of the hood above where the stock air vent/drains are located and it was pretty thin there also, so I don't have a ton of confidence that the hood will not break in other areas. Having said that, the design of the hood with it's rounded lines seems like it will do a good job of dispersing pressure better than if they were flat, so it may be just fine. The air vents were necessary because I am not running a much air though the pole. I think if you are using dual breathers in the pole, you probably don't need any more air...but we did.
Overall:
I think this hull does what it was designed to do quite well. It flips, and I bet if I had trim and some skill I could flat water flip it with the mild 760 we have in it. But I don't have either. If you are looking for a good flat water boat to improve your skills on I think this is a good choice for you.
Surf wise, if you occasionally ride in small surf and would rather just jump with the boat, I think you would be happy also. Or if you think a double back flip sounds like a good idea and you are on a budget...again, this seems like a good choice. As it is now, I hate to say that I can't recommend as a surf boat simply because of the handling problems. I've ridden the ski from 1 foot to 10 foot + and smaller stuff is certainly where it excels. Bigger waves on this hull provided me a good lesson in humility. I'm not saying it can't be ridden or ridden well in the surf...but for me super jet is still the best bet for an all round surf ski. The SJ sure does feel big in comparison though.
The next step with the boat will be to move the motor back and see how that works. I've also been toying with the idea of taking out the bulb in the front and adding some tubbies...but before we do that, hopefully we will have some summer surf that will allow me to see just how easy this boat is to flip...twice.
So...there it is, feel free to ask questions. I will do my best to be open and honest with my answers as I have been with the review. And again, this is all just my opinion. I may be 100% off base...would not be the first time I've been wrong. And may of the things that are important to me are not that important to most people. Also, I want people to keep in mind that I asked for some changes in this hull, and those might be the entire cause of my problems.
I think what the guys at the Ski Clinic have done is really admirable and I am very hopeful it will help our sport continue to grow. This is a good solid product at a very reasonable price point. And if you are a flat water rider on a super jet that wants to improve your skills this hull could be a great way to help your progression.
I apologize in advance if this review offends anyone. But I want to make it very clear that in my opinion, this is a good flatwater boat, especially for the price. It just does not fit my needs as a freeride boat. But I think we will be making some changes and we will see how it goes...
The Value of Competition in Freeride
Photography by Ludo MouveauThis is an adaptation of an article I wrote a little over a year ago as we were leading up to last year's Blowsion Surf Slam. But I thought some of you guys might enjoy it again as we are preparing for Blowsion Surf Slam in just over a month! Freeriding - at its core - is not about the competition, but freeride competitions are essential for the health and vitality of the sport. The difference between racers and freeriders is that racers live for the competition. They thrive on pushing harder than the next guy and running it in to the next corner just a little deeper and faster than that other guy is willing to go. Freeriders tend to be just a little more relaxed most of the time. You see, when we go ride, we do it just for fun. That is not to say that when the boys get together, we don't push to try and "one up" each other. But typically, there is a very relaxed atmosphere surrounding what we do. That is, until it comes time to compete.
The greatest contribution of the IFWA (International Freeride Watercraft Association) over the last several years has been the increase in the level of riding on the freeride scene around the world. I have been involved with the IFWA since its inception 2005, and almost without exception, the level has been raised at each and every event.
(Above: Godfather of freeriding, Randy Laine, struts a little off of the coast of Mexico)
Back in 2005, a one-handed backflip and a no-handed roll was just about the extent of the variation you were going to see. Craig "Fuzzy" Boyd was doing some one-hand, one-foot combos years earlier. But for the most part, variation on the standard barrel roll and backflip were pretty limited. All the while, the U.S. guys (mainly Randy Laine, Joe Kenny, Jerry Brandon, and Taylor Curtis) have been redefining what surfing on a PWC is for the last 10-plus years. This aspect of the sport was more or less lost on the international riders. However, since the IFWA started bringing the world's best riders together on a consistent basis, we have been able to pull from our respective strengths. Without question, the game has been raised across the board.
(Above: Central Cal's Taylor Curtis has been revolutionary in making freeriding blend seamlessly with surfing)
Freeriding is pretty analogous to most things in life. If you want to be good at it, or just better than you are now, you have to push outside of your personal limits. Regardless of who you are or what your personal level is, pushing past where you are comfortable in freeride is just plain scary. And you really need some kind of solid motivation to make that happen. For a freerider, there is not much better motivation than having the eyes of the international press on you as you go head to head against the very best riders the sport has to offer.
The weeks leading up to a contest are my favorite time to be in the water. This is the time when everyone is pushing to reach the next level and beyond. There is a crazy mixture of fear and anticipation as you watch your buddy try a new trick for the first time. Couple that with the intensely gratifying feeling of accomplishment, relief, and stoke when he lands it - or just has a huge bail; the water becomes electric with energy. It creates an atmosphere where one almost can't help but dig down deep and redefine their own personal limits.
The real value of the competition, as far as freeriding is concerned, is not in determining who is the best rider - oftentimes the better rider will lose a heat. But the real value is in the advancement and progression of the athletes themselves and the sport as a whole. Competition provides the impetus for us to go out and push the limits of what is possible, and to pull the sport up to the next level.
This is an exciting time to be a freerider. The last few years has seen the central coast guys get deeper in the pocket than ever before and on some of the heaviest waves on the planet. We've got riders doing double back flips (ok at least one...so far), any number of no-footed flip variations, and off axis rotations. Today's young riders from across the globe now have the chance to show their skills on a world level. From Australia, Argentina and Europe to South Africa, America, and most places in between you can now find world class freeride contest or events. The future looks bright for our sport, and I'm excited to see where the next generation is going to take us!
Just wanted to let you all know that the Ski Clinic's Extra Strength BOB #12 has just arrived at the Kommander Industries new shop in Phoenix, AZ. I'll be headed out there tomorrow and we will start building him...or her, I think mine is a girl. I'm gonna say BOB is short for Bobbie. Anyway...
I appreciate what these guys are doing by building a solid affordable package that will help our sport to continue it's evolution. We have seen what the hull is capable with a very limited setup on flat water, and I'm excited to see what it is capable of in the surf. I've had the double back flip monkey on my back for some time now, and I'm very hopeful that we will get that sorted out with BOB's help. But I'm also looking forward to seeing what other advantages this hull will offer in the surf.
Just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who has helped me with boats over the years and are continuing to help get BOB on the water.
First off, thanks to Steve at Kommander Industries. Steve has been building my motors and assembling my boats for the past 2 and a half years. His boats and motors ( I travel with a motor he build for me when I can't bring my own boat) have won the last two IFWA World Titles, and I don't think he has gotten the credit he deserves for that.
Blowsion has always gone far above and beyond for me when it comes to amazing paint and composite work, help getting me and my ski to events, great parts, and generally taking care of whatever they can for me.
I will of course be running Hydro-Turf mats on this boat and every other one I own for the rest of my life. They have been hugely helpful in allowing me to do what I do over the past few years, and are still far and away the best option for traction products on the market.
Worx not only makes great handling components, but the also make what I feel are the best gloves out there. I actually never wore gloves before trying a set of Worx gloves last year, now I'm addicted to em.
I'm also very excited that Carl decided to start making Cold Fusion products for us in the watercraft world again. He has been a good friend for a long time, and I'm really excited to be able to use his new parts on Bobbie...
And while Jet Pilot product will not be on the boat, they will be on my body as always!
First off, I need to give a huge thanks to Gil for putting this all together and taking such good care of the riders! It is an amazing weekend here and we are treated very well!
The even overall is cool. There is some BMX demos, Motorcycle Trials, Quad, Mini-moto, and lots of other entertainment through out the afternoon. We open and close the show with a freeride demo.
First in the water is the East Coast Team, (Fred, Max, Aurel) they ride for 10 or so minutes. Then Gil, Marc, and I get in the water to finish the opening of the event.
Surf today is UNREAL! And Hossegor is just an amazing wave. 200 yards down from where the event is being held is the beginning of a spot called La Nord. Which is where we have been surfing, we towed and rode the last few days about half a mile up from there at a place called Gaviotas (or something similar.) La Nord begins to work at about double over head. And is this kind of mellow right that starts way outside and finished with huge shore break on the sand. What is crazy about this place is that right in front of the even venue, it is basically flat. So on days like today, the biggest sets are like 15 foot faces and the right just peals from 300 or more yards out. There were several tow teams out there and one of the guys was some kind of European champion...and he was just killing it! There was another guy on a hydrofoil getting towed in to some pretty good waves as well...cool to see someone ride a hydrofoil in person.
Basically where we have to ride is just down slightly from the event site, so we are in this massive shore break! The biggest sets had like 8 foot faces and were breaking 30 feet from the shore. The smaller sets broke right on the beach. Tough to ride in, but easy to line up tricks. Martin got my loner ski running, it had a broken reed yesterday and today it ran pretty well. But...I dunno, I can't ride this ski. I sucked. A couple flips, rolls, and flairs, but no variation and really small flips because I just can't control the rotation on this ski. I would come to find out later that, although there is no trim lever on the ski, there is a trim system that set to be about half way trimmed all the time. So for tomorrow I'll fix that and change a few other things. Riding today was tough.
The other guys rode really well, it is a lot of fun to be in the water with all of them! Hopefully I can learn how to ride for tomorrow.
The pic above is the view we were greeted with as we walked over the dunes on the second day! This spot is about half a mile north of "La Nord." The pic is not all
Day one in Hossegor...October 22nd 2008
Today was pretty mellow. Gil and his friend Fred met me at the airport. We spent some time around Hossegor and the surround towns doing little errands. Fred's wife made us a great lunch and I fell out for a little while on their couch while Gil prepped his boat. Actually he sold the boat a couple of months ago when he took a job doing a show in Baharain. And he is borrowing it back for this event. Then he heads to Dubai for three months on another show!
We spent the afternoon surfing Hossegor at like 10foot plus faces. Great first day to say the least!
Day three in Hossegor.
WOW...Yesterday we did jump-offs with the wave runner in like 8-12 foot surf! A jump-off is where the driver puts you in position on the wave and you jump off on to the surfboard...kind of a little like tow surfing...or normal surfing just without the paddling. What a great time! We each got a bunch of waves while Marc Sickerling and a few of the other Germans rode...err well Marc rode and the others got washed up on the beach!
Today rode again, and I got on Alex's ski, the one that I am supposed to ride in the show tomorrow and Sunday. But the ski is blown up or has some other problem. Feels like a dome is cracked or the or rings are blown out. Other than that the ski should be OK...hopefully we can fix it in the morning.
Today was full of good comedy at the beach. Surf was solid 8-12 feet with the occasional plus set. Best waves that I have ever had a chance to ride a ski in by far, and some of the best surf I have a seen period. There were these 10ft + bombs that would come in and just pitch! Unreal surf, and great conditions! One problem was the 4-6 foot shore break combined with 10 Germans who may not have even seen the ocean before in their lives...ahh good stuff. No one got seriously hurt, well one guy did break his nose...he was just trying to catch a ski getting pounded in the shore break. And Martin, Marc's mechanic had the best flying dismount on the beach I have ever seen. He rode the ski that I am riding to see if he could figure out what was wrong with it. And on the way back in, he mistimes the shore break, and launches off a 4 foot wave that is breaking right on the shore...totally dry. He winds up just throwing the ski mid air and it lands tail first in the sand, and he and the ski get washed up the beach! Fortunately he was fine, and it was a lightweight.de hull from Norbert, so it too was fine.
I watched Marc catch a few amazing waves...that guy is unreal. The German that rides in the surf 10 times a year and always looks great! I guess it helps to have won 5 freestyle and one freeride world championship in the past 20 years that you have been riding.
Great place...amazing!
Lots has happened since my last update on the way home from Brazil.
The weekend that I got back was the Mason Waddle Freeride in Pismo. Thanks to the generous donations from many companies in the watercraft industry, the generous contributions from the riders in attendance, and the hard work of Derek Gleeson, and Pamela Beazely; the ride raised over $1000 for Mason's educational trust. I also got a huge surprise that weekend when Pamela and EJ gave me a cake to commemorate the world title, and a card that was signed by everyone there! We truly belong to an amazing community! This event deserves more detail, but I am sitting in an airport in Lyon, France and have lots to catch up on in a little time.
The next event on the list was the Bayside Boogie, this was a very cool event put on in Mission Bay. Randy Laine was gracious enough to ask me to be involved, and although it was a flat water show...I would do anything I could for Randy! However, it did take about a week of practice in the bay to brush up on my flat water skills (and I use the term skills very loosely.) The show went really well because the guys that were hired to do water safety were not only local lifeguards, but friends of RL's as well. So instead of having to put on a flat water show, we got to play behind the boat wake. It is not surf, but sure as hell helps me out!
The very next day I packed up the box van with a bunch of skis and headed to Lake Havasu, AZ for IJSBA “World Finals.” This event is the epicenter of racing and flat water freestyle. And as such has been a big industry trade show for the past couple of decades. In years past, Havasu basically consisted of me and my freeride buddies getting drunk, making fun of freestyle, then drinking some more. This event always comes at the end of our season, there are lots of friends there, and it is generally a good time to let off a little steam while the rest of the PWC world is stressed out over their one big event a year. But this year things are a little different. I was there with a purpose. The IJSBA was generous enough to donate a booth to help raise money for Mason Waddle, and I was going to do what I could to help make it a success. John Dady of Blowsion, (who set up the educational trust for Mason) had 20 huge posters made of Zach and Mason, the plaque that will be permanently place in Pacific City, Zach's ski, and my Championship winning ski in the booth. Every morning Chris Rossner (newest Blowsion team rider) and Mark Gomez were nice enough to set the booth up. I was there (often times with those guys, or Liz, or Jerry Jones...or whoever else was around) from Friday through Sunday doing what ever we could to get people to donate to Mason's fund. Whenever I had to take a break, Chris, Mark, Liz or Jerry were always willing to fill in. The end result of the three days at the booth was that we raised a little over $1400 for the trust. I would really like to say thank you so much to everyone who helped make the booth possible, and especially those who donated! If nothing else, Mason will grow up knowing that he had great parents who not only loved and cared about him tremendously, but that his parents were great people who were loved and missed by an entire community. And that same great group of people who miss his parents care deeply about him and his future.
World Finals was interesting this year for a few reasons. On the industry side of things, there is lots of change in the air. One of the most notable events is Steve Webster's new venture Kommander Industries. After founding the company three years ago with partner Erik Knoble, Steve has elected to get out of the business of selling watercraft to focus more on his passion of designing parts for, and building world championship winning watercraft. Kommander Industries will be unveiling lots of new parts over the next 12 months. And of course Steve is still building the baddest standups in the world. The Hydrospace killing SXR that Steve (the Kommander) Webster build for Steven Dalliach was good enough to earn the Pole in pro Ski, win the first heat, and tie for the overall officially placing second overall. Not too shabby for only having about two weeks prep time with Dalliach. But it is par for the course for the Kommander. He has built countless world championship winning skis, and will continue to long in to the future!
Then we come to Freestyle. Both Rick Roy and Eric Malone unveiled new hulls this year. Freestyle is certainly progressing! Both boats helped elevate the game to a tremendous new level this year. But both were also illegal according to the IJSBA rule book. I don't know what the end result was, but Rock run was in a league of his own...but he did not win. Suffice to say that these boats are helping take freestyle to a new level and I hope that the rules will be able to find some way to accommodate the new technology. Admittedly I don't' have a lot of interest in flat water freestyle, but I did ride both of the hulls, and I think Rick's hull will work quite well in the surf (actually rode it in the surf a week later.) The biggest surprise for me was riding Josh Lustic's Trinity hull with a Kawi motor prepared by Kommander Webster. That boat had noticeably more power than either Eric or Rick's polaris based motors. I think Rick's new hull is going to open some doors for us in the surf, I like the concept of the design as a whole. Weather or not I wind up riding one in the future, I think it will help elevate our side of the sport and the innovation is hull design is certainly welcome and needed if we are to progress.
From Havasu, I went to Kommander Industries world headquarters in Phoenix to rebuild my Go Fast boat. I took the motor and other parts to Brazil, and I figured it would be best to have the Kommader himself re-assemble the motor. Those of you who know me, know why this is a good idea!
Lustic was super nice in helping me put the boat back together after Steve re-did the motor, and I was off to spend a day at home before heading to Pismo for the JK Freeride Pismo Rager.
Joe's event went really well. The video that Daylite and the NWFreeride crew put together was great, and will be something that I know Joe will cherish for the rest of his life. Joe was on hand with his new wife, and was in really good spirits. It is great to see Joe happy again. The last time I saw him happy was probably at his contest two years prior. I feel bad that Joe and my friendship was a little strained over the planning of that event. It is not like we were on bad terms by any means...just had a little disagreement over a few things, and I felt I had to step away from the contest. And we never really had a chance to set things totally right before he was hurt... At any rate, the weekend was great, epic as far as pismo in October goes. Surf was on the small side, but clean, and we had sunny warm weather for the most part. I think this is the first time that I have ever been to Pismo when things went well for me. Boat ran great and since I had not been in the water all that much since Brazil, I took advantage of the good conditions and rode through 5 tanks of gas over the two days. Again Pamela Beazely was the driving force behind much of the weekend's events. She arranged awards for the “Rookies of the Year” which went to Chris Rozner and Mark Gomez. And arranged the raffle as well. We are really luck to have her and EJ in the sport, with his innovation of parts through BrapStrap and her hard work on events, good things are happening for the sport.
At the end of the day on Sunday I got a chance to ride Rick's new hull for a little bit. Clay Cullen was nice enough to let me ride his new boat even before all the bugs were worked out of it. Despite it not being jetted correctly, and the ski being set up a little different than how I would do it...the ski worked very well for me. I think there is a ton of potential in this hull for surf applications...
And I guess that about catches up on the past month more or less...I had one day of being home from Pismo before I began my trip to Hossegor. Right now I am on my third and final flight on my way to Biarritz from Lyon. I'm looking forward to a fun weekend. This will be my first Hossegor Air Festival, and it looks like we will have good surf. Hopefully we will be able to put on a good show!
First off, this season and the win is dedicated to Zach, Libby, and little Mason. You guys were on all of our minds and in our hearts here in Brazil.
As I sit here in Sao Paulo airport and reflect on my trip and the year, it is a little hard to get past thinking of Zach. We had a moment of silence for Zach and Libby before the start of my semi-final with Federico Bufacchi. I kind of broke down a little bit then, I don't know why it hit me so hard right at that moment...stress maybe. Mark Matsuda had a bunch of stickers printed in memory of Zach, and they were on every ski in the paddock.
I have a list as long as my arm of people to thank for making this year happen for me. But the guys at the top of the list are with out question. John Dady of Blowsion, Steve Webster at Jet Ski Unlimited, and Arno Olbright at Hydro-Turf. John has taken care of me like family since I started my relationship with Blowsion, and he has worked his ass off to get other sponsors on board and help cover costs for me. All of that is in addition to his 100% devotion to giving me the best Freeride equipment in the world. Steve Webster at Jet Ski Unlimited is a huge reason I was able to do so well this year also. Steve built me the perfect Freeride motor, and Chad Cole assembled the entire boat. I had 0 (zero) mechanical issues in contests this year! This motor has been to six countries this year, not to mention I rode the boat 3-4 days a week when I was home, and the only issue I had was that it sucked a stock reed through the motor. I can't tell you what a huge difference having good reliable equipment makes! And without Arno and Hydro-Turf, there is no way I could have traveled to all the places I did this past year. You three made this season possible for me, and for that I am totally grateful!
The 10th anniversary of Jet Waves was a great contest. The bar has really been raised, and I could not be happier! My final against Pierre was the most fun I have ever had in the water in my life. And the result was exactly as it should have been. But I'm getting way ahead of myself at this point.
Saturday morning we woke up early. Brett, Arik, and I were all in the same room/suite. That African wakes up EARLY. I guess no one told him about Brazilian time...gees. Brett wakes me up telling me in his dignified South African accent...”Hey, it's haf past six. We've got a riders meeting at 8am.” I'm thinking yea...that means 10:30, go back to bed. But Arik and I humored him and got up. Ludo was the only one at breakfast in the dining hall down stairs when we got there. And it was a rainy overcast day.
It was raining at the beach, but surf looked fun. The swell that was predicted had not really shown up, but the odd set was well over head and really powerful. The rain held things up for a while, but eventually we did get a riders meeting done and the contest under way. Aside from the rain and cold, conditions were good. Wind was offshore and would stay that way for the entire weekend.
All of the riders that were not seeded had to ride the pre-qualifier on Friday. Those riders were then bracketed against the seeded riders for the first round of qualifying. I got luck and had a by in my first qualifying heat. I was supposed to ride with Alexandre Bruneder (who is an incredibly good 17 year old Brazilian rider) but he dislocated his shoulder on Friday in his prequalifier so he opted to just go straight to the LCQ instead of ride with me. This kid is a very good rider, and I am pretty sure he will be the next freestyler that we see come from Brazil. I decided another few minutes on a new ski would be a good idea so I headed out alone. As soon as I got on the boat it just felt good! The XFT is great in the air, and I felt very comfortable on it. It was really cool of Sergio to give me this boat. Pierre had a mechanical issue in his heat which put him in the LCQ, which he qualified through.
Brett decided that our boat was just a little too heavy I guess, so he decided he would lighten it up a little bit. His 1/8th final was the second one in the water and mine was third. So literally the heat before me he stuffed a flip in about two feet of water, took off the nose, put a hole in the gas tank and bent one of my wrist stops out of position in the process! George and Roberto are two mechanics that work with Tchello at Pro Nautica. They were there to help me take care of any problems that might arise. Those two guys busted ass and got the boat ready to ride by the end of the bracket so I could go out and ride against Cristiano Magarao. By the time all of this happened with Brett, our heat had already been rescheduled to the end of the bracket. Cristiano lent his ski to Douglas Carvalho and he sank it, and it was taking a while to get restarted..so we had a little time.
My 1/8th final was not an easy heat by any means. Cristiano is a really good rider, and I have never heard of him before. He does no handed flips, but uses a cord to attach himself to the handle pole. So he takes his hands off and kind of pulls the flip around with his body...kind a cool, but dangerous. I would not want to be tied that close to the ski, but at least he is pushing and trying new stuff. At the end of our heat he crashed a no-hand-one-foot attempt. I just tried to put a good solid run together, and things went my way.
As soon as we came in from the water though, it was time to head straight back out with Romain Stampers for our ¼ final. We had to run back to back because my 1/8th final heat was moved to the end of the bracket with the mechanical problems. At any rate, I was a little out of sorts by the time I got back in the water with Roman and I was making mistakes. The heat was not all that bad on my part, but was not going to beat Roman. So when the yellow flag came out, I set the boat up for the super flip and did a couple before the red flag. Even still it was a close heat, and I barley edged him out. Funny enough though, that was the only ¼ final that was run on Saturday, (it was getting late.) So there really was not real reason that I had to ride those two heats back to back...but it is cool, all things worked out.
Saturday night was not only the night for the Jet Waves 10th Anniversary party at club Kiwi, but it was also Pippa's brithday (wife of British rider Grahm Reid.) I missed the party and went to have a little Bar-B-Q with a couple of my friends from last year, which I am sure was a better place for me than the club. However I will say this about the party. I'm pretty sure Arik deserves some kind of award or medal for his efforts on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Those of you who know him, I would suggest you give him a call!
Sunday we awoke to a beautiful crips morning that felt a lot like Southern California in the winter. It was bright, wind was off-shore, and surf was a bit smaller but still fun in the head high range on set. My last couple of heats on Saturday were not easy on the ski, and I found the bottom a couple of times. So George and Roberto spent the early morning doing a little fiberglass repair on the nose. I don't think George slept for even an hour the night before, so it was a tough morning for him. But the guys got the boat done, and the contest got underway with Brett's ¼ final heat.
Brett had a great run against Lenzi, but wound up coming in at the yellow flag with a bit of an injured wrist. I'm sure if he had just ridden out the heat, he would have won but Lenzi went through to the semi-final with me. And Federico and Pierre were in the other semi.
I had a tough heat against Lenzi and won what I am sure was a very close decision. I had an interesting contest, I was either very on of just kind of off. And with Lenzi I was just a little off. But I did get a few good super flips in and I think that was the deciding factor. Pierre got the redemption against Federico that he has been looking for since Europe, and won with a great ride.
So with that, the final four were set with me and Pierre riding to decide the win, and Federico and Lenzi going for thrid in the consolation final. In the consolation final it looked like both riders were having a bit of a tough time. Surf was getting more and more inconsistent and both riders just seemed a little off their game. But in the end Federico beat out Lenzi to finish thrid.
Heading in to this contest I was a little conflicted about what I should do considering we were having basically two rounds to decide the Championship, with the second round to start as soon as the Jet Waves final finished. I wanted to be sure and conserve myself and equipment as well as I could for the second contest. But man....that is really hard to do. I figured as long as I get a decent finish and some points in the first contest, I will be in good shape points wise heading in to the second contest. So, being that I was in the finals, I had accomplished my first goal and the pressure was off. Plus, there is no one that I would rather be in a final with. Pierre is a really good friend and I have been looking forward to meeting him in the finals all year.
I went in to the water really excited and in a good frame of mind. I had accomplished what I needed to as far as series points were concerned, physically I felt great, and I was comfortable on the ski. At this point it was not about beating my opponent or making it on to the next heat. It was just about having fun and putting my personal best on the water for 10 minutes. And it wound up being the most fun I have ever had on the water. Possibly the most fun I have ever had....and hell I lost. But that really did not matter. I rode as well as I could, except I was unable to throw a double roll. The only set that came through for it (when I was ready to do it) had Pierre in priority on the one wave in the set I could have done it on. Aside from that, I did all I could and did it well in that 10 minute period. When that happens, and I still get beat, it was a damn good heat! Pierre won it with the first heel clicker back flip that he or anyone else has landed. That deserves the win!
So here we are, end of the contest, finals are done. I have given every last drop and I have, and it is time to go get lunch and do it all over again starting with the 1/4t finals of the Championship Challenge. The IFWA took the top 8 from the points standing and bracketed them against each other. It is not so much that I was physically tired. I have been training really hard this year and fitness is not the issue. But mentally it is just exhausting, especially after a “final” round like that one. And given Federico's third place finish (right behind me) he was still really close in points. So close in fact that if he were to win the Championship Challenge, and I were to finish 4th we would be tied in the points for first. So there was still lots of work left to be done and pressure was back on again.
I did have a bit of luck on my side that skewed things in my favor. My first heat was against Brett Armstrong who was now with out a ski to ride, and he was forced to borrow a Kawasaki. My luck was to change a little for my next round (semi final) with Federico. I made lots of mistakes from start to finish. One of which was not throwing a double. But I was just way out of sorts during that heat. Things got off to a bad start when I opened up with two super flips that came up short, and I was just kind of rushed for the rest of the heat and blew it with lots of other mistakes. So that put me in to the consolation final with Romain Stampers who had been beaten in his semi by Pierre. Unfortunately for Romain, he dislocated his shoulder again at the end of the heat with Pierre and was in lots of pain for our consolation final. Romain is another guy who is a great friend of mine and we just went out to put on a show for the crowd. Basically I would throw some tricks and he would critique them from the water with an obvious thumbs up or thumbs down... I still rode hard and for sure it was a better show than having Romain not get in the water at all.
When all was said and done, Pierre had beaten Federico to win the Championship Challenge. But my third place finish was enough to get me the 2008 IFWA World Title! That night we blew off a little steam in town and put a very memorable end on an unreal trip and adventure. There are quite a few stories from that night, but none that I can tell here. Next year you will just have to come on tour with us and the IFWA.
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