Orlando, Fla. — After three months of receiving online video submissions from the world’s best wakeboarders, wakeskaters and wakesurfers from around the globe, the highly-anticipated live finals of the Tigé MyWake Global Challenge lived up to the hype during the first day of competition. With riders and fans converging on Buena Vista Watersports in Orlando, athletes in each discipline displayed progressive riding dazzling both the onsite audience and the countless number of spectators watching the live webcast on www.mywake.com.
Claiming first-place in June for his MyWake Global Challenge video submission, Rusty Malinoski showed up in top-form today linking together an impressive run that featured huge airs and technical grabs to post a score of 76.33. As part of the ultra-talented field of wildcard invitees, Phillip Soven also displayed top-tier riding. Leaning on his near endless arsenal of aerial tricks, Soven earned a 72.83 score from the judges and enters tomorrow as one of the favorites.
“Riding behind the Tigé Z3, athletes from each discipline put together some amazing runs during the first day of competition,” said Chris Bischoff, competition director. “After following the video submissions all summer long, it’s really cool to see the MyWake Global Challenge riders come out and try to match their best online run in person.”
Much like the Pro Wakeboard division, the Pro Wakeskaters saw top runs from both monthly video winners and wildcards. Putting together the run of the day, Brandon Thomas used a slew of technical tricks and stylish maneuvers to post the discipline’s high-score of 75.66 and positions himself as the man to beat in tomorrow’s finals.
The newest of the three disciplines, Pro Wakesurfers showed off innovative riding and a bright future for their sport today. Leading the charge, Chase Hazen shredded his way to the day’s top ride with an impressive 86.66 score.
Tomorrow’s final day of the event is free and open to the public. Fans that can make it to the contest at Buena Vista Watersports in Orlando are encouraged to bring friends and family to enjoy the jaw-dropping spectator sports in person. In addition to world-class riding from the sports’ top performers, the venue will also feature a festive tropical atmosphere fully-equipped with volleyball courts and games, tiki bars, sand beach and event viewing areas. The schedule for tomorrow is as follows:
Tuesday- September 11
9:00 am Pro Women Surf
10:30 am Pro Men Surf
11:00 am Pro Women Skim
12:00 pm Pro Men Skim
12:30 pm Lunch
1:30 pm Pro Men Wakeskate
2:00 pm Junior Pro Men Wake
2:30 pm Pro Women Wake
3:00 pm- 4:30 pm Pro Men Wake
5:00 pm Awards Dinner
Fans unable to make it to the event can catch all of the action via the live streaming webcast at www.mywake.com beginning at 9 a.m. EST.
Recognizing the game-changing format of the MyWake Global Challenge, PCM Engines upped the ante of the contest and doubled all Tigé prize money for the monthly winners. With the matched money from PCM Engines, overall prizes for the online and live portions of the contest are more than $35,000.
Scores from Day One of the Tigé MyWake Global Challenge
Women’s Surf
- Ashley Kidd 85.00
- Korina Smyrek 66.66
- Raequal Hoffman 50.00
- Maddie Garcia 40.00
Men’s Surf
- Chase Hazen 86.66
- Chris Kinsey 80.00
- RJ Garcia 60.00
Women’s Skim
- Bri Chmel 88.33
- Caroline Villeneuve 78.33
- Jackie Costa 70.00
- Vanessa Gonzalez 60.00
Men’s Skim
- Dominique Lagace 80.00
- Noah Flegel 71.66
- Keenan Flegel 61.33
Pro Mens Wakeskate
- Brandon Thomas 75.66
- James Balzer 71.00
- Brian Grubb 63.66
- George Daniels 50.33
- Dieter Humpsch 42.00
Junior Pro Men
- Jacob Valdez 61.33
- Keenan Allen 55.33
- Jason Soven 42.00
- Noah Flegel 20.00
- Gus Shuler 15.00
Pro Women
- Amber Wing 75.00
- Raequel Hoffman 63.00
- Mellissa Marquardt 57.16
- Raimi Merritt 53.50
- Tarah Mikacich 50.66
- Taylor McCullough 40.33
Mens Professional Wakeboard
- Mike Dowdy 85.00
- Rusty Malinoski 76.33
- Phil Soven 72.83
- Daniel Powers 70.33
- Steel Lafferty 65.00
- Aaron Rathy 60.83
- Austin Hair 52.50
- Tony Carroll 49.50
- Daniel Watkins 46.66
- Kyle Rattray 44.50
- Josh Palma 41.66
- Scotty Broome 30.00
AF Wake will host 14th annual event on Lake Gaston
POLK CITY, Fla. – USA Wakeboard, in conjunction with AF Wake, is pleased to announce that it
will hold the 14th USA Wakeboard Nationals, Sept. 22-23, on Lake Gaston in Littleton, N.C.
The USA Wakeboard Nationals is open to men and women of all ages and all levels of riding. The
events are part of USA Water Ski’s National Championships Series of Events. A USA Wakeboard
membership is required for all events. Membership and registration information is available at
www.USAWATERSKI.org
.
Spectators and fans can cruise by land or water to cheer on the riders, meet the AF Wake
coaches, rack up on product giveaways, enjoy music and announcing provided by DJ SK, and check out
sponsor and vendor booths. The event is free and open to the public.
AF Wake owner Adam Fields is excited about hosting the event and promoting wakeboarding.
“AF Wake is stoked to bring the USA Wakeboard Nationals to Lake Gaston,” Fields said. “This is a great
opportunity for all riders to connect with one another, and for riders to get the opportunity to compete in a
national wakeboard tournament.”
For more information about the event, including participant registration, contact AF Wake at (252)
536-9063. Information also is available at www.afwake.com.
AF Wake is the East Coast’s most established wakeboarding school and instructs students from
all over the world at Lake Gaston. AF Wake enjoys all aspects of coaching, from motivating excited firsttimers
to teaching advanced students big, technical tricks for their next competition.
USA Wakeboard is one of nine sport discipline organizations of USA Water Ski, which was
formed in 1939 as a non-profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is
affiliated with the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (world governing body) and is
recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan-American Sports Organization as the
national governing body of organized water skiing and wakeboarding in the United States.
Malibu Boats, the global leader in state-of-the-art watersports towboats, will showcase the all-new 2013 Wakesetter 24 MXZ at Surf Expo in Orlando, Fla. September 6-8. The 24 MXZ joins the 22 MXZ, which was introduced last year at Surf Expo, and has now become the fastest-selling new boat launch in Malibu’s history.
“The addition of the 24 MXZ to our wildly successful MXZ family will maximize the boating experience in the large boat, pickle-fork market,” said Scott Davenport, director of sales at Malibu. “This boat is for a big crew that attacks every activity imaginable. And, thanks to SURF GATE, we’ve significantly reduced the time it takes to switch between these activities, letting our customers focus on watersports versus boat setup.”
New features include flip-up Wakeview seating, a dual-purpose built-in cooler with oversized drop-in cooler and expanded storage throughout the boat at convenient access points. The 24 MXZ is outfitted with Malibu’s patented SURF GATE technology and a plug-and-play ballast as well as a Mobile Device Gateway, utilizing Bluetooth technology. Additionally, customers can personalize their 24 MXZ with gel and metallic gel combinations, and even a matching G3 tower.
“We have designed the 24 MXZ for big lakes and variable water conditions, or any situations where you have a large group of your closest friends and family,” said Dan Gasper, Malibu’s director of product design. “The elevated Wakeview seating provides an excellent vantage point to watch wakeboarding and wakesurfing.”
Malibu Boats 2013 WAKESETTER 24 MXZ from Malibu Boats on Vimeo.
LOUDON, Tenn. (Sept. 4, 2012) – Axis Wake Research has developed a special, limited-time RECON edition boat as a tribute to the U.S. Armed Forces. This special edition was inspired by team rider Keith Lyman, who decided to leave professional wakeboarding to serve in the Army last year. A portion of the proceeds from each RECON edition boat will directly benefit Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors.
Both the popular A20 and A22 boats will be fitted with the RECON package in 2013, which includes digital camouflage graphics and vinyl accents, a RECON gel coat scheme, charcoal tower, and branded steering wheel, swim pad and carpet.
“We were moved by Keith’s decision and wanted to recognize and appreciate all the troops who are defending our freedom on a daily basis,” said Adam McCall, vice president of product for Malibu Boats.
Lyman retired from his ten-year wakeboarding career at age 27 and joined the military after admiring service members for most of his life. Axis Wake Research was impressed with Lyman’s decision to give up a successful professional career to serve our country and decided to honor him with the RECON edition.
“Both Axis Wake Research and Malibu Boats have supported the men and women who serve our country throughout our thirty-year history, and we will continue to do so with special projects like the RECON edition,” said McCall. “Many soldiers seem to be attracted to the Axis for its styling, simplicity and reasonable price, and this is the least we could do to give back.”
Axis, the fastest-growing towboat in the industry, has had success with special editions including the existing Vandall model. The RECON package will be a highlight of the 2013 product line.
The RECON will make its debut at Surf Expo, September 6-8, 2012 in Orlando, Florida at booth #307.
* * * *
Axis Wake Research manufactures high performance, price point wakeboard boats and brings new levels of quality, performance and style to the entry-level boat market with unparalleled pride of ownership. Axis is a brand of Malibu Boats, the world’s largest manufacturer of watersports towboats. Malibu is a privately held company with approximately 450 employees and manufacturing facilities in California, Tennessee and Australia.
On Sept 10 – 11 Tigé Boats will host the MyWake Global Challenge Finals at Lake Buena Vista Watersports in Orlando FL. The Live Finale, open and free to the public, will bring together the top professional riders from pro divisions of the three sports in competition to battle for the top podium spot behind the innovative Tigé Z3. This format of competition has provided the entire world to go big and then go viral… submissions from 29 countries were uploaded to the MyWake Global Challenge website, tens of thousands of exposure views and then judged for a chance for a pro-invitational to the final event. “This new competitive environment is truly global and follows Tigé’s history of creating new formats to push the sport,” said Tigé President Rick Correll. “We are also excited to bring wakeboarding, wakeskating and wakesurfing under one professional competition for the first time in history.”
Other Upcoming Tigé Global Events:
- Tigé European Tour – Finale Stop, scheduled for Sept 29 in the Netherland for all the details visit http://tigetour.eu 2012 Tigé European Tour stops also includedBelgium,Luxembourg, andFrance held throughout the summer.
- Starting off their boat show season south of the equator, Tigé Boats Dealer in South Africa recently participated in the National Boat Show in Johannesburg they report sales of Tigé in South Africa are very strong, leaping over the inboard competition in their area.
- ProWake, Tigé Boats Australia distributor announced their summer schedule of Tigeowner’s Reunions and announced the addition of three new sales and service locations inAustralia.
- Moscow Russia is not a stranger of Tigé either. Tigé Boats dealer, Wake Group, this summer hosted the first annual Kalinka Wake Surf Competition in Moscow and has expanded their sales and service to include the hottest island of watersports, Phuket Island just South of Thailand.
- Canada continues to push the edge and the Tigé dealer, Drummondville Marine displayed the Tigé power at all three stops of the Pro-Am Wake Dans Rue in theMontreal area
Tigé Boats is an independent, design-driven company, celebrating 21-years of uncompromising boat design. Tigé produces a unique product line ranging from 20 to 24 feet in length, supporting a dealer network serving 19 countries, including United Statesand Canada. Tigé is the official sponsor of the MyWake Global Challenge with the final event scheduled for September 10-11 in Orlando, FL. Need more Tigé? Get your fix at Tige.com
2012 Surf Expo Picture Gallery
www.wakeboarder.com
After spending hours and hours in meetings with all the top wakeboard companies in our industry we had a little time to snap a few pictures from Surf Expo. 2013 will be a another great year for Wakeboarding, Wakeskating and wakesurfing. It might also be a big year for tubing….well maybe not. Product...
After spending hours and hours in meetings with all the top wakeboard companies in our industry we had a little time to snap a few pictures from Surf Expo. 2013 will be a another great year for Wakeboarding, Wakeskating and wakesurfing. It might also be a big year for tubing….well maybe not. Product is looing really good for next season. CWB has stepped up the binding line and has really come out with some bindings that fit really well. Ronix has again come out with a line that really stands out with popping colors and also all the tech they normally have in the line. Byerly has a few things in store for the future. Look for Butch to be doing more and more R&D right at home in Florida. Check out the pictures and get ready for 2013.
