Wakestock raised the bar for wakeboard contests yet again with its expanded festival format, incredible rail course, innovative jib pool, impressive crowds and unprecedented media coverage for the sport. Wakestock's new Toronto Islands site offered up perfect calm water conditions for stop #2 of the WWA World Series, allowing the top pros to showcase their best tricks behind Malibu's new 2006 Wakesetter VLX and deliver the highest level of riding ever seen.
Despite two days of rainy weather, 30,000 wakeboarding and action sports fans attended Wakestock's four action packed days. In its most exciting Sunday finals ever, Canadian Rusty Malinoski won Wakestock's Malibu Boats World Series Expression Session title besting Malibu Boats team rider Jeff Weatherall of New Zealand in a new head-to-head showdown format. Rusty was the last to ride and stomped his double-up, a backroll to blind with an indy grab to edge Weatherall, who fell on his backside 5 off the double-up.
"The new Wakestock site is f-ing sick" enthused Rusty after his winning run. "Amazing water - the best rails and wakes I've ever ridden! I didn't realize that I'm the first Canadian guy to take down the Wakestock title since Jeff Heer way back in 98. I was pointing at Parks (Bonifay) on the shore during my final run because I was so stoked. This win feels extra special because it's on home soil and I was riding against the best guys in the world."
Highlights of Rusty's winning run included his signature toeside nuclear backroll to blind, a toeside 720, a switch method back mobe, and a smooth boardslide to backlip to blind 90 out on the big 90 foot A-frame rail.