Welcome to the post World's (AKA...the week after LF domination of the WWA World Championships) edition of the Truth...sit down, relax, and enjoy some insight into the world we call Liquid Force...
Shane Bonifay gets 5th at the World's...
That's right...Shane Bonifay has been on fire lately and it continued this past weekend at the WWA World Championships in Reno. After recently landing the Toeside Backside 720 and then following up with a win at the Malibu Team Challenge Double up event, Shane continued his strong season by making it into Sunday's main event. His run in the Semi-Finals was in Tony Finn's opinion "easily one of the top two runs I saw all weekend...Shane was killing it and doing it with his unique style, as always...he even threw an S-Bend into his run.... It was classic! When do you ever see Shane throw an S-Bend??? He definitely was throwing down and trying to win the contest!"
Oh yeah...the rest of our team did pretty well, too...
Did we forget to tell you that we had 6 World Champions riding LF??? Haha... we were so fired up about Shane that we forget to point out that our team dominated the contest scene in a sea of contest teams...since when did we become such a great contest team?
Phillip Soven continued to prove that he is the best wakeboarder in the world right now. He has won pretty much every contest that he's entered this season and only seems to be getting better. With perhaps the most technically solid run yet, Phillip took down JD Webb to claim his World Championship title. "I'm stoked about this win, it's such a great honor to be recognized as a world champion," said Soven while on the podium. "I've had such a great year this season and to add a world title onto it makes it so much sweeter." A smart gambler would put their money on Phillip to take the next 10 World Titles... he's that good!
Amber Wing rode consistent all weekend and claimed her first world title in impressive form. Between filming for the new Oakley film and working at Maven Sessions, it's amazing that she had time to compete, let alone win! Amber was very excited about her victory..."Winning the World Title is a dream come true." Wing said on the podium, "It has always been a dream and I didn't know the reality was going to come so soon. I was focusing more on my free-riding and video section for Push Process then my contest riding this year. I stood my passes up in tough conditions and stomped my double up to take the title. The reality has not kicked in yet."
Claiming another podium position for the LF/Maven crew, Nicola Butler took 3rd place and continued to show signs that she may one day take a world title of her own.
Another member of LF's Aussie squad, 16 year old Mitch Langfield has taken the US and now the World'’s by storm. Mitch was 3 for 3 this season as he won all 3 major events he entered. The Jr. Phenom from Australia is one that will be noticed for years to come!
13 year old Harley Clifford claimed the Boys World Title and proved that Australians are pretty good at wakeboarding and that LF likes Australians. Harley was our 3rd Australian team rider to win the World Champ title this year. He's been ripping all year and is poised to take the Jr. Men's division by storm next season.
Rounding out our list of World Champions was Raimi Merritt who took the Girls division and Jason Soven who took the 9 and under, Jr. Boys division...not a bad weekend for the Soven family or the LF crew!
BROstock stop #3 - August 10-12... Smith Mt. Lakes, Virginia sets a new standard for BROstock!
In case you haven't heard, the 3rd Bro Stock recently went down at Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, VA. If you weren't there, you missed out. The weather was HOT and BRO Stock was even HOTTER... The event took place at a spot on the lake known by the locals as The Cliffs. Aaron Reed, Danny Hampson, Shawn Watson, Ben Greenwood, Collin Harrington, Silas Thurman and Maven crew was on hand for what was the best Bro Stock to date. Thursday night's autograph session and cookout at Wake N Skate got the festivities started and they didn't slow down all weekend. Friday started out with a double up session by the LF pro team and some local talent as well. Brian Reeder and Matt Hirschbiel held it down for their home town. The people at SML definitely know how to party lake style. There was a float party that consisted of few hundred people and over 50 wakeboard boats drifting around the LF house boats all weekend long! If you are ever in the SML area, be sure to go by Wake N Skate, Gary and his crew will take care of you like you’re a part of the family. As always, huge thanks go out to our BROstock sponsors: Monster Energy, Malibu Boats, Spy Optic and DVS Shoes.
Did you miss the first 3 BROstocks? You have one more opportunity this year... BROstock Canada is 2 days away!
August 31-Sept 1... Lake Shuswap, Canada
BROstock is going Int'l in 2007... OK, so we're not going that far, but we are crossing the border to visit our friends up north. If you'd care to join us be sure to contact the friendly folks at Twin Anchors Marina (www.twinanchors.com) to find out where the crew will be. The festivities will kick off on Friday with an afternoon double up session at 4:00 that will turn into the evening kickoff party. Bring your houseboat and wakeboats and tie off to our floating party... Things continue on Saturday as the crew goes double upping again at 12:00. History was made at BROStock Lake Oroville as Shane became the first rider to stick a toeside backside 720... what magic moments will go down at this BROstock? All we can say is you better put your party shoes on, eh! Riders that will be in attendance at the 4th and final BROstock event for 2007 include the following LF stars...Shawn Watson, Kevin Henshaw, Shane Bonifay, Aaron Reed, Collin Harrington, Tino Santori, Silas Thurman, Melissa Marquardt, and Keith Lyman.
The Truth has gone International....here are some stories our Int'l correspondents forwarded us recently...
"July 28-29 were fun days of wakeboarding in Dnepropetrovsk Paddling channel (Ukraine) - it was Liquid Force Cup of Ukraine.
The Cup was created by the local distributor in Ukraine. 22 riders from Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov and Kiev (six women/Mavens included) were in fight for the Cup. All levels of riding skills were welcomed! Some riders had pleasure making new tricks and it was perfect opportunity to increase their level of riding. The Cup was taken by Dmitriy Massalov. Second place went to Dmitriy Yermolenko and third was grabbed by Valeriy Gospodynko. The top two women were Valja Zubko and Marina Litash while the youngest rider of the contest was Masha Yevdokimova (12 years old!). Thanks for all riders and sponsors who were with us at this great event. The best riders grabbed over $2000 in money and equipment from Liquid Force and Clean For Speed." -Elena from LF Ukraine
"Just thought I''d send a rough of an ad we are doing for Cable Ski Cairns, so you can see what we have been up to." - Mick Neville from Masterline (LF Australia)
"Here are some photos from our recent Slider Event in Italy. We thought you friends would enjoy." - Massimo Gerosa from LF Italy
That's it for this edition of The Truth... stay tuned for your next dose and more info on the always fun world of Liquid Force!
Check out all the photos from this issue of The Truth in the Wakeboarder.com Photo Gallery
