Tigé Boats Inc has announced plans for the 2002 U.S. Open Wakeboard Championships, a tournament that will feature the world's top wakeboarding athletes competing for the US OPEN title and a guaranteed minimum of $35,000 in cash prizes. Tige Boats has partnered with Altamonte Sports and The American Wakeboard Association who sanction the event. "It’s been our dream to put on a world class event here in the United States that's totally geared toward the riders," said Brett Thurley, Vice President of Tigé Boats. "The U.S. Open is going to be focused on what the best riders in the world want, and the crowd will definitely benefit from that." Our team riders Cobe Mikacich and Chris Bischoff have wanted to produce an event of this caliber for the last few years. Riders needs and input will be paramount in all our organization and formatting.“
The all new, redesigned 2003 Tige 21v Riders Edition equipped with Clarion Marine Audio, Mercruiser MX 6.2 340 HP powerplant and Perfect Pass Wakeboard Pro will be the Official Towboat of the contest.
The event will be held Oct. 4-6 at Crane's Roost in Altamonte Springs, Orlando ,FL, and will include a challenge round (Oct. 4), preliminary round, last chance qualifier (Oct. 5) and final round (Oct, 6). The worlds top ten ranked riders based on performance and stature in the sport will compete every round regardless of performance so crowds will see the worlds best ride at least four times each over the two days. Challengers will vie for additional spots to take on the Worlds best in the semi’s and finals. "We're looking for the U.S. Open Wakeboard Championships to become the premier wakeboarding event in the United States," said Altamonte Sports' Jerrey Thurston. "We are delighted to partner with Tiqé Boats and most importantly the worlds best riders to accomplish this. Our event will focus on showcasing the riders abilities in a relaxed and controlled facility, Cranes Roost. We expect large crowds, and letting riders interact with our fans, for signings and awards.”
Tigé Boats is the Official Towboat of the IWSF Wakeboard World Championships in 2000 through 2003. Pulling the Worlds in France, South Africa and this year Greece. Tige is the worlds fourth largest selling brand of towboats.
The partnership for the US OPEN WAKEBOARDING CHAMPIONSHIPS will be a three year exclusive escalating the prize money to $35,000 in 2003 and $40,000 in 2004. Altamonte Springs will hold the event through 2004 at Cranes Roost.
Altamonte Sports will host the 2002 Disabled Water Ski National Championships for the second consecutive year in August, as well as the 2003 Disabled Water Ski World Championships.
Team Tige riders Cobe Mikacich, Daniel Watkins, Erik Ruck and Keith Lyman will be competitors at the Open. Invited riders will be involved in on-site clinics, visits to local hospitals and schools leading up to the event to work with under privileged and hospitalized children.
The American Wakeboard Association is a sport division of USA Water Ski, USA Water Ski was formed in 1939 as a non profit organization promoting water skiing in the United States. USA Water Ski is affiliated with International Water Ski Federation (world governing body) and is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and Pan American Sports Organization as the national governing body of competitive watersports in the United States.