Wasaga Beach, Canada: A record 35,000 spectators jammed the Beach for four days of boarding, bands and bikinis at Wakestock World Cup 2003, confirming its reputation as the worldıs largest wakeboard event and Canada's premier action- sports and music festival.
From World Cup wakeboarding to the Extreme Music Stage; from the Mars Bar Skatepark to Nintendo Freestyle Motocross; from the Extreme Sport Series Kiteboarding to the finals of the Miss Reef Canada Bikini Contest, Wakestock 2003 continued its tradition of non-stop, jam-packed action.
Presented by Coors Light, Malibu Boats/Sun & Ski Marine, and the Extreme Sports Series, the 6th annual Wakestock World Cup once again enjoyed some of the best weather of the summer.
The Extreme Music Series was unleashed Friday afternoon, and 11 bands, including The Salads, BrassMunk, and Not By Choice, rocked the bandstage all weekend long. Canadian favourite Gob and L.A.'s legendary Goldfinger stormed the stage Saturday evening, thrilling a frenzied, crowd-surfing audience. The party continued after hours Friday evening at The Dard nightclub for the sold-out Wakestock Boarderıs Bash featuring Kazzer and Choclair, and Saturday night for the Legendary Wakestock Beach Party.
Wakestockıs World Cup of Wakeboarding provided the action-sports backdrop, as the worldıs best wakeboarders thrilled the largest crowd in the history of the sport. The Coors Light beachfront beer garden was at capacity as the world's top pros battled for over $40,000 and Wakestock titles in Pro Railslide, Pro Expression Session and Pro Wakeskate.
Wakestock onced again elevated wakeboardingıs contest scene to new heights with the worldıs largest and most progressive collection of rails and jumps, including a spectacular, first ever rail start from a wake pool.
PRO WAKESKATE
Florida's Brian Grubb defended his Wakestock Wakeskate title and further established his reputation as the premier wakeskater in the world with a sick combo of wake shuvits, insane railslides, topped off by a huge backside 360 off the double up. Californian Steve Wahlman and Floridian Brandon Thomas followed in second and third, respectively.
PRO RAILSLIDE
US Pro Tour Champion Parks Bonifay reclaimed the Wakestock Railslide title of two years ago with what must be considered the performance of the year. Starting from the wake pool, Parks surprised the crowd and fellow competitors with a massive ollie onto the metal spectator fence instead of the posted rail to start his slide into the course. He then proceeded to attack the series of five rails including an incredible 270 transfer to the upper rail of the 70-foot "Titanic" funbox. He topped his run with a huge boardslide to frontside gap over the step-down of the 80' kinked rail. Australia's Daniel Watkins followed in second with super smooth slides including a boardslide to lipslide on the A-frame. Canada's Chad Sharpe followed in third stomping a massive aerial step-up on the kinked rail, the biggest and riskiest trick of the contest.
PRO EXPRESSION SESSION
Scoring his first ever pro win, Daniel Watkins maintained the Aussie stranglehold on the Wakestock Expression Session title, picking up where Brett Eisenhauer left off last year. Watkins domintated with a killer combination of wake and rail tricks, including a huge front mobe. Parks Bonifay followed in second, highlighting his run with an amazing double half-Cab roll, his trademark. Eisenhauer scored third, mixing up a great series of technical wake tricks like a backside off-axis 360 and a huge s-bend with clean railslides.
Wakestock wouldn't be Wakestock without its famous bikini contest, featuring the Miss Reef Canada Finals. The winner, Lindsey Bundschuh of Vancouver, received a modeling contract with Reef Canada and direct entry into the Miss Swimsuit Canada finals. Second place went to Alicja Wierzbicka of Toronto, and third to Marie Eve Cloutier of Montreal.
Over 170 competitors competed in the Wakestock Amateur Championship, Canada's largest amateur event. Defending Men's Canadian National Champion Kevin Henshaw of B.C. won the men's division, moving on to compete in the World Cup event against his pro heroes, where he made it all the way to the Semi-Finals in both Pro Railslide and Pro Expression Session.
Look for full TV coverage of Wakestock on Global TV and the Extreme Sports Channel in Canada, and on the Outdoor Life Network in the U.S.A. in the coming months. Stay tuned to www.wakestock.com for exact air times.
Wakestock World Cup is sponsored by Billabong Clothing, Mars Bar, Nintendo, Edge Gel, HP Canada Digital Photography, Reef, Neil Pryde Wetsuits, Frosters Mac's Convenience, GM-Vortec and SBC Wakeboard Magazine.
Wakestock™ is owned and produced by SBC Events Inc, in conjunction with SBC Media Inc., publisher of leading action sports magazines Snowboard Canada, SBC Skateboard, SBC Wakeboard, SBC Skier, Windsport, SBC Kiteboard, and SBC Business magazines. "Wakestock™" and "Wakestock World Cup Festival™" are trademarks of SBC Media Inc. in Canada, the United States and/or other countries.
For more information, including complete results and photos, please visit our website at www.wakestock.com or contact Marnie DiGiandomenico, media relations, by phone (416) 406-2400, ext. 294, fax (416) 406-0656, or e-mail marnie@wakestock.com.
