Keith Lidberg proved once again that he’s the man to beat as the third season of the USA Cable Wakeboard Tour kicked off May 8th at Ski Rixen in Deerfield Beach, Florida, providing for some spectacular runs by some of the top riders in the World! In one of the closest, most intense finishes the Tour has seen to date, 2003 National Champion Keith Lidberg of Orlando topped an impressive field of world, tour, and national champion riders to emerge the winner in the Open Men division. 2003 Tour Champion Donald Shelbrick and #2 World-ranked Chad Forrest, both of Deerfield Beach, answered with amazing runs to finish second and third respectively by less than a point!
The Open Men division continues to raise the bar for the entire sport. Tricks rarely seen behind the boat are beginning to become commonplace in cable wakeboarding, such as switch Double S-Bends, S-Mobes, S-Bend to Blinds, 911 Blind 360s, 313s, Hoochie to Blinds, 90210s, and stratospheric KGBs and KGB 5s. Spinning in the flats and off the obstacles are now also a common sight, with 540s, 720s, and now with Robin Friday’s 900 landed last year at Texas Ski Ranch, the stage is set for the first 1080 in history to be thrown on the cable.
Wakeskaters took advantage of the many new obstacles at Ski Rixen to show off their style and innovation, impressing the crowd with high platform dock starts and 360 shuvits off the kicker. Ross Salvesen edged out 2003 National Champion Zak Stone for the top spot, while Kyle Hyams, another consistent podium finisher, landed third.
Junior Men, another powerhouse division, saw Sascha Peschl pull out a clean run that included a Double S-Bend followed by a Tweety Bird that clinched the top spot. Nick DeLaurie earned top honors in Boys, Jeff Trudeau took home first place in the Mens Division, and Doug Schumacher earned the top spot in Masters. Also victorious were Jackie Brown in Open Women, and Maggie Hyams in Juniors.
The Cable Wakeboard Tour would like to thank all our sponsors for their generous support! 2004 Rixen Tour Stop Sponsors include: Liquid Force, Ron Jon Surf Shop, Seawood Builders, Rinker Materials, McDonalds, Jet Pilot, Hyperlite, Vikingsextreme, Oakley, ProTec, O’Neill, Papa Johns Pizza, and Infinite Focus Productions.
The next Tour Stop will be June 19 at Texas Ski Ranch in New Braunfels, Texas, followed by July 10 at OWC in Orlando, and finally July 24-25 at the brand-new KC Watersports cable park in Kansas City, Kansas, which will also be the 2004 USA Cable Wakeboard National Championships. To register to ride in the next or any event in the Cable Wakeboard Tour, or to be a part of this series contact David Cornwall at david@davidcornwall.com or 407-256-3312, or visit www.cablewakeboardtour.com.
Boys
1 Nick DeLaurie 70.22
2 Jimmy LaRiche 69.50
3 Mark Schuster 63.00
4 Zander Raywood 53.75
5 Taylor Moore 45.40
6 Andrew Masi 39.20
7 Keenan Fleger 32.10
Junior Men
1 Sascha Peschl 84.90
2 Greg Heunis 72.10
3 Chris Johnston 45.32
4 Michael Palozzola 34.65
Amateur Men
1 Jeff Trudeau 68.45
2 Andy Hurdman 51.23
3 Andy Williams 42.50
Masters
1 Doug Schumacher 64.35
2 Lu Le 62.10
3 John Anderson 43.40
Open Women
1 Jackie Brown 46.10
2 Michelle Gallo 43.70
3 Hannah Lorber 37.40
4 Christine Packard 25.70
Wakeskate
1 Ross Salvessen
2 Zak Stone
3 Kyle Hyams
4 Ty Benfield
5 Brian Gibb
Open Men
1 Keith Lidberg 88.20
2 Donald Shelbrick 86.70
3 Chad Forrest 85.10
4 Brad Federspiel 78.90
5 Rob Mapp 71.20
6 Campbell Smith 70.80
7 Nick Vidulich 63.80
8 Josh Rice 61.30
9 Kenny Sampson 55.50
10 Marcus Padberg 51.40
11 James Sampson 48.30
12 Patrick Unger 40.10
13 Robin Friday 35.70
For More Info.
If you are visiting or live in South Florida, call Ski Rixen of Quiet Waters in Deerfield Beach at 954-429-0215, or visit www.skirixenusa.com for more information on how you can join in on the fun!
