On a less than chilly night in south Florida, 18 of the industry's top wakeboarders and wakeskaters came together to compete at the legendary Ft. Lauderdale Aquatic Complex for Red Bull Wake of Fame. A place that is known for setting world records and hosting gold medal swimmers, shutdown its three pools and connected them with a variety of features and a cable system that strung across the 82-year-old complex. The athletes were able to ride from pool to pool, showcasing their best skills and tricks on a series of obstacles including rails, quarter pipe, stall wall, corrugated pipe, kicker, and a giant elevated gong that's noise energized the crowd when the athletes tagged it. Broken into two disciplines, it was German native, Nico von Lerchenfeld who took gold for wakeboarding and Florida boy, Reed Hansen, who brought it home in wakeskating.

"This is one of the sickest events I've been to so far," says seventeen-year-old, Nico. "The system is making events like this possible. My dad actually invented this system so I really have to thank him for that. Those set ups in the pool with the rails and the different lines you can hit were super fun." He was able to take the title of Best Trick and beat out Kevin Henshaw who took the silver and Red Bull athlete, JD Webb who earned the bronze, with a front-lip-back-side-270-out on the oversized step-up ledge. It was Reed's front varial flip that gained Best Trick in the wakeskate category and helped him take the lead over Nick Taylor who placed second and Andy Pastura in third. Red Bull Wake of Fame's innovative format brought these dynamic water sports to such a unique setting thanks to the pioneering Sesitech Cable System 2.0 - a straight-line cable system that provides a continuous ride. This pioneering system eliminates the boat so outside-of-the-lake locations can be utilized for competitions.

"It's really fun to bring this to the masses," says JD Webb. "It was challenging because the pools are really small and you're kind of rushing to go back and forth so you can get everything lined up and the right line to hit the rails well. It was really a lot of fun." The athletes were judge on three criteria for Red Bull Wake of Fame - execution, intensity, and composition. Two contestants went head-to-head during each round in a bracket style format leading to the finals. Since the number of wakeboarders exceeded the number of wake skaters, a semi-final round was held. Industry leaders Shawn Perry, Scott Byerly, Collin Harrington, and Erik Ruck judged the competition.

The night's 12 wakeboarders and six wakeskaters were hand selected to compete in this innovative new format competition. The line up included the likes of Red Bull wakeboarders Parks Bonifay, JD Webb, Adam Errington and wakeskater Brian Grubb. Alongside them were Nico von Lerchenfeld, Kevin Henshaw, Reed Hansen, Nick Taylor, Andy Pastura, Steel Laferty, Ollie Derome, Keith Lidberg, Shane Bonifay, Ben Horan, and Brandon Thomas.

Less than a year ago today, Rewritten premiered in Orlando, Florida setting a new bar for team films in the Wakeboard Industry. Hyperlite is excited to announce the airing of its team film Rewritten on FUEL TV. Shot through the eyes of former Hyperlite team rider Keith Kipp and produced by Alliance MultiMedia and Josh McWilliams, Rewritten offers you the inside perspective of being part of one of the most elite teams in the industry. Never before has there been a feature that tells the real story of the team, its individual members, and how they all ride together for one brand. From the company that started it all and with the biggest names in the sport, get ready to enjoy a wakeboard film that has rewritten the standard.


Fuel TV air dates and times for the Team Hyperlite film, Rewritten!


Monday 6/28/2010 12:30am EST

Monday 6/28/2010 9:30pm EST

Wednesday 6/30/2010 3:30am EST

Sunday 7/11/2010 1:00am EST

Saturday 7/17/2010 8:00pm EST

Saturday 7/17/2010 11:00pm EST

Saturday 7/31/2010 3:00am EST

Last week kicked off the second stop of the WWA Wakeboard World Series in Brazil at the Ragga Wake World Series event in Belo Horizonte. The top 14 riders from the WWA World Series were in attendence, along with the local Brazilian pro riders to battle it out for $20,000 in prize money! The event started on Friday, May 14th and ran until Sunday May 16th.

This is the second year that the WWA Wakeboard World Series has gone to this location for the Ragga Wake World Series. In a nutshell, this event is beautiful. From the location, to the people, to the best food in the world this event is one of the most fun of the year.

This event is set in the mountains of Brazil at one of the most beautiful sites in the world. Harley Clifford defended his #1 seed on the World Series at this second event, with all of the World's top Pro Riders in attendance.

Wakeboard World Series Stop 2 Results:

1st Harley Clifford

2nd. Phil Soven

3rd. Trevor Hansen

4th.JD Webb


We head to Acworth,Georgia this week for the first stop of the PWT this season. Will Harley Clifford once again take the win? Thats the way its looking right now. Make sure you pick your team for Fantasy Wake League right now!.http://www.fantasyactionsportsleague.com/wake

Young Australian phenomenon Harley Clifford takes down the rest of the competition in Abu Dhabi for the first win of the WWA world series of wakeboarding. With over 20 of the top North American riders in attendance its a huge win for Harley. Harley has been busy in Australia competing while most North American riders are waiting out the winter. Is this the reason Harley rose to the top of the competition in Abu Dhabi?

All of Abu Dhabi watched as the worlds top riders threw down behind the boat battling for 1st place.The final 4 riders are all contenders for this years Pro Tour here in the US. Canadian rider Rusty Malionski takes second followed closely by Phillip Soven and Aaron Rathy. I have a feeling we are going to be seeing this top 4 here in the US on the pro tour a lot this season. Phillip Soven and Rusty Malionski are riding better then ever and we all know Aaron Rathy is a machine behind the boat.

The System 2.0 Rail Contest was yet another huge upset with little known rider from Britain Marc Rossiter beating out Parks Bonifay for 2nd place. JD Webb proved his Rail Rider title taking home first place in Abu Dhabi Rail Contest. 3rd place was a tie between Legend Parks Bonifay and canadian rider Aaron Rathy. I can only imagine the level of riding from all of these guys on the rails. I hope to see more rail only contest here in the US this year.

The guys return home to start getting ready for the contest season here in the US starting with Wake Games in Orlando,FL at the end of April. Make sure you check back to grindtv.com for all the latest in wake.

Yo! Hope the weekend was fine. It's pretty toasty in Orlando these days, so it's been unreal on the lake. Another little side to shredding wake has been finding waves on the East coast. There has been nothing to complain about as of late with the surf sessions we've all found time to fit in. Living the Florida dream I guess.

This past weekend Red Bull invited the local collegiate shredders out to OWC for a weekend of debauchery. Colleges from around the area brought their wake teams out to learn to ride, compete, or just be mellow (or the opposite actually) with the Bull. I headed out there yesterday to catch a glimpse of the best trick contest. Best trick of the OWC kicker was hooked up with JD's 2009 setup. I know that when I was in college, this would have been like winning the lottery. Not that you'd want to sell it, but if you did, you could get a lot of ramen and beer with it. Aside from the best trick contest, there was something for all, volleyball, food, energy, girls, boys, and of course, Red Bull riders.
PLEASE check out the photos for the full recap.