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.

The South Florida Wakeboarding Association (SFWA) is excited to announce the fourth annual "Pros and Joes" wakeboarding/wakeskating contest to be held on November 6th, 2010 at Okeeheelee Park, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 33413.

Registration for the 4th Annual 2010 South Florida Wake Association (SFWA) Pros and Joes Event is now officially OPEN!!!!!! This year's event, sponsored by South Florida Mastercraft, Arrigo Dodge, Motion Watersports, Broward Motorsports, Networxvip-Premium Concert Tickets, Jamba Juice, Play-n-Trade and Moe's Southwest Grill promises to be bigger and better with a new format that will showcase the Pro riders in a best trick competition worth $1,000 to the winner. With that in mind we already have commitments (subject to change) from seven amazing riders who will be there to ride with the amateur teams and compete for the $1,000 top prize. Who are they? Well here is the list:

• Nick Taylor
• Andrew Adkison
• Scott Stewart
• Andrew Fortenberry
• Jimmy LaRiche
• Rusty Malinoski
• Shawn Watson

So what is Pros and Joes? How do you register? Just continue reading and your questions will be answered, if you still have questions after reading you can contact us at sfwake@yahoo.com Sign up early as spaces for this event are extremely limited (30 riders) and sell out extremely fast.

For the first time ever, the Global Nike 6.0 Wake Team hit Germany on an action-packed tour last July. Team riders Ben Horan, Nick Taylor, Kevin Henshaw and Eddie Valdez unleashed their massive bag of tricks at five tour stops. Starting with the Wake the Line contest in Cologne, the team cranked it up with demos at wake facilities and winch spots across the country, joined by German Nike 6.0 team riders Nico von Lerchenfeld, Andy Kolb and Jan Kissmann.

Pro wakeskating climbed to another level on Saturday, September 11, as the world's top pro wakeskaters competed for the sport's most coveted title at the 7th Annual Rockstar Energy Drink Byerly Toe Jam.

The prestige of the event was even higher this year, with a huge crowd and Livestream webcast on O'Neill's Facebook page. Riders were also competing for the highest purse in the history of wakeskating at over $20,000. Contour Cameras stepped up this year, awarding each winner with a hands-free HD video camera and waterproof housing.

The field was narrowed down a week previous to the event, and the Toe Jam always showcases every aspect of wakeskating. Eight riders qualified for the boat portion, eight for cable, twelve for PWC and twenty for the winch pool jam on Saturday night. This year, the Toe Jam provided a more festival-type atmosphere with an all-day schedule, Rockstar Energy Drink Athlte & VIP Lounge, Chipolte Burrito & Nacho bar and a banging live performance by Swamburger and DiViNCi that you can check out at solilla.com.

"It took a lot of work to get everything together," Scott Byerly said. "But it all came together and everybody ripped. It's always cool to see how far the sport gets pushed each year."

The biggest honor in wakeskating is to win the overall title, for the most points accumulated in all divisions. Reed Hansen and Grant Roberts were the only two that had qualified in all three categories. It was a constant battle as they moved all around the different sections of OWC throughout the day. Emad also offered up an electric skateboard for the overall winner in adition to the $5000 at stake.

The day at OWC started out behind the Byerly's Signature edition Nautique, with a surprising start. Reed Hansen was knocked out during the first round by Stu Shinn. Stu has been able to put it together behind the boat all year, and this time it was good enough to take the previous year's winner out of the game. As the riders dwindled down it wound up with two roommates in the final. Brandon Thomas and Brian Grubb rode against each other for the boat title in a really close heat, but Grubb came out victorious and was the first winner of the day. Grant Roberts made it through the first round in the boat event, and had a lead over Reed Hansen going into the Cable event.


The cable event had a few upsets as well. French rider Leo Labadens, and Bret Little got knocked out in the early rounds leaving the final between Rockstar team rider Nick Taylor against Reed Hansen. Hansen rode super well, but Nick threw down some super tech moves in the flats including regular and switch kickflips, and a switch frontside flip. Reed would finish in 2nd place, and Grant Roberts tied for 3rd. This left Grant in the overall title lead by just one placement going into the final event on the rails.

The Sea Doo pulled the event on the rails with 12 riders total. The first two rounds were head-to-head, then it went to a 3 man final. After the first round had gone down the two top riders in the overall title race met up in a head to head heat. Grant Roberts and Reed Hansen both went out and rode super well, but Reed edged out Grant by a pretty good margin. This left the overall race completely up to Reed Hansen. He went into the three man final having to get second or better to edge out Roberts for the overall Byerly Toe Jam win. Last off the dock, Reed was able to watch Yan Lecomte and Andrew Pastura and know exactly what he had to do to win. Reed had the eye of the tiger and went out and won the rail portion of the event. taking the overall Byerly Toe Jam title.

For the Nike 6.o winch jam under the lights pulled by the crew at Ridiculous Winches, Yan Lecombe back lipped the hubba ledge on his last pull to seal up the first place spot. Dieter Humpsch came in 2nd place with a front lip, and Andrew Pastura in 3rd with a frontside 180 over the rail.

Scott Byerly would like to thank Rockstar Energy Drink and O'Neill for their undying support of the Toe Jam as well as Nike 6.0, Arnette, Nautiques, Contour, Sea Doo, Emad, Ridiculous Winches and Chipotle. "Without these guys, there would be no Toe Jam as we know it and a lot of them have been behind it since day one."

For more information check out ByerlyToeJam.com

One word "Insane". Words can not describe the madness that is More Than Machines. A wakeskate film by Tad Matthews is captivating and mind blowing all the same time. Each trick keeps you on the edge of your seat. New spots that make you want to get on google maps to find it that very moment. A rider list that would make any teenage girl cry. Smooth camera skills that not only capture the moment but take you to that very moment to experience the action.

I had been joking with Matt Hooker lately about making his come back. After watching his part which is the opening part I am pretty sure he never left. Hooker really knocked my shoes off with his gangsta style and technical tricks. Nick Taylor's part was smooth as butter, flowing and dancing like a beauty queen. The friends section has a large selection of shredders including Stu Shinn who goes to town behind the boat landing some huge flip tricks.

Austin Pastura's part will blow your mind! You thought Andrew was good? Well Austin is everything you love about Andrew and more. The crowd never stopped screaming during Austin's part. Ben Horan gets locked in numerous times and comes out clean each time. I don't know if its the tie-die or the cut off shorts but Ben looks all to natural on the water. Andrew Pastura takes the gold with the video's ender section. Andrew destroys every spot from florida to Ohio and between. The guys find a waterfall that is a perfect hip like something you would see at the skatepark. Andrew looks like he is at the skate park winching this natural hip.

The premiere was tons of fun as every wakeskating premiere always is. Be sure to check out More Than Machines when you get the chance you wont regret it.