Photo by Rodrigo Donoso



Aaron Rathy rises to the top of the podium to take 1st at the second stop of the Pro Wakeboard Tour. After a rocky start in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin the contest was on. With a huge group of 57 riders competing in Pro mens only 20 would make it through the first day.

The competition was on with numerous stand out riders through out the day, no one knew who would take 1st. Phillip Soven just could not put it together in the finals and took home 4th. Andrew Adkison barely beat Phillip for 3rd. Andrew is off to one of his best starts on the tour in years. With his first sunday finals in a while. Harley Clifford scored a 90.00 in the finals putting him ahead of Andrew who only put together a 79.75 run. After Harley coming off a huge win at the 1st stop in Forth Worth everyone was hoping for a repeat. Rathy was able to beat out harley by only 3 points and take home 1st place.

The tour heads to Knoxville, Tennessee next weekend. Who will come out on top? With Rathy and Harley looking on top of each of their games no one knows.

Results: Pro Mens
1st. Aaron Rathy
2nd. Harley Clifford
3rd. Andrew Adkison
4th. Phillip Soven

Jr.Mens
1st. Bob Soven
2nd. Mitch Langfield
3rd. Steel Lafferty
4th. Phillip Aslinger

To keep the Cable Revolution going heres the lowdown on a recent trip to McCormick's Cable Park with the Projects Crew.

Thursday morning I got a call from Pat Ponakos wanting me to go with the crew down to Tampa Cable Park, Mccormicks. Being unable to turn down the offer I packed up the gear and got over to the Projects in no time. After loading everything in the truck we were on the road to the cable park. With a crew consisting of 2 english allies Marc Rossiter,John Green,Josh Kirby,Pat Ponakos and Pat the camper I was excited to see what might go down.

After a hour long drive of playing our new car game "Flags" we were rushing to get on the water. The boys got into the lineup and then started doing work. Marc absolutely slays rails and just pressed everything in sight. John a european cable rider took to the skys with some huge air tricks. The legend himself Pat Ponakos strapped on the board and with his classic style pressed out on everything possible. Josh Kirby was the only wakeskater that came with us. He got his skate style on and got down on the incline bar.

A little while later Fryee and Chase Gregory showed up to join the fun. Fryee goes huge off the kickers and hucks it off the rails. Chase stomped out the kickflip on the rail first try but I missed it. So Chase went for it again and stomped it again. The boys kept on shredding till out of no where a afternoon shower popped up to shut down the fun. We tried to wait it out with no luck. We called it a day and headed back to the projects.

A fun day had by everyone and anouther productive day to write in the books. Check out the pictures and videos of the day.

Also if you havent already follow us on twitter to read about random flipped cars, wakeboarding, and everything else worth reading about.
www.twitter.com/grindtvwake

Check out McCormicks website for more info on the park.

www.skimccormick.com

And make sure you check out the Projects Website for random videos and news.

www.theprojectscamp.com

With today's tough economic times, everyone's wondering how their sport will be impacted. Wakeboarding is no different. The need for new boats, new boards, gas and all the accessories all have huge price tags, things that have kept barriers to entry pretty high for wakeboarders. You might say it's a rich man's sport. Meanwhile, cable has always seemed to be the red-headed stepchild of wakeboarding in America. Yet now boat sales are dropping as the economy declines while life in the Cable Parks is undoubtedly picking up.

Like skate parks, cable parks do facilitate progress as riders converge. But skate parks also are a double edged sword, with the wrong builder a skate park can hinder progression and even the community. The same idea applies to Cable Parks around the world. The wrong type of park can be a PR disaster. Whether the communities realize this or not isn't clear, but new innovators like the Wake Park Project are building new cable parks that cater to the rider. High quality obstacles and cable equipment allow the parks to bring in a steady flow of riders and invite new riders.

Boat companies have also invested in their boats and evolved them into 24ft cruise ships. One has to be realistic in times like these. The idea of going out and buying a brand new boat for $60,000 and affording to keep gas flowing is just unrealistic for many. Cable riding opens new doors for venues and for communities looking to build a local wakeboard scene. The initial investment in a full size cable park is large but the return can easily be as rewarding. With new cable parks popping up all over the world daily it's amazing to see the community that grows around these parks. Parks are opening in places that were never known for wakeboarding but now tons of riders are going out to the cable park stoked to be able to be a part of it.

System 2.0 is a new innovation in cable systems. Created by the Wake Park Project it is a single cable system that can be set up in a small retention pond or across a river. The initial purchase of the system is only $40,000 dollars and fuel consumption is so minimal with it being electric. The possibilities with the system 2.0 are endless. The system was first seen seen public at the 2008 Red Bull Wake Lab in Orlando, FL. Spectators and Riders alike were blown away. With even more advances coming soon System 2.0 is on the forefront of cable systems.

So this summer when your strapped for cash and can't get out on the boat. Try out your local cable and maybe you'll be hooked. Most cable parks offer passes for $500- $600 bucks for half the year, that's one payment on a boat. Don't worry if you don't have a cable park near by, there are tons of cable parks in the works across America and Europe.


CWC Philippines

Riders traveled from all ends of the earth to converge on Orlando,Florida to compete in the US Wake Park Nationals. With all sorts of accents and languages rooting for their respective crews it was fun to interpret what everyone was saying. The beat was spinning all day pumping the riders up all day to keep pushing the envelope. The crowd of spectators popped up the tents and umbrellas to watch the action under the Florida sun.

The pro mens started off the day with riders going huge in the corners and going even bigger off the kickers. Nick Davies was riding like he was out with the boys having fun all day long. If you ever watch him ride he has a certain bump and jump that no one else shows. Davies makes everything he does look easy. Tom Fooshee a texas native fell on some of his textbook tricks falling out of the running early on in the day. Keith Lidberg scored a perfect 100 run stomping everything beautifully. Nick Davies also scored a perfect run today. It seemed like nothing could stop lidberg and davies watching them ride was mind blowing. It came down to a Head to Head battle between Davies and Lidberg. Davies had been stomping huge 900s off the kicker all day. He had a huge smile on his face in the final run. Lidberg brought the pressure but just couldnt put enough pressure to take the win. Still a great showcase of riding from Davies and Lidberg who are riding at a level never before seen.

Pro Womans was tough competition with some of the best women riders in the world competing against each other to take the title. Nicola Butler the latest PWT stop winner fell on a couple of her normal tricks opening the door for Maxine Sapulette from Netherlands. Maxine beat out Nicola in the finals taking First place. Raimi Merrit went huge off the kicker and was busting some man sized tricks in the corners. But it wasnt enough for her to over take nicola and Maxine. It was a great showcase of women wakeboarding. I personally was impressed with some of thier style on the rails and going huge off the kickers.

Pro Wakeskate Finals was stacked full of veteran riders including the World Champion Reed Hansen and 2 of the best cable riders in the world John Raurk and Brett Little. Reed was the last off the dock riding in his normal form stomping numerous tricks in the flats and going huge off the Kicker. Brett Little showed us his famous Texas style landing a clean frontside flip and shuving on the box. Steve Campbell is a OWC local and it showed with his riding. Steve Landed a 540 shuv to frontboard on the box and followed it up with a huge frontside flip on the box. Reed's run stood out to all the spectators as the best run of the day and the Judges thought the same.

RESULTS: Pro Mens Wakeboard
1st Nick Davies
2nd Keith Lidberg
3rdDominik Guehrs

Pro Womans Wakeboard
1st Maxine Sapulette
2nd Nicola Butler
3rd Maimi Merrit

Pro Wakeskate
1st Reed Hansen
2nd Brett Little
3rd Steve Campbell