H2O Wakeparade

Over the last couple of weeks I have been listening to a lot of music, David Bowie, Deftones,Throwdown, Aveneged sevenfold, Muse and wolfmother to name a few… also started playing my guitar a little again though I suck and could really do with a new one! Working on a few new tricks lately nothing crazy but definately different.

I’ve also been cranking on with the gym, me and Shannon have been mixing it up a bit between sessions to keep things fresh which I’m loving.

Went to Austria a couple of weeks back for the H2O Wakeparade which was probably one of the best events I’ve been to in the last decade! The riders were so well looked after it was unreal… We got flown out there, pimped out with sick rooms, and fed and watered. The comp was on a system 2.0 with a rail hit a kicker hit and a rail hit and you got scored out of ten from each… Great system.

I was pitted against my roomie Marc Shuster which was a pain in the arse as he rips and we are good buddies. It was also head to head so we knew one of us was going out! I had a good rail hit, good air trick, but on the kicker was going for a toe back 7 but only span 5 which I was a bit bummed about and Marc ended up going through one point ahead of me. He had a sick run so I wasn’t really that annoyed to not go through!

Dominic Ghurrs shredded his face off throwing double to blinds with an indy on the way down wirly 5’s and some nice rail hits leaving him with the gold medal! My good buddy Matty Hasler taking second with some big old steezy riding, Method S to blind (which requires a late handle pass) – so it’s blinking hard. Massive thanks to Daniel Fetzy for setting up the event it was a blast and everyone had an absolute ball.

Peace

 

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Red Bull Harbour Reach

I went to Lyme Reeges in Dorset last weekend for the Red Bull Harbour Reach contest which was a blast!! We arrived really late, at around 1am the night before the contest. Lyme Reeges is full of massive hills and at 1am there are no cars on the roads so I decided to take advantage… I got skatey out the boot and proceeded to bomb down hills street luge style, Picked up enough speed!!! Gooood times.

The contest was held in the harbour and involved a few rails and a couple of kickers set up to gap over the 9 metre wide wall! It was the first contest I’ve been to where everyone was cacking it before we rode! But as soon as the first person cleared it easy everyone relaxed a little. The approach to the kicker was glassy but on the otherside of the wall it was open to the ocean so there was a bit of swell meaning you either landed down a wave or on top of one, On both of my hits I bucled on landing therefore losing 30 percent of my score meaning I didnt make the final.. But it was a really fun event which pushed the boundaries in wakeboarding!!

Congratulations to Sam Carne for winning and his brother Johnny who busted a massive 540 over the wall (props).

I’m heading to Austria in the morning for the H2O wake parade which is an invitational for fifteen riders from fifteen different countys competing on a system 2.0. I love Austria, it’s an amazing country so I’m really looking forward to busting over there and shredding and seeing old faces.

Stay tuned

Picture from Syndicate Magazine Online

Cable Nationals 2011

Had the nationals last weekend at WMSki in Cirencester. The weather was stunning and the water was super flat (winner!)

The qualifying went real good for me; I nailed a run that put me straight through to the finals which I was super stoked with as having to go into the L.C.Q. is never fun. I started out with a heelside 720 off the kicker followed by a switch kgb before the corner a pete rose and a switch back mobe!!

In the finals I rode ok but could have rode better as I buggered up the rails a bit in my first run and they were scoring 60% of your run based on rails. In my second run I stacked on a shifty front to blind… Bummer! So I ended up coming 5th which was ok seeing as I didn’t ride as good as I wanted. Gary Stelfox had a friigin sick run with a front mobe crow mobe and a heel 7 which was super smooth, but ended up coming 6th… Dec Clifford threw down an amazing run with a mobe 5 to 313 which was somewhat dirty!! He ended up taking the win… Props. Overall it was a good comp with a lot of good riding.

This weekend I’m going to Dorset for the Red Bull Harbour reach contest which I’m really looking forward to! it should be off the chain…

He is Legend (The Seduction) Never heard it?? Well listen to it.

Peace

Wakestock 2011

Last weekend was Wakestock, the biggest event of the UK calender and what a weekend it was… I had to rock up two days early to get the rail qualifying out of the way – slightly long, but Jonty Green happily drove me up, which I was very thankful for. I got the qualifying out the way and went through, job done.

Everyone else rocked up on the Thursday when me and a few crew were practicing on the boat, which was a tad cold and windy but fun all the same. Thursday was the day that we all moved into the festival site and everything really kicked off for Wakestock 2011. Me, Jonts, Pete Chell, Tom Haley, Irish and a bunch of others all pitched our tents, then proceeded to the main festival tent to throw down some shapes – quite possibly the best way to start the whole weekend. We didn’t leave the floor for around five hours… SIICK FUN.

Friday was the boat qualifying and it was the windiest conditions I’ve ever rode in… Craaazy rough.com!! When you have a rail that looks like a sky scraper as you’re approaching it and you’re riding in a foot of chop at the same time it can be kind of arse twitching, but in the end I hit the rail, had  a stand up run and went through.

For the rest of the weekend we had epic sunshine; it was perfect: the marina flattened off, the campsite stayed dry and everyone had a ball.

The riding for me for the rest of the weekend, went ok… In the boat semi finals I had Shawn Watson, Sam Carne and Jonty Green in my heat, which was tough. Shawn Watson went out before me and stacked twice so I threw down a safe run to try and stand up; with a few grabs, some big shizz, a few spins, rode the rail a nice distance and just crashed my last trick. But Shawn ended up going through!! I was a little bummed, but that’s wakeboarding. A young Irish guy named David O’Caoimh ended up winning the finals with an absolute banger of a run, starting out with a front mobe and throwing down through out; epic riding.

The rail event was rad fun with super skinny metal rails with big ollie on, which were fairly gnarly… Me and I rish got to test it out first which was a lot of fun. I made it through to the semis but failed to make the final! I still had a lot of fun riding it though, as it was the first pool gap I’ve ever rode other than the little one at FISE a couple of years ago.

All in all, Wakestock was a blast this year and everyone just seemed to be on the same vibe which is what made it such a good year, The riding, the music, the rides, it was all bomb!

I recommend anyone going next year to get yourself a piglet box from the spit roast…

Bangin’

Into the Wild

So I was watching deal or no deal the other day, as you do, and the guy had £1000 and £75,000 left at the end… he got offered 42 grand and no dealed.. Ended up with a grand.. Nutt job. Also watched the movie ‘Into The Wild,’ which I thought was absolutely awesome. It’s about a super intelligent guy who cuts up all of his credit cards, donates all his savings of $20,000 to Oxfam and travels about living off the land, he eventually ends up in Alaska, staying in an abandoned bus he found.. I really liked the way he didn’t have anything but he still got by with just his wits; and how people took a liking to him just for him and his aura!!!

My riding has been going good lately and I’ve been having a lot of fun out there. I have learnt a couple of new tricks which I’m stoked with! Which shows that if you’re having fun you ride better. Also, my aussie mate Petey has just got into the country which means another head to ride with, which is always good. Yesterday me, Petey, Paul Molinaro and Richie Hiney were all out there shredding at the same time, loving it. It’s so much fun riding with a crew, you get so much more amped up! Good times!

Now, Wales is calling..

Photos, Footage and Festivals

The last week has involved a few cool photo shoots and a bit of filming! Me and Gary Stelfox went head to head in the rail clash for Alliance, which was awesome fun. We basically had 3 hits each on the roof top rail at Thorpe and we had a hand held camera filming each other, with someone filming from the bank also. It has just gone live on the Alliance website and you the public get to vote who had the best three hits! So be sure to jump online and get your votes in!

Then a couple of days ago I had another shoot for Syndicate magazine as they are doing an interview with me for the next issue… First off I rode the boat at LDB ski school at 7am which was siiiick, as I haven’t rode that wake yet and it’s real big and super clean. We then headed over to the cable and smashed that up for an hour or so and I think we ended up getting some nice snaps. So get yourself a copy of the next Syndicate magazine and check out my interview peeps.

Overall my riding is going good at the moment, just trying to stay busy with it and keep things fresh by moving from one thing to the other… One week concentrating on grabs then I’ll smash rails for a while and then go bust huge for a while.

The next big event is Wakestock which I have been absent from for a while so I’m really looking forward to getting back into that, especially the toy shop which is epic! Not forgetting the bangin breakfasts in Phwelli. But of course the main event is what I’m really getting geared up for.

Another event which I’m stoked to have been invited to is the H2O Wake Parade in Austria in august which is 16 riders from 15 countries with a 15,000 Euro prize pool! Gonna be dope.

One time.

Photo by Sim Bradley/AllianceWake.co.uk

The Spray, The Turn, The Speed..

Word,

I have been riding a bunch these last couple of weeks. I’ve been really feeling the water lately, macking around the corner and powersliding but really feeling the powerslide and everything that comes with it: the spray, the turn, the speed. Getting back to the roots of what it’s all about I guess. Working on busting a lot of “feel good” based moves, like long solid grabs with slow individual pokes at abnormal times where you wouldn’t usually see them… An unconventional expression of state of mind, as such…

Been doing a few new exercises in the gym with Shannon, which has been nice as it’s different… Like doing push ups with a fairly heavy weight on my back; a bit awkward at times but a real good burn with it. I’m only in the gym three times a week now, which gives me a lot more time out on the water, which is great and my body is strong enough to deal with a lot more riding from all the gym work over the last couple of months.

I have a nice vegetable patch in my garden at the moment, which I have been tending to a lot… Just got about eight tomato plants of different variety, six corn, one chilli and two strawberrys. It’s quite theraputic getting really involved with the soil. I spent a couple of hours sivving the earth, making sure it was real fine!! Will be good when it’s all ready to eat.

Life is a little tough at the moment with no work! I’ve been applying all over, but nothing seems to come of it… It sucks. So if anyone knows of anything going, it would be much appreciated.

Photo by Neale Adams