Hybrid Wake Magazine Issue 4

Issue 4

Ollie Moore Skateside

The Battlecocks Meet The Lads

Board Test

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2014’s New Arriva

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e m o c l e W W

elcome to 2014! Another year has passed and another year is laying ahead full of promise and expectations for what is to come. 2013 was a great year for our community and the sport in general, mostly in this country because of the weather. We were treated to a great summer filled with plenty of scorching hot, mirror calm days that were spent by the lake and reminding us that this country is epic when the sun is out. Aside from the favourable conditions we were blessed with, many other areas were flourishing too. We saw the arrival of yet another full size cable at the New Forest Water Park, more new System 2.0’s than you can shake a stick at and even a sunny Wakestock! We were blessed. This momentum is not to be short lived, with even more System 2.0 parks planned for the 2014 than in 2013, plus news of a relocation to come from WMSKI and another full size cable in the south to come; there is lots to look forward to.

We have also started to see the next generation of riders break through our younger ranks, in the UK right now we have a bustling scene full of youthful talent on the water. We have seen Freddie Carter return to form, while the like of the Battledays and the Peacocks are firing on all cylinders (page 60 onwards). Wherever you go now there are new riders popping up, landing things that were previously only seen by a few riders in the country. The evolution of the sport is taking place right now, it is growing faster than it has ever done before and we welcome it with open arms. We look forward to where the sport will go next. A year full of events that are growing year on year and pushing the level of riding to a previously unseen level is creating depth and the foundations for a great outlook for the sport. Sure we didn’t get into the Olympics this year, but that might just be the best thing that has happened to wakeboarding since the invention of the handle. Our sport can grow with the help of loyal, dedicated participants and workers, they are already there, lottery grant or no lottery grant. A short term boost may have helped some in the near future, but for the stability and long term well being of the industry’s infrastructure, 2013 may have been better than any of us could have imagined.

Have a great season.

We are Hybrid: Andrew Eddy, Editor eddy@hybridwakemag.com Richie Hiney, Creative Director richie@hybridwakemag.com Jake Lewis, Staff Photographer jake@hybridwakemag.com Russell Cahill-Smith, Marketing russell@hybridwakemag.com

Our thanks to the contributors this month: COVER: Mark Prefontaine - Ollie Moore (back lip) Mark Prefontaine - Ollie Moore Michel Martin, Luke Lee, Andrew Eddy - Limelight Jake Lewis - Hot Spot Lip Sunglasses - Ticket to Taiwan Ben Howells - Pilchard Productions Paul Buttle - Winch It!!!

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LEE DEBUSE

PHOTO: PAUL BUTTLE

WWW.ULTRSPORTEU.COM INFO@ULTRASPORTEU.COM +44 (0)1332 813 150

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16. Inside highlights of the issue 22. social media internet round up 28. travel bag upgrade your bag 32. ollie moore riding in America 42. 2014 board test all the latest boards 61. the battlecocks the future is bright 74. winter wear wrapping up for the cold 84. ticket to taiwan wakeskating reaches out 92. pilchard productions meet ben howells 102. the uk’s boat dealers introducing the big three 115.limelight gallery shots of wake goodness 120. winch it!!! mini winch gallery 126. hotspot liverpool & 2013 winner 130. fail whoopsie of the issue

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Hybrid Wake Magazine is published by thurty3 Ltd. Company Registered in England and Wales - Company Number 08357587 Address: Flat 2, 7 Regent Street, Burnham on Sea, Somerset, TA8 1AX Magazine ISSN 2052-076X

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Starting a new year is no different to finishing the last. Because of that reason, a gallon of crisp West Country Cider is the perfect way to celebrate the coming of 2014.

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Battling the cold isn’t going to be easy, but with a Belstaff Trialmaster you’ll not only keep that pesky breeze at bay but you can also do it in style. Dating back to 1924 they’ve created and pioneered a great iconic style.

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Bagged some new Vans for Christmas? These are the perfect solution to those chilly tootsies.

Throw them on your feet and away you go!

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If your New Year’s resolution is to get fit, then make sure you check out these pre-exercise treats. From Jelly energy shots to choc chip flapjack snacks, not only ensuring your performance is top but also satisfying your taste buds at the same time.

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7 If this isn’t present in your wardrobe by 2014 then you’ve got some investing to do. Hybrid Wakes official t-shirt rocking a black on white logo print, haters need not apply.

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Hungry? Or just can’t resist. Doritos is the cure for nearly all hunger related issues.

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In case Santa left this out your stocking, don’t forget to stock up on your wash kits. Just because it’s a ew year, doesn’t mean you smell any less.

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Cold mornings suck, and so does cold coffee.

Not to worry the guys at Thermos have the solution. In these cold bitter times, a Thermos flask is an essential in any board bag.

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After all that skimping and saving over Christmas, then blowing your budget on New Years Eve. Here is a book to get your game back on track. From getting bang for your buck vegetables to washing your undies, this readers digest has your back

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It’s true life does suck at times, so sit back and kill a few hours keeping off those hordes. If that doesn’t do it, take a seat in your F12 Berlinetta with Forza’s newest racing simulator. hybridwakemag.com 29

Only 45 mins frOm sOfia airpOrt – Wizz, Easy JEt, B.a OWn hOtEl With POOl, VOllEyBall , Jacuzzi Or nEW fOr 2014 GlamPinG sitE full PackaGEs With full BOard, transfErs and ridinG Or makE yOur OWn !!

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From the USA to Chertsey, a return winch session after the trip, ollie north 32 hybridwakemag.com

OLLIE MOORE Travelling across the Atlantic to shoot with Team O’Neill Soon after the Cable Europeans I flew out to Orlando, Florida, to be greeted with smiles from Nick Taylor and Travis Belsito! Those two let me cruise with them for a week or so until our plans took us separate ways. To start things off we went to see what was around at Surf Expo, meet some people and wonder around looking at the new product for 2014 followed by going to a bar in downtown Orlando for the WaterMonsters premiere of their new video release; Human Rocket. We then headed out to Reed (Hansen’s) place to session Battle Falls to start off a 2 day shoot with O’Neill along with long time team riders, Aaron Reed, Scott Byerly and Bret Little along with Shane Skelton the main man of O’Neill Wake who was organising the trip, quite a team.

SKATESIDE The second day we were planning to hit some wake but unfortunately Byerly’s boat had a couple of problems so we moved on and went to Pine Creek winch spot. It’s a nice size drop with a pole jam over it which made a good challenge for us, we got a couple hits down on it so it was worth checking it out. We then went to another spot with a concrete ledge and Nick hit it a few times and got a sick back lip on it before we got busted out causing us to end the trip there.

After the O’Neill shoot Trav, Nick and myself cruised over to Nick’s new homeland of Suwannee Pro spending a day and a night there riding his incredible winch drop in this amazing woodlands. hybridwakemag.com 33

After our time at the Suwannee woods, we drove to Clermont spending a couple days there before heading our separate ways, as Nick got ready for a trip to Japan and Trav was heading back home to Anna Maria Island. It was a lot of fun spending time with those guys before I headed the Pickett house, riding the rails there for a couple days. Riding with Tommy, Collinge and those boys before Ben (Horan) came and got me to head over to Groveland and join me onto the Aquarium Can Tour trips was a pretty awesome way to spend a few days.

After we met up with everyone at Kyle Walton and Joshs Zentmeyer’s house (being the wakeskate mag headquarters) we skated the home made park and winch the home made drop and ledge before packing and getting the van all ready for carrying the Can Tour on the next morning. The guys on the tour from the previous stop had already stacked multiple clips from hitting so many

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Team O’Neill 36 hybridwakemag.com

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OLLIE MOORE

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different spots and there was many more I got to hit with them on this second week, leading us to many famous winch spots with drops, gaps and ledges that I had only seen in wakeskate videos. Also getting to ride at Valdosta Wake Compound thanks to Quinn and spending a few days at Ben’s house riding and filming on the Retention gap which was another sure-fire highlight of the trip.

The Can Tour was a blast spending some good time winching with some cool people and getting to do some new things making this trip the best so far. To make it even better, after coming out to the States on my own and spending three weeks with new friends I went back to

“...leading us to many famous winch spots with drops, gaps and ledges...�

Clermont to spend two more weeks with my girlfriend Sophie Cordery and her parents riding the ski boat, some more filming and hitting a couple of the cables like OWC and Mccormicks before heading back to England This trip was incredible and a lot of fun, thanks to all the people I hung out with and places I stayed, and, the places I got to ride!

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Board Test 2014 Boards Exposed

“Nice fast board feels locked in and solid on the kickers nice and wide gives good stability on the rails”ils” Paul Molinaro on the DUP Manual SB

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“So much flex, this board presses so well, better than anything else I’ve ridden today, so fun on the rails, do I have to give it back?”

Tom Haley on the CWB Woodro

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“Really responsive, presses so effortlessly, really good feel to ride, feels fast and cuts through the water well, gives a more fluid ride�

Adam May on the Ronix Von Schnook Cable

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“Good rail board, nice flex feels like it locks in on the rail, edges really well too�

Ben Hitch on the Slingshot Windsor

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“Love it, nice and solid, edges really well, you feel locked in, loads of pop, good for air tricks and a nice bit of flex in the tips for pressing out on rails�

Ben Hitch on the Hyperlite MilkCart

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“Good for pressing, really good feel on the rails nice and fast, good edge control, top board�

Paul Molinaro on the Liquid Force Peak

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“Love it, nice and solid, edges really well, you feel locked in, loads of pop, good for air tricks and a nice bit of flex in the tips for pressing out on rails�

Ben Hitch on the Liquid Force Raph

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“Lovely on rails so smooth with lots of flex, great board, nice and light too” Adam May on the O’Brien Fremont

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“Nice and solid, holds an edge really well, good pop and solid on rails�

Adam May on the CTRL Hustle

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It’s a Good Year Ahead

“Awesome for air tricks, keeps an edge so well, nice controlled flex, good confident ride fresh out the box” Tom Hayley on the Jobe Guerilla

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LDB Wake School is one of the UK’s premier wake schools, set in the London/south area. Come down to JB Ski and book a set on the all new Axis wake boat and receive professional coaching from pro rider and one of the British wakeboard team coaches, Lee Debuse. Your riding will improve no matter what level you are.

Book with Lee on St Ann’s lake in the times below: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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All Day Open - 2:30 2:00 - Close All Day 2:00 - Close 3:00 - Close

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WAKE BROTHERS

RYAN, LIAM, JACK AND JOE COMBINE TO BECOME ‘THE BATTLECOCKS’ - TALENTED AND LIGHT HEARTED, THESE BOYS ARE THE LEADING LIGHTS FOR THE UK SCENE AND LONG MAY IT CONTINUE.

What has wakeboarding given you so far?

I like the fact that at the cable we all get along and just mess about. It’s always about getting the other one back for knocking you off at the second corner or something like that.

What would you like to achieve with your riding?

I want to learn loads of new tricks and to throw new tricks that no one has tried before

Would you prefer to be known as a competition rider or freerider?

I prefer to be known as a freerider, sometimes you may just be unlucky in the competitions, where as when you’re freeriding there’s no pressure and you can show what you really can do.

What do you think is the most important aspect of wake?

If one of your mates tries a trick, you have to try it!

How would you like to make your mark on the sport?

By being known for going big and not being scared to throw the new or big tricks and hit hard rails.

If you could get three things from Santa what would it be?

A mansion but with a cable and skatepark included.

A pet monkey.

The location of the mini ramp written down on paper.

Tell us about your ideal day….

Wake up and step out of bed into my bindings. Then grab hold of the handle attached to my bed and do a raley start out of my room and onto the worlds longest System 2.0 with the best obstacles ever. Then at lunch go to The Real China all you can eat buffet, followed by a Krispy Kreme doughnut (chocolate dream cake of course). Then I would go riding again, then after I have had dinner I would hit a kicker that launches me into my bed.

Who gets the most abused, and by who, for what?

Basically everyone abuses each other but it’s normally Joe calling Ryan fat…

Who is most likely to stack it trying something crazy?

Probably me, the boys normally pressure me into it and say “that the old Liam would have done it”, so I do it and it normally ends up in pain but it’s worth it for the cheers I get after!

Tell us about your favourite wake story so far…

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At what point did you really get into wakeboarding?

I really got into wakeboarding when I was about seven years old but unfortunately I was injured for most of the summer, two years in a row, from the age of nine to ten. This meant that I was unable to ride very much for the majority of those two years. After that I really started to love wakeboarding and since then I have never stopped enjoying it.

joe

LIAM

Tell us about how you got into the sport and how you all got to know each other…

I went down to JBSki when I was about five and tried the Rixen trainer on a kneeboard, but I nearly drowned as it pulled me so fast. So I went back when I was older, tried again and then got into it more and more, joined kids club and went on from there! I also met Joe when I was about four and we used to play motorbikes in the sand.

What has wakeboarding given you so far?

So far wakeboarding has given me so much. It has given me the opportunity to meet so many new people. Best of all, I get to spend the summer down at JBSKI with all of my mates. Also, it is great going away with the British team to competitions in different countries.

What would you like to achieve with your riding?

I would love to become a recognised rider worldwide and to win major competitions like Red Bull Wake Open and the World Championships.

Would you prefer to be known as a competition rider or freerider?

I would prefer to be known as a competition rider but I think that it also very important to be a good free rider too. They are both very important parts of wakeboarding.

If you could get three things from Santa what would it be?

I would ask for a system 2.0 in my garden with loads of cool obstacles and a new Xbox or PS4.

Tell us about your ideal day….

My ideal day would be waking up at about 9am and having a full English breakfast. Then, going down to the lake to wakeboard for a few hours. Once I had finished riding I would get changed and go for a skateboard with the Peacocks followed by another wakeboard at the end of the day.

Who out of the four of you is the funniest and why?

Out of the four of us I would say Liam is definitely the funniest because he does the most random things at inappropriate times.

Who gets the most abused, and by who, for what?

Liam probably gets abused the most because of some of the things he does and says but also he gets a bit of grief for being the fattest of all of us.

Who is most likely to stack it trying something crazy?

Liam because he ‘does it for the crowds’.

Liam has landed a double, who is next and why?

I would say Jack is the most likely to land a double next because he is quite close to landing the ones that he has tried so far.

What direction would you like to see the sport take? i.e. are you happy that it is heading more towards cable etc..

At what point did you really get into wakeboarding?

I think that as soon as I landed my first raley was when I really started to get into wakeboarding, and from there I’ve just carried on really.

RYAN

jack

Tell us about how you got into the sport and how you all got to know each other…

My dad used to be a pretty good slalom skier. When I was really young he was running a ski lake in Reading called Kirtons Farm. As you can imagine my dad was pretty keen to get me out there, so when I was three years old he took me out on a ski skimmer behind the boat. Apparently I loved it and I was wakeboarding a few months later. It wasn’t until I was about seven years old that we moved over to JBSKI and I started riding cable. It was really cool as there was a group of really close kids down there. When I was about 11 years old the Peacock family started coming down to the lake. Pretty much straight away Liam, Ryan, Joe and I were great friends and have stayed close ever since.

At what point did you really get into wakeboarding?

When I first started riding cable at the age of 7 I started to love the sport. However, it was when I won my first national championship at Princes Waterski Club in 2007 when I was 10 that I really started to live for the sport. After that I was really enthusiastic and motivated to learn new tricks to improve my competition riding.

What would you like to achieve with your riding?

Hopefully in the next few years, after I finish sixth form, I will go travelling to loads of different cable parks around the world and really make a big name for myself in the sport.

Would you prefer to be known as a competition rider or free rider?

I would like to be known as a bit of both because I think they are both really important aspects of wakeboarding. At the moment I would say I’m a competition rider.

What do you think is the most important aspect of wake?

I think by far the most important thing about wakeboarding is having fun and enjoying yourself. If you don’t do that you are not going to progress anywhere near as much. I think of wakeboarding as a lifestyle sport, so just enjoy yourself and have a laugh with all of the cool people you meet.

If you could get three things from Santa what would it be?

The new 2014 liquid force deluxe with Watson bindings because it looks and rides so sick and a plane ticket to Thailand for the winter.

Tell us about your ideal day….

Wake up about 9am, have an egg and bacon sandwich, cycle down to JBSKI for about 11am, go out for a ride for a couple of hours on the cable, have a break and then go out on the system 2.0 to work on some new tricks and late afternoon/ evening go back out on the cable.

Who gets the most abused and by who, for what?

I’d have to say Liam, just because he is so easy to bully as he really sets himself up by saying the most random things.

Also when he was younger he used to be pretty chubby and although he is slim now we still always still call him fat!

Who is most likely to pull off something unexpected in a competition?

That would have to be my bro Joe. The amount of competitions we have been to this year and he does hardly anything in practise. I think to myself that there is no way he will be able to land his run in the comp. Then he goes out and absolutely kills in the comp! It is crazy how he is so small but he can lay down some crazy tricks and can hold his nerve in competitions.

Who is most likely to stack it trying something crazy?

To be honest all of us are fairly consistent competition riders.

But in practise I would have to say Liam because he just goes for random tricks as his motto is ‘I do it for the crowds’. He has even landed a double back roll.

What has wakeboarding given you so far?

Introduced me to some of my best mates, new people and lifestyle. Met some amazing people from different countries and is so good to be able to keep in touch with them. I love how everyone just immediately gets along no matter what country you are from or your background, it’s just like everyone shares the same passion.

What would you like to achieve with your riding?

I think that with my riding I would just like to push myself to be the best that I can. I think I would like to continue doing IWWF comps as well as getting into the WWA more.

Would you prefer to be known as a competition rider or freerider?

I think the way that I have been brought in to wakeboarding I would prefer to be known as a competition rider. I just think it’s a more legit way to ride, and you get recognition along the way. With things like cablewakeboard.net it helps to see who is better than you and stuff, then it gives you a goal to push for.

What do you think is the most important aspect of wake?

I think just hanging out and having a good time. I think that it is good to push yourself however you’ve got to have fun every now and then with your mates, which is why I love the sport.

How would you like to make your mark on the sport?

I would like to be the person to land a new trick, but as the boundaries of the sport are being pushed it’s getting harder and harder to keep up!

If you could get three things from Santa what would it be?

System 2 park Skate park A snowboard for the winter Tell us about your ideal day….

Probably wake up, go to Jack and Joe’s house, sesh the skate park for a little bit then go ride at JB for the entire day, go try some new tricks and hang out for a while.

Who out of the four of you is the funniest and why?

I think that the constant banter between the four of us is hilarious, especially between Liam and Joey. So many different comebacks at each other ultimately coming down to Joe calling Liam fat, and Liam telling Joe he has nits.

Who gets the most abused and by who, for what?

Usually me and Liam get called fat, even though in the recent fitness tests I am statistically less fat than jack. To be honest I think we all get it equally, like telling joe he’s got nits (ladies he doesn’t by the way) or throwing a spider at Liam. It’s just the way we’ve grown up together so I think we’re all pretty used to it now.

Who is most likely to pull off something unexpected in a competition?

I think Joey would be the most likely to land something in a comp, he’s landed so many tricks first try, even if It does take him a lifetime to go for it! Things like frontside 313’s he landed first try which I couldn’t believe as he landed it before me.

Who is most likely to stack it trying something crazy?

Without a doubt Liam, his motto is “I do it for the crowds”.

I’ve seen him get destroyed on so many different tricks, like last year’s Love Jam where he tried a double s-bend and didn’t pull it in, he caught a fierce front edge, he’s literally the ballsiest kid I know.

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Name: Liam Peacock Age: 14 Years riding: 6 Best result: British Champion, 3rd in World Champs Favourite rider: George Newell Favourite trick: Right foot mobe

When I landed my double flip So who is next to land one and why?

Nobody, they are all too scared to slam on it!

If you landed a new trick, what would you call it?

Littlepeakz flying flip.

How do you all see the future of wakeboarding progressing in the future?

I think we will all constantly keep pushing each other until someone one day says they are too scared and won’t try it, but that won’t happen for a while.

What direction would you like to see the sport take? i.e. are you happy that it is heading more towards cable etc..

Yes! Cable is definitely the way forward. All the new rails, jumps and tricks are constantly progressing the sport.

Tell us about your summer, do you all pretty much live together?

Yeah, always together, plenty of fights, lots of blood, sweat and tears.

Can you tell us some funny stories from your time together?

Any funny story for us normally includes Joe seeing the red mist and trying to kill one of us. After about 24 hours he normally calms down. Also a good one was watching Jack’s face after I set a double s–bend in PIG at the academy, he looked like he had pooed in his wetsuit.

If you had to nominate one of the four of you, who would vote for who to be Prime Minister?

Probably Ryan because he would be the second girl ever to be Prime Minister.

If you were on a plane and the pilot couldn’t fly any longer, who would you nominate to take over out the four of you and why?

Not Joe because he won’t be able to see over the controls.

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LIAM

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Name: Joe Battleday Age: 14 Years riding: 8 Best result: 2nd, Europeans 2013 (U15) Favourite rider: CK Koester Favourite trick: HS FS 900 66 8 hybridwakemag.com

I would like to see the sport be evenly spread between obstacles and air tricks because I think that both are vital aspects of wakeboarding.

Tell us about your summer, do you all pretty much live together?

In the summer we literally live at the lake. But most of the time we go round to each other’s houses as we only live about fifteen minutes away from each other.

If you had to nominate one of the four of you, who would vote for who to be Prime Minister?

If I were to nominate one of us to be Prime Minister it would be Jack because out of the four of us he normally makes the final call.

If you had only one week left on earth where would you go and what would you do?

If I had one week left on earth I would go to Thailand and ride in the hot weather for the week as this would be the most fun thing to do.

I would like to say a big thank you to all my sponsors for helping me out this year:Obrien Bern JBSKI

joe

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jack Tell us about your favourite wake story so far…

This summer has been crazy. I have got loads of funny memories and stories, the majority of which come from Wakestock but I think those are not very suitable to write about haha! No names mentioned (Ryan peacock let down). But for me, this year, it would have to be going to the Europeans in Sweden.

Name: Jack Battleday Age: 17 Years riding: 14 Best result: European Champion Favourite riders: CK, Nick Davies Favourite trick: Moby Dick

Joe was in the final in the under 15’s, in his first run he stacked off of the very first kicker on a 720. So he came back to the dock and was in last place and looked so nervous. Being on the bottom spot meant that Joe had to go out first in the second run. As Joe went out for his second run I think it was fair to say that I was way more nervous than Joe was.

Obviously in classic Joe style he went out in his second run and landed everything super clean and super stylish. I swear I was so nervous when he was out I almost had a heart attack. His run put him up into second place and that’s where he stayed for the rest of the final. He was super stoked.

How do you all see the future of wakeboarding progressing in the future?

It is hard to say. A few years ago it was massively about air tricks. Now it is heading towards doing legit presses on rails and grabs off the kickers.

So in 10 years time it could be heading towards something totally different. That’s what I think is so cool about wakeboarding, something different is constantly evolving and different people are always pushing various aspects of wakeboarding.

What direction would you like to see the sport take?

Personally I am happy as wakeboarding is heading more towards cable as I don’t ride boat! I think it is really cool that more and more system 2.0’s keep on popping up as well. This lets way more people who haven’t even heard of wakeboarding to access the sport in really built up places. These system 2.0 means that sick events can be held in cool places like the Red Bull Harbour Reach and the Wake Open in America. I just think that the way the sport is heading will make the sport so much more

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RYAN

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Tell us about your favourite wake story so far…

Definitely getting a massage in the Philippines.

After I’d been in the pool at the hotel I decided to go get a massage, I walked into the massage room and the little Filipino masseuse walks in and asks me to take my pants off, so I had to strip completely naked for this Filipino woman. It was a very eye opening experience, and no, it did not finish with a happy ending….

Name: Ryan Peacock Age: 16 Years riding: 6 Best result: 3rd 2012 Worlds, 2nd Nationals 2013 Favourite rider: Jack Battleday Favourite trick: Frontside 313 or S-mobe

Liam has landed a double, who is next and why?

ME! Can’t believe he landed it before me! It’s because he’s smaller than me - that’s the excuse I’m going with!

If you landed a new trick, what would you call it?

Ryanair if you pardon the pun.

Who came up with your team name “Battlecocks” at Ropes & Wires?

The name has been around for years. I think one day when we stayed round we thought we should

make a hybrid of the two surnames, so it was either Battlecocks or Peadays so we just went with the Battlcocks.

How do you all see the future of wakeboarding progressing in the future?

I think that wakeboarding is definitely becoming more rail and obstacle orientated, which I’m not too keen on to be honest, to the disgust of riders like CK and Fred - I love doing air tricks! But definitely the cable side of wakeboarding is becoming more rail orientated.

What direction would you like to see the sport take? i.e. are you happy that it is heading more towards cable etc..

I love the fact that the sport is coming towards cable. For ages the cable has been like the little brother to boat, but now it is coming towards the cable with comps such as Harbour Reach and Rising High, the limits of what can be done are being pushed and people want to see that!

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RYAN

Tell us about your summer, do you all pretty much live together?

For sure! Almost every two days we have Jack and Joe come round. It’s so cool because it is like they are brothers from other mothers. We just do so much stupid stuff together like making dance battle videos...

jack

popular and really make wakeboarding accessible to the masses. Hopefully this will lead to bigger crowds at comps and more coverage on TV and stuff like that.

If you had to nominate one of the four of you, who would vote for who to be Prime Minister?

Joe as he is definitely the most organised out of all of us.

If you were on a plane and the pilot couldn’t fly any longer, who would you nominate to take over out the four of you and why?

Liam as even though he would probably be the worst pilot ever it would be hilarious watching him do it.

If you had only one week left on earth where would you go and what would you do?

Go out to Australia and I know it is pretty shocking and unpredictable but I would probably go wakeboarding at some of the cables out there.

Last words...

I would just like to say an absolute massive thankyou to my sponsors as I could never have got to the point in my wakeboarding that I have without them. So big thanks to Liquid Force, Bern, JBSKI and Cirrus

Can you tell us some funny stories from your time together?

There are literally too many to remember! I think one that sticks out the most was from the Europeans in Sweden when Liam and Joe started off play fighting. Soon, Joe got super angry and started beating the crap out of Liam, he literally saw the red mist and just went for him. After CK broke them up we just see Joe sprint round the corner, push Liam over and just kick him as hard as possible in the back. That was one of the funniest things I think I have ever seen.

If you had to nominate one of the four of you, who would vote for who to be Prime Minister?

Probably Liam because then there would be no taxes on food or anything. That way we can all get cheaper food and stuff before riding.

If you were on a plane and the pilot couldn’t fly any longer, who would you nominate to take over out the four of you and why?

Jack because he’s really good at driving.. ...Eh Jack?! ;) Who would you nominate to go into space and why?

Liam because no one actually likes him, like he thinks he is one of the crew but he is actually just a tag along. He just annoys everyone…

If you had only one week left on earth where would you go and what would you do?

Hmm that’s a tough one, probably I’d want to go to NASA and do all that crazy space stuff! Or Just go wakeboarding at JBSki, my second home…

Thanks to all my sponsors for their support in 2013: Ronix, Mystic, Muvi, Watersports World

LIAM

Who would you nominate to go into space and why?

Probably Ryan because he always ruins my street cred… … but I don’t know if the rocket could take off with him in it If you had only one week left on earth where would you go and what would you do?

I would wakeboard for a few days, then maybe curl up in a ball in a corner for the last few rocking back and forth with fear. But then hopefully all the superheroes would team up and save me.

Last words...

Just want to say thanks to all my sponsors for their help this year: Ronix, Muvi, Mystic, Watersports World

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TIME TO WEAR WINTER ON THE WATER..OR SNOW - IT’S TIME TO GET THE WARM STUFF OUT

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1. Protest Resort B Boardjacket 2. Protest Hopkins 13 Boardpants 3. Subliminal Appeal Tee 4. O’Neill Concrete Pant 5. Protest Atlantic Boardjacket 6. O’Neill Construct Pant 7. Butta Airtech 8. Protest Denys 13 Boardpant 9. O’Neill Alfabravo Jacket

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HYBRIDWAKEMAG.COM

when simon powell got invited to go riding in taiwan, the fourth year university student could only say yes..

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ticket to taiwan

starring: simon powell, mayce dipple, blair smith, shannon teng, and libby ho on location hybridwakemag.com 85

ticket to taiwan

Before a couple of months ago, I couldn’t point Taiwan out on a map, until Steve Dipple (of GoRide) invited me to head out there for a ‘winch’ trip. It was a pretty difficult decision because I’m in my fourth year of uni and shouldn’t be taking time off, but I took the dive and ended up falling in love with the place. With some incredible scenery and truly amazing people, I quickly learned that Taiwan is more than just a small island sitting in China’s shadow.

I have to explain the reason why I put the quote marks around the word ‘winch’, is because the purpose of the trip was to travel the country and show off some of the natural beauty and endless winch spots, but we ended up with the kind of troubles that plague these trips such as broken winches, dry rivers, difficult access and the rest. Despite this, we managed to ride loads and still had the sickest time.

After a day travelling and not much sleep, the first day kicked off with a quick breakfast before picking up the winch. One of the guys from a local wake school lent us a jet-ski to go for a ride on the river, but the afternoon wind picked up. We sound a super small part of a ledge that was a bit sheltered, so Mayce (Dipple) and myself had a couple of hits.

It was a pretty sketchy line into it, with the jet-ski having to do a quick turn parallel to the ledge, and then drive between two big posts, but it was nice enough to get wet for a little bit. The rest of the day was spent driving around checking out some spots in the rain.

We managed to scope a couple of absolute beauties (which we wanted to save for later in the trip) before ending up in the mountains with only an hour or so of sunlight left. We’d found this nice little concrete bank and since 86 hybridwakemag.com

Blair (Smith) hadn’t ridden yet, he was up first. But it turned out that the odds weren’t in his favour, with the rope slipping off the spool a couple of times and the sticky concrete proving pretty difficult. We ran out of light and had to retire before anyone else could try.

The next day we were pretty unlucky with river levels and struggled because any drops we did find were completely dry. After that we decided to head straight down to Lotus Wake Park at Kaohsiung, where they’ve got one of the new generation GoRide two tower cables.

We stayed there for a couple of days, taking some long sets on the GoRide, pushing each other to try new stuff and getting some decent tricks down. Seeing the other skaters ride in their natural habitat was pretty crazy- Blair has heaps of pop and was boosting the wrong way over the kicker, and Mayce let loose his bag of flip tricks with FS flips, three flips and big flips.

Seeing the lake in the daylight gives a completely different perspective; the location is amazing, with loads of really bright coloured temples and shrines dotted around the banks it looks amazing. One day we managed to arrange a couple of jet-skis so we could get up close to it all and had some really fun sets with the best backdrop you could ask for.

There’s a full size cable going in on the lake right now and it promises to be one of the best parks in the world, with an amazing location and a great group of people behind the project. Some of the local wakeboarders Shannon (Teng), Libby (Ho) and 9-yearold Akela were on the trip with us, and were throwing down some big tricks on the GoRide. These girls are all pushing the sport

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“The first one we came across looked like something out of a dream, with a nice 4ft drop and concrete hubba ledges placed perfectly�

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ticket to taiwan in Taiwan, and we should expect to be hearing more of those names soon. After the second day at Kaohsiung, we all had a walk around a local night market, sampling all sorts of crazy food and when we’d settled down a bit, were joined by our Japanese friend, Matsu.

I was lucky enough to ride with Matsu a couple of times this summer, and he is a true legend, with one of the nicest back bigspins in the game, and so much passion for wakeskating. A load of free time was spent scouting spots on Google maps to find places to check out, since we were in a relatively unexplored part of the country.

So the next day we set out with the whole crew on some mopeds and a car to check out what we’d found. The first one we came across looked like something out of a dream, with a nice 4ft drop and concrete hubba ledges placed perfectly, but once we were there it was clear that access was a problem. The next one was the kind of spot that you wouldn’t usually hit unless you were struggling to find somewhere- a bit rocky and pretty fast water, but we were getting desperate. Blair checked the landing and found a little pocket that looked safe enough to hit, so he had a quick run but found the winch speed pretty slow.

After a couple more tries, the problem was getting worse and so we had to call it a day.

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As well as being a top lad for running the organization of the whole trip, Shannon is a great ambassador for the sport and she’d been asked to give a couple of lectures to a bunch of kids doing water sports at uni (which is definitely what I wish I’d have studied). So the next day we headed up to Tainan and had a few laps around a super small lake, which caused loads of wash and made it difficult to land anything. Despite this, we had an incredible day swimming around the dock and hanging out with all the students, which was really cool because we managed to get around the language barrier and have a good laugh.

Shannon was staying in Tainan for the night, but we decided that a night bus back to Taipei would be best, so we could ride as much as possible.

After a few hours of restless sleep we were met in Taipei by an absolute legend of a guy, not only did he pick up a bunch of dirty wakeskaters in a $100k Cadillac, but he then lent us it so we could go and winch one of the sickest spots on the planet. This was one that was found before the trip started, and looked amazing on all the pictures with a definite two small drops in a row, and potential for a third if you like landing in ankle deep rocks.

I’ve winched a fair few spots now, but never managed to find a nice double drop, and this one was unbelievable. The river was set in a beautiful valley, with crystal clear water and loads of locals walking by to check out what was going on. After a pretty decent session, despite the winch still running slow, we packed up and then the police showed up to confirm that we were on our way. That

night we booked into the best hostel ever (completely kitted out in leopard print), and settled down with a few beers and some food before heading out for a night on the town.

We’d dedicated the last day to go and hit a couple of the nice spots we’d seen before, but everyone was too hungover for winching.

We spent the day just cruising round town on some Penny skateboards we’d been given, tasting the street vendors’ food and having a look around the shops, before heading back out for a few more drinks. We’ll have to hit those spots next time.

I have to finish off by saying a massive thanks to everyone involved. There are too many to list by name but it’s safe to say the trip wouldn’t be the same without the people who organized the trip, filmed, drove, operated winches, lent us stuff, gave us a place to stay, and just generally got involved and made the trip what it was.

Big thanks Penny skateboards, who need no introduction; Lip sunglasses, a company that makes some pretty nice sunnies for anyone involved in watersports; and Bbtalkin waterproof Bluetooth headsets, which can be put into a helmet and are really good for one-on-one coaching. Special thanks go to the guys who are pushing the sport over there and building up the cable scene- the full cable should be up and ready by February next year and will be definitely worth the visit.

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MEET BEN HOWELLS AKA

PILCHARD PRODUCTIONS

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ben howells, the man behind the lens and computer at Pilchard productions tells us about his travels, snow parks and why you should think twice about your next edit So tell us about Pilchard Productions - how did it start and where are you with it now?

I don’t know if I ever officially started making videos as a job...I just bought a MiniDV camcorder when I was 16, and since then it’s just gradually progressed into something I take more seriously. I am lucky to be able to get to go on all these fun trips and get paid to do it. I like to do ‘normal’ stuff some of the year too, just operating the cable or whatever. It keeps things in perspective and gives you a break so you can come back to it fresh and motivated. Right now I’m living in Norway, I’m the snowpark manager for a sick little ski resort called Vierli.

What drew you to wake and producing videos?

I was surrounded by cameras as a kid. My dad was into photography and had loads of different format photo cameras. My grandad was always making videos of all kinds of things and sending us compilations of his videos, I think I always wanted my own video camera from a young age because of that.

Wakeboarding started out as something to do in the summer between winters, when I wasn’t snowboarding. I liked the feeling from the start as it was similar to being back on the snow. At the time I didn’t get to snowboard much as I wanted as I was at university so was pretty stoked to have something to fill the gap! As I spent more time doing it, I started filming it too. I was studying Film Production at uni and I somehow managed to do a few projects based around snow and wake, which was pretty sweet.

There’s been a lot of noise about your new film Wafflehouse, can you tell us a bit more about it and what you would like to achieve with it?

Wafflehouse started out just as a little concept and just grew and grew, to the point where I’ve racked up a few Air Miles and considerable time and money to get it done! Doing a full movie project gives you much more scope with what you want to do, and the time to achieve it. Instead of having to rush, finish a project within a timeframe, not with the best light/ riding conditions etc.

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So it’s just an opportunity for me to put more effort in on the production side of things and hopefully achieve a higher quality result through that. As for riding, I’ve kept the rider count low to focus on specific riders and styles - the three main riders are Lior Sofor, Aaron Gunn and Mitch Langfield. Each of them have very unique styles and approaches to riding, and don’t necessarily get the recognition they deserve (with the exception of Aaron I guess as he has been blowing up in the wakeboard media recently).

For the riding side of things, from my perspective, I want to put a strong emphasis on style, technique and execution, I’d much rather see one of Chris O’Shea’s (also in the movie) crazy boned out frontside threes (check the end of the first Wafflehouse teaser for that, vimeo.com/pilchardtv/ waffletease) than another doubleflip or 900. Not that they’re not awesome tricks, but there’s so much more potential and possibility to riding than pre-spinning that extra 180 to do a bigger spin, and I’d like the film to reflect that. I’m finishing up the second trailer now, it’s taking me a while because I was really happy with the outcome of the first and want the second to build on that. The full movie will be released online at the end of February.

We were very happy to host your TLV edit from Israel with Efi and Lior, how was that experience for you?

Yeah stoked to have it up on Hybrid! Oh Israel was just awesome, my time was split between staying at Efi and Moti’s place in Tel Aviv, Lior’s in the next town, Rishon (pretty sure I spelt that wrong) and Efi and Moti’s parents place in Jerusalem. The trip lasted about 11 days and the guys were just the best hosts! We went to see so many awesome things, whether that be walking around the Old Town in Jerusalem, floating in the Dead Sea or partying and hitting the beach in Tel Aviv. Also it was the Jewish holiday season, so we spent some time at their families houses having all this amazing food for the holidays...yeah, I had put on a bit of weight by the time I got home. Of course the cable was sick there too! Lake TLV is a sick cable, not just

the ride but the place; good atmosphere, good food, cool people. I had already met a lot of the Israeli riders in Thailand earlier that year, so it was cool to see them all again. The lake has actually just recently been renovated, I heard so many stories about how bad it used to be, like it totally sucked but everyone rode anyway and just made the most of it because it was all they had, and they loved to ride. It’s totally different now, a sick spot and there’s so much more to Tel Aviv than just wakeboarding! I hope I have the opportunity to go again someday, the Levi and Sofor families were just awesome, so generous and accommodating.

How have your skills developed through time behind the lens as you have been shooting so much these last couple of years?

It’s hard to say really. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t progressed at all, then I look at a project from a few years ago and it usually looks so bad! I see that as a good thing though, it shows development and improvement. One of the things I’ve had to learn a lot is the business side, how to conduct yourself and work with people, quoting, invoicing, tax and self promotion. I’m slowly getting the hang of it, mainly through making mistakes and trying not to repeat them!

As far as the filming side, just gradually trying to push what I am capable of, with the resources I have. I don’t think there is any reason you can’t (within reason) make a project that looks any less impressive than a high-budget production with more limited resources, it’s mostly down

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to skill and ingenuity. Most importantly, an expensive camera definitely does not mean you’re automatically a good filmmaker.

What would be a dream project for you?

Well probably not the answer you’d imagine but right now it would be to shoot snowboarding! A bunch of super talented, motivated but above all stylish riders, perfectly shaped park with sunny weather and 3 weeks to shoot it. Although I say this because right now this is the project I have in my head at the moment for later in the winter.

We’ll just have to see if it all comes together.

Although the same applies to wake, it’s always best shooting with someone who’s riding you dig and you know well and understand - that allows you to work as a team and get the best shots.

I can’t really imagine a specific dream project to be honest, I guess I keep my shooting ideas (moderately) rooted in reality. That said, each time I plan the next big project, usually my first thought is “This is way too ambitious, I’m never gonna be able to pull this off.” Somehow every time it’s worked out so far.

How do you think that the internet and the evolution of DSLR cameras has impacted the film industry?

Hmmm, interesting. It has revolutionised the action sport video and movie market, changing it mostly for the good. The overall quality of production has gone way up and there’s so many new videos to see almost every day. Long gone are the days of waiting all year for this season’s VHS/ DVD releases to see what the new limits of the sport have become! It’s so accessible to everyone.

So it is good...But it also sucks.

Everyone is a filmer nowadays and, dare I say it, many with a sense of entitlement and grandeur.

I’m talking about entitlement to money, or a career, perhaps. I say this because I see a lot of videos released, not all of course but definitely a lot, that have been clearly paid for by a brand or sponsor to promote the rider/product/whatever, maybe the description brags about the RED cams and fancy lenses they shot it on. I mean, have a little pride in what you’re doing and don’t use a fancy camera unless you really need it and know how to get the most out of it! Not that I’m saying there is anything wrong with more people getting involved, it’s fun to do and great to see people so passionate about it. It should just be about fun, and if it happens to turn into more, then great, but fun should be the focus.

There was a comment made by Peter-Pascal Schmidt in an interview with Cheerwithnico. com on the subject (which also leads into the next question so I guess I’ll get to that soon!) I’ve included it here to avoid mis-quoting him: “Dear hobby wakeboarders, I appreciate that you have fun with making your own videos. But please, please keep them for you and show them to your grandma and keep them away from vimeo. This is just boring to watch.

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Keep this place free for people and filmers, who know what they’re doing.”

“Dear wakeboard magazines, please stop posting some random wakeboard- & wakeskivideos, that are just boring to watch.

Raise the amount of good quailty wakeboard videos and leave out this boring hobby stuff.”

I thought this was super arrogant and rude to say.

Who has the right to say what you can or can’t do!? Of course anyone should be able to make their own videos, share them, post them where they want. The internet is a free place, and just because someone isn’t doing the gnarliest shit doesn’t mean their friends won’t get a kick out of seeing it!

But, that said, I totally agree with the second comment. A lot of wakeboard magazines and websites need to stop posting every edit they get sent, and just focus on the quality stuff. I’m so bored of flicking through websites and facebook and seeing 5-10 new edits every day. Most of them I don’t even watch anymore, because I know, chances are I’ll switch them off in 30 seconds. Which sucks because it means I don’t end up watching the good ones! If there was more focus on the quality stuff, we’d be more inclined to watch it instead of being barraged with an endless smorgasbord of uninspiring videos that offer nothing new, individual or worth watching compared to the how ever many tens or hundreds of other videos released that month. Ha, now I sound like the arrogant dick!

What is your opinion on rider self made edits do they do more harm than good or are they still valid?

So, I guess this relates to the previous question.

It does seem like every rider who has even the slightest bit of sponsorship, potential, whatever, now feels they NEED their own season edit or whatever. And for sure, they should, if they are bringing something unique, original, interesting, funny, to the table, then it’s awesome. But a lot of them aren’t. I guess the market is so saturated with video as a promotional medium nowadays that they feel it’s something they need to do, or, are pressured into doing by their sponsors.

Nothing wrong with the riders themselves making edits, even if the editing or filming is bad, as long as it has something that makes it worth watching. I think a lot of riders don’t stop to really think about what they are releasing or why, they just do it, whether to satisfy themselves, sponsors, or to collect more likes and followers, as so many people are that way inclined. Think of a cool concept, some unique tricks, just an overall good way to do it and make it stand out of the crowd. If you don’t have that, wait until you do, then make it awesome, and keep it short! Too short is always, always, better than too long!!

How do you set yourself apart from the competition/what would you say your style is?

I don’t know if I do anything specifically to set myself apart, as such. But I do set standards for myself to meet, and I guess I set these pretty high.

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I just keep shooting and editing a project, wherever possible, until I am 100% happy with it, which is often difficult if you’re producing a video for someone else, you may only have a limited time to do it in. Or they’re not paying you much so you don’t want to invest too many extra hours, haha!

I just generally try to think of ways to make each video interesting, and hopefully a little unique. I guess I like to have a bit of a documentary style, riders talking, but not about wakeboarding, if possible. Only if they have something interesting to say. We’ve all heard the typical name/age/sponsors/homespot blurb before, who cares? It’s something I’m guilty of including myself, but I try and avoid it nowadays.

Who has influenced you in your film making? Have you grown up watching the old school movies or are you more influenced by the modern edits and other sports?

A mix of both. For years I got all the snow/skate/ wake/bike, whatever, videos I could and watched them hundreds of times each! Back when I was at uni, I kept thinking I should be knowing all the different cinematic releases and the actors featured, when actually I knew every snowboard movie released every year and all the riders in each! Well, turns out I was studying the right thing. All those movies showed me the good and bad ways to edit. The snowboard movies Afterbang (2003) and Pony Tale (relatively recent, from 2008 I think?) are probably my favorites.

In wakeboarding, Impact was way ahead of it’s time.

It’s awesome watching old movies and seeing how different things are now.

I also used to buy a ridiculous amount of magazines, sometimes not even sports I did like motocross and skiing. But the photography in these magazines are often of a very high standard and a good way to learn about composition and what makes a good image, be that photo or video. This wasn’t a conscious process, I wasn’t trying to study photography this way, it’s just what ended up happening.

There’s so much to draw from in modern filmmaking too, although mostly from beyond the world of boardsports - the incredible cinematography and timelapse photography in shows like Planet Earth for example, that’s truly inspiring and of a much higher standard than what is mostly released in action sports.

To be brutally honest I find a lot more inspiration in things like that, because most action sports videos aren’t that well made! Not to say that there aren’t good ones, there are some truly amazing examples of filmmaking available to see, one of my top favorites has to be Life Cycles, it’s a mountain bike film and the production quality is just incredible. All.I.Can, a ski film, that’s great too. Art of Flight and That’s It, That’s All are rather cliched choices but they’re good examples of what you can do with some talent and imagination….and some budget!

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MEET BEN HOWELLS AKA

PILCHARD PRODUCTIONS hybridwakemag.com 101

MEET THE BOAT DEALERS...

MASTERCRAFT

Company name: MasterCraft Boats UK Limited Importer of: MasterCraft Boats Specialising in: MasterCraft Wakeboard and Water Ski Boats Age of Business: Since 2007 Best selling boat: MasterCraft X2 Initiatives involved in: Sponsor of the UK Wakeboard Nationals and we are also proud and long standing

boat sponsor of Wakestock.

Riders supported: Dan Nott, Sam Carne, Jorge Gill, Edd Blundell, Charlotte Bryant

After many years supporting MasterCrafts UK customers with any servicing and warranty requirements they may have we were appointed as the UK dealer for MasterCraft Boats UK in 2007. We have the responsibility to support customers with any Sales, Service or Parts requirements they may require throughout the UK.

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We have recently moved to a fabulous new 11000 sq ft showroom in Preston just off junction 31a of the M6 which houses our superb range of New and Preowned MasterCraft boats. We would be delighted to welcome anyone to our Preston facility.

We believe that our experience and passion for the brand will enable us to continue our growth in to the future. We provide the level of commitment to support and after sales care expected by our customers. 2014 promises to be an exciting year as the ever growing model range of boats available through MasterCraft will enable us to continue to provide customers with product that is suitable and capable of maintaining the reputation of MasterCraft as the premium manufacturer of inboard wakeboarding, water skiing and luxury performance boats.

MasterCraft Boats UK won the “2013 Top Marketing Dealer” award at the recent MasterCraft World Wide Dealer Awards held in Orlando Florida. Managing Director Michael Hardicker was thrilled to receive this accolade and to confirm his commitment to wakeboarding community in the UK was delighted to announce that MasterCraft Boats UK have agreed a deal with the British Waterski & Wakeboard Federation that will see MasterCraft as the ‘Official Tow Boat’ sponsor for the Wakeboard Nationals for 2014, 2015 & 2016! This exciting partnership is one that stretches back over many years with MasterCraft showing their continued support to the development of the sport here in the UK. MasterCraft Boats will

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once again, be the pulling power behind this prestigious event.

Having signed an exclusive three year deal, will now enable us to work with the Wakeboard Council to ensure these events are a great success, and continue to grow from strength to strength.

MasterCraft Boats UK has its central facilities in Preston, but we also intend to have customer representation in Oxford, North Wales, North East and Scotland, all to support customers with sales, servicing and warranty support.

What is the most exciting prospect of 2014?

The brand new GEN 2 Surf System MasterCraft’s market leading new surf system available on all models.

What would you like to achieve in the future for your business?

To grow the surf scene in the UK. What is your favorite aspect of the UK wake community? The high level and standard of riding by the athletes and the quality of the young riders coming through.

What comps have you been involved in throughout your history?

Official tow boat sponsor of the Wakeboard Nationals/ Wakestock / MasterCraft Wake and Ski Boats Riders League What has been the biggest change in the industry domestically in your opinion?

The acceleration and growth of the sport in line with the models available within the MasterCraft range.

How can we make the UK scene stronger?

Encourage more coaching and training clinics for up and coming riders to the sport using pro level riders to help development.

“...having signed an exclusive three year deal will now enable us to work with the Wakeboard Council...”

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MALIBU & AXIS

Company Name: The Maven Marine Group Importer of: Axis, Malibu and Indmar Marine Engines.

Specialising in: New and used boat supply/service, in-depth mechanical and electronic repair, diagnostics,

Trailer service, glass fibre and gelcoat repair. But most of all, good friendly advice!

Age of business: Maven is almost 3 (Though I been in Marine for over a decade now).

Best selling boat: Axis A20.

Initiatives involved in: The Marine conservation society is close to my heart, we signed up with them from the

early days but in the sports side I’m actively involved in LDB’s AOD comps and

supporting young wakeboard talent.

Riders supported: Lee Debuse, Megan Barker, Morganne Shone.

Maven Marine has been an organic thing really, I started selling wakeboard towers and upgrading boats around ten years ago, since then my experience grew, my customer base expanded and the wakeboard industry exploded! After a lot of hard work and the support of some well known people in our industry, I set up Maven in order to supply watersports equipment and service boats. This quickly led to us being offered the Malibu dealership, the current number one builder of tournament boats in the world (that was a big day!). We now run a busy workshop, are active on the sales circuit and try to focus on offering a quality service to other people who share our enthusiasm for the sport.

Most exciting prospect of 2014?

Wow, there’s many! I guess the main thing is just keep-

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“Maven Marine has been an organic thing really�

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ing the awesome momentum going of this rapidly growing little business... But a cool bonus will be the launch of our new Axis T22 for 2014.

What would you like to achieve in the future for your business?

We’d all like to see our businesses expand I guess, but to be honest, I’m quite happy with where we are: we have an incredibly loyal customer base, get to work on some of the most exotic and bad-ass boats ever made and travel/work in some epic places...I love that.

What more can you ask for?!

What is your favourite aspect of the UK wake community?

Everybody knows everybody! You can rock up at any lake and generally bump in to like minded people who just want to ride and have fun.

What comps have you been involved in throughout your history?

As well as the usual demos, I was involved in sponsoring Wakestock since the early days, Lee Debuse’s AOD stops, supported many grass roots events and am generally happy to put a boat anywhere people want to compete and or push the envelope!

What has been the biggest change in the industry domestically in your opinion?

There has been a shift for sure, boats have gotten more high end (expensive!) and the middle class boater has found it harder to stay current with the latest breed of ‘super wakeboard boat’ like the Malibu MXZ’s, Nautiques G series and the Mastercraft X stars.

Luckily guys like Axis bringing out the A series has helped, but it’s still not enough. We need to help people to get involved in an ever increasingly expensive world!

How can we make the UK scene stronger?

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NAUTIQUE

Company name: Midlands Nautique Importer of: Nautique Boats & PCM Engines Specialising in: The sale of new Nautique boats in the UK; pre-owned boats of all makes and models;

trailer sales and repairs, We cover all aspects of maintenance, servicing & repairs to all

boats. We are the only authorised boat dealer in the UK to fit Prins VSI with fully qualified

technicians to fit, repair and service the system. We are also fully qualified PCM dealers Age of business: 11 years Best selling boat: 200 Ski Nautique and also the G Series Super Air Nautique Initiatives involved in: UK Wakeboard Nationals 2013 & Ryan Birch promoting & supporting young

upcoming wake boarders.

Riders supported: Jeff Haddon, Previously Jorge Gill, Edd Blundell

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How it began...

Our company started locally repairing all models of boats and dealing in the sales of pre-owned boats. With an increasing number of customers enquiring about purchasing new boats we began importing Nautiques under the former TV SKI. Interest in our services continued to grow, with new sale enquiries growing year on year. The demand for new boats lead Nautique US to offer us a dealership. Nautique felt we could provide a better service to the whole of the UK, our customer service and fresh approach to selling Nautiques along with our drive to provide outstanding customer services promoted our business by degrees. With growing customer interest from the south coast up to the very top of Scotland; we had achieved more than we could hope to expect.

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At this point we initiated Scotland Nautique’s Dealership, which they secured in 2011. Ourselves along with Scotland Nautique work together to promote our shared interest in the brand and as such have a great working relationship. In our time we have secured a recognised qualification to fit Prins VSI in house and secured a PCM authorised dealership. Nautique USA continue to support and recognise our company awarding us with a ‘Top 10 Dealer Award’ in recognition of outstanding sales and customer services; This year we received an award for Outstanding CSI International Dealer. Currently we continue to grow, we maintain our customer services and aim to provide the best overall service possible to the whole of the UK. With that in mind we are now in the process of helping Offaxis provide Nautique services to customers in Wales and we continue to pursue our preowned boat sales across Europe.

Most Exciting Prospect Of 2014?

Without doubt or question 2014 for us will be memorable with the introduction of the all-new G21. We are extremely excited to bring this product to the UK and provide the ultimate wakeboarding boat for the UK scene.

What would you like to achieve in the future for your business?

We will strive to provide and continue to achieve in providing a 1st class service to our customers old and new. With the introduction of the G21 for 2014, we will

be providing a boat with the renowned wake of the G23 into a 21ft sector, making it more accessible and useable in UK lakes.

What is your favourite aspect of the UK wake community?

Our business allows us to have the opportunity to meet new people, individuals, clubs, up and coming wake boarders to pro wakeboarders from the UK, and abroad.

What comps have you been involved in throughout your history?

Open Wakeboard 2007 at Liquid Leisure Cutting Edge 2009 West midlands Water Ski Riders league Tour Ryan Birch 2008 – 2013 Pro-wake Tour 2011 What has been the biggest change in industry domestically in your opinion?

The growing amount of grass root competitions which are bringing more people into the sport.

How can we make the UK scene stronger?

Encouraging US boat manufacturers to get more involved with UK riders.

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Luis Becq u

eriaux - N ose bone

tail grab.

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David O’Caoimh

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- Seatbelt glide. Pi

c: Luke Lee

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rew Eddy

Brad Smeele - Sw itch method Pic: A nd

“WINCH

“

IT!!!

Photos: Paul Buttle

This month’s mini gallery caprutres a day of winching in an overflow, underneath a bridge on the M25. With a few choice extras (mobile incline rail and railings) we watch Lee Debuse, Ck Koester and Matt Crowhurst go knock for knock on the improvised setup - Ollie Moore was also present but needless to say was skating.

We chose our favourite shot of each rider for this mini gallery (check Ollie’s article for his shot) the rest of the shots can be found at www.HybridWakeMag.com!

Opposite: Lee Debuse - Tail press Page 122-3: CK Koester - Frontside nose Page 124-5: Matt Crowhurst - Slob BS 180 120 hybridwakemag.com

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“WINCH

“

IT!!!

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“WINCH

“

IT!!!

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Liverpool Wake Park

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HOT SPOT 2013 WINNER

THANKS TO ALL THAT CAME ALONG AND SUPPORTED THE HOT SPOT IN 2013 AND TO OUR TITLE SPONSOR CTi CUSTOME KNEE BRACES ALONG WITH ALL THE PARKS THAT TOOK PART THROUGHOUT THE YEAR! 128 hybridwakemag.com

ALEX BRANDWOOD

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

FOR A GREAT SEASON AND TAKING THE HOT SPOT TITLE WITH SOME OF THE MOST ORIGINAL LINES ON THE WATER IN MULTIPLE STOPS. ALEX WILL BE ONE TO WATCH AS HE PROGRESSES THROUGH THE RANKS, ALREADY MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF ON THE GRASSROOTS SCENE. WE HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST OF THE YOUNG-GUN FROM PRESTON.

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Fail

LDB gives us his take on ‘wall rides’ 130 hybridwakemag.com

Ben Hannam owner/coach

1OO% Rider Owned - 1OO% Rider Operated Two System 2.O Wake Parks and The UK’s Only Permanent Pool Gap

www.hannamswakehub.co.uk

Terry Hannam owner/coach

O1353 649 683 Located in Stretham, Cambridgeshire

KNOW YOUR OFFICIAL AUTHORISED HYPERLITE PRO SHOPS FESTIVAL WAKE PARK – FLAGSHIP STORE : 0844 8879253 / FESTWAKE.COM

WATERSPORTS WORLD 01706 876286 SALES@WATERSPORTSWORLD.COM WWW.WATERSPORTSWORLD.COM

PRINCES : 01784 253201 / PRINCES-SHOP.CO.UK - LIQUID LEISURE : 01753 542 500 / LLSKI.COM ROBIN HOOD : 01924 443843 / ROHO.CO.UK - TANTRUM WAKE / 01752 872068 / TANTRUMWAKE.COM WAKEZONE / 01252 524375 / WAKEZONE.CO.UK - EDGERIDERS : 01473 232918 / EDGERIDERS.COM OFFAXIS : 01758 713407 / OFFAXIS.CO.UK - KING OF WATERSPORTS : 01202 763675 / KINGOFWATERSPORTS.COM WAKE UP DOCKLANDS : 07789 395 160 / WAKEUPDOCKLANDS.COM - WAKE MK : 01908 670 197 / WAKEMK.COM ATB SHOP : 01793 523255 / ATBSHOP.CO.UK - SURFDOME : 0844 357 1022 / SURFDOME.COM TALLINGTON LAKES : 01778 347000 / TALLINGTONLAKESPROSHOP.COM SHEFFIELD CABLE SKI : 01142 511717 / TENFEETHIGH.COM LIQUID WAKE PARK : 01753 542500 / LLSKI.COM

S2AS : 01202 738 448 / WWW.S2AS.COM