Wakestock UK

Hi guys,

I still can't believe that I actually came first at Wakestock! This past few days have been absolutely unbelievable! The Irish Wakeboard crew and I headed out to Wales for Wakestock.

Unusually for Wakestock the sun was shinning throughout most of the weekend and the water was not horrifically choppy.

In the Women's it was close for 2nd, 3rd and 4th but there was no doubt in anybody's mind that Argentinian Robbie Rendo would to take the top spot. Then in 2nd was Charlotte Bryant, swiftly followed by Irish team member Sian Hurst who rode really well coming back from a fall and killing it with loads of solid inverts.

Wakestock attracts some of the world's top pros like Shawn Watson, Scotty Broome, Danny Thollander and the Bomb (Padiwat Jaemjan) just to name a few, not forgetting the UK top guys like Sam Carne and Dan Nott. This huge variety of international riders was a little intimidating. After being drawn in a heat with Watson in qualifying I was to say the least "Bricking it" but I managed to get through into semis. Then in the semi finals I managed to get through to the finals top of my heat. This was my first time to beat competition legend Dan Nott. In finals were Padiwat Jaemjan, Danny Thollander, Shawn Watson, Dan Nott, Sam Carne and myself. We all rode well considering that the tide was rapidly on its way out and the water was only waist deep, therefore not kicking up the biggest wake. This didn't seem to affect anybody though as to say the least everyone was killing it! I was 3rd last off the dock with the Bomb and Sam Carne to ride after me. I was going for an all or nothing pass with my highlights being a whirly 5 and backside 5! After my run, I honestly didn't mind where I ended up, I was just chuffed to have ridden the way I had. As soon as the riding was finished, it was so close that nobody knew who came where.

In the end Watson was 3rd, Danny was second and then much to my delight myself in 1st! I was speechless!!

I am so stoked to have had the opportunity to ride with these guys, never mind take the top spot and I really am truly over the moon at the moment! :)

Such a great weekend and lets bring on Wakestock 2012!!!

David

The Irish Wakeboard Nationals

Hi guys,

There was an entire new generation this year with the youngest rider just 7 years of age!! It really was great to see all these young up and coming riders.

Just back from the Irish Wakeboard Nationals which were in Dungannon in Northern Ireland. They were really early in the season so that the Team selectors would have time to choose who is going to go to Italy to represent Ireland in the Worlds in about 3 weeks time. This had its pros and cons as there was not much time for preparation, but it was great to get everyone riding together so early in the season.

In the Women's division it was Sian Hurst, as expected, who took the gold medal, with a load of nice big stylish inverts and spins, showing that her training with Glen Fletcher in Orlando for the last month has paid off.

Then in the Men's division Paul Johnston came third, followed by Pete Stewart and then fortunately I took first place, but I can tell you that those boys did not make it easy for me and the points difference between Pete and me was less than 3!

We had a lot of fun too driving in convoy from the hotel to the lake and a really fun dinner on the Saturday night with about 70 people there.

All in all a great weekend and I was delighted to be able to retain my title.

Well done to everyone who took part and I can't wait till the next few contests.

David

Dolphin Browser HD crash report

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Hunter's new toy

Some kids want toys and games for their birthday and some want different things. Hunter seems to be the type of kid who wants different. Check out his new kicker!!!

Hunter at Wake Games

Little 8yr old Hunter Henderson is off to a great start this season. Hunter placed 2nd at the first Performance Gravel Tour, and placed 1st at Wake Games. More good things to come from Hunter this season!!

Wake Games and Orlando Holiday

Florida & Wake Games

I am just back from an epic 2 weeks in Orlando, Florida! It was great to get away from Ireland’s cold weather and into the nice humid heat of Orlando (30 degrees Celsius). Nothing like a bit of sunburn!

I tried to get around as much and ride a little bit everywhere. I mostly rode at OWC on the boat lake with O’Brien team manager and members, Cobe and Tarah Mikacich, as well as taking advantage of the cable as much as I could. I also rode a lot with Stew Mackie down in Winter Haven with Sam and Jonny Carne, Paul Johnston, Charlotte Bryant and Jorge Gill. It was great riding with these guys as we were all pushing each other to ride as best we could. I also went to Louis Floyd’s house and we hit the Butler chain of lakes on his Nautique 230 with Ollie Moore and it was great to see them killing it. Now that I have seen Ollie ride, it will be hard for any wakeskater to impress me! I also had the opportunity to ride at Dallas Friday’s house behind her massive Malibu wake which was sick. And I landed my first Slim Chance 5 there!!

Lastly, I was also lucky enough to have a day with Mike Ferraro and this to me was a completely different experience to what I expected. I thought I was going to go ride with him, and that he would analyse my riding and then teach me the tricks he thought were best, but I was way wrong! He took a completely different approach to coaching – one I have never seen or heard of before. He went more deeply into the whole physics of wakeboarding and taught me some simple techniques on my 180’s that I was then able to take to the more difficult tricks. He also changed where I put my weight, which made my line tension way better. It is difficult to explain, but it helped my riding out long-term really well!!

Next up was the Wake Games at OWC. Last year I managed to win Junior Men, thus bumping me into Junior Pro Men, which is an entirely different ball park altogether! The level of riding in it is really high and I would say that the best riders like Daniel Powers would easily be up there with the pro men! Unfortunately, I didn’t ride the best. Actually my ride was quite honestly appalling!! I fell on the transfer box, on a skeezer (first fall of the season) and on a backside 5. Although on the bright side I landed a toeside backside 5 which I have never done in contest so I was pumped with that. But yes, my run was shocking! But ah well, it happens!

Despite not doing well at the Wake Games I had an epic time and learnt a good few new tricks like batwing blind 3’s and Front Mobe 5, and I hope to get back out there as soon as I can.

Thanks so much to everyone that I rode with.

David

Sean shredding the Paradigm

Sean O'Brien riding the O'Brien Paradigm from Sean O'Brien on Vimeo.