Team Greenwood wins first SFWA Pros and Joes

"If you were not able to make it to the SFWA Pros and Joes event this past Saturday at Okeehelee Park in West Palm Beach, Florida, you missed out. The event could only be described as a huge success. The crowd at any time throughout the day was between 300-350 and I imagine by the time you factor in the number of people who came and went we probably came close to 1,000 visitors. The weather truly was perfect and the water was close to glass all day long. Our sponsors displayed the newest and best of their upcoming product lines and families with children could enjoy the carnival games, bounce house and dunk tank. Everything was perfect!!!

The event begin with a huge bang as Nick Taylor took the first run of the day and landed a Toeside Backside 3 on a wakeskate. Nick set the mood both with his run and with his attitude (look for him in the upcoming Volume Wakeskate Video #6-early reports are he does some never before seen things in this video) this kid is amazing. From there the riding was just incredible all day. The line between pro and amatuer was close. At the end of the day the finals came down to Team Greenwood featuring Ben Greenwood, Nathan Brown, Jeffrey Skulnik and Travis Cook vs Team Henshaw featuring Kevin Henshaw, Nathan Schneider, Justin Beale and Steel Lafferty. When the riding was finished Team Greenwood took the crown with a final score of 129 to 126. Each joe on the winning team was presented with a brand new 2008 Liquid Force wakeboard and a set of 2008 Liquid Force bindings.

In addition to the team event, prizes were handed out for best trick and “best” crash. Best Trick was awarded to joe Travis Cook for a huge S Bend that had the judges super-stoked. This was one of many tricks that Travis threw that could have been picked but the S Bend was amazing and won Travis $150. “Best” Crash went to Steel Lafferty for his attempt at a backside 720, unfortunately for Steele it was a backside 690 to face plant. I hurt thinking about this fall (as I type this I cringed). Steel was ok and for his trouble picked up a cool $150.

At the end of the day the event was amazing. The pro riders were incredible-I can’t say thank you enough to these riders. Each of them came out and was super cool. Without them the event wouldn’t have been what it was. To see them stoked about the event and to stay until the very end when they had another event in Homestead that evening really meant a lot. A special thank you to Nick Taylor, Ben Greenwood, Kevin Henshaw, Colin Harrington, Zane Schwank (his slurpee trick in person is so sick), Tara Hamilton, George Daniels, Jimmy LaRiche, Kyle Hymes and Aaron Reed.

Check out the photos from the event and keep an eye out for the video in the next coming days. Visit www.sfwake.com

Jimmy"

O'Neill Team Shoot

"I recently got a chance to kick it with the O'Neill team as they shot for their new ad campaign. A little slayshing, a few high fives, thats a solid day."

RLAND Premiere Party on October 5th

RLAND Website

Aaron Reed's Part in Volume

RLAND Trailer

"The purpose of this film is to showcase a sport in an area that has been a long time in the making. Over Sixty years ago Dick Pope Sr. moved to Central Florida and began Cypress Gardens on Lake Eloise. He landscaped beautiful gardens on the lake that would make a perfect backdrop for his water-ski show. Soon the pictures from Cypress Gardens appeared in newspapers, magazines, motion pictures, and television around the world. When the world saw these skiers with huge smiles on their face, waving, with beautiful gardens in the background, everything we have today began. Central Florida became the ski capital of the world and people relocated to be a part of the fun. Dick held ski tournaments that brought the best international riders into town and once here, many of them decided to stay and those who didn't, went home to tell of this Florida Mecca.

Sixty years and countless influences later, this area has become the wake capital of the world and home to the movement of wakeskating. This film offers a look into the most influential lakes and riders here in the sunshine state. Another generation, another piece of equipment, another way to have fun on the water, and another reason why this is RLAND."

RLAND Website

N.A.R.L.A. PEOPLE

"Man hugs, short shorts, bronze bods and Andy Lazarus…Only at the N.A.R.L.A. video premier could you find all 4 of these items. Wait, I guess the first three could be found in other places that I would prefer not to visit, but Andy Lazarus usually doesn’t show up. Whatever the case, the N.A.R.L.A. premier was smashing. First off, you had to REALLY WANT TO SEE IT, so much that a trip to Miami wasn’t out of the question. Apart from the stars of the film, other celebrity appearances included: Chase Heavener, Matt Staker, Matt Manzarri, Josh Letchworth, Bo Burton, Bob Sichel, and Kyle Hyams. Keep in mind that this video has been 4 years in the making, so you can bet your ass it’s filled with some seriously skilled maneuvers performed by some of the most recognized athletes the sport of wakeskating has ever known.

In an effort to promote the event, DVS team Manager Jim Leatherman was spotted wearing some rather revealing shorts (displaying the NARLA logo of course!) at the Standard Resort in Miami’s South Beach. Alliancewake.com was able to get a quick snapshot of the new knickers just before being escorted by security. Other A-list celeb’s vacationing at the Standard that weekend included Myles Vickers, Danny Hampson, and Thomas Horrell!

An inside source tells Alliancewake.com that during the premiere on Saturday night (7/21/07) Aaron Reed was spotted whispering sweet nothings into fellow team rider Danny Hampson’s ear. In a post premiere press conference Reed’s publicist informed Alliancewake.com that “Aaron was simply congratulating Hampson on his outstanding video section…Reed was actually attending the event with none other than his longtime sweetheart Jami-Lane.”

In all, the event was stacked full of celebs and the world premiere of NARLA was awesome. As expected, the morning after the premiere everyone got kicked out of the Standard hotel by the owner himself, and we all went our separate ways. Pick up NARLA ASAP and TAKE BACK THE RIVER..."

Source: Alliance Wake

O'Neill Visits Carlsbad

"Scott Byerly and Aaron Reed visit Carlsbad for a fun day of winching with Josh Sleigh, then rode some glass at the Carlsbad Lagoon."

N.A.R.L.A. World Premier 7/28

DVS Wake
ATLwake
Ambush Boarding Company