2011 WWSC Pictures

[Surfdad]

We are in Parker AZ and it's CRAZY hot. The car thermometer read 112! James landed his air 180 to backside switch revert 540 and Keenan landed a 5 shuv. I am running out of battery, but I'll post some pictures now and some later. 1 picture of James, so that you can see why he LOVES contests so much.

[Timmy!]

Those pics are awesome!!!!
James = Mack daddy. LOL!

[LovinPowell]

Surfdad:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY. You should celebrate by coming up to Mead for the tigeowners reunion tomorrow.

[Fiveflat]

His LOVE of this sport makes it EFF YOU ENN... 'FUN'

But damnit, I'm buying him a new pair of boardshorts for once!

[skippabcool]

Looks like he is having a great time both in and out of the water.

[jbort]

Congrats and great pics.

[Surfdad]

Lovin's thanks for the invite! The contest ran through Saturday and wayyyyyyyyyyyy dark and almost past my bedtime. I was invited to attend a meeting there on Sunday morning with the powers that be and then we drive 10 hoyrs home!

Sheldon James is so weird he has 30 gazillion pair, but those seem to be the only one's he wears.

Thanks everyone, James was having a blast. I didn't have cell or internet service where we stayed and no it wasn't a cave! Parker is right in the middle of the desert and hotter than blue blazes.

I got the chance to talk at length with Jimmy Redmond the owner of Liquid Force and head of the WWA. He had some prototype boards that were ridden in competition and I'm sure you'll see those in production in 2012. Dominic Legace's board has a single channel in the Nose and Tommy C's had 4 channels in the tail. Chris Banks won in the men's am on one of the thickest boards I've seen.

Overall a great gathering of the wakesurf community. We saw killer tricks, a bigger spin, Keenan's 5 shuv, in the men's pro skim you almost HAD to have a back big to be competitive. James did 7's, 180 to 5's and his indecision.

Some pictures. The biggest and most widest attended event of the year. Notables included Rick Lee the owner of Centurion, Bob Crowley from USA Waterski, Jimmy Redmond owner of Liquid Force. and ME!

[majestic]

@ Surfdad- looks like you guys had a great time and congrats to James on his second place. Is there video of runs coming? I have not seen even a minute of video from the event posted anywhere.

[Surfdad]

Thanks! Centurion ran a media boat next to the contest boat the entire day. They swapped photog's in and out all day long. Someone got a short vid of Chase's run and it's on Vimeo somewhere. James was interviewed by someone from Transworld Wakeboarding magazine, I believe that's what James said and I think they were doing video and photos so most likely they'll be publishing something eventually. There were 4 or 5 folks on that media boat so there may be more stuff popping up.

[Surfdad]

Hey Majestic I found that video. It was Transworld Wakeboard that was there. They posted a video of all the winning pro class rides.

http://wakeboardingmag.com/videos/20...-winning-runs/

[Timmy!]

Jeff - what kind of prize money does there need to be to get the pro's like James to come to the event? I really want to get an event here in Colorado next year and I'm trying to figure out what we will need to make sure it's well attended. I have a note in to Dennis to discuss the wake9 surf machine coming to it.

[Surfdad]

I was involved in a meeting at this event on Sunday morning that included the likes of Jimmy Redmond from Liquid Force, Rick Lee the owner of Centurion/Fineline, Bob Crowley from USA WB, representatives from most of the major events and some others.

It became clear to me why you don't see Drew Danielo and Bri Cheml at many of these smaller contests. They are world champions and the lack of consistent scoring, judging or an event that is NOT biased in favor of the local hero, keeps those big names away. For those folks, you almost have to pay them directly to attend your event because the likelihood is that someone else will win. THAT hurts their ability to gain sponsors and generate revenue.

I think each of those riders has an appearance fee, but short of paying them to attend and compete, you have to have SECOND place money large enough that it makes sense for those pros to attend.

First place at the world's paid 3,000. If their travel isn't paid, by the time they net travel, meals, rental car and lodging for a few days, that's probably 1,500 for really 3 days of travelling, competing and hanging around. If second place prize money is 1,500 that nets to zero. There would have to be some other opportunity for them.

Many use the event as an opportunity to earn money via giving lessons. The NWWSA event had several days worth of clinics and the pros were paid for that service.

You get the idea. There is no consistent method of scoring and no less than 5 models that are implemented in various ways. As a business venture, who would take that risk? The majority of organizers currently think they know best, but of course they don't get those professional atheletes to attend.

Now James, who is in college and doesn't live off that source of money will go if it doesn't interfer with school and he can find someone to let him sleep on their sofa

So the Drew's and Bri's just make it a business decision and good for them. They have full time jobs or businesses that revolve around teaching or selling product they ride. The James' and Chase's look for the other opportunities to make some dollars with the ancillary stuff like the clinics or some selling of boards.

Hope that helps!

[Timmy!]

That helps out a lot actually! Thanks for the insider info! So short of having $15k+ in prize money to give out, doubt we will get the "big shots" to come here then...I better get on the phone with Quiksilver, O'neil and Rip Curl (only kidding of course, I don't know anyone at any of those places). LOL! "Come to the <Boat Mfr> / <other big name sponsor> Wakesurfing Championships in beautiful Denver, CO". Does have a nice ring though...

[Surfdad]

You can still have an amazing contest with some truly great open level riders. James and Chase would attend. Jac Fort and Scott Culp would most likely attend, but you wouldn't get the athletes that DEPEND upon winning for their revenue stream unless you paid them directly. Until there's some form of consistent formula, someone that makes a significant amount of income from their "winning" won't risk that at an event where it's not clear how it will be judged and/or scored. The grossroots sort of contest is great fun and you can get some very talented folks to attend, just not those that depend upon winning for their revenue streams.

[Timmy!]

Thanks Jeff. I will hit you up after I hear back from Dennis to see if it's even a possibility. I really want to grow the sport here in CO.