July 30, 2008

Oh How I Still Love You, Original Liquid Force Squirt

Back in the 90's when all was well with the health of the New England wakeboarding scene, there was a Pro Tour stop in Hartford, Connecticut. My riding buddies and I attended each one, and rode in expos, demos and Pro/Am events. In one case my #1 riding pahd-nah and I took first and second (I took first, a'hem) respectively. But then it ended - the powers that be who run the Pro Wakeboard Tour decided Connecticut was not the right place to have the event.

Canada was.

Running up to that last tour stop in Connecticut, I saved around $500 for exclusive splurge purposes, knowing I would not have many chances like this to get wakeboarding and boating items that aren't normally carried in catalogs. I wanted items that were sold exclusively at events like Surf Expo and Pro Tour stops. That weekend I purchased a 500lb ballast bag, a zero-stretch line, and an original Liquid Force Squirt from Tony Finn Himself. He literally handed it to me. OH YEAH IT'S NAME CHECK TIME! I met, as mentioned, Tony Finn, Tara Hamilton, Thomas Horell, Darin Shapiro, and Gregg Necrason that weekend. I also saw a super young Shane Bonifay raising hell with a squirtgun. Last, I met Chris Bischoff and he asked us if we were competing - and we were. I think that made him think we we're cool. Fooled you Chris!

For the better part of the first morning of the event, I walked around with that red, original press Squirt all sorts of proud of myself. A young, very punky Scott Jobe made a wise crack about the board as we walked by a booth he was staffing. I think it was Scott Jobe anyway. But enough about that.

After the event, and witnessing a level of wakeboarding that we'd never seen before, we were severely excited. We got home, filled the ballast, linked up the new zero stretch rope and headed out on my old Ski Nautique 2001. I instantly felt at home on the Squirt - almost bizzarely so. That week I got half cab rolls down solid. And in the next 2 years, I learned every single invert I've ever managed to ride away from on that board, except for backside backrolls which I landed first on an original run Hyperlite Pro, the very day my high wrap bindings arrived via FedEx. The original Squirt is also the platform on which I learned various spins including wrapped and handle pass 540's (I prefer wrapped thank you very much).

I later replaced the Squirt with a Super Squirt - Gregg Necrason pro model and swiftly snapped my tibia and fibula on a roll to revert gone horribly wrong behind a horribly weighted "Wakeboard Edition" Tige with "Taps" set to "Wakeboard" .

Now, in anticipation of my 2008 Liquid Force Watson limited setup from Liquid Force and Boardstop, I gave my 2007 setup to a good friend who upon taking his first set on it, immediately reported that he'd be unwilling to part with it. In short - he loves it (a 138 Substance).

Now essentially boardless, I checked the rack of blank decks from years past. 1992 Hyperlite Pro? No. Skurfer Rage? No. Skurfer Blast. No again. What about that Super Squirt on which I shattered my leg? No thanks. But the red, lonely, unused original Squirt was sitting there and I decided to set it up, and give it a whirl. I would have taken out the 138 Liquid Force Helix on which I did my rehab riding, but it is wall mounted and signed and thus too sentimental to take out just yet.

As I've said on here before, I worked as the Pro Shop manager at a waterski/wakeboard shop during summers through college and had a chance to demo - and pro-form everything that most of the top manufacturers have to offer. Despite that, I am a Liquid Force guy - 10 years strong, and we did not carry Liquid Force. It is amazing to me that a board nearly as old as the company itself was still up to snuff when it came to mildly difficult tricks and a compliment that I could not extend to other manufacturers' offerings from 1997. A lot of people will drag their old boards out for funzies, but in this case I really had nothing else to ride, and I am not complaining. What Jimmy Redmond designed in 1996 or so, remains a board that I can take out and quite literally use as a dependable backup until my new equipment arrives.

Bottom line - the board is still phenomenal. I can do all of my difficult (for me at least) stuff on it without any issue. It has a pretty unforgiving rail and rides a bit squirrely, but I can throw that thing around like it's literally nothing. There's no question that it is one of the of the best wakeboard shapes ever made. Not unlike what I said about the Correct Craft Sport Nautique - maybe it was all we ever needed, not to say that very important improvements haven't been made. We of course like our new boards and fancy boats as much as the next guy. I've toyed with the idea that perhaps I am perpetually caught in a wakeboarding time-warp that makes me assert that board and boat design started getting it just right in the late 90's and thus keeps me happy because that means a lower point of entry for new people entering the sport. I'd love to ride my Squirt behind a brand-new Super Air Nautique 230. Would the advanced, new age design of the 230 and the old-school vibe of the Squirt collide like matter and antimatter in a breif flash of light leaving me with nothing but my Boston Whaler and a pair of burnt boardshorts? I won't know until 2010 when I take delivery of my 230.

In the end I kept my bindings, but handed over my 2007 board. I am very much ready for my 2008 Watson Limited Setup, but before it arrives, I have to say that I am quite pleased with the Squirt after all these years. It is a board I can say with 100% honesty, is still relevant today, 11 years after it was designed. You can't say that about many wakeboards. Hell - you can't say that about some boats! Once again, thanks to Jimmy Redmond and Liquid Force for shaping and building boards that clearly stand the test of time.

Posted by erik