March 02, 2008
Scott Byerly's 720 From Skurf's Up
Though it is dicey to get a habit of encoding old wakeboarding VHS tapes, several people requested the footage of Scott Byerly landing the first documented 720. As we now have the technology to do this and enjoyed such good feedback from the footage of our Scott Byerly clinic, we thought we'd oblige.
This video was released in 1997 by FLF Films. Please always buy your full-length wakeboarding films and support the industry. If we don't buy these videos, they don't get made. Fortunately for the industry there isn't a strong wake video pirating community. If one exists at all, we are not aware of it. Boardflix.com is where we recommend you buy your videos.
Video Copyright 1997 - FLF Films, presented by Launch Wakeboard Magazine.
Posted by erik at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 25, 2008
Exclusive Footage of a Young Scott Byerly Riding at a Clinic in Massachusetts
Wake size complainers and elitists (myself included), take note of this video pulled from the archives in the basement of The Wakeboard Report tower. I am behind the lens on this, filming in that everlasting format: VHS-C. My good friend Mark was beside me, and both of us were getting close on backside backrolls when this clinic was conducted. The two other gentlemen in the Malibu outboard barefoot boat had never seen so much as a wake-to-wake jump let alone a switchstance mobius.
Note everyone's reactions as Mr. Byerly warms up. The word 'bewilderment' comes to mind. I say about 10 words the entire time, mostly asking people in the boat to move around so the man could have a balanced boat. The rest of the commentary was from some of the other gents on board. I hate the sound of my voice when recorded so I'm quiet for the most part throughout this (you're welcome). You may hear me make a certain colorful comment when Scott lands the first mobius I had ever witnessed with my own eyes. My apologies, Mom. I don't talk like that very often.
The video you're about to see includes some harsh language mostly "holy sh**s" and holy craps, so please check your delicate sensibilities at the door. Please note that Scott is about 21-22 in this video and almost completely devoid of tattoos. For you wakeboarding historians, this was filmed about 2 months after Byerly cut his hair, and about a year and a half before he won the Pro Tour. And about 30 min after this video was filmed, I shared lunch with Scott and watched the man eat about 4 hot dogs faster than I thought was humanly possible. An impressive man both on and off the water indeed.
I have been wanting to get this to you all for quite some time, so please enjoy. I edited and mastered this video as a super high quality AVI, then encountered difficulties both with the length, quality and hosting difficulties for this video. YouTube seemed the best option, but this video is 24 minutes long and YouTube restricts uploads to 10 min segments and I didn't want to cut this up. Google video ended up being the best option at this time, despite the stairstepping and artifacting you'll see during some of the faster segments, and the compression almost completely destroys our wonderful "The Wakeboard Report" logo watermark at the lower right of the viewable area.
I am going to continue to work on this to provide a better quality version and when that happens this post will be bumped to the top. Until then please enjoy this early footage of the legendary Scott Byerly.
Posted by erik at 02:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 19, 2008
Brad Smeele Joins the 1080 Fraternity
There was a quote in a recent issue of Wakeboarding Magazine that went something like (and I paraphrase) "Every 1080 landed, has been done within a 30 mile radius of Orlando, FL". Google Maps puts North Central Island, New Zealand , where Brad Smeele stuck a 1080 yesterday a mere 8100 miles from Orlando (excuse me, 13035.7 kilometers).
That's far. Even farther in those kilometer things!
Only a still from Mr. Smeele's feat exists publicly right now but some details are available. Evidently his induction into this very exclusive club was by way of a regular-stance toeside punch off the double up, after which he spun thrice (might I say so off-axis, that at one point in the sequence he's clearly inverted) and landed his way into history. Yes 1080's are still history making as now Parks, Rusty, Danny and Brad are the only confirmed members of this club, while I fully believe the people that say the late Mark Kenny is in that club too. So let's call it a nice even 5 that have managed this feat. Kicker and cable efforts will never, ever count, at least as far as this Web site is concerned.
As there have been now a handful landed, each unique in their own right, this one is being called the only regular stance 1080 landed to date. I was under the impression that Rusty landed a regular stance 1080 in a warm up run before an event, but this could be just foggy memory from a wakeboarding industry journalist who hasn't had his feet in a pair of bindings since late September and gets some of his news, like we all do, from the information superhighway and its bizarre offspring, the message board. I'll assume the folks at The Liquid Circus have their facts straight.
Congratulations to you Brad! This is an amazing achievement.
» Via The Liquid Circuis.
(Image property of The Liquid Circus and Jeff Weatherall)
Posted by erik at 07:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 07, 2007
Stef Tor Kickflip Video: Stomped, Clean, Perfect
Here's an unbelievably well executed wakeskate kickflip from Stef Tor - one of wakeskating's most prominent athletes. In addition to the quality of this trick, the video quality itself is phenomenal (visit her site for an even better Quicktime version). Judging by the amplitude and authority with which she stomps this kickflip, it wasn't her first nor her last... the clip looks like it should be part of an instructional video.
Congratulations Stef!
Video Courtesy of StefTor.com
Posted by erik at 05:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 24, 2007
Shane Bonifay's Toeside Backside 720
Courtesy of Shane Bonifay's talent, Alliance Wake's Web publishing platform and Collin Harrington's camcorder comes this amazing feat of wakeboarding. As of late, wakeboarders have been lucky enough to see 1080's and other progressive riding very soon after events have taken place. The same goes for Shane's toeside backside 7, which has been debated on the Web for a week or so now. We're glad to see those arguments put to bed, and we're glad to see this video. We've always been impressed with Shane Bonifay's abilities - but not as impressed with his facial hair decisions. 80's style mustache or clean shaven, Shane is known for pushing the sport and for that, we congratulate him.
From the Alliance Wake Web site:
"The 720 has been completed a number of times by a number of riders hitting the wake a number of ways and spinning in a number of different directions. But one variation still hung out there, never to be seen or captured...like a unicorn. Well last weekend at the fabled Brostock Dos, Shane Bonifay captured the unicorn and Collin Harrington captured Shane capturing the fabled beauty on his action capturing device. Watch and believe."
Posted by erik at 03:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 14, 2007
Utah Boat Show Coverage: The Wake Park Rail Jam
Pat Panakos and his crew from The Projects brought their traveling indoor wake park pool & rail setup to the Utah Boat Show this week. The Wakeboard Report was given access to the cherry picker boom platform, so it goes without saying that we had the right angle on the action! We hope that none of the expensive photography equipment that was used for these photos was dropped from that enviable perch...
Thanks again for the pics E.J.!
Posted by erik at 02:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 30, 2006
Andrew Pastura. One of the Best Amateur Wakeskaters?
These days we occasionally can't tell if a rider is an amateur or a pro. We don't know if it has something to do with good baseline technical riding skills, excellent film work, expensive cameras, perfect backdrops & angles, lucky lines, or just plain talent, but regardless this video will melt your face. It will melt right into the keyboard and if it does, don't send me a bill, because I am not paying it. I have a suspicion that this video was not comprised of lucky lines caught on tape - I get the impression the kid's just got it.
That was Andrew Pastura, a 19 year old wakeskater from the Midwest, making it look way too damn easy. I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that wake-to-wake 360 shove-its and kickflips are even possible on a wakeskate -- no matter how many times I am reminded. Unbelievable. The technical difficulty involved with something like that is simply... outstanding.
For those who are unfamiliar with the difficulty involved with wakeskating, for comparative value here is some of my best work on a wakeskate. Youtube munched & artifacted the overly excited expression on my face seen in the original version of the video. Golly - I sure was excited as I looked back at the camera, and I was thinking Yaaay me! Heck if you listen close I may have actually said exactly that. It was 4 months ago so my memory eludes me a bit. My wife who was filming was probably thinking something along the lines of "Whoopde-freaking-ding-dong Erik" and wondered why I wanted to get that useless move on video so badly.
See? In my case there isn't much there in the way of "talent". And it only took me about 17 tries before I finally nailed that super-difficult dock start maneuver. **sigh** My point is that Andrew Pastura is good.
Posted by erik at 06:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 09, 2006
And Rusty Makes it 3240
Rusty Malinowski, a guy who gives me hope as a physically "bigger" wakeboarder, did it too. He is the third person to be filmed landing a 1080 behind the boat. Cable riders have also managed to ride away from a few 1080's but we old-schoolers still think of cable wakeboarding as the boom barefooting of our sport (sorry!). But the trick has certianly become somewhat less elusive, recently. Rusty lands this one switchstance, and toeside, just like Parks Bonifay. For comparison, I am a moderately consistent wakeboarder with decent technical skills and I can hit switchstance 3's and a few switch inverts, all heelside. But switch toeside is another animal, because if the lake is glass flat calm, I've had my Red Bull and Wheaties, Perfect Pass is set exactly to 23, the driver is actively using a slide ruler to calculate my path, and I am in a good mood I can sometimes clear the wake switch toeside. So everytime I see someone doing this trick, my brain explodes, and I have to repaint the wall behind me.
Once again Youtube'd for mass enjoyment. Click the big "Play" button to view the awesomeness.
Posted by erik at 11:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 27, 2006
Footage of Danny Harf's 1080 Finally Released
The video of Danny Harf spinning a 1080 has been released. Here is is folks, youtube'd for mass consumption. This gets loud so you may want to adjust your speakers accordingly. Enjoy.
Congratulations if you are still reading. A few words, if I may...
The news that Danny Harf stomped a switchstance 1080 is now almost a month old and the only video of the occurrence was shown to select industry insiders at Surf Expo. And it was not found anywhere else, but for a brief showing on a phantom MySpace profile. Today the rest of the world gets to see, and it is the only 1080 video footage of which I am personally aware. This is a pretty big deal in our sport, as Danny Harf joins Parks Bonifay, the late Mark Kenney, and a few other riders who have been confirmed as having ridden away from at least one 1080. He stomped it too. And it was switchstance too. Jealous much?
For all the business nerds out there like me, let's all stand and applaud Ronix for some terrific viral marketing. I am a Liquid Force guy, my boat wears Hyperlite AND Liquid Force stickers, but it has been said that Ronix is offering boards that weigh close to 5 lbs less than analogous Hyperlite models. Hyperbole? Perhaps. Phenomenal marketing? Absolutely. And when it comes time to replace my 2006 Liquid Force Substance 138, I will be taking a close look at what Ronix has to offer. We're sure that Danny Harf is going to be practicing the 1080 and polishing it for competition, so he'll soon be able to land the trick on just about any board, but there is a splinter of people that think he was able to land a 1080 due to the weight reduction in going from a Hyperlite Premier, to his Ronix. I am not sure that I am ready to believe that, but it is plausible if Ronix is producing boards that are that light, yet remain strong enough to withstand a rider of Harf's stature (he isn't a 137lb pixie sized wakeboarder, he is a regularly sized dude) then perhaps the trick was made slightly more possible with the reduced weight. This is very speculative though and Harf is the one who deserves the huge amounts of credit; we shouldn't go nuts attributing this all to the board. It is going to get people thinking about Ronix though, that is for certain.
I do believe that Ronix deserves some major proppers for releasing this video to the world - and not as part of a team video or some other promotion. It looks like they released this for the love of the sport, and for that, we applaud them. Thank You, Ronix Wakeboards, for releasing this video. And congratulations Danny Harf!
Posted by erik at 11:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 08, 2006
Amazing Female Rider Stomps Off-axis 720. Doughy Male Rider Struggles with 180.
Amber Wing, a Liquid Force team rider, recently stomped a clean off-axis 720 while I sat at my computer job and visualized my blind 180 without the 540° in extra rotational excellence. It kind of of puts things into perspective, dosen't it? Amber Wing sets a new high-mark for women's wakeboarding being the first to land this in a freeriding session captured on video, and now she'll work on landing it in competition. Congratulations Amber!
Posted by erik at 02:17 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
