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I would love you to all follow my adventures as I push myself wakeboarding around the world.
You can also follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/dylanprideaux and you can checkout my site at www.dpwake.com

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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Wakeboard Victoria Coaching Camp

This weekend we got all the groms for the official AWWF coaching camp in Echuca on the beautiful Murray River which i grew up on.  We stayed at Paul Bell's pad at Merool which was a great base for the weekend.

I was the official coach for the weekend and was so pumped to see so many kids going so hard at the sport!  I had recently completed the online coaching component of the AWWF Level 1 Coaching Course and was keen to commence.

There were so many shredders and everyone progressed insanely! Everyone went home with new tricks and something to work on which is great to see, the only thing I enjoy almost as much as learning these tricks myself, is getting pumped watching other people learn them, and getting pumped on wakeboarding.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Wakeboard Victoria Round 3

I was sorry to miss Round 2 of the Vic Series at Melton due to sponsor comittments that week interstate.

Chilling under the Nautique Shade Tent between rides
For me it was the second event for the year.  I had a great time back up at Twin Lakes and the conditions were perfect! I had two solid rides in the heats and finals and scored myself a first place.  It was great to see the progression of everyone from Round 1, all the grooms are absolutely killing it.  I can see good things with Wakeboard Victoria happening around Nationals time.  It's crazy what a little coaching and a few pointers can do for people.

The comp was behind the Mills Family Super Air Nautique 230.  I love Wakeboard Victoria because everyone is so nice and welcoming and there's no politics at all which there should never be anyway, especially at a grass roots contest!  It's so great, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season has to unfold.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

My first comp back in Australia

This weekend I rode in my first contest since I have been back in Australia.  It was the first round of the Wakeboard Victoria Summer Series.  It was over the border in Mulwala/Yarrawonga at the Max Kirwan Twin Lakes facility.

Gliding over the Murray River behind the Nautique 230
We caught up with the Mills Family who recently moved to Bundalong and had a quick session behind their Super Air Nautique 230.  I had a solid ride and ended up winning the contest which was  a great first start to the season back home. It was so nice to be welcomed by all the Wakeboard VIC riders and families.

They are such an awesome crew and it's nice to have so many rider competimng in the Open Pro Division compared to the elite handful back in Qld. There is so much talent and experience amongst the group.  I am seriously looking at staying down here in Victoria with my family.   After this weekend I'm very tempted to!

Friday, September 28, 2012

My 18th Birthday back on the Coast



I have just moved into my house on the Gold Coast and loving it here already.  I had an amazing weekend celebrating my 18th birthday with all my closest friends.  It was definitely be a weekend I will remember.  We got to see everyone and was the best coming home from America party and the best way to see everyone and come back to Australia with a bang!

I am loving being back in Australia already and I can't wait to get my knee strong again and back into riding and pick back up where I left off in America

Friday, August 24, 2012

Back in Old Melbourne Town


It was really great to get back to Australia after a 26 hour journey from Chicago to San Francisco to Sydney to Melbourne.  Flying in to Sydney on a clear morning is always a great site and I knew I was home.  Landing in Melbourne was awesome and I get to check out Mum & Dad's amazing new diggs.  I'm almost tempted to stay.
It was great to see my family and finally get to meet my brothers new born, Oliver, along with his other two kids, Charlotte and Sophia. 
I am planning on running a wakeboarding school on the Gold Coast along with having the privilege to ride for the summer in my hometown behind my Nautique 230. 
It was a pretty mixed US Summer.  A couple of steps forward, a couple of steps backwards here and there but overall, a lot of new experiences and good times along the way.
Roll on the Aussie Summer

Monday, August 20, 2012

WWA World Titles - Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin

After packing up all my stuff and saying goodbye to Orlando for the last time until next summer, Twiggy and I got on a plane and headed to the World Titles in Wisconsin. 

After two cancelled flights I was getting nervous that I was going to pull a Phil Soven at Nationals, (missed his ride due to cancelled flights) after finally landing in Chicago, Michigan, I got straight on my coach and mobbed it to Kenosha as fast as the bus driver said he could go. When I got to ‘Brat Stop Kenosha’, 2 miles from the site, I had to patiently wait for the cab that was supposed to be there waiting for me.

All just to be told i got there too late by 10 minutes, I was shattered and heartbroken. I was there a good 2 hours before my ride, but they said rules are rules.  I hope they treat all riders that way in the future because it sucked big time.  All i could do at the time was swallow my pride, and support the other riders who were lucky enough to ride in the contest.  It looked like a really fun contest, the lake was buttery all weekend, the wake didn't look bad and the boys were all shredding! 

At least I had something to look forward to, yes I was finally heading home after a long and fun summer with the people I love, I was looking forward to getting home, seeing my family and organising my house on the Gold Coast.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Westchester Ohio - US Nationals

After having a great weekend in  San Jose Costa Rica with my girlfriend Jillian, we headed back north from Orlando to Nautique Nationals.  We were still without my Aussie Photographer Mate Tim Mossup (Twiggy) who was still in California living it up on the beach getting snaps of skaters. 

When I arrived at the comp site, I saw the heats and was surprised to see how hard the heat was that I was up against the King of Wakeboarding Danny Harf.  I wasn’t overwhelmed with how hard my heat was but was stoked to be riding in the same heat as Danny himself.

After watching Danny ride I was pretty intimidated when he fell three times in his run behind his own boat the Nautique G23, but I put my boots on and went for it, unfortunately trying to open with a toe 9 is hard enough, but i was NOT expecting the wake to buck me that hard or to get that much airtime, the wake was so big it was unbelievable.

But never the less, got back up and kept going for gold, after a rare and unfortunate fall on the transfer rail, I was seeing myself to not make it through to the next round. At least I got to hang out with Shawn Watson and Danny and a few of the other Nautique riders who I haven’t seen at the last few events.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Back in Orlando


Have been super focussed on riding after this week at Yancey's, I have been riding really good, got all my tricks back and super consistent, along with a few new mobe 5's and a couple extra 9's, and it's only getting better. I have been getting close to a couple of different mobe 7's, that i'm looking forward to stomping. I had a fun the other day riding with Dean Smith the other day, on Lake Minneola, out the front of the wakeboard camp and had a blast.

Alot of the riding time i have had on the water i can thank Tony Carroll and Nick Galotifiore for. They have taken me out for numerous sets on their boats on Clear Lake and Lake Irma.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Back to Tuscaloosa Alabama


After the Washington PWT Stop, Jillian and I decided to do something different and head back to Alabama to spend 4th of July with friends.   It was Jillian's first July 4 celebration and I wanted it to be special.  We had an amazing time back at Sunshine Pointe. There were heaps of people, alot of boats, jet skis, it was a nice hot day, there was a big Barbeque that everyone was a part of with the best food and best of all, everyone was in the lake having a great time.

To cap it all off we enjoyed fireworks at night, we were all posted up in our boats watching. So all in all, a perfect 4th of July, it's still got nothing on Australia day though!! haha.
4th July - Tuscaloosa Alabama

Monday, July 2, 2012

Pro Tour Stop 4 - Seattle Washington


I flew in to cold ass  Seattle Washington State from sunny hot Orlando ready to ride and wasn't too stoked on the cold, but made me laugh because i knew it was still warmer there then it was back home in Australia.
After a $100 cab to the hotel (ouch), I was settled in for the night and ready to shred in the morning.
It was my second trip to Lake Monroe for a PWT Stop. Unfortunately because of rookie errors regarding equipment managment, I found myself disappointedly knocked out in the first round. But you win some, you lose some, I think I'll take this one on the chin. I will just make sure I won't make that mistake again, and will be ready for the next contest. Dad always says its ok to make a mistake - once!
 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Still in Alabama - Tuscaloosa

After a solid week of riding and shooting in Dadeville, we head west towards Tuscaloosa to spend some time with Yancey Crew at his little bit of paradise in Sunshine Pointe, Northport, AL. We ended up riding all day everyday and riding his jetskis in our spare time, then later take the golf cart up to the house and skate his mini ramp everynight, was definetly a week to top last for sure! My riding is coming along really good, been hitting huge double ups, trying new tricks, getting solid footage down for my new edit, some raw footage of myself riding on Lake Tuscaloosa. Check it out!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Sweet Home Alabama - Dadeville


I'm lucky to say that i got to stay at Clint Westbrooks house in Dadeville, Alabama. Mainly becuase Clint lives on one of the most beautiful lakes i have ever ridden on, was awesome riding behind his Nautique 210 and also our other friend Spencer Waldrep, who lives just down the lake has a 230 which we rode every day. New tricks were being thrown down, everyone was shredding, beats wear blaring, i was having the sickest time out on Lake Martin filming from a jetski getting gopro footage, doing sunset photoshoots and getting sick chaseboat footage, we put an edit together of our week in Dadeville, check it out!

Monday, June 11, 2012

My first trip to Missouri

After an awesome week of cable and boat riding fun in Texas, we headed east for Branson, Missouri for the 3rd stop of the Pro Tour, stoked to be in Pro's, after a successful weekend at the last Tour stop.

I had such a sick ride in the heats and found myself through to the quarter finals along with Dean Smith. Had another solid ride but got out ridden by the Pro's, still happy with myself, and its cool that more people notice your rides when you’re in Pro's its awesome, pushes me to ride harder!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Fort Worth Texas Pro Tour Stop 2


Had an awesome time coming from Orlando to Fort Worth, Texas, travelling with the girlfriend and my Aussie friend sports photographer Twiggy.
About to shred on the Nautique 230
About 2 hours out from Texas, on the morning of the contest, Twiggy (photgrapher) was driving and ran out of gas while Jillian and I were sleeping in the back seat, and it caused me to miss my ride in Junior Mens, which is unfortunate because I started the season strong with a 2nd place spot in the first stop at Acworth Georgia.   In hindsight, it was one of the best mistakes that has happened to me because now I then had the opportunity to ride Pro Mens at the stop as a once off and go back to Junior Pro's if I wanted to. 
I made the decision that day to step up to Pro Mens and I'm stoked on it. My rookie event on the Pro Tour, I had a pretty tough heat, but still stood up a solid ride and was really stoked on it.  I'm so pumped for the rest of the summer now, it will be interesting to see what will unvale. I was stoked to get the chance to ride Corey Bradleys big ass wake that his Nautique 230 pushes out, one of the best wakes I've ridden in a while.
Dyla Prideaux riding CTRL at Hydrous
Boat wasn't the only thing i got to enjoy in my stay in Texas, I was also lucky enough to be able to ride at Hydrous Cable Park, free of charge thanks to the good people at CTRL Wake. Coincidently my homie Justin Teich, a friend I lived with last summer in Orlando, was there to join me for the week. I had a great time, got alot of stuff on film and got some dirty photos, check them out!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Back in Orlando


Have had an awesome week after Callaway Gardens, my riding has been going awesome lately, recently stomped a heel 9 wake to wake on Nick Galotifiore's Nautique 230. Have also had fun sets out with Tony Carrol and Austin on their boats on Clear Lake, also rode on the boat at OWC with Nick Kamper driving me, looking forward to a fun time in Texas this weekend with my Aussie friends.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Back in U.S.A

My girlfriend joined me for the endless summer tour to Orlando and I am so stoked to be back in paradise.  My friend Freddie Wayne picked me up from the airport and took us back to his place for the night.  The Wayne family have always looked after me so well, Freddie’s Mum Darlene is like my US Mum!.


Mike, Freddie & I - Acworth Podium

First stop to settle in was Nick Galotifiore’s house.  Nick won the 2010 Jr Pro Tour and he has probably the best weighted Super Air Nautique 230 I have ever ridden (including my own). Staying at Nick’s gave me a chance to get some serious riding time in before the first stop.  I also had a session with Harley the day before I left for Georgia and I rode well.  I got 3 w2w 9's and a couple of other fun things.  Feeling pretty stoked on how my riding is at the moment and how this season will play out.

My Gold Coast mate Corey Turnbull has been helping me car hunt and we tracked down a pretty new Ford Explorer for me to use this year in the US.  Some of the stops are close enough to drive through, and its a chance to see more of this amazing country.


Photo by OLLI Photography
Acworth - Photo by OLLI Photography
Acworth is one of my favourite sites, the set up is awesome, huge beach, you can see all the riding from everywhere, and of course, how could I forget, the party island that all the boats make every year, the party gets bigger and bigger each year.  I  was really nervous about this one, after missing Wake Games due to other commitments it was my first contest in America.  I got 3rd at the event last year and I was pretty nervous about the event.  In the heats I went out and had a solid ride and did my thing, then the semis were a bit better, I  had Italian Massi Piffaretti in my heat and he is a shredder! I had a solid Semi ride and got my first perfect 100 in a US pro Event.  In the finals I had me and all my mates and the riding level was insane! Dirty Mike Dowdy came out on top and I got a close second and Freddie and Kyle rounded out the podium, respectively.  Dowdy looks in great form this year.

Right now I’m at Callaway Gardens in Georgia for the US Masters which is aout the biggest event in the world.  I was so thrilled to get an invite for it. It’s my sponsors event (Nautique) and after winning their Moomba Masters Event 2 years running I had my mind set on doing well.  I was going to finally ride the Super Air Nautique G23 for the frst time. I was out in the boat on Clear Lake with Tony Carroll the other day and I saw Jimmy Lariche out in his G23 with Phillip Soven and Oli Derome, and the Wake looked unreal and I can see why the boat has got so much attention.

The comp didn’t go well for me, I didn’t get the result I was hoping for and Dowdy once again went home with the silverware.

Callaway is beautiful, it has a big golf course with so much stuff to do here.  My good mate Tim Mossop has just arrived from Australia to stay with me for the rest of the tour.  Tim is my personal photographer and is pretty pumped to be following me on the tour this year and coming everywhere and seeing what all the fuss is about wakeboarding and join my on Our Endless Summer

After this weekend at Callaway me, Tim and Jillian will be making our way back to Orlando to start house hunting, but first there is a massive road trip to Fort Worth Texas and Branson Missouri for stops 2 and 3 of the Pro Tour.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Australian Nationals and Wakeboard World Cup

Still on a high after winning back to back Moomba Masters, it was straight to the airport for a flight to Perth for the Australian Wakeboard Nationals.

Aussie Nats at Bonneys
The Venue was the famous Bonney's Ski Park at Baldivis south of Perth where they have 5 lakes which are mainly used for waterskiing.  The location was great and so was the weather.

I took my Moomba form into the comp and qualified straight through to the final.  I pulled up with a slightly sore wrist which is something that I just can't seem to get right.  Last year at Nationals I damaged it in the Semi and had an emergency MRI before the final.  I was scheduled to fly to the US the next week to start my first full Pro Tour and that meant more to me than a Nationals Title.  I rode with a heavily strapped wrist and managed to pull of the win then.

12 months later I ripped it again riding in the final.  It caused me to fall on a Whirly 5 which is a basic trick for me but one that has a lot of wrist rotation.  Adrenaline took over and I got up and landed it straight away, bit just couldn't ride my best and two falls saw me out.  My goal of winning back to back Nationals as well was now over and I have to settle for 2nd place.

Dylan Prideaux in Action
The next thing that happened was a bitter sweet victory when I was finally given a spot on the Wakeboard World Cup which is the Holy Grail of wakeboarding.  Fully funded air and travel costs and guaranteed prize money for every rider.   I was torn between my dream of riding the event and the risk of further injury that would impact on my US Tour. 

I sought some advice from Dad, and a couple of people who I really respect and then I spoke to John Wickcliffe the President of Wakeboard Australia to advise him that I would not be taking up the invitation and would travel home for emergency treatment.  John called me to the stage at Nationals presentations to tell the audience.  I thought I was doing the right thing, but for many more people it seemed much bigger.

The end result of that decision was that Mitch Daniel got my place.  I was so happy for Mitch and his family.  He has always been a great competitor and I know how much time, effort and money a family invests to allow their kids to compete in this sport.

Once my wrist feels secure my next goal is to win Junior Men's at the Australian Cable Nationals in Penrith, and then it is off to Orlando at the start of May to kick off my US Tour.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Moomba Masters Champion - back to back!

I had an great weekend at Boardstock at Penrith finishing 1st in the Rail Jam, 2nd in the King of Kicker and 3rd in the 1/4 Pipe Challenge.   However I was really disappointed at my ride at the 2nd stop of the Australian Open.

My good mate Carro from Sweden came up to the Gold Coast to chill at ours for a while and I made the most of every moment since Penrith to focus on Moomba, Nationals and the start of the US Tour.

I decided it was time to get serious and just focus on the 15 or so key tricks I need to be able to adapt to throw into a comp pass.  It was great to get a variety of Mobe 5's, Glides and consistent 9's back into my regular rides.

Dylan Prideaux - 2012 Moomba Master
Moomba was a fantastic event.  Better time slots and more quality riders.  To have Steel Lafferty, Daniel Powers, Sam Carne, Marcello Giardi, Brenton Priestley etc in the event put huge pressure on me as the defending champion.  All the boys rode solidly and they was some pretty serious tricks being thrown down.  I had some great rides, but had the worst ride in the Semi's.  Just like last year, I just scraped in to the final.  Fortunately I was able to stick a solid pass and walk away with my biggest cheque yet!

Riding in front of over 200,000 fans on a warm Mebourne night was awesome.  Having so many family and friends in the crowd was even better!

I'm currently in Perth at Bonney's Ski Park to hopefully defend my Australian Open Mens Title as well.

Moomba Masters - Melbourne 2012
As for the US Tour, I have decided to not go over and ride Wake Games at OWC (which is tough because it's my sponsors event) but to stay and ride in the Australian Cable Nationals at Penrith in April.  I love riding Cable, and it's good to be versatile in the sport.  My new sponsor CTRL make great cable boards and I want to do my best to get them on the podium.

I will head to the US at the start of May and do the whole US Pro Tour, US Nationals, US Masters and the World Championships.  Looking forward to it a lot.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

My Amazing Aussie Summer


It’s been great to have some recovery time away from wakeboarding.  Time to focus on my goals, focus on my family and friends and get my body in peak shape for the US Tour.  Last year I achieved most of my goals.   I won the Monster Energy Title in Jr Men’s, and got a Podium at my first Pro Event, I won Moomba Masters Pro Men’s,  I won the Australian Pro Men’s Title and I was selected to represent Australia at the World Titles in Italy.   The only goal I missed was going in to the last stop of the Australian Rail/Cable Series equal leader with my great friend James Windsor.   James won, I finished 2nd.   Cable was never my focus but Dad always told me I need to be versatile in the sport as the sport blends through the years.   At least I lost to an awesome rider and one of my best mates.  James went on to win the World Title in Junior Men’s later in the year.   I guess the end of the story was I left for the US Tour with a damaged tendon in my wrist, recurring back issues and a suspect knee.  Not an ideal start to a long 5 month campaign against the best in the world.   This year I have limited my Australian Schedule, and am currently working on a ‘pre season’ training schedule so I arrive in the USA in April in peak condition.

My Australian commitments behind a boat this year will be State Titles, National Titles, Moomba Masters and maybe a World Cup Stop if I qualify.

CTRL Supreme & Dylan Prideaux
It has been very pleasing to me to renew my long term commitments with Billabong and Von Zipper.  It's awesome to have such a close and strong relationship with these awesome Australian companies that also have interest in the US Tour.  Quicksilver are launching their Moskova Brand in Australia and the USA at the moment and I am really happy to be the Wakeboard Brand Ambassador in a tea with so many world class legends including Tony Hawk.

Coming out of the US Tour I knew I needed to find a solid, reputable and reliable Board Company who can support me in Australia and in the USA.   It was really pleasing to me to have the choice of 4 major US Brands providing me with test boards and boots.   It’s a huge job comparing product, because every day there are different conditions that affect the performance of a board or yourself.  I was overwhelmed with the approach from CTRL in the USA.  As a company they have established themselves around the world in Cable.  I am thrilled to be spearheading their Boat Campaign for the USA in 2012.

The greatest ever - Danny Harf 
I have chosen the 'Supreme' board from CTRL because it blew me away, the first time I got on the board I could do virtually every trick I wanted and was so comfortable on the board. I was blown away by how awesome the board is, so much pop yet so forgiving.  They have a flex version called the Blueprint which I will use for cable.  CTRL is an awesome company and I look forward to working with them on product development and help take the company to new levels.

The Boardstock event in Penrith was fantastic.  It was great to see international riders such as Daniel Grant, Tom Fooshee, Aaron Reed, Danny Harf, Erik Ruck, Windy Park and many more. Watching some of these guys on the cable was insane and it was a lot different to watching them in videos.  It has actually changed the way I think about cable.  As part of the CTRL Team I was thrilled to catch up with my mates Matty Hasler and Angie Schriber, they have been living down at Cables Wake Park which is where the event was held, and you can tell they have been riding a lot because they are both killing it at the moment!  A lot of riders were over from Korea as well including Windy Park, he is such a good rider and has brought a lot of his Korean students over for this contest and put a lot of CTRL riders on the podium, almost every division to be exact, which is insane!

Another nice thing about being in Penrith was to check out the new Nautique Dealership.  Nautique Central has recently opened up in the old go kart facility.  They built an awesome Quarter Pipe (first in Australia) and hosted a winner takes all Quarter Pipe Challenge on the System 2.0.  I place 3rd behind Brenton Priestley and Mitch Langfield respectively and I have to say, hitting a quarter pipe for the first time was the most intimidating thing ever, but at the same time had more fun than I could of ever imagined I didn’t want to let go, I just wanted to hit it all day and night.  I was so happy to finish in front of so many awesome riders from all over the world.

The Awesome Nautique 1/4 Pipe
Nautique hosted a Premiere Screening of DEFY The Danny Harf Project.  I had the nicest greeting from Danny and it was great to catch up.  DEFY is the sickest wakeboard DVD ever and I am so happy that I could contribute to it, ad that I was honored with a brief cameo riding spot on the DVD.

Being in Penrith put me back in contact with Carro Djupsjo who lived with me in the USA last year for a while.  Carro has decided to have a Gold Coast leg to her Aussie Tour and is staying with me at the moment to shred my 230 everyday and prepare for the US Pro tour this US summer.  We are going to house share again this year and I can’t wait to see how the tour pans out this year.