Back to the USA

After saying goodbye to my family again I headed off for my 4th tour of the US, my 4th year of the 'Endless Summer'.  I landed in Orlando at about 6 am and got picked up by my good mate and former tour champ  Nick Galotifiore.  As soon as we got home it was straight out on the boat for a sunrise set on Lake Conway on Nick's Nautique 230.

It was the best first set here, glassy lake, big wake, and sick tricks being thrown for both our first sets in the American summer. It was a great way to shake off over 24 hours of travel time.

I couldn't wait for good friend Freddie Wayne to get back from college to spend the his summer in Orlando and to catch up with Mike Dowdy whose Nautique G23 puts off the biggest wake around.

Between Nick, Freddie, Mike and Chloe Mills' Nautique 230, it really has started off as a Summer of Nautiques with the sickest wakes ever!

Orlando Fun - Picture Credit David McGregor - DM Photography

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.

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.

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 3^rd 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.

Escape to Cocoa Beach Florida

With the World Championships done and dusted I had a couple of weeks to relax and chill a bit.

What's next?

I have been spending time with some of the Top US Junior Pros like Freddie Wayne and World Champ/US Pro Tour Champ Nick Galitifiore.   We were planning to rest a little, but we rode pretty much every day on boat, cable or hitting the rooftop off the Jet Ski.  Rode back at OWC and at McCormicks in Tampa.  

I went to a place called Busch Gardens with Nick which was just was awesome.The roller coasters were a lot bigger and better than any of the ones we have back home in Australia.   I got a laugh visiting the ‘Australian Culture Section’ with kangaroos and all of our wildlife roaming around.  It was fun to watch what people said, how they reacted and how they profile us.  I was wishing that Aussies and Kangaroos had some secret language or something so I could just jump the fence and do a Steve Irwin. ‘Have a look at this bloke, isn’t he a beauty’!

Cocoa Beach Florida

For the Labor Day Weekend, I was invited by Freddie Wayne and is family to head to Cocoa Beach for the long weekend.  Nice little road trip out past Cape Canaveral where the Space Shuttle is based and we got to one of the nicest beaches you can imagine.  Freddie and I were looking forward to letting off some steam by surfing, chasing girls and of course just soaking in the sun.  Lucky enough for us there was a surfing competition on the same beach where we were only a few miles from us.  Freddie & I woke up at the crack of dawn to beat all the tourists to the beach with our boards and had a really fun surf session for a few hours followed by a body surf for a while.  It was so nice to just chill in the salt water to remind me a little of home.  

Sunrise over Cocoa Beach

The salt water felt good on me after spending half of my life in America in fresh water lakes on the boat.  Once we were over the water we decided to put our boards in the back of the car and walk down to the pier where the comp was at, it was really cool with a huge crowd there just hanging out on the long weekend and enjoying the sun as much as we were. We got hit by a massive storm Sunday night so we decided to head home early so we could get prepared for an early morning set.

Back from Cocoa Beach , we waited for sunrise and the water was ready to be shredded so we packed up the car and cruised over to Nick Galotifiore’s house and spent a really fun day on the lake.  As happens a lot here, we got hit by an afternoon storm which kicked us off the water.  Rode again during the week and whent back to McCormicks Cable Park in Tampa with Terry Bailey who decided to join us.  , Its always fun heading to McCormicks because the cable runs clockwise which is always good to mix up our riding and encourages us to hit more switch air tricks and the rails there are amazing and the cable is very tight which is awesome for air tricks also.  Then once we were finished at the cable we decided to race home and hit another boat set before the sun went down for the night.   

I am really pumped about this weekend.  It’s the annual surf expo here in Orlando which all the major companies in wakeboarding attend.  The whole thing is just a meet and greet concept which is good for riders to get their foot in the door of a major company, it is also just good to be able to walk around and meet some of the key people that run the companies that drive wakeboarding to become a bigger and better sport.  Having the opportunity to network with these people for future connections comes in handy too.  My mentor and key sponsor Daniel Watkins is going to hang with me through the expo and ensure I make the right connections.  There is also lots of parties and awards nights that run at night like the Wakeboarding Magazine party and Parks Bonifay’s Double or Nothing presentation.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Between now and then, we have a few more rides scheduled.  I am really keen to make a little video clip of one of my sets, so that is a goal before the expo.

World Championship here I come

After my first Pro Tour ride, I couldn’t wait to get back to Orlando and get ready for Worlds.

I went back to the Wakeboard Camp at Clermont for a couple of nights to chill with my good mate Corey Turnbull.  I t was also good to see all the staff again and the Aussie Girls Crew of Amber, Hayley & Bec.    My new Watson Classic got shipped in from liquid force in time for me to get used to it before the Worlds and we headed straight out behind one of the camp boats Malibu v-rides and rode awesome the board had so much pop it was actually surprising and that board has now seen me through to landing a bunch of new tricks that I can do now.

Mid week I went out with Aaron Brown for a couple of  days having fun little jet ski sets at night hitting his rooftop and see what stupid stuff we could do off the little wake that the Seadoo put out. I also got to ride with Bennet Spartz behind his Nautique 230 on Lake Minnehaha which was awesome.  Then it was off to chill at Nick Galotifiore’s house on Lake Irma.  Nick was pretty pumped fresh from his US Pro Tour Win.  Mick, myself and Tony Carroll spent a lot of time adjusting the ballast to try and replicate a Supra Wake behind Nick’s Nautique 230.  I think we did a pretty good job and over the next 2 days we knocked out about 5 or 6 sets.   I just grilled myself on my pass and some of my bigger tricks making sure I was riding confident enough and consistent enough to be able to do my run at worlds.

Arrive in downtown Orlando and checked in to the Hotel for the main event – the WWA Wakeboard Worlds at OWC.  It was a crazy event; there were people everywhere and a lot of familiar faces especially from the huge Aussie contingent that had travelled over to Orlando for the competition.

WWA Wakeboard Worlds at OWC

When the heats for the Quarter Final were published, I had been put up against 2 good mates, and 2 of the best Junior Pro Men in the World.  US Pro Tour Champ Nick Galitifiore and Freddie Wayne.  I didn’t ride my best falling on my first trick and struggling to recover after that.  Nick & Freddie knocked me out of contention for the Semi’s, but Nick went on to win and Freddie also got to ride in the final, so it was a couple of quality riders to get rolled by. 

It was so thrilled to see a legend in the Australian wakeboarding world Dean Smith take out the competition for his first US competition win. And what a place to do it, at the last event of the season with every Australian there to see. Dean was just going insane when they called Phillip Soven’s name out for 2nd place.  Every Aussie and everyone else for that matter forming a circle around him clapping and whistling and yelling his name, it was just unreal!  Dean is a super nice guy, and as he said “for the next 365 Days, I can say I am the World Champion”.

I learnt a lot in my two big Pro Tour Events.  As a rider I am not far off the pace and have enough tricks to be a serious competitor.  I just need to learn to be a better competitor.  These two comps are the first 2 I have ever been in without my Dad there.  He is a great influence on me and always gets my head right for events.  However, I need to learn to do that on my own.  My plan is to be back next year, to do all 5 Pro Tour Events and the Worlds again, and Dad can’t spend 5 or 6 months over here with me.

Just chilling and thinking!

For the next couple of weeks I will be chilling with Nick, Tony and Freddie and continuing to ride every day.   We are planning to make a nice little video before the Surf Expo.   We will film on Lake Irma on Nick’s Nautique 230 and on Lake Whippoorwill on Freddie’s VLX.   Freddie has a psycho rail which is the same dimensions as the Pro Tour rooftop and he has an amazing trampoline to practice new tricks on before taking them to the water.

Freddie has the best wake on the lake and it is really cool to ride the same boat on the same lake where I landed my first Moby Dick 5.   I am missing my family and friends back home, but this journey will end soon enough.   Straight after the Surf Expo, it’s back home from some sleep and then off on the Monster Energy Tige Tour!

My first US Pro Tour Event

Had a nice flight to Knoxville and went and checked out the site. It’s a great location for people and crowds but it looked like the water traffic and roll back might be a problem. But hey, we all ride the same water so we are all affected the same.

For my first US Pro Event I was in Heat 2 against Julian Cohen, John Jeffries and Kyle Evans. I was first off the dock. I had a pretty solid ride, stand up pass which included a Toe 7, Back 5 and a Whirly 5. Didn’t need to throw down too much to get through and I was pleased to get through to the Semi Finals. I was stoked at the number of people who thought I was a podium chance. I just came here for the experience and to see what I need to do in the next 12 months to be a serious competitor in the Jr Pro Tour.

In the Semis I unfortunately crashed out on my opening trick (Whirly 5) which I never fall on and I crashed out on my opening trick of the 2nd pass (a tail glide) so I struggled to get enough tricks in my pass to get through to the final. It was a great event though and a really good one for Liquid Force and Australia with super nice people like Amber and Harley winning the event.

It was also good to have a talk with some of my Billabong Team Riders like Shawn Watson, Danny Harf and The Bomb. I met the Bomb at my first ever Pro Event on the Tour in Sydney 2 years ago, he is a cool guy. Shawn and Danny have both offered to take me riding.

Back to Clermont and riding with Danny Burnstein, I landed a toeside 9 and all of my other tricks. I thought to myself that this will be a good week getting ready for worlds.

Today I went out on Bennett’s boat with Aaron Brown and stuck more Toe 9’s, all of my 7’s and my 3 Mobe 5’s. Tricks come and go and sometimes when you learn something new, you lose something. I guess I am going through a solid phase at the moment where I have most of my tricks very consistent.

I have stopped free riding for the moment and I am just running my pass over and over.

Tonight I am heading to Aaron Browns to crash for the night. Tomorrow is the last day before worlds and I will get 3 or 4 sets in with Aaron and Nick Galotifiore am felling pretty pumped about it. Nick won the Overall Jr Mens Pro Tour, so he is the benchmark of what I need to be next year for my chance at a US Tour Title.

Worlds start on Thursday and finish on Sunday. It’s all about riding on Sunday, I hope I get the chance.