Now that the Malibu Open is officially a part of the WWA World Series tour, Malibu has decided to step it up and deck out the official tow boat for the event in a custom wrap. In years past the boats pulling the event have been stickered up with sponsor decals, but nothing to the extent of a full graphical wrap.

They’ve chosen the VLX as the official boat for the wakeboard event, which is a surprise since the 23 LSV received a redesign for 2008. Typically Malibu selects the latest and greatest model as the tow boat for their namesake event, but this year, the 21 footer gets the nod.

Hit the jump for a picture of the wrap on the boat.

Following up on the success of last year’s event, WakeSports Unlimited is hosting the second annual San Diego rail jam at the Del Mar boat show.

With a host of riders, including Danny Harf, Shane Bonifay, Kevin Henshaw and Collin Harrington competing in the warm So Cal weather, it should be a great early spring event. And if the level of riding at the 2007 event is any indication, we can only hope to see a number of “firsts” this year. The event is scheduled for March 26-30, and will take place at the Fred Hall Fishing, Tackle and Boat Show. This is a great chance to see some of the best riders in the world in person, which doesn’t often happen that far down in California. If you’re in the San Diego area, head over and check out the event in person.

You can read the full press release after the jump.

[Courtesy of WakeWorld.com]

Liquid force is sponsoring a new contest and wants to send the winner on an all expenses paid trip to Texas Ski Ranch for the 6th annual cable stock event. The contest is pretty simple, just design a rail that’s suitable for use behind the boat or in the cable lake, and if you win, your design will be unveiled at Cablestock, followed by a session from the Liquid Force pro team.

Entries must be received by Liquid Force before April 11th, so get working on it now for your chance to win. You can read the full details of the contest on the Liquid Force website.

Got a good idea for a design, but too lazy to submit it yourself? List it in the comments and maybe someone will bring it to life for you. Hit the jump for more details on the contest.

The Malibu Open is a storied event with a lot of history, including some quite entertaining antics from the watersking crowd. For its 10th year, the Open is coming to Michigan and promises to offer even more memorable performances from the world’s top wakeboarders. Additionally, the event has formally joined Wakestock along with three other events to comprise the WWA World Series. That means that the performances logged will directly contribute to who is crowned world champion at the end of the season.

The dates are set for July 18th-20th, so mark your calendar, and if you live anywhere near Waterford, MI definitely make the trek to witness some of the world’s best riders in a relaxed atmosphere.

You can read the full press release, with all of the meaty details, after the jump.

The winners of Parks Bonifay’s 2007 Double or Nothing contest got a chance to test the limits of the human stomach when they were invited to go for a ride with the Blue Angels. Red Bull arranged the once in a lifetime ride for Parks, Shaun Murray and Shane Bonifay as an award for capturing various titles at the double up contest they sponsored. Between flight training that included learning how to breath to control the flow of blood through your body, and actual instruction on flying the Angels F/A-18, who wouldn’t jump at an opportunity like this?

At the end of their separate flights, the three riders were able to compare the G forces they experienced, and of course were pretty pumped about breaking the speed of sound.

“This was the most insane thing I have or will ever experience in my life. All I know is that I finally broke the speed of sound,” exclaimed test pilot Parks Bonifay. “I hit 7.4 G’s for 9 seconds before my eyes rolled in the back of my head and my body went limp.”

After a morning of flying, Parks and his comrades returned the favor by taking their hosts out on Andrew Adkison’s X-Star for an afternoon of riding. All we want to know is what did Andrew do to deserve getting stuck in the boat without a chance to go flying?

Check out the full recap after the break courtesy of WakeWorld.

With all of Malibu’s dealers on hand, the stage was set, and Malibu didn’t disappoint. The newest Corvette Limited Edition Sport-V features plenty of styling influences from the C6 Corvette, along with a few unique Malibu touches.

As a follow-up to a partnership in the late 1990′s that was responsible for the original Corvette ski boat, Malibu and GM have teamed up again to produce an updated version of the Corvette for the water. In stark contrast to the original limited edition that was based on the direct-drive Echelon, the new model is a v-drive, featuring a new hull that is not shared with any other model.

Read on for more details, as well as a video of the Corvette on the water.

Gallery: 2008 Malibu Corvette Limited Edition

Can anyone beat Phil Soven this year? He’s currently 3 for 4 on the Pro Wakeboard Tour, and after sharing that he hasn’t missed a switch crow mobe 540 in over two years, we have to wonder if anyone has a chance to beat him as the race to the end of the season draws near.

Photo Courtesy of TheLiquidCircus.com

Despite strong competition and rough water, Soven was able to lay down a solid run, and dealt with the rollers better than most others, including local favorites Chad Sharpe and Rusty Malinoski. Kelowna knows how to put on an event, with a sell out crowd that has us wondering what’s missing from Pro Tour events in the US. Fans lined the shores and packed the beer garden to check out some of the best, and most competitive riding in the world.

Although Phil has proven himself on tour this year, a quick look at the standings shows him leading Rusty in 2nd place by only 10 points, which means the season finale in Portland is going to be the perfect finish to a year of great riding on tour. We’ll see you in Portland for the conclusion, along with a party that only the Pacific Northwest can put on.

Liquid Force’s BROstock is a revolutionary event that offers average-joe wakeboarders the opportunity to hang out, wakeboard, and swap stories with the Liquid Force pro team. After a banner year last year, BROstock is back and bigger than ever for 2007. The first event just wrapped up at Lake Powell, but thanks to an expanded schedule for this summer, you’ve got three more chances to experience everything that is BROstock.

In a lot of ways, BROstock resembles the beginnings of BoardStock, combining a little bit of wakeboarding with a lot of hanging out, and the chance to make some new friends at the same time. As BoardStock has continued to become more and more commercialized, while at the same time loosing some of the appeal that made it so much fun when it was still a small gathering, BROstock promises to fill the void with a rider oriented event centered around having a good time.

Read on for the locations and dates of the remaining events.

Stop two of the Byerly Toe Jam wakeskate tour should prove just as eventful as the first stop. The second installment of this years tour will take place at Texas Ski Ranch located in New Braunfels, TX. The setup at TSR includes a cable park that will host the slider course, as well as a private lake where competitors will ride behind a Mastercraft X-Star to battle it out on the wakes.

Qualifying took place yesterday, and despite strong winds, the level of riding was still impressive with Nick Taylor pulling a backside 3 off the kicker, and George Daniels hitting a boardslide kickflip off the incline rail. Today is the bonus wake session behind the X-Star, and should prove just as impressive. Saturday is the main even though, with much at stake. The top three riders from the finals will advance to the Toe Jam main event in September at The Projects. The finals kick off at 9am, and will run until a winner is found. If you’re in the area, head over to Texas Ski Ranch to witness the best wakeskaters in the world battling it out. If you can’t make it out this weekend, don’t worry, WAKEOrigin will bring you the results of each round of competition.

The full list of qualifying riders is posted after the jump.

Searching for a summer wakeboard clinic ? If so, we encourage you to check out the Malibu Boats “JUST RIDE” Wakeboard Clinic Tour. Malibu sponsored rider Gerry Nunn will be coaching at various locations throughout the East Coast Region, and Northwest Riders will be coaching a series of NW Regional stops.

This is a wakeboard clinic experience you do not want to miss. Look through the dates and reserve your spot for one of the upcoming “JUST RIDE” Clinic stops. Sign up now because the spots are filling up quickly.

The full summer schedule is posted after the jump.