Thomas Olson landed a toeside 900 in the finals to WIN his first BAKES NWI title against defending 2 time Champion Bret V. Everyone who showed up to watch the NWI witnessed a passing of the torch between these long time friends from Gig Harbor. Many folks know that Bret V has been a mentor and significant influence in Thomas Olson’s wake career to this point. The 4th Annual BAKES NWI had the teacher give way to the protege’ in the closest finals decision the event has ever seen…

The official recap and links to event photo galleries are posted after the jump

Media Courtesy of [ WakeboardNorthwest.com ]

Malibu sponsored athletes put on an impressive showing at the 2008 Malibu Open in Pontiac, MI last week. In a total of five events, Malibu skiers and wakeboarders amassed four first place finishes, leaving little room for anyone else to share the glory.

Malibu team riders Philip Soven and Dallas Friday proved too much to handle on the wakeboard side of things. While Soven’s win was impressive, given the season he’s had, it didn’t come as much of a surprise. Right now there’s no one else in the world that can compete with him when it comes to the shear number of tricks he throws, and the technical nature of his riding.

Friday’s win is even more spectacular, given that she is still on the comeback from what could have been a career ending injury. The fact that she has been able to return to the caliber of riding we’ve known her for so quickly makes it clear that she’s still the best female wakeboarder in the world.

It was another successful year for the Malibu Open, and with this year’s event wrapped up, all attention is turned to next year’s contest. We’ll let you know as soon as Malibu announces the location.

You remember LA Gear right? They made those shoes all the cool kids wore that had lights in the heel that flashed whenever you took a step? Now you can have your chance at revenge and prove to everyone you’re not the dork you were in grade school.

Ronix has released two new boards the DHV1 and CSV1 based on the familiar One and Covin series wakeboards, respectively. And while they didn’t actually work with LA Gear on these new wakeboards, Ronix has incorporated a piezo-electric diode that lights up when you hit the wake hard enough.

The new boards feature the same shape as the signature lines they’re based on, but make use of a high end “Italian Dark Core” for a lighter and stiffer board. If you currently ride a Ronix One or Covin wakeboard, but wish it weighed just a little less and had more pop, these may be just what you’ve been waiting for.

The Ronix DHV1 and Ronix CSV1 wakeboards retail for $599.99 and can purchased through Wakeside.com.

Click Image to View Gallery

At the beginning of June we brought you the first unofficial pictures of 2009 Malibu Wakesetter VLX. Now Malibu has released a few shots of the completely new model on the water, and we have to say, it’s a hansom looking update.

Based on the brief preview we posted early, the 2009 Wakesetter VLX looks pretty much like we thought it would. This latest round of pictures of the boat in it’s natural setting do a much better job of showcasing the lines of the new boat.

Check out our summary of the major changes after the break.

Gallery: 2009 Malibu Wakesetter VLX Official Pictures

Drive the video is out (we’ll have a review up soon), and is on its way to being the most popular wakeboard video of the year. If you don’t have a copy yet, we want to hook you up with a free autographed copy of Drive, courtesy of Wakeside.com and BFY Productions.

All you have to do to win is post a comment on this post about why you deserve a free copy of Drive the movie. The winner will be chosen at random, so we aren’t judging the quality of your comment, but it needs to be on topic.

Here are the rules:

• Only one entry per person. That means you can only comment on this post one time, if you comment more than once you will be automatically disqualified.
• This contest is open to residents of the Continental United States (sorry, it’s not by choice).
• Contest ends 11:59PM PST on July 30th, 2008.

We’ll announce the winners within one week of the close of the contest. If you can’t wait until then to watch Drive, you can purchase a copy right now at Wakeside.com. Good luck!

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With comparisons between another major manufacturer, and reader opinions running rampant, we’ve finally got some information on Tigé’s line of boats for 2009. It looks like it’s been a pretty busy year for the R&D department and their OEM suppliers, as Tigé has made a number of substantial changes. Read on as we outline the 2009 Tigé model year changes.

Gallery: 2009 Tigé Boats Model Details

Sean Kilgus, BFY Productions, has delivered another masterpiece in DRIVE. This is his follow up film to such titles as Butter Effect, Bent Felix, and Running on Empty. Wake films we all have watched over and over.

The rider line up in this film is ridiculous and includes many of the worlds best. Randall Harris, Rusty Malinoski, Danny Harf, Chad Sharpe, Trevor Hansen, Jimmy Lariche, Ben Greenwood, Gabe Lucas, JD Webb, Jeff McKee, Erik Ruck, and Adam Errington all have sections.

Order your copy from Wakeside.com and check out a short trailer after the jump.

It’s that time of year, with the majority of the boat manufacturers making the change to the 2009 model year in the next the weeks, expect a lot of wakeboard boat related news. If boats don’t do it for you, just skip this post, otherwise read on.

With a new Wakesetter VLX on the way for 2009, Malibu chose to use the same plan that worked so well in 2005, recycling the previous generation VLX into the new vRide. The brand new 2009 21 vRide is the first ‘09 model Malibu has released shots of, and if the rest of the 2009 model news follows this lead, it should be an exciting year for Malibu enthusiasts. Based on the 2005-2008 Wakesetter VLX, the 2009 21 vRide represents an impressive upgrade from the original vRide. Measuring in at 21′ 6″ in length with a 98″ beam, the new 21 vRide gains 6″ in each dimension over it’s predecessor.

Check out the gallery below for the first official shots of the brand new 2009 Malibu 21 vRide.

Gallery: 2009 Malibu 21 vRide

At first glance you might think this is a new model Malibu is developing for 2009 or beyond, but you’d be wrong. it’s actually Tigé’s 2009 24Vé, featuring a new tower design that some might say is a dead ringer for Malibu’s Illusion X wakeboard tower. Everything, right down to the accessories, apes the tower Malibu first offered in 2004.

Sure, Malibu has introduced their new Illusion XS wakeboard tower, which will be available on all of their models for 2009, but we doubt they’re too excited about Tigé’s new tower design. The forward sweeping look has been a Malibu trademark up until now, so they definitely won’t be too excited about sharing that look on the water.

More than that, we’re just disappointed to see the lack of creativity and ingenuity on Tigé’s part. They’ve been struggling to corporate identity when it comes to tower design, introducing a new look seemingly every year. Rather than come up with something that is both functional and attractive on their own, they decided to take the easy way out.

As they say though, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, which means Malibu should probably be feeling pretty good right now. Something tells me they’re experiencing another emotion right now.

Check out a side-by-side comparison of Tigé’s 2009 24Vé and Malibu’s 2005 Wakesetter VLX after the break.

The 2008 Tige Pro-Am is just around the corner, and Tigé is upping the ante in an effort to draw some more attention to the inaugural event. With the number of riders that have landed a 1080 in practice closing in on a half a dozen, Tigé has put $10,080 on the line for the first rider to land three spins at the Tigé Pro-Am.

The potential for a five digit payday for an amateur rider that can pull of The Ten is huge. Sure, the likelihood that a local rider will land the elusive 1080 is small. It’s much more realistic to expect a Danny Harf or Rusty Malinoski to walk away with the big check, but even then, that’s quite a bonus for an afternoon of work.

If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, make plans to check out the Tigé Pro-Am at Blue Lake Park in Portland Oregon. It’s a great venue that was cut from the pro wakeboard tour this season for no apparent reason, and is a great place to watch a wakeboarding event.

Check out the full press release after the break.