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.

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.

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.