Nationals 2007

Alex Azim

Princes Club, London – The British Cable Wakeboard National Championship took place on Saturday the 9th June 2007. This competition featured the best male and female riders from all round the UK battling it out for the national titles. Qualifying earlier in the year, the British team had already been chosen but this was a good opportunity to see if anyone had been overlooked. The British team will be competing at the European Cable Wakeboard Championships on 17th to 19th August.

The competition kicked off nice and early on a warm Saturday morning with over 70 competitors vying it out to qualify for the finals to be held later that day.

Wakeboarding is still one of the fastest growing extreme sports in the UK and with more and more cables opening around Britain and the world, we can only envisage it getting bigger and better. The UK is home to some of the best cable wakeboarders in the world and while we hope to prove ourselves at the European championships in August, we’ll have to wait for the following year to compete at the World Championships (held biannually) to conquer the world!  Well worth watching because with more airtime on the cable then you get on the boat you will see tricks that’ll blow your mind.

The event this year had the addition of two new divisions, under 11 Girls and Boys which made a total of 10 divisions, U11 Girls, U11 Boys, Girls – 1991 and after, Boys - 1991 and after, Junior Men – 1987 – 1990, Junior Ladies – 1987- 1990, Open Men – No Age Restriction, Open ladies – No Age Restriction, Master Men – 1975 or before, Masters Ladies – 1975 or before.

The event kicked off early in the morning with the DJ already rocking with some lively tunes to get the riders and the die hard fans in the mood. Most of the major sponsors were already setting up their displays in prime positions on the bank. Indo Board were involved for their first year, sponsoring prizes and also setting up a demo area.  Being their first year, they were pleasantly surprised with the amount of people that had attended and the level of riding. Princes Shop had also set up a stall with the latest in extreme sportwear for sale. Hyperlite, one of the world’s largest wakeboard manufacturers, was also here with a number of their latest 2007 boards to demo, which a lot of people took full advantage of.  As the largest waterski/wakeboard park in Europe Princes Club boasts 2 cable tows, allowing the public the opportunity to spend some time on the other cable while the competition was running.  It also allowed the competitors a little practice time in between rounds.
           
By the afternoon a large crowd had gathered and with such a high level of riding from all the divisions, they were anticipating an unforgettable final. Not to be disappointed; Victoria Young pulled it out of the bag again with a clean smooth run landing all her tricks and proving herself once again. The next highlight of the evening was the junior men’s division, with Nick Davies having moved up to the Open men’s division, it was going to be a close fought battle. James Young took the title with his usual big, technical run. The open men’s was a really close fought battle with three of the best wakeboarders in the world pushing each other. Ben Hitch took third with a stylish run as usual, but he failed to land the 900 off the kicker, which could have clinched it for him. Jonty Green came second - often trying tricks that no-one else will – it pays off most of the time but can be a gamble. This time he had a really clean run but it wasn’t enough to take first place. Nick Davies deservingly took the tittle, this guy looks like he was born with a wakeboard attached to his feet. This guy has such style making everything look effortless.

This event has proven that the British Team stands an excellent chance at the World Championships so good luck to all the teams’ members.

The results were: