Name: Stuart Shinn
Age: 17
Home: Bradenton, FL
Years riding: 2 1/2
Sponsors: Oak Wakeskates
Boat, PWC or Winch? Boat
Wake or sliders? Wake
Film or photos? Film
Skateboard or wakeboard? Skateboarding even though I’m the worst in the world
Inclines or boxes? Boxes
Pool gaps or natural winching? Pool gaps are nice
Metal or rap? Rap, I am so gangster
Home or away? Depends where away is but probably away

I think the best example I could use to prove Stuart Shinn’s extreme talent on a wakeskate would be to discuss his transition from a potential cameo appearance in our new film, Esoteric, into the owner of arguably one of the best sections in the entire movie. How exactly did this happen? We were filming Nick Taylor quite a bit at his house in South Florida, and Stu’s house happened to be one of the best riding spots around. Stu was killing it at that time too, but it started getting to the point where every time we went down there to film he was getting ridiculously better. His status rose to the “half-part” idea. After stomping perfect wake to wake 3 shoves, frontside flips, 360 flips, backside flips, toeside shuv indy reverts, and a slew of other technical, consistent, and stylish that we happily filmed, it pretty much became a no-brainer that a full section from Stuart Shinn would become a highlight for Esoteric.

So what is Stu’s status these days? He’s finishing up high school and now proudly rocking boards from his new sponsor, Oak Wakeskates. As a fellow team member there are not many other people I could be as stoked to be on a team with… And there’s also not many other wakeskaters out there that give Brian Grubb a run for his money at a boat contest. Not only that, but Stu is getting better every time he rides. He’s already been landing or getting close to several wake to wake flip tricks I’m pretty sure have never been done before (I’ll let Stu decide when he wishes to reveal them). I honestly can’t wait to see what this dude is riding away from in the next couple years. Keep an eye out…