A Weekend with Byerly and Randall

Scott, Neil, Randall and Justin

Last year Arnette and Alliance came up with an idea to let two lucky winners come to Orlando for a weekend to spend some time hanging out and riding with team riders and all-around wake legends Scott Byerly and Randall Harris. The weekend went so well that we decided it had to be done again. This year the two lucky winners were Justin Harrelson from Texas and Neil Wahlberg from Indiana. Actually, they weren’t that lucky, as they were chosen from a large group of entrants based on the short write-up they submitted talking about how either Scott or Randall had influenced and/or inspired them as wakeboarders/wakeskaters. For coming up with the most profound literary submissions, Justin and Neil were flown into Orlando and treated to a weekend of fun on the water in Orlando.

After being picked up at the airport by Scott and Randall the night before, the guys woke up early on a Saturday morning to head out on the Butler Chain of lakes on Scott’s signature Byerly 210 Nautique. Before they could head out though, they had to be decked out in appropriate Arnette attire and both guys were treated to huge goody bags of schwag. The water and the weather were perfect (typical of Orlando in October) and Justin couldn’t resist the opportunity for first dibs on the action, so he hopped out there and got to it. The guy must have been amped to ride with the legends ’cause it seemed like he didn’t fall and he was throwing down tricks worthy of winning most grass roots contests. Randall followed Justin and showed the guys what riding at 100′ and 28 MPH is like. Neil said it best when he said it’s like watching wakeboarding, but on steroids. Inspired, but a bit nervous having to follow the Vandall, Neil got out there and showed everybody he had a few tricks up his sleeve, too. Scott rounded out the morning of riding with a sick little wakeskate sesh in one of the smallest lakes on the chain (we even got into a sort of turf battle with a local slalom skier, but we were there first so we didn’t do anything wrong, I promise…).

The group kicked back in the afternoon with some rope swing action, wakesurfing, and a Saturday hangout session with the Butler chain locals on infamous Bird Island. It was more than obvious that everybody was having a good time just spending a day on the water, hanging out, riding, and relaxing. For Neil and Justin it was an opportunity to hang out with two of the biggest legends of the sport — guys they had really only seen in magazines and videos — and see that Randall and Scott, like them, enjoy hanging out in the boat with friends just as much as they do. The weekend was an awesome one, and another big success for the contest. There are already talks for how to do it bigger and better next year.

For more check out the video here: Arnette Weekend with Scott and Randll.