Canada is smokin' right now, figuratively. In Orlando, Canadians are everywhere lately, just like normal people. They even eat sushi now. I know, I went to eat some with Kyle Rattray and Chad Sharpe.

A: Are Canadians the new Australians? Because there’s a pretty big Canadian presence here now, like the Aussies have been for a long time.
CS: We’re gettin’ there.
KR: There definitely is. We haven’t taken the place of the Aussies, they just haven’t been around lately. But usually me and Chad and Rathy and Henshaw and Rusty are all together most places and do things together most days. Ninety percent of the time it’s me, Rusty and Chad out in the boat everyday. None of the old Aussies hang out with each other anymore.
CS: Because they’ve been with each other for ten years and they’re sick of each other.

A: You guys didn’t all ride together in Canada though, right?
KR: No, we’re all from opposite sides of the country. I met Rusty at Canadian Nationals. But it’s all through wakeboarding though.
CS: It’s just that we have a similar mentality, similar drives.
KR: Yeah, we all had the same upbringing. We could only ride like four months a year at best. So everyone’s got the mentality that every time they’re on the water you’ve got to ride as hard as you can because you still think you’ve only got four months left.

A: What’s with all the Canadian dudes and their designer dogs? Because Rusty just bought a Chihuahua today.
CS: Shutup!
KR: Yeah, him and Lindsey bought a Chihuahua today.
CS: That copycat.
KR: Maybe we’re easily coerced by our girls.
CS: At least you’ve got a bigger dog to back it up.
CS: Rusty really got a f***ing Chihuahua?
KR: Yeah, they were going to get a cat but they couldn’t find one so they got the dog.
CS: He was going to get a cat? I couldn’t really see him as a cat guy.
KR: I couldn’t see him as a Chihuahua guy either.
CS: I guess it’s not as cliché as being from Florida and buying a pit bull.

A: What do you guys think about Rusty getting married?
KR: I think he’ll be more tame. Lindsey’s mellowed him out a bunch.
CS: Yeah, Lindsey’s a good fit for him.

A: Who’s the next big thing coming out of Canada?
CS: Raphael Derome, he’s a Ronix rider.
KR: That kid is so sick. At Worlds I drove the Boys’ finals, and him, Harley Clifford and Jacob Valdez, watching those three kids battle was crazy. Those guys’ three runs would have beaten all the Junior Mens’ that day.
CS: I got up early that morning to watch that division specifically and it was insane. His brother rips too, Oliver. He hit that road gap out at the Projects. You know how you always hear the Junior Mens’ is as good as Pro? Now the Boys’ is as good as Junior Mens’. The Junior men have to be looking down and going, “Thank God I’m getting’ out of here in a year.”
KR: And Raphael has done all that with only one winter in Florida, he’s that good from just summer riding pretty much. His dad built him his own private lake next to a go-kart track. How sick would that be growing up?

A: What would be the best thing to happen for Canadian wakeboarding right now?
KR: Probably having a cable in downtown Toronto, underneath a tennis bubble or something.
CS: They have a sick one in Montreal.
KR: Yeah, the middle part of the country is pretty rich, but most people have never even seen a wakeboarding boat.
CS: I went to the Calgary boat show this weekend though, and wakeboarding is huge out there. Boards were blowing out the door faster than I’ve ever seen.
KR: Yeah, it’s blowing up.
CS: One thing about Canada is that they have lots of water, but they also have a lot of cold weather.