It’s that time of year again where some lucky raffle entrant wins the jackpot of all wakeboard freebies, the annual Spy boat giveaway! This raffle has always been something of a mystery to me, never quite being convinced a company would simply give away such a grand prize… and maybe, just maybe, the “winner” is a friend of some Spy employee or unpaid intern simply posing for a photo. Despite my skepticism, this myth was laid to rest today at the Carlsbad Lagoon as I saw the VERY lucky Janet Mendoza receive a signed title to the Nautique 225 Spy team boat, along with a Liquid Force wakeboard and bindings setup. Janet’s excitement was obvious, maybe because she just won a $60,000 boat, or maybe because Spy team manager Aaron Grace decided to show her the ropes of the vessel without his shirt on… Surprisingly he is even more bronzed than at Brostock in June… Either way, Janet was stoked.  It was a first class event complete with plastic cup champagne toasts, vegetable dip party platters, and all the free Spy gear you could get your hands on. If only I would’ve remembered to wear Spy sunglasses, but more importantly if only Aaron would have worn a shirt to the event, it would have gone off without a hitch (sorry about the pun).

So congratulations to Janet! And huge thanks to Spy Optics, Correct Craft, Liquid Force, and Sport Chalet for making this a great event and settling my ongoing skepticism of raffle fraud. And please consider this article as my entrance into the 2009 raffle…