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Shaper: Jimmy Redmond

After we had a good rest and our bellies full, everyone could sense the anticipation and excitement amongst the industry vets and the pros to get out to the lake. The drive out to Lake Lopez was amazing; grassy hills and vineyards along the drive in quintessential central California style. Upon arrival, registration went quickly and we were all ready to get our first wakesurfing session in. The day was set up as a practice day to go free ride all day, get acquainted with one another and check out the new Axis T22 and Malibu LSV 23 on hand. Both boats were set up with the latest SURF GATE technology and we were all excited to see what they had in store. The questions about what would unfold on this day with so many cool wakesurfing boards, riders and industry around were floating through my head. I had no idea of the things to come, but the sense of, “yeah, this is wakesurfing” was prominent. So after all the eye candy from the industry it was time to get on a boat and get serious about riding.

My boat had an all-star cast – Bill McCaffray (Alliance Owner), Corey Marotta (Alliance lead man), Jimmy Redmon (Liquid Force: Shaper/Founder), Trever Maur (Axis Pro Rider), Pat Millin (Pro Surfer), Keith Kipp (Alliance Producer), Kevco (Malibu), Brian Grubb (Malibu Pro Rider), Chad Borba (Malibu/Axis Dealer). The group was buzzing beyond measure with hoots and heckles and there were Go Pro’s flying around like mad children. Each individual had a different energy flowing but everyone was finding inspiration from each other simply based on this wakesurfing session. There was a broad range of topics discussed on our boat, from hull design to wakesurfing board shapes, to event ideas and specifically how amazing the SURF GATE Firsthand event was. It was clear that this is the kind of gathering where magic happens and a sport makes big leaps forward.

Our crew was also passing around different wakesurfing boards. After each fall the riders would trade out the board they were on and offer feedback based on what they had just experienced. This feedback was helping us all learn how the different style boards worked. Jimmy Redmon and I were discussing with everyone why a wakesurfing board surfs the way it does based on fin design and fin placement as well as how fin sizes worked with different hull designs. It was a brainstorm of learning, discussion and progression, all focused on improving the sport. It was a SURF GATE Firsthand experience, all happening on the first day, all this and another day still ahead of us for more good times. Check out the photos below and note the smiles on each of the faces, they tell the story of how stoked the riders are and how cool this event truly was – JS

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