Remember Lake Pickett? That name used to conjure up a lot of feelings in wakeboarding as the home of Scott Byerly and Erik Lutgert (Gator), and pretty much anything progressive or crazy that went on in the sport back in the late 90's. But Pickett has kind of fallen off the map in recent years. Byerly and Gator moved out a long time ago, and while several pros still live on or near the Lake, it has been sitting in quiet repose for the most part lately. I hadn't even been out there in about three years until the other day, when Correct Craft held their 2008 press intro at Pickett.

Correct Craft as been busy revamping their factory and pumping out the new boats for next year, which include brand new versions of their 210 and 230. So they invited a few of us out last week to check out the new rides and see their team riders do some demos.

Fittingly, the first guy off the dock was Scott Byerly. It was kind of like watching an old war horse return to the field of battle — he just belonged there and the lake glassed off and welcomed him with open arms. Next on the line was Danny Harf, who without warm up went and stuck two 7's, a couple of mobe 540's and a pretty sweet nose grabbed toeside backside 360 off the considerable double up of the 210. (No matter how often you see it, top tier guys like Danny are amazing to watch freeride.) Emily Copeland-Durham rounded it out by charging with some monkey spins reminiscent of Corey Kraut back in his day. All-in-all, seeing people kill it behind Nautiques on Lake Pickett made for a kind of eerie time-warp feeling, but a good one nonetheless.

As for the boats, they are outfitted with things like convertible stadium seating and the all-new Zero Off GPS Speed Control system (see the Goods section on the website) and still have that distinctive Nautique wake. Bill McCaffray even shook off the California rust and put on a old dog show, which was a bonus for all involved.