2014 wake surf season heating up down south over the past weekend with two big events to surf in, the Tige Endless Wave Tour in San Angelo, TX and the World's qualifier near Austin, TX at the Texas Ski Ranch. Competitors traveled from around the nation for another big wake surfing gathering and a chance to qualify for the World Wake Surfing Championships coming up in September once again on Lake Las Vegas. Stormy weather throughout Texas on Thursday, overcast skies on Friday and bright sunshine by Saturday makes for perfect conditions at the Texas Wake Surf Championship at Texas Ski Ranch presented by Boardco. The perfect venue for an event, a lake stretch running parallel to the wakeboard cable, and the brand new Centurion FX44 on tow.
From Left to Right: Jimmi Sparling, Keenan Flegel, Todd Gaughan
Definitely one of the most laid back comps, no pressure really, a full day of practice on Friday and then final runs on Saturday, live music and a Wahoo’s Fish Taco on site. Several of the competitors like Keenan Flegel and Jimmi Sparling took to the cable park hitting features on some kneeboards while the Mendonesia Surf crew was set up on site with their new display of boards and team rider Chris Wolter in from Cali. Allatoona Adventures, Phase Five crew, Doomswell, CenturionCrew.com, Wake Shredder and Team DFW Surf in the house.
The biggest news of the weekend surrounded Mr. Parker Payne in his professional debut. The Amateur national champ had planned on competing in outlaw for the rest of the year and at the age of fourteen who could blame him. With his own pro model board and hundreds of big spins and now a 360 shuv under his belt, it was more than time to move ahead and compete against some of his wake surf icons like world champ Keenan Flegel. Parker landed a 360 shuv at the end of his run and took second place over veteran James Walker and pros like Chris Wolter, Aaron Witherell and Jimmy Sparling.
From Left to Right: Parker Payne, Keenan Flegel, James Walker
Some of the other highlights included Keenan Flegel’s runs in both skim and surf along with the heated women’s divisions featuring the Ladies of Surf and the top names in the industry like six time world champ Bri Chmel, two time world champ Raleigh Hager, Ashley Kidd, Caroline Villenueve and rising stars Vanessa Vincent, Taylor Dorey and Jody Grassman.
Special thanks to Mr. @DollaDollaBill aka Sean Cummings for MC’ing the event, BoardCo, Mendonesia, Caroline Villenueve, Texas Ski Ranch and Centurion Boats for producing the event.
Article & Video By: Tyler Marshall
