Pretty simple, youtube "wakesurfing," then define the advanced filter to sort by view count and here we go: the most viewed wake surfing videos since the very first video was launched nearly eight years ago. So what is the general public most interested in viewing when it comes to wake surfing? Very cool to see that a couple of the sports core athletes like James Walker and Sean Cummings are top 5.
1. What is more interesting than watching core athletes? What if the athlete was Shamu? The number one viewed all time is a couple of killer whales enjoying the wakes behind a small yacht.
2. Number 2 is simply "wakesurfing." A pretty genius title for all of you keyworders and hashtaggers. But more importantly, the term itself, "wakesurfing," was just being coined really. Special thanks to James Walker for taking charge here. It's incredible to see how much James has progressed passed 360s, airs and lip-slides in his first video and now 720s and frontside 360 big spins. This is one of the very first wake surfing videos of all time.
3. Another video titled "Wakesurfing" made by Kyle Wieder is the first professional video produced and also the first documentary featuring core athletes and pioneers like Sean Cummings, Chase Hazen and Shredstixx founder Jerry Price.
4. Flash forward seven years later to today and professional surfers are getting involved behind the boat. Here is Jamie O'brien who is doing some big boat yacht surfing on the Texas coast. Why did this video get so popular in less than a year time to become #4 of all time? Maybe it's the combination of the big 3? Red Bull + pro surfer + Texas = 411,000 hits.
5. One of the big 3 made it into the top 5, or Texas, where everything is bigger. Here is a video from the Texas Wakesurfing Championship back in 2008 and my former company, ASC. I'm glad to be part of the top 5, still to this day, this wave behind Scott's 2008 Centurion Enzo is one of the biggest I have ever surfed. Finally a comparable ocean wave was introduced to the sport thanks to Centurion boats and the sport was starting to gain ground in Texas.
by Tyler Marshall